C
HAPTER
22
Alice was sitting in a rocking chair on the narrow front porch when Thea pulled into the driveway a short time later. Thea got out of her car and stumbled on the loose gravel. Before she knew what was happening, Alice had taken her arm and was guiding her behind the house to the door of her apartment. She opened the door with her own key and half dragged Thea inside. Thea was vaguely aware of a blur of brown, black, and white slipping in beside them.
“I’m fine,” Thea said nonsensically.
“And I’m the Queen of Sheba.” Alice lowered her into the chintz-covered armchair and sat herself on the love seat close by. Henrietta was now nowhere in sight. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on,” she demanded, “or am I going to have to torture it out of you? Look, I know I’m not your mother, but I do have a certain responsibility as your landlady not to allow my tenant to go completely insane on the premises.”
In spite of the deep depression, despair, and fear that hung around her like a heavy, wet blanket, Thea felt a very small smile come to her lips. “All right,” she said, her throat dry. “I’ll tell you.”
And she did tell Alice, about her abusive marriage to Mark, her months in therapy trying to heal, and then about her escape to Ogunquit against her therapist’s advice. She told her about how absolutely wonderful and happy and hopeful she had begun to feel with Hugh. And then she told her about the vaguely threatening e-mail Mark had sent just the day before and how it had reminded her that, in the end, she was a victim and would always be a victim.
Alice was silent for the duration of Thea’s tale. When it was over, she let out a long, low whistle. “I think I’m speechless, kiddo,” she said finally. “Or near to speechless. I’m sorry. Were you just with Hugh?”
Thea nodded. “At his bed-and-breakfast, the Hartley House. And I’m afraid it’s all over. I told him how I felt, how messed up I am. But now I’m so scared that Hugh won’t want to be with me and I couldn’t even blame him if he did tell me to go away. He should go away. I’m not worthy of him. I’m not strong enough to be a good partner to him. I’ve always loved him but I’ve never been good—”
Alice stood abruptly. “You need to stop talking and to stop thinking,” she commanded. “Not that you’re doing either at all clearly. Come on. You’re going to bed.”
“I couldn’t sleep a wink,” Thea protested.
Alice pulled Thea to her feet. “You’ll sleep more than a wink,” she promised, directing Thea along to the bedroom. “I’m making you a stiff drink, pulling the covers up to your neck, and singing you a lullaby if I have to. Now,” she said, “I’ll be right back.”
Alice left the bedroom and went upstairs to her kitchen. Wearily, Thea got into the bed and pulled the covers up over her shoulders. A few moments later, Alice returned, a tumbler of amber-colored liquid in her hand.
“I couldn’t drink all that,” Thea protested.
“Do your best.” Alice sat on the edge of the bed while Thea sipped as much as she could of the whiskey. “All right,” Alice said, taking the half-empty glass from her hand. “Now, lie down.”
Thea slid down and adjusted a pillow beneath her head. She gasped as Henrietta jumped up on the bed, settled against her left leg, yawned, and closed her green eyes. Thea’s own eyes widened in alarm.
“Don’t worry,” Alice said. “She won’t bite. At least, I don’t think she will.”
“Why is she doing this?” Thea whispered.
“She knows you need her. And trust me. Things will look brighter in the morning. They always do.”
Thea didn’t hear Alice’s car pull slowly out of the driveway fifteen minutes later. Against her conviction, she was already deeply asleep, and any unhappy dreams she might have had were kept in abeyance by the watchful, protective presence of Henrietta.
C
HAPTER
23
“Sorry if I woke you or interrupted something important.” Alice stood up from a plush, rose-colored velvet armchair. The front parlor of Hugh’s bed-and-breakfast was furnished in a rather successful if improbable mix of dense Victorian detail and lighter, seaside inn chic.
Hugh walked farther into the room. “No, that’s okay,” he said. “I was just reading. Well, trying to read. So, you’re Alice Moore.”
“Yes.” Alice stuck out her hand. “It’s good to meet you, though I wish it were under a more pleasant circumstance. I need to talk to you about Thea.”
Hugh shook her hand. “Look, I don’t really think—”
“Would you rather talk in your room?”
Hugh glanced around the empty parlor. “No, we’re fine here,” he said. “But—”
“I know I have no right to speak for Thea,” Alice interrupted. “I’ve only known her for a few weeks, but I like her. And she’s been badly, badly hurt. And she’s acted like a ninny in the past day, sure, but I also know this. She loves you. She always has.”
Hugh gestured with his cane to an overstuffed couch strewn with overstuffed pillows. “Do you mind if we sit?” Alice sank back into the pink chair and Hugh perched on the couch. “She told you that she’s always loved me?” he asked.
“Yeah. But she didn’t have to. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes. She also told me about that louse of an ex-husband. She’s scarred from her experience with that idiot, but not beaten. You should believe that. She’s got inner resources she doesn’t even know she has.”
Hugh chose his words carefully. “I’d like to believe that she hasn’t given up.”
“You can help her find those resources.”
“Can I?”
Alice sat forward. “Look, from what I hear, you two have had some seriously bad luck. But now, you’ve got the chance to change that for the good. Seems like a no-brainer to me, but hey, I’m a romantic, what can I say? Just a big softie.”
Hugh sat with his thoughts for several minutes before speaking. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” he said, “but before I found Thea again, I felt pretty much alone in the world. I didn’t like it. I don’t think a person is meant to be alone. Certainly, I’m not. And then ... then she told me she loved me and I allowed myself to hope, just a bit, that everything would be better. That my life would be richer, fuller.”
“And now?” Alice prompted.
Hugh sighed. “Look, a day or two ago, Thea asked me if I considered myself an eternal optimist. I said no. I said I tried not to be stupid when putting my faith in a person. And I meant it.”
“And you’re worried she can’t live up to your expectations of her.”
“Not expectations,” Hugh corrected. “I only want Thea to be Thea. But maybe who Thea has become isn’t someone right for me, after all.”
“She’s just scared,” Alice insisted. “Fear can be conquered.”
“I’m scared, too, all right,” Hugh replied forcefully. “I’m not getting any younger. I really don’t want to make another major mistake. I know there’s no guarantee that a relationship will be forever. But there is such a thing as making a good choice in the first place. And so far, I’ve got a lousy track record. If Thea’s telling me straight out that she’s in no place to be with me, why should I doubt her? Why shouldn’t I run for the hills?”
“Because you love her.”
Hugh blinked away the sudden tears. “Yes.”
“Just promise me you’ll be the hero she thinks you are.”
Hugh shook his head and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I can only promise that I’ll think long and hard about this conversation. And about what I’d be losing if I’m not brave enough to trust her.”
“Thank you.” Alice stood abruptly. “Well,” she said, “I’ve said what I came to say. The rest is up to you and Thea.”
Hugh walked Alice to the door of the Hartley House and watched as she got into her car and drove off. That, he thought, is a remarkable woman.
C
HAPTER
24
In spite of her protestations to Alice the night before, Thea had slept and deeply at that. If she dreamt, she had no memory of having done so. When she woke at 6:30 that morning, Henrietta was gone not only from Thea’s bed, but from the apartment itself.
She went into the kitchen to make coffee; she was due at the diner at 8:00 for the busy breakfast shift. She felt better than she had the night before. Not perfect, not happy or strong, but somehow less anxious, less scared, a little bit more calm, a little bit more receptive. Yes, that was the word. Odd. Briefly, she wondered if Henrietta had some sort of magical healing power or if Alice was indeed a witch and had slipped some healing concoction into that glass of whiskey last night. She smiled at the thought.
A knock on the door chased the smile from her lips. Her heart sped up but she managed to call out, “Who is it?”
“It’s Hugh.”
Thea hesitated. She considered telling him to go away. But she couldn’t. That odd little feeling of receptivity she had woken with led her to the door. She let him in and locked the door behind him.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said.
“What did you expect?” he asked. He looked determined. Tired, too, but determined.
Thea blushed. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Hugh, I don’t really have much time to talk right now. I have to work the breakfast shift.”
“Call in sick.”
“But I’m due—”
“Thea,” he said, “if you ever cared for me at all, please, call in sick. What I have to say can’t wait.”
She did. When she had ended the call, Hugh reached for her hand—she did not protest his touch as she had done the night before—and led her to the chintz-covered armchair. He dragged a ladderback chair from against a wall and lowered himself onto it. Their knees were almost touching. He laid his cane on the floor.
“I need you to listen to me, okay?” he said. “Just listen. And don’t look away.”
Thea nodded. She felt strangely calm, as if time were suddenly suspended.
“I need you, Thea,” Hugh said simply. “I need you to be in my life if my life is going to be worth anything.”
He paused, as if expecting Thea to protest, but she said nothing. She nodded for him to go on.
“We were,” he said, “we
are
a good team. Thea, I don’t want to tackle life alone or with someone else. I want to tackle it with you. I want to face down the challenges and enjoy the good stuff together. I’m willing to take a chance on us. Are you? No prevarication, Thea. Yes or no. You owe a real answer to the both of us.”
Thea felt her body relax until she wasn’t quite sure where it left off and the chair began. It was like falling asleep. It was like waking up. A feline shape darted past the part of the window visible behind Hugh and then was gone. “Henrietta,” Thea murmured.
“What?”
“You know what I’ve been through.”
“Yes,” Hugh said. “I do. But that’s the past. I’m not discounting your experiences, or mine, good or bad. But the past can’t dictate the future. It can’t. We can’t allow it to. We can help each other in that. I need your help, Thea, maybe more than you need mine.”
Thea looked deeply into Hugh’s dark brown eyes for some moments. And then, something clicked. Why, she wondered, had she not understood that Hugh was simply a fellow human being, wounded, vulnerable, desirous, and in need of an equal companion? How, she wondered, could she have been so wrapped up in her own pain that she could ignore the pain of a fellow human being so dear to her?
She leaned forward and put her hands lightly on Hugh’s knees. “Okay,” she whispered, and then she kissed him.
“To hell with waiting,” Hugh muttered, standing and pulling Thea to her feet with him.
“Are you sure you—” she began, but Hugh cut her off with a kiss.
Thea wrapped her arms around him and wanted more than anything she had ever wanted to be with him again. Her mind and body were flooded by sense memories of their youthful lovemaking, potent memories that had lived so deep inside her she had forgotten their presence—until now.
Somehow, they found themselves in the bedroom. Thea allowed Hugh to undress her—he was the only man she had ever allowed this sensual rite—and lay back on the bed, watching as this man, her first and her only true love, undressed and then joined her.
“Do you remember our first time?” she whispered, as Hugh pressed the length of his body against hers.
“I was a nervous wreck,” he whispered back.
“And now?”
“No.”
And when they came together, Thea felt exalted. Being with Hugh again, now, after all they had endured both together and apart, felt more perfect than she could have imagined.
Eventually, they lay sweaty and exhausted and deeply satisfied among the tossed and tangled sheets. Thea realized she was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat and laughed out loud.
“So,” Hugh said, still slightly out of breath, “this means you’ll marry me, right?”
Thea turned on her side to stare at him. “You still weren’t sure?”
“Humor me.”
“Then, yes, I will marry you.”
“Good. I was hoping you’d say that.” Hugh got up from the bed and walked over to where his clothes had landed an hour earlier, in a pile by the dresser. (In spite of what he had implied about his injured thigh, Thea, looking through the eyes of love, didn’t think it looked “gnarly” at all.) From the pocket of the wrinkled jacket, he withdrew a small, black box. “This,” he said, “is for you.”
Thea could say nothing. Her fingers clutched the damp sheet now wrapped around her. Grinning, Hugh came back to the bed and sat on its edge. He loosened the fingers of her right hand and put the box in her open palm. “Do you want me to open it for you?” he asked. “You seem a little stunned.”
Thea gulped. “Yes, please.”
Hugh opened the box and fell back as Thea screamed in his ear.
“This ... I know this ring!” she cried. “I saw it in that antique store, the one with that scary old ventriloquist dummy ...”
“I know. I saw you looking at it. I can be pretty sneaky. I went back to the store later and bought it. And I think you just punctured my eardrum.”
Thea winced. “Oh. Sorry. But ... but you didn’t even know if we ...”
“I was hoping really hard.”
“Thank you for hoping.” Hugh slipped the ring onto Thea’s finger and she sank back against the pillows. “We’ll start our lives over again,” she said. “We’ll reclaim the lives we were supposed to have had, with each other. Hugh, I’m so sorry for what happened yesterday, and the day before. I guess I had a bit of a breakdown.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” he said. “Look, what I said before about the two of us helping each other put the past to rest? We’ll do that for each other, of course, but I do think you might consider going back into therapy. At least until you believe in yourself again. At least until you feel as strong as I know you are. So that if the past does rear its ugly head again you can confront it.”
Thea sighed. “I know, you’re right. The enemy isn’t without; it’s within. No more running away to hide, because you can’t ever hide from yourself.”
“And another thing.”
“Is this you being all bossy and parental again?”
“Yes. No city hall wedding. How about ... how about we get married in Paris, or in the south of France? We could find some beautiful old stone church with gorgeous stained-glass windows. You could wear the Napoleon portrait as a brooch. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea. But Napoleon might become a pendant on a necklace.”
Hugh laughed. “And then a honeymoon in Europe. We’ll go to England, of course. If I can pry you out of France.”
“Oh, I can be pried!”
“How do you feel about living in New York? My apartment is big enough for the two of us, but we’ll find a new place together, something we both choose.”
“My parents won’t be happy that I’ll be living so far away from them. For my entire life I’ve either lived with them or within a five-mile radius.”
“They’ll adjust,” Hugh said firmly. “There’s Amtrak. And if you’re not happy living in Manhattan, we’ll move out of the city and I’ll commute to work. As long as we’re together.”
Thea laughed. “Oh, I think I’ll like living in the city. The museums!”
“And it should be relatively easy to find a teaching position. At least, I hope it will be. I can help you. I know a lot of people whose kids go to private school. I’m sure I could get you an introduction. You could even go to graduate school for another degree, if you wanted to.”
“Now, that would be a fantasy! Maybe I’ll get a degree in art history ...”
Thea’s cell phone rang, interrupting the conversation. She reached over to the night table for the phone.
“It’s my mother.”
“Let it go to voice mail,” Hugh suggested.
Thea looked down at the lovely ring on her finger and took a deep breath. “No,” she said. “I want to take this call.”
Hugh slipped out of the bed. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
Thea didn’t wait for Hugh to leave the bedroom before taking the call. “Hi, Mom,” she said.
“Thea,” Gabrielle replied with an audible sigh of genuine relief. “I’m so glad you answered. I was afraid I’d have to leave another message and worry about—”
“Mom,” Thea interrupted, “Hugh and I are getting married. Just like we should have done all those years ago.”
There was a long beat of silence and Thea was half-convinced that her mother had been stunned into dumb disappointment, when suddenly a sob on the other end of the line made her jump.
“Oh, Thea! I’m so, so happy for you!” Gabrielle’s meaning was distinct, if her words were not entirely clear. “Oh, I’m so sorry I ever doubted your love for each other!”
Tears sprang to Thea’s eyes. “Thank you, Mom,” she choked out, reaching for a tissue on the night table.
“When will you be home? You’ll bring Hugh, of course. Your father and I ... well, we’ll want to celebrate with you.”
Thea wiped her eyes and blew her nose before answering. “I’m not exactly sure when we’ll be ...” Not “home.” she thought. Home was with Hugh now. “I’ll let you know as soon as I can when we can visit.”
After uttering a few additional sobbing sentiments, the women ended the call. As if on cue, Hugh returned from the bathroom, showered, his wet hair sticking up at odd angles.
“She’s thrilled,” Thea said. “I think my father will be, too.”
“Good. Really, I’m glad they approve of us, not that we need anyone’s approval.”
“When will you tell your parents?” Thea asked, watching Hugh work his hair into a semblance of order with his fingers.
Hugh shrugged. “I’ll tell them when they get back from their cruise. There’s no rush. They’ve long since given up trying to manipulate or control me and I’ve long since stopped allowing them to do it.” Hugh finished dressing and then looked seriously at Thea. “There’s one more thing I think we should talk about,” he said.
“Okay.”
“We used to talk about having children. We’re not too old, you know.”
Thea grinned. “Still, we should start right away.”
“Oh, absolutely. And Ogunquit is a nice place for kids, isn’t it? We could make it our summer destination. In homage to our incredible reunion.”
“That sounds very, very nice.”
“I’ll head back to my B-and-B now and check in with my office. We can leave Ogunquit as soon as you’ve wrapped things up at the diner and with Alice, tomorrow, the next day. And by the way, I’d like us to treat Alice to dinner tonight, someplace really special.”
“Alice?” Thea said. “Sure, but why?”
“Let’s just say she’s my—our—fairy godmother. I—we—owe her big-time.”