Sweet Silver Bells

by Rochelle Alers

  Joseph had just thanked the remaining members of the flight crew when the door and trunk to a car parked on the tarmac opened. The driver opened the rear door and in under a minute Joseph and Crystal were seated in the rear of the heated sedan and their bags stored in the trunk.

  She stared out the side window. The snow was coming down faster. “How far is the cabin in the woods?”

  “Not too far.”

  Crystal watched the passing landscape through a curtain of falling snow as the driver maneuvered up a winding road, coming to a stop in front of a cabin surrounded by towering pine trees.

  Joseph helped her out and they sprinted to the front door, leaving the driver to follow with their bags. He unlocked the door, and a blast of warmth forced Crystal to take a backward step. “Nice!” The single word slipped out unbidden.

  She flipped a wall switch, and light from table lamps illuminated the space with a wood-burning stove, a leather sofa group, a love seat and club chairs with footstools. Rugs made of animal skin and fur covered the rustic wooden floor. She untied her snow boots, leaving them on the mat inside the door, then took off her jacket and hung it on a wall hook.

  Crystal took a quick tour of the cabin. She found a kitchen with a fully stocked refrigerator/freezer. It was rustic with the modern convenience of indoor plumbing. A king-size bed took up most of the space in the small bedroom. It’d been a long time since she’d shared a bed with Joseph, and she looked forward to falling asleep and waking up in his embrace. She’d been too overwhelmed caring for her father and her daughter to think about making love.

  Most nights when she went to bed she fell asleep within minutes of her head touching the pillow. Whenever Joseph’s body would innocently brush against hers, the urges she’d repressed surfaced. And once he told her he was taking her away, Crystal wasn’t certain whether he wanted to use the occasion for them to sleep together again, but this time she was prepared. She’d purchased a supply of condoms.

  Opening another door, she discovered a miniscule bathroom with a shower stall, vanity and commode.

  The last door at the rear of the cabin doubled as a woodshed, mudroom and laundry room. Heat, running water and electricity.

  Crystal had returned to the living/dining area when Joseph shouldered the door closed and set the bags down. He met her eyes. “Is it too primitive for you?”

  “It’s perfect. How did you find this place?”

  “It belongs to my parents.” Joseph didn’t see her jaw drop with his disclosure. “Dad pays someone to look after it when he’s not here. That’s why the fridge is full. My dad went to college and medical school in New England, where he’d learned to ski. One winter he came up here to ski and discovered he couldn’t get lodging because everything was booked up. So the next spring he bought this place. My mother doesn’t like cold-weather sports, so she hangs out here in the cabin while Dad’s on the slopes.”

  Crystal sat on a club chair, resting her sock-covered feet on the footstool. “Do you ski?”

  “No. And I have no interest in learning. What about you?”

  Crystal shook her head. “I don’t like being cold.”

  Sitting opposite her, Joseph gave Crystal a long, penetrating stare. “I don’t want you to think I brought you here because I want to seduce you.”

  “What should I think, Joseph?”

  “That I love you and I care what happens to you. I saw you wearing yourself down taking care of your father and our daughter. Maybe I’m selfish, but I need you and Merry needs you.”

  She lowered her eyes, staring at her clasped fingers. “What do you want, Joseph?”

  Joseph’s gaze lingered on the hair framing her lovely face. “I want you to learn to trust me. I’m no longer a stranger to you, so you should know that I’ll never deliberately break your heart.”

  “I’ve always trusted you.”

  “Did you really, Crystal? You were the one who said I wouldn’t believe that you were carrying my baby because we’d been separated for months.”

  “I suppose I underestimated you.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  She glared at him. “You don’t have to sound so smug.”

  “Smug or arrogant?” he teased.

  “Both,” she said, smiling. “But I wouldn’t have you any other way.” Crystal paused, knowing what she was going to tell Joseph would change her forever. “I love you, José Ibrahim Cole-Wilson. I love your subtle arrogance, your insufferable sense of entitlement, your generosity, your patience and the way you make me feel whenever we make love.”

  “I have a laundry list of why I love you, Crystal Riesa Eaton.”

  “How do you know my middle name?” She rarely used her middle name or even initial except on official documents.

  Joseph’s smile was as intimate as a kiss. “Your uncle told me.”

  “Which one?”

  “Solomon.” He had reunited with his mentor when Solomon came to visit his brother. Joseph and the jurist spent hours together discussing law. Solomon admitted he knew who’d fathered Merry the instant he saw her, but he respected his niece’s decision not to identify her daughter’s father.

  “Why would Uncle Solomon tell you my middle name?”

  “He alluded to our names on a marriage license, and when we do decide to marry, he wants the honor of officiating. He’s aware of the Cole family tradition of marrying on New Year’s Eve.”

  Crystal slumped back in the chair. “You want to marry?”

  Joseph shook his head. “No, Crystal. I don’t want to marry. I want to marry you.”

  Her eyelids fluttered. “You’re ready for marriage?”

  His whole face spread into a smile. “I was ready the first night you came to Club José for dinner.” He sobered. “I don’t know what there was about you that tied me up in knots, and I regretted ever giving you a choice as to where our relationship would lead. And I knew that what happens in Charleston stays in Charleston was nothing more than a boatload of BS, yet I went along with it because I didn’t want to do to you what my ex had done to me, and that is pressure you into doing something you didn’t or couldn’t do.”

  Crystal knew it was time to stop fooling herself into believing she didn’t want Joseph as a part of her life and future. She gave the man sitting across from her with his hands sandwiched between his denim-covered knees a direct stare. “Ask me, Joseph.”

  He blinked once. “Ask you what?”

  “Ask me to marry you.”

  His hands moved to his knees. “Don’t play with my head.”

  “I’m not playing. If you don’t ask me now, then the topic is moot, counselor.”

  Coming off the chair, Joseph went to his knees in front of Crystal. His eyes came up to meet hers. He held her hands in a gentle grip. “Crystal Riesa Eaton, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  Crystal smiled tentatively, knowing her response would change both of them forever. “Yes, José Ibrahim Cole-Wilson. I will marry you.”

  She didn’t have time to react when she found herself in Joseph’s arms, his mouth covering hers in an explosive kiss.

  * * *

  They would marry New Year’s Eve in West Palm Beach like Coles in the past. However, this wedding was certain to attract a lot of attention because it would join two of Florida’s most prominent families—the Eatons and the Coles.

  Epilogue

  Crystal, staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror on the closet door, didn’t believe she was about to become Mrs. Joseph Cole-Wilson. When she and Joseph informed their families they would marry on New Year’s Eve at the Cole family compound, Jasmine called a preeminent Miami wedding planner to coordinate what was to become the wedding of the season.

  Invitations were mailed to every Cole and Eaton, and as the acceptances
were received, the quandary as where to house their out-of-town guests became an exercise in logistics.

  All of the Coles had arrived on Christmas Eve in time for their annual weeklong family reunion, while the Eatons who’d reserved blocks of rooms in various West Palm Beach hotels arrived throughout the holiday week. They joined the many Coles the night before for a rehearsal dinner in the mansion’s grand ballroom.

  Two other images appeared in the mirror, and Crystal turned to find her mother and father dressed in their wedding finery as father and mother of the bride. Jasmine was stunning in a black-and-white-striped satin gown with long sleeves and a squared neckline. Raleigh looked very handsome in a black tuxedo, a white dress shirt and a black-and-white-striped silk tie.

  Crystal held her arms out at her sides. “How do I look?” She’d selected a platinum A-line Melissa Sweet silk duchesse satin gown with a sweep train and cap sleeves. Five-inch Christian Louboutin white satin pumps and a tulle cathedral-length veil secured in the chignon on the nape of her neck completed her wedding dress.

  Jasmine crossed her hands over her chest as she blinked back tears before they fell and ruined her makeup. She exhaled a soft gasp. “You look like an angel. Doesn’t she, Raleigh?”

  Raleigh crossed the room and took his daughter’s hands, bringing them to his mouth and kissing her fingers. “Yes, she does.” He checked his watch. “It’s time we head downstairs because we don’t want everyone to think you’re going to be a runaway bride.”

  Crystal smiled up at her father. He’d regained the healthy color in his face and his once dull hair was lustrously silver. A network of fine lines around his shiny dark eyes added rather than detracted from his middle-aged attractiveness. She’d thought herself blessed to have two parents that complemented each other in so many ways they’d sought to deny or ignore.

  She pressed her cheek to Raleigh’s clean-shaven one. “The only place I’m running tonight is into the arms of my husband.”

  Smiling, Raleigh winked at his daughter. “It’s hard to put into words, but I...I’m so proud of you, Crystal. I’m sure you learned from your parents how not to make the same mistakes we did. You and Joseph are marrying because you love each other, but it’s taken more than thirty years for your mother and me to face the truth that we belong together.”

  Crystal’s jaw dropped as she tried processing what she’d just heard. “You and Mother?”

  Jasmine crossed the room, her arms going around the waist of her daughter and ex-husband. “Your father says he likes living with me and we’ve decided to give it a trial run for a little while. And if we find out we like the arrangement, then maybe we’ll think about making it permanent.”

  Crystal’s hands and knees were shaking so much she feared she would collapse where she stood. If someone had told her having Raleigh convalescence at his ex-wife’s house would lead to reconciliation, she would’ve said they were liars.

  “This is the best wedding gift anyone could ever give me,” she said tearfully.

  “Come, darling,” Jasmine crooned. “I heard someone say Joseph has been pacing nonstop, wearing a hole in one of the rugs.”

  Looping her arms over her mother’s and father’s, Crystal walked out of the bedroom and down a hallway in the twenty-four-room mansion Samuel Claridge Cole had built for his Cuban-born wife and their children in 1928.

  Crystal walked into the sitting room amid the excited chatter of her bridesmaids. And in keeping with the holiday-themed colors of black and silver, six of the Eaton women wore black gowns in styles that flattered their bodies. The exception was Selena. As matron of honor her gown was shimmering silver. All wore feathered headpieces, which made them look like graceful black-and-gray swans. Their groomsmen counterparts were huddled together taking bets as to which college football teams would win the various bowl games taking place on New Year’s Day.

  Initially she only wanted one bridal attendant, but when Joseph revealed he’d chosen his former college roommate as his best man and also his brothers and three male cousins as groomsmen, Crystal knew she had to step up her game and solicit the participation of every thirtysomething Eaton woman, of whom two had married into the family. Angela Chase, of the Louisville, Kentucky, Chases, had become the latest Eaton woman when she married Dr. Levi Eaton in June.

  Raleigh cleared his throat, garnering everyone’s attention. There was a chorus of gasps and murmurs of approval from the assembly. “I told you she’d look like a model,” Selena crowed proudly. As the matron of honor, she’d assumed the responsibility of helping Crystal into her wedding attire.

  Raleigh stood straight. “It’s time we move into position. I want my daughter married before midnight. That way her husband can claim her as a dependent on this year’s tax return.” Those familiar with Raleigh Eaton’s gift for investing in profitable companies, which paid off handsomely for himself and his clients, laughed.

  Jasmine shook her head. “Spoken like a true financial planner.”

  The bridal party lined up as couples to process out of the house and through a door leading to the Japanese garden. Crystal was given the choice of exchanging vows in the Coles’ Japanese or English garden, and she’d chosen the former. And as promised, her uncle Solomon would do the officiating.

  From where she stood with her father, Crystal could hear the music of a string quartet coming through the many speakers set up around the twelve-acre property surrounded by tropical foliage, exotic gardens and the reflection of light sparkling off lake waters.

  Her knees began to shake and it must have been noticeable because Raleigh tightened his hold around her waist. “It’s all right, baby girl. It will be over before you know it.”

  Closing her eyes, Crystal relaxed as the music changed, segueing into the familiar strains of the “Wedding March.”

  Raleigh kissed his daughter’s hair. “That’s our cue.”

  Crystal felt as if she were a spectator instead of the center attraction when she proceeded over the stone path to where Joseph stood with Frank Lynch.

  Joseph, like all of the Cole men, had continued another tradition: they all sported white neckpieces. She smiled at Merry, who’d fallen asleep in Raquel’s arms. It was well past her bedtime and only the children over the age of sixteen were permitted to stay up beyond the mandated one o’clock curfew. Joseph had explained that the in-ground pool was covered because the younger children had a habit of jumping into the pool—fully clothed.

  The weather was perfect for an outdoor nighttime gathering. Daytime temperatures, topping out close to ninety, had dropped to a balmy seventy-eight with a light breeze coming off the water. A full moon and a clear sky littered with millions of stars silvered the landscape with light.

  Joseph stared numbly at the woman moving closer and closer like a vision in a dream. He’d felt himself in suspended animation from the time he slipped the engagement ring on Crystal’s finger once they’d returned from New York until less than an hour ago when he began dressing for his wedding. Whenever he woke to find her beside him, he realized the woman in his bed was one he’d willingly give up his life to protect.

  “Who gives this woman in marriage?” asked Solomon, his sonorous voice carrying easily in the still of the night.

  Raleigh smiled at his brother. “I do.” He placed Crystal’s hand in Joseph’s and then stepped back to sit beside Jasmine.

  Judge Solomon Eaton nodded to his former clerk. “Do you, José, take Crystal to be your wife, to love, honor and cherish from this day forth?”

  Joseph stared into Crystal’s eyes. “I do.”

  Solomon turned to his niece. “Do you, Crystal, take José, to be your husband, to love, honor and cherish from this day forth?”

  She smiled. “I do.”

  Solomon placed his hands over their clasped hands after they’d exchanged rings. “As you’ve pledged yourselves each
to the other, I do now, by the virtue of the authority vested in me by the state of Florida, pronounce your husband and wife for as long as you both shall live. José, you may kiss your bride.”

  Joseph dipped Crystal low, kissing her passionately to thunderous applause and wolf whistles. “That’s how we Coles do it, baby,” he whispered against her lips, easing her upright.

  A warming heat filled her chest and face. “You’ll pay for that, mi amor,” she teased with a wide grin. Seconds later fireworks lit up the sky in brilliant color, signaling the beginning of a new year.

  Amid a shower of rice, birdseed and flower petals, Joseph and his wife traversed the stone path to a footbridge, where they posed with attendants and family members for wedding pictures and then stood in a receiving line greeting everyone who’d come to celebrate their new life together.

  It seemed like an eternity before Crystal was seated at the bridal table with the rest of the wedding party. Guests who were served hors d’oeuvres during the cocktail hour took their seats for the champagne toast offered by Frank Lynch. Raleigh and Selena also offered passionate toasts.

  The live Latin band alternated with the DJ for nonstop music throughout the night. Joseph and Crystal shared their first dance as husband and wife, dancing to the Flamingos doo-wop classic “I Only Have Eyes for You.”

  Crystal danced with her father while Joseph spun Raquel over the dance floor in a spirited salsa. The pulsing Latin rhythms set the stage for a night of unrestrained merriment. Members of the waitstaff and a dozen bartenders circulated efficiently, serving and mixing drinks for nearly three hundred guests. Those of questionable age requesting alcoholic beverages were carded to ascertain whether they were of legal age to drink.

  At exactly one o’clock, all those under sixteen were ushered into the house, but not without them protesting loudly.

  It was close to four in the morning when Joseph’s teenage female cousins crowded around the DJ. The year before, their male cousins had put on an impromptu show during Jason and Greer Cole’s reception, stripping down to their boxer-briefs and gyrating à la Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike to Rihanna’s “We Found Love.”