Treading Water

by Marie Force

  Once the kids were in bed, Jack and Andi snuggled on the sofa with the tree and the fire providing the only light in the family room.

  “I can’t wait to give Eric the bike,” Jack said.

  “He’ll love it.”

  Jack reached behind a pillow. “Santa brought something special for you, too.”

  “Are we doing this now? I thought we’d wait until tomorrow.”

  “I have others for you, but this one’s just between us.” He handed her a tiny, elegantly wrapped box.

  Her hands trembled when she removed the paper covering a jeweler’s box. “What did you do?”

  He took the box to help her open it. “I hope you’ll wear this as a reminder of how very much I love you and Eric.” Even though he was confident they were moving in the right direction, he couldn’t help the pang of guilt that stole some of the joy from this moment. At times like this, the fact that he was still married to another woman was hard to forget.

  Nestled inside the box was a spectacular ring with a large sapphire gleaming in the center of a circle of diamonds.

  She gasped. “Oh, it’s beautiful!”

  He slipped it on her right hand and kissed it.

  She hugged him and held out her hand to look at the ring again. The Christmas tree lights reflected off the stone, giving the illusion of fire.

  “Do you like it?”

  “I love it, and I love you, very much.” She kissed him. “You think of everything, don’t you?”

  “If I can’t stand up in front of a room full of the people we love and tell them I’ll cherish you for the rest of my life, then I can tell you and hope it’s enough.”

  “It’s more than enough.”

  Chapter 16

  Jack came upon Frannie boxing up the last of her things a few days before the wedding. Andi had helped her all morning, but he was glad to catch his sister alone. She was moving into Jamie’s condo while they built a house a few miles down the road from Jack’s house.

  “Need any help?”

  She sat on the bed. “Actually, I think I’m done.”

  He came in to sit next to her. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, I had the most amazing conversation with Dad on Thanksgiving.”

  “I did, too! He told me how glad he is that I’m marrying Jamie and how proud he is of my painting. It was crazy.”

  Jack smiled. “He said the same things to me. I guess he’s finally mellowed. He also told me he was wrong to fight my career choice.”

  “That must’ve been nice to hear.”

  “Better late than never,” Jack said. “I’m going to miss having you here.”

  “I’ll miss you, too, but I’m not going far.”

  “I don’t know what I ever would’ve done without you, Fran. In a million years, I’d never be able to properly thank you.”

  “I should be thanking you.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Well, if I hadn’t come here to help you, Jamie and I never would’ve gotten together, and look at what I would’ve missed. Also, being here gave me new inspiration for my painting, and you know how that’s worked out.”

  Smiling at her logic, he put an arm around her. “You and JB… Who knew? I still can’t get over it.”

  “Sometimes I can’t believe it myself.”

  “I’m so glad you’re happy. No one deserves it more.”

  “It’s nice to see you happy again, too. I love Andi.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, because she and Eric are moving here.”

  “When?”

  “Six weeks.”

  “Wow.”

  “How do you think the girls will take it? I’ve held off on telling them until I was sure it was going to happen.”

  Frannie thought about it for a moment. “Andi’s too smart to come in here and try to replace their mother. There’ll be some adjustments, but in the end it’ll be fine.”

  “I hope you’re right. I’ll talk to them about it after the wedding. If there’s any drama over it, I didn’t want it to upset your big day.”

  “Let me know how it goes when you tell them.”

  “You’ll be on your honeymoon.”

  “I’ll still want to know.”

  Jack kissed her cheek and hugged her. “You’ll be the second to know.”

  Jack peeked in at the room set up for the wedding service and watched the last of the guests arrive. Bathed in candlelight, the room was fragrant with floral arrangements, and chairs had been arranged in a semicircle around an arbor of red roses. A string quartet played as the last traces of sunset lit the sky over the bay.

  Jack turned back to the oh-so-cool-and-collected Jamie and remembered his own wedding day. The butterflies in his stomach had felt more like bats by the time he said, “I do.” Jamie, on the other hand, had been calm all day.

  He straightened Jamie’s bow tie one last time and brushed some imaginary lint off his jacket.

  “Will you stop fussing over me?” Jamie’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

  “Sorry,” Jack mumbled.

  The officiating judge signaled to Jack.

  “Ready?” Jack asked his friend.

  “I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.” Jamie reached out to shake Jack’s hand. “Thank you for being my best man—not just today but every day.”

  The comment undid what was left of Jack’s composure, and he blinked back tears. “You really had to do that, huh?”

  Jamie laughed and hugged his friend. “Sorry.”

  “Let’s get you married,” Jack said, and they walked together into the adjoining room.

  Just as they turned to face the back of the room Andi scooted in with Eric after spending the day getting the girls ready. She wore a stunning long black dress that clung to every curve. Her hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders the way he liked it. Eric was decked out in a dark suit and bow tie.

  Jack caught Andi’s eye and feigned a whistle.

  She smiled at him as they took their seats.

  When Jamie’s parents were settled in the front row, Jack walked to the back of the room to escort his mother to her seat. He left her with a kiss on the cheek and returned to stand beside Jamie. He was unprepared for the vision in red that appeared then at the top of the stairway.

  Maggie looked far too sophisticated with her hair twisted into an elegant style. Wearing a long red silk sleeveless dress and impossibly high heels, she made her way down the stairs and the aisle, carrying an elaborate bouquet of red and white roses. She had turned eleven the week before Christmas and fought back a nervous giggle when she made eye contact with her astonished father.

  Next came Kate, wearing the same red silk dress and hairstyle.

  Jack’s chest tightened, and for a second, he wondered if he was having a heart attack as he watched his daughters.

  Jamie laughed out loud when Jack whispered, “Holy Moses” as Jill came down the stairs.

  Jack would never forget Jamie’s reaction when he caught the first glimpse of Frannie at the top of the stairs. Her long auburn hair had been contained in the same elaborate style as the girls’, but hers included a diamond tiara that had been her maternal grandmother’s. She wore no veil, just a simple white silk dress. Like the girls’ dresses, it was sleeveless but was followed by an embroidered five-foot train. Frannie had said that since this was her one and only real wedding, she was wearing white. No one had dreamed of arguing with her.

  After more than half a lifetime spent wishing for this very moment, Frannie never took her eyes off her groom as her father delivered her to him.

  Watching his father join her hand with Jamie’s, Jack decided his sister had never looked more radiant.

  “You’re gorgeous,” Jamie whispered to his bride.

  “And you’re dashing.”

  Listening to them, Jack swallowed a lump in his throat, and the ceremony hadn’t even started yet.

  “Dearly beloved, we’re gathered this evening to join this man and this woman in
matrimony…” The judge said a few words about the bonds of marriage and then cut to the chase. “I think these two have waited long enough for this, don’t you?” He asked Jamie and Frannie to face each other.

  Frannie handed her bouquet of white roses to Jill and took hold of Jamie’s hands.

  The judge turned to the groom. “Jamie?”

  “I was all set until I saw you.” Jamie leaned his forehead against Frannie’s for a moment to collect himself. He released a long deep breath. “My mother waited forty-four years to get her only child married off, so I can’t blow it,” he said to laughter. “I met the girl of my dreams twenty-six years ago, and today I finally get to marry her.

  “I’ve spent my whole life running, and now I just want to be still. I want to be still with you, Frannie. I take you to be my wife, to be mine for the rest of my life, and I’ll spend every day making sure you’re never sorry you married a confirmed bachelor.”

  Frannie laughed through her tears. “I was seventeen when I met the boy of my dreams, and every man I’ve met since then has had the unfortunate luck to be measured against him and found lacking.” She squeezed Jamie’s hands. “It was always you, and it always will be. I take you as my husband, to be mine for the rest of my life, and I know I’ll never be sorry I married this confirmed bachelor.”

  A wave of laughter and tears swept through their guests.

  “Jack, may we have the rings, please?” the judge asked.

  Watching them exchange rings, Jack remembered his own wedding day nearly twenty years earlier. He thought of the vows he’d taken and never once broken—until recently. A cold sweat descended upon him. The wedding ceremony was a taunting reminder that he’d been unfaithful to his wife. He remembered Andi saying that he’d been so faithful to Clare, and even knowing the circumstances were extraordinary, he still felt sick. Scanning the audience, he found Andi watching him with concern etched into her pretty face, and he forced a smile for her.

  After the exchange of rings, Kate handed her bouquet to Maggie. She walked to where her guitar had been set up earlier next to a stool and microphone stand.

  If she was nervous, Jack couldn’t tell. Her voice was angelic as she sang John Lennon’s “Grow Old Along with Me.” By the time she sang the final note, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

  After Kate returned to her place between her sisters, the judge said, “By the power vested in me by the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, I pronounce you husband and wife. Jamie, you may kiss your bride.”

  He proceeded to do just that as the guests applauded.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to introduce for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jamie Booth.” The judge began another round of applause.

  Jamie took Frannie’s hand to lead her down the aisle.

  Jack escorted his daughters. “You guys look amazing.”

  “You were cracking us up with the faces you were making when we came in,” Jill said.

  “What faces?” he asked, making them laugh. “And Kate, I’m stunned. When did you get so good?”

  “I’ve been practicing.”

  “I guess so!”

  When they reached the back of the room, Kate was bombarded with compliments from her grandparents and other friends. Jamie and Frannie stood nearby to greet their guests as the crowd moved across the hall to the reception room.

  Jack spotted Andi and went over to her. “You’re beautiful,” he said with a kiss to her cheek.

  “So are you.” She reached up to smooth his hair and seemed to be curbing the urge to kiss him in front of everyone. “Everything all right? You went pale up there for a minute.”

  Amazed by how tuned in to him she always was, he smiled. “Everything’s fine.” He’d done all he could—and then some—for his wife. This was his time with Andi, and somehow he had to make peace with the past.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.” He reached down to scoop up Eric before the boy became lost in the sea of wedding guests. As one person after another said hello to Jack, he held Eric in his arms and introduced them.

  “I guess this is our grand debut,” he whispered to Andi.

  “Looks that way. Are you worried what people will think?”

  He shifted Eric to his hip and cocked an eyebrow at her. “Do I look worried?”

  Jamie had hired a band that played all the old standards, and the newlyweds danced to Sinatra’s “For Once in My Life.”

  The bandleader called the best man to the stage as the waiters circulated with another round of champagne.

  Jack took a glass and made his way to the front of the large room. He reached the microphone as a hush fell over the room. “I’ve got to be the luckiest guy in the world tonight,” he said. “My sister just married my best friend. What could be better than that?”

  The question received a thunderous round of applause.

  Jack cleared the emotion from his throat, hoping he could get through this without losing his composure. “I never could’ve imagined how a chance meeting in a dormitory stairwell in California would change my life and now my sister’s life, as well. You all know Jamie’s been our friend for more than twenty-five years. Since their engagement, a lot of you have asked if I saw this coming, and honestly, I’ve had to say no, I didn’t. But with hindsight, I should have. Jamie Booth is the best friend anyone could ever hope to have, and I’ve been so very lucky to call him my best friend for all these years. And Frannie, well…” Jack looked down for a moment when emotion threatened to derail him. “Frannie was my first best friend, and she always will be. Two of the finest people I know have taken the long way home to each other, and I couldn’t be more delighted that they’ve finally arrived. So please join me in raising your glasses to Jamie and Frannie.”

  “To Jamie and Frannie,” the guests chimed in with applause.

  Frannie was still dabbing at her eyes when Jack returned to their table.

  He kissed the bride and groom and then sat next to Andi, who was also wiping her eyes.

  “Perfect,” she said.

  He squeezed her hand under the table.

  After dinner, Jack was dancing with Andi when the bride and groom bumped into them.

  “Hey, get a room, will ya?” Jamie teased.

  “Look who’s talking,” Jack said. “You’re hogging the bride.” He held out a hand to his sister.

  “Go ahead, you two,” Andi said. “I’ll take care of the groom.”

  Jamie pouted as his wife made off with her brother.

  Jack kissed Frannie’s cheek. “You look stunning.”

  “You don’t look too bad yourself. Your toast was wonderful. Thank you.”

  “It’s a wonderful occasion—a once-in-a-lifetime kind of night.”

  She tilted her head back to look up at him. “I really missed Clare today.”

  “I’ve thought about her a lot lately, too. She would’ve loved this.” He shook his head. “Hard to believe our twentieth anniversary is next week.”

  “She’s always with us.”

  “Yes, she is,” Jack said. “Kate was amazing, wasn’t she?”

  “I couldn’t believe it! How did she sneak that by us?”

  “I guess we’ve both been a bit preoccupied lately.”

  They looked over to where Andi laughed as she danced with Jamie.

  “Just a bit. Andi looks gorgeous.”

  “She sure does, but no one can hold a candle to you tonight, Fran.” He hugged her when the song ended, and Jamie came to reclaim his wife.

  The wait staff circulated another round of champagne while Maggie and Eric passed out noisemakers and hats as the group counted down to midnight.

  At the stroke of midnight, the band launched into “Auld Lang Syne.”

  Jack lifted Andi off her feet as he kissed her. Noisemakers and confetti filled the air around them, but he heard none of it as he welcomed in the New Year with a new love and renewed hope for the future.

  Next to them, Jamie ki
ssed his bride. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said. They were leaving the next morning for two weeks in Fiji.

  They left in a vintage car Jack and the girls had decorated with “Just Married” signs and tin cans.

  Back inside, Jack was talking with the senior Booths when he heard the first notes of what had become his song with Andi. “Excuse me,” he said to Neil and Mary and went to find her.

  She was seated at a table with the three girls and Eric. They all had their shoes off, and Maggie had let her hair down at some point during the evening. Andi heard the song at the same instant Jack did and turned to look for him.

  He held out a hand to her, his heart racing as their eyes met and held. The guilt he’d experienced earlier was no match for the overwhelming love he felt for her.

  With a smile for the girls, who watched them intently, Andi reached out and took his hand.

  Chapter 17

  Knowing he couldn’t put off telling the girls his news any longer, Jack let them pick the breakfast place. That’s how he ended up at IHOP, which was, in fact, hopping on New Year’s Day.

  “I’ll miss you guys,” he said as they dug into four different kinds of pancakes. Clare’s mother, sister, brother, and their families were taking the girls on a weeklong cruise to the Caribbean. They’d invited Jack to go, but he couldn’t be away while Jamie was on his honeymoon.

  “We’ll miss you, too, Dad,” Maggie said, her mouth full of chocolate chip pancakes. “But it’s only a week.”

  “That’s a long time,” he said with a pout that made her giggle.

  “You’ve got Andi and Eric to keep you company for a few more days,” Kate said. She looked far too grown up sipping a cup of coffee.

  “That’s true.” Anxiety zipped through him when Kate gave him the perfect opening for what he needed to tell them. “Listen guys, about Andi and Eric…” He searched for the words he needed.

  “What about them?” Jill asked.

  “Well, you know Andi and I are very close.”

  “She’s your girlfriend,” Maggie said.

  “Yes, but she’s more than that.” He noticed Jill had stopped eating and was staring at him from across the table where she sat with Maggie. “I love her very much, and I want to be with her more than just every few weeks.”