by Mary Peart
Chapter 14
Three months later
The wedding was going to be small and intimate with just a few family members and friends. He had wanted them to get married right away but Sybil had been fearful that people were going to think badly of her and he had told her he had stopped caring about what people thought of them, he just wanted to be with her as her husband. She had smiled in delight when he said that but had still insisted on waiting a little bit. So they decided on the first Saturday in March.
The day was heavy with dark clouds and a snowstorm was in the air and the weather was frigid. Sybil was dressed in a simple pale peach dress with tiny sleeves and a tiny hat at the front of her head with a white lace coming over her face. A smile wreathed her face as she turned to the man she was in love with and marrying as they repeated their vows. The only attendant was her granddaughter and Christine was in a beautiful pink dress that looked like pale icicles overlaid with lace and her wild black curls tied back in a ponytail and was all smiles as she held a basket with orchids, identical to that of her grandmother’s.
The small chapel had a few people and Sophia remembered her wedding day as if it was yesterday. Christopher had Christopher Junior and she had Christian and was amazed at how the babies had grown and how much they looked like their dad. He had taken them to the office a few days ago to show them off and they had stayed the entire day with him in his office. She had gone back to work in January and was overseeing the renovation of the old building that was going to be a hotel. It was going to be opened in May.
Christopher reached for her hand as they repeated their vows and lifted it to his lips, kissing her lingeringly. He had made love to her properly a month ago when it was safe to do so and insisted on her taking contraceptives before they made love. “I could not bear to see you the way you were when you were having the boys and besides, I think we have all the children we need.” He had told her. He had taken her to the cabin and they had made love for the entire night, not sleeping a wink until the next morning and he had woken up two hours later and entered her while she was sleeping, murmuring apologies as he thrust inside her slowly, his hands wandering down her delectable body.
Very soon the minister declared them man and wife and they filed from the church and hurried into the waiting vehicles to get out of the cold. Christopher had insisted that the reception be held at the manor and the chef had done the cooking. Sophia had made sure there was a cake there. She had bought her mother a car for her wedding present and Sybil had cried as she looked at the shiny new red Toyota with a bow on it.
The reception was short and Christopher had given them a first class trip to Hawaii for five days where they would be staying at a five star hotel there. The couple had thanked him profusely and he had told them it was nothing.
They left immediately after the reception with Christopher’s driver taking them to the airport.
“You look so happy,” Sophia said hugging her mother tightly just as they were about to leave.
“I am happy,” Sybil said with a glowing smile. “He is a good man honey and I love him.”
“I am glad.”
She hugged Matthew as well and welcomed him to the family and the man kissed her softly on both cheeks before returning to his bride.
Later that night she told her husband how very appreciative she was and showed him how much.
*****
They made plans. They had planned to go after Christmas but they decided to wait because Jeremy wanted to spend some more time with his son. Lauren got pregnant in February but she could not tell whether the child belonged to her husband or to Jeremy and she had never told him about the night her husband had raped her. She had waited until Merrick had fallen into a drunken stupor and had crept over to Jeremy’s, he was waiting for her just inside the doorway. He had closed his hands around her and took her into his room. Her daughter was already fast asleep by then and he had hurriedly undressed her and himself and had taken her tenderly, his body trembling against hers. “Let’s leave now,” she had told him urgently.
“Why now?” he had looked down at her quizzically.
“I want to be with you,” she said forcing a smile. It would not do for him to know that she had been assaulted by her husband. “I hate being with him.”
“Soon,” he told her reassuringly.
She had nodded and buried her face into his chest.
They made the plans carefully. She had two million dollars in her account and she transferred it a little at a time to an offshore account. He did not have much but she told him she did not mind and she packed all of her jewelry and her clothes and waited for the right time. They were leaving as soon as Merrick had gone on his business trip and they would be traveling by assumed names and paying cash so there would be no paper trail. She was even going to dye her hair black for the journey. They were going to Italy to live and had made all the arrangements.
The night before they left he spent a lot of time with his son and Lauren did not come over. She had never been very close to her daughter and she had no qualms about taking her husband, she had no use for him. She was in love for the first time in her life and she was not going to give him up. She never thought about the fact that he was twenty years younger than she was; she only knew that she loved him very much.
He gave no indication at work that it was going to be his last day and he tied up what needed to be done and came home early to spend some time with his son. Sheila did not look too pleased to see him home so early and he knew he was not going to miss her. He was going to miss his son very much and he regretted leaving him but he loved Lauren and he had to be with her. They were going to start their own family.
They left in the dead of the night and drove to an out of the way motel to stay for the night where they would be taking an early flight to their destination. He had not left a note and neither had she because they did not want to be missed until it was too late. They held each other and made desperate love for the night as the excitement and fear of what they had done dawned on them and the next morning they left Australia without a backward glance.
*****
Christopher was on the carpet in the play room with Christine on his back and both Christian and Christopher Junior crawling around him on their tummies. He had come home before Sophia because she had gone to look at the renovation of the building. It was in its final stages of being finished and she wanted to see what they were doing. She stood in the doorway of the playroom and looked at them, her family and felt the warm glow deep inside her as she looked at them. He had taken off his jacket and his pale blue shirt and was in his white t-shirt and dress pants. He looked up and saw her there, his smile coming quickly.
“Hey guys mommy is home” he said softly.
“Mommy you are home!” Christine piped up jumping up and down on her father’s back casing him to wince a little bit.
“Honey you are hurting daddy,” she told her daughter dropping down on the carpet to greet her family. She picked up Christian and then Chris Junior and kissed their cheeks lovingly then planted a swift kiss on her daughter’s forehead.
“Daddy now!” Christine demanded.
“Of course,” she bent and took her husband’s lips in a light kiss and just as she made to lift her head he pulled it back down and deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue into her mouth. She moaned a little bit and trembled as he released her, his dark eyes telling as he looked at her heaving bosom.
They spent the time together and it was not until it was time to put the children to bed did they leave the playroom.
He prepared a bath for her and she sank into it gratefully and closed her eyes, opening the when he came in and joined her and they talked about the progress of the building and she rested her head back against him as he ran the sponge over her body. There was no place she would rather be.
*****
It was late in the afternoon that Sheila found out that her husband was gone. She had called the office to te
ll him that their son was running a temperature and they had told her that he had not been there since that morning. With a frown she had called her parents’ house to ask her mother if she had seen him and was told by the housekeeper that she had not seen her mother since this morning. A dread was filling her heart and she called her father.
“What’s wrong girl?” he asked her impatiently having just come out from a meeting and was heading to find a woman to get some release.
“I think mom and Jeremy have gone away together.” She told him miserably.
“What the hell are you talking about girl?” he asked her sharply.
“Jeremy did not go to work and mom is not at home and the housekeeper said she had not seen her since morning. I am calling both their phones and they are not answering.” His daughter told him.
They would not! He thought, his blood freezing. They did not have the nerve and besides they hated each other! Or so they had wanted everyone to think.
“I am coming home!” he said briefly. He called his bank and spoke to the manager and discovered that some money had been taken out of their joint account. He took the first flight home and could not wait to get there. The bitch and that low down son of a bitch that had ran out on his little girl and his grandson and his own grandmother. They were sick!
He got to his daughter’s house and saw that she was holding a letter she had found in the room Jeremy had been staying in and told her father that all his clothes and personal things were gone. He quickly skimmed the brief letter which stated that he was leaving and how sorry he was to leave his son but he had fallen in love and could not bear to be without her. The bastard was talking about his wife and he was furious with himself that he had not seen this coming. He had no clue; they had taken him for a fool. He took his daughter to the hospital and stayed with her while the doctor looked the child over and said he had an ear infection. He held her as she cried and remarked that she could not believe that they had done this to her, never mentioning what was done to him and he realized that they had been so wrapped up in themselves that they had forgotten about the people in their lives and had been so arrogant into thinking that they would not do something about it. He was not sure he was going to expend any effort into finding them as he was sure they had covered their tracks very well. He went home that night after listening to his daughter’s railing about how unfair her life was and how was it going to look when their neighbors heard.
Lauren had taken everything including her jewelry and even the last pair of shoes and the personal cash he had let in the safe in case of emergency. She had not cleaned him out and she could have done so and she had left him a note. “Merrick,” it read. “I am sorry for doing this to you and I know you are going to hate me something fierce. I have been unhappy for a long time until Jeremy came into my life and turned it around. He makes me feel like I have never felt before and I cannot bear the thought of living without him. I have thought about this long and hard and know that I will be hurting three people that I care about but I owe myself some happiness. Please do not try and find us because I have learned a lot from you and I know how to cover my tracks. Jeremy makes me feel like a woman and makes me feel beautiful and I am in fact going to have his baby. I am sorry about everything and I hope one day you will forgive me. Yours Lauren.’
He blinked and read the letter over again, a feeling of heaviness invading his body. Suddenly he felt a tearing pain on his left side and with a sharp cry he toppled to the floor.
*****
The news hit the town of Sydney the next day. Merrick Copeland had a heart attack when he learned that his wife had run off with his son in law. He never recovered but died shortly after he hit the floor and was found dead the next morning by the household helper. His daughter quietly made the funeral arrangements and held her head high as she went about town settling his affairs. She sold both houses and the businesses and packed up everything and left town deciding to go on a long cruise before finding some place to live with her son. For the first time in her life she felt the freedom to do anything she wanted to do without anyone telling her what to do.
*****
In a lovely farmhouse in Tuscan, Jeremy and Lauren read the news about Merrick’s death on the internet and the scandal surrounding it and held each other close, feeling no regret whatsoever but a sense of relief that now they could be free to get married and live their lives. Jeremy pulled her into his arms and held her against him, for the first time in his life he felt at peace.
*****
Sybil laughed in delight as her daughter walked into the bookstore with the three children in tow. She had been back from the absolutely wonderful honeymoon since last week and was so gloriously happy that she did not know what to do with herself. “What on earth are you guys doing here?” she asked as she hurried out to take one of the boys’ from the nanny who was behind Sophia and Christine who was skipping along beside her mother looking incredibly adorable in pink tights and a pink and white sweater and black boots with her curls wild around her face. The boys’ were dressed in all in one blue and white snow suits and there was no way to tell them apart.
“We were in the area,” Sophia told her mother with a smile. “It was take your kids to the doctor day to get their check up and they are in very good health. Christopher wanted to come with us and was furious when he was called in an emergency meeting with the town planning people. He is going to meet us here.”
“Oh my goodness,” Sybil kissed each of her grandchildren and sat and smiled as Christine climbed onto her lap.
“I got my shots grandma and I was a big girl,” she said popping a Popsicle in her mouth. “Both Christian and little Christopher cried because they are babies.”
“I am so proud of you my darling,” she gave the girl a hug. It was a little after five and Matthew would be coming over any minute because as soon as he left work he came straight over to help her and they would lock up together. He had sold the house and was living at her place for now although they were sure they wanted to move anywhere else.
They talked while Christine played with her stuffed elephant and looked at the books there. Matthew came by before Christopher did and was overwhelmed when Christine rushed into his arms and called him Grandpa Matthew. He looked at them questioningly and closed his arms around the little girl when Sophia nodded her assent. Christine had a good time regaling her grandmother and Grandpa Matthew about what happened at the doctors and jumped up immediately when her father appeared racing into his arms.
“I was just telling grandma and Grandpa Matthew what happened at the doctor’s daddy,” she said jumping up and down in his arms. Christopher looked at his wife and realized that Matthew was looking at him anxiously and then he smiled and said to her.
“That’s good honey and what did your grandparents say?” Sophia saw the man’s eyes filling up with tears and he turned aside to avoid them seeing it. She went over and put her arms into her husband’s and leaned against him. She could not have asked for a better man.
*****
She set the scene. He had insisted on putting the children to bed telling her to go and take a hot bath and he would be right in. She filled the bath and sprinkled bath crystals in as well as a generous amount of strawberry flavored bath gel. She had had lit candles to give the room a soft ambiance and had taken off her clothes and put on thin pale pink peignoir that was new and extremely revealing. She heard him enter the room and closed the door and stood by the bath while he came inside the bathroom. He stopped just inside the doorway allowing his eyes to become accustomed to the lights of the candles and took in the scene and what she was wearing. He swallowed the lump in his throat and felt himself trembling when she came forward to take his hand and led him to the bath. “Sophia,” he whispered as she started taking off his clothes.
“I want to pamper you for a change,” she murmured pulling down his zipper and letting him step out of his pants. Next she took off his shirt and then his under shirt and then his
underwear. He had kicked off his shoes and he sat on the edge of the bath as she took off his socks. She told him to go into the bath.
“You are not joining me?” he asked her hoarsely.
“Not right now,” She told him bending and reaching for the sponge and started running it over his supple chest and shoulders. He watched her, his eyes on her mouth and drifting to her generous breasts that were barely concealed by the delicate lace. She leaned over and allowed the water to run down her bosom. His eyes went to the nipples that stood out against the wetness of the material and felt himself hardened even more.
“Baby,” he murmured huskily reaching for her.
“Not yet,” she told him huskily. She reached inside the water and took his erection in her hands using the sponge to slide over it slowly. He groaned and slid further into the water. She continued to torture him for a few more minutes turning his bone to liquid as he shuddered with need. Then she stepped into the water not bothering to take off the peignoir and climbed over him. She eased away the edge of the material and sank onto his erection, her eyes holding his as she took him fully into her. He groaned as if in mortal pain and reached up to cup her breasts made even more pronounced by the water.
“You deliciously adorable and sexy woman,” he growled as he pushed into her. He bent his head and started sucking her nipple, slowly at first then with a raw hunger that had her crying out against him. She clenched herself over him and he bit her nipple slightly and her body jerked against him. He tasted the milk and felt his body tightened and with a deep groan he held her hips steady as he thrust into her desperately. Sophia grasped his thick dark hair and held his mouth against her as she rode him none too gently, her body on fire for him. The water lapped around them and ran over the edge as they moved against each other with a fierce need that was almost overwhelming. He released her nipple as he felt the pressure building up inside him and captured her mouth with him capturing her cries as they came together in an earth shattering release.
