The Coach House

by Florence Osmund

  “What’s that?”

  “You were about to tell me that you haven’t felt this way in a long time, and then you changed it to you’ve never felt this way before.”

  “I meant it.”

  “You’ve never been in love before?”

  “Not like this.”

  “What makes this different?”

  He straightened his posture. “I’m twenty-five-years-old, Marie. I’ve dated a lot of girls, and I’m here to tell you that I thought I loved just about every one of them.” She closely watched his expression change. “And then, without fail, something would go wrong. It could have been the smallest thing, but it was always enough for me to break it off, and then when I looked back, I knew I never really loved her in the first place.”

  “Even Carmela?”

  He thought for brief moment. “Especially Carmela.”

  He grabbed her gently by the arms and wrestled with her until she fell back onto the sofa, her head landing softly on a throw pillow. “I love you, Marie, and it doesn’t matter what happened between me and anyone else.” He kissed her, and then he kissed her again and again, light wispy kisses that barely touched her lips. The sensation was electric, sending her to some other universe.

  “Richard.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  “There are things we need to talk about before we get married.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, children, for starters.”

  Richard turned on the radio and found a station playing Jo Stafford songs.

  Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

  And so I come to you my love my heart above my head

  They talked about children, how many they would have, and in what religion they would be raised.

  Though I see the danger there if there’s a chance for me then I don’t care

  Fools rush in where wise men never go

  “I checked out some homes in Lakeview,” he told her.

  He did what? She frowned at him.

  “What’s wrong? You don’t like Lakeview?”

  But wise men never fall in love so how are they to know

  When we met I felt my life begin so open up your heart and let this fool rush in

  “You checked out houses…for us?”

  “Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Well…I just think it’s interesting that you’re so much farther ahead than I am in this relationship.”

  He was quiet for several seconds. “You’re upset with me, aren’t you?”

  “No, I’m not upset. It’s just…well, please don’t forget I’m the other singer in this duet.”

  “Okay, you made your point.” He leaned over for a kiss. “How about if we go for a drive tomorrow? To Lakeview.”

  Just open up your heart and let this fool rush in

  Well open up your heart and let this fool rush in

  They talked about finances, work, vacations, and weekend getaways. Being more of a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy, Marie sensed Richard’s growing impatience with all the planning talk.

  “Is that it?” he finally asked. “Do you have any more questions, my dear?”

  “Just one. Is there any history of mental illness in your family…Mortimer?”

  He scooted close to her and gave her a hug, then pulled her in closer. “That was your last question.” He led her into the bedroom. After they made love, when they were still breathless, Richard suggested they get married the following month.

  Marie sat up in bed. “Richard,” she began. “I’m having a hard time keeping up with you. It’s like you’re going sixty miles an hour, and I’m only going forty-five. I think we should wait another few months or so… at least.”

  He sat up. “Why wait?”

  She thought for a moment. “Because I feel we’re only halfway there in our relationship.”

  “You may only be halfway there. I’m all the way there.”

  She looked at him. “How do you know? What makes you so sure I’m the one?”

  “I just know.” He kissed her on the nose. “Let’s split the difference and do it the middle of February.”

  She couldn’t help but smile. The truth was that she really was more than halfway there, but she didn’t want him to know it. “I don’t know. It still seems too soon. Besides, I don’t even know yet if you’re a good enough lover for me.” She tried to keep a straight face but couldn’t.

  He rolled over on top of her and kissed her. Her heart began to race. She wrapped her legs around his hips. Then he rolled back to his side of the bed pulling her on top of him. He took her hands and clasped his fingers around hers, locking their hands palm to palm. He stretched her arms out to her sides. Her breasts dangled above his chest, her nipples barely brushing up against his chest hair. He explored her body with his hands, then his mouth, his breath hot against her skin, until both their bodies pulsated with excitement. When it was over, her body dissolved beneath him.

  “Middle of February, then?” he sighed when they were done.

  “Okay.”

  That night, like many nights to follow, they fell asleep holding hands, fingers interlaced.

  * * *

  They spent their first New Year’s Eve together in New York, six weeks before their wedding. He surprised her with two nights at the Algonquin and tickets to see Carousel.

  The winter sun warmed their faces as they walked down Fifth Avenue. They stopped in a small boutique dress shop where Marie flipped through the dresses to see how they compared to what Marshall Field’s carried. Richard purchased a silk scarf for her that he thought would go nicely with her blue silk dress, the one she had worn the first day they met, his favorite dress. They returned to their hotel in time to get ready for the show.

  It was an elegant theater, with mile-high painted ceilings and tremendous columns adorned with gold leaf medallions. The seats were covered in red velvet fabric that matched the enormous curtain that was pulled across the stage. They had box seats.

  Carousel lived up to everything they thought it would be.

  You’re a queer one, Julie Jordan,

  You won’t ever tell a body what you think.

  You’re as tight-lipped as an oyster,

  And as silent as an old Sahara spink!

  Marie smiled at the song lyrics. Richard had called her tight-lipped once when she didn’t want to talk about something that had happened at work. She hoped he didn’t think of her as ‘tight-lipped as an oyster.’

  Richard reached over and took Marie’s hand in his when the two main characters decided to get married. Her thoughts drifted to her own wedding plans.

  If I loved you,

  Time and again I would try to say

  All I’d want you to know.

  If I loved you,

  Words wouldn’t come in an easy way

  Round in circles I’d go!

  During the second act, they watched Julie and Billy grow within their relationship. But when Julie became pregnant, the relationship took a turn.

  June is bustin’ out all over

  All over the meadow and the hill!

  Then Julie began to see a side of Billy that she didn’t like. He got caught up in illegal activities and was arrested. Not able to handle being locked up, he committed suicide. Marie tensed up as she compared the couple in the play to own situation with Richard. She concentrated hard on what was happening on the stage to keep her mind from going too far with the few suspicious incidents involving Richard.

  When you walk through a storm

  Hold your head up high

  You could hear outright sobbing in the audience. Richard didn’t appear to be affected by the emotion of the scene and song, but Marie continued to wipe tears from her eyes until the act was over.

  “I can’t imagine how this is going to end,” she said to Richard during the second intermission. “It can’t get much sadder.”

  “Remember, it’s just a musical, sweetheart.”

  The next morni
ng they left the hotel early and went out for breakfast at the Waldorf Astoria. Still decorated for Christmas, it was a sight to see with its fifty-foot Christmas tree in the center of the lobby, twinkling lights everywhere, and hundreds of monstrous poinsettias scattered about. Then they took a taxi over to Macy’s Department Store so Marie could check out their window displays and Christmas decorations.

  “I’m probably just a little biased, but I think we do a better job,” she observed.

  “What’s that fragrance?” Richard asked her when they neared one of the cosmetic counters.

  Marie inhaled. “There’s such a mix of scents here, I can’t tell.”

  He asked the woman behind the counter what it was he smelled. She waved a tester under his nose. “No, that’s not it.” She waved another one. “No, that’s not it, either.” She tried a third one. “That’s it! What is that scent?”

  “You have fine taste, monsieur. This is Caron Narcisse Noir. A timeless French fragrance.”

  He took the tester and waved it under Marie’s nose. “Do you like it?”

  “I do.” She smelled it again. “Yes, very nice.”

  “I’ll take it,” he said, not bothering to ask the price.

  “That will be $49.50.”

  Marie hoped he didn’t hear her gasp at the price. It was more than she typically spent on groceries in a month.

  He held out his arm for her to take. “You’re going to spoil me, you know that.”

  “Gee, I hope so.”

  They returned to the hotel and ordered room service for an early dinner. Finished by seven o’clock, Richard suggested they rest, maybe even take a nap before going out to Times Square for the midnight festivities. Marie took a quick shower, and when she came out of the bathroom, Richard was already in bed, the sheet pulled up to his waist. He leaned on his elbow with his head propped up with his hand.

  “What have you got on under there?”

  He smiled a mischievous smile. “Nothing.”

  She faced him and slowly let her robe drop to the floor, allowing him to see her entire naked body in full light, something she had never done before. She felt a sudden rush flow through her body as the robe dropped. His gaze commenced at her breasts, his stare enough to make her nipples peak. His eyes ventured further down her body to her small waist and curvaceous hips and then to the triangular mound of hair between her legs. He studied her thighs and then down the rest of her legs. Then his gaze lazily traveled back up her body until their eyes met.

  Richard pulled back the sheets to reveal his own naked body and hard masculinity, inviting her in. They held each other momentarily, voices silent, their bodies as close as two bodies could be.

  “Do you want to know how many times I have fantasized about that?” he breathed.

  * * *

  By the time Marie and Richard arrived in Times Square, thousands of people had already gathered, making it next to impossible to get close to 42nd and Broadway where the ball would be dropped. The entire area pulsated with excitement.

  At eleven o’clock floodlights lit up the Times building, and a band played a variety of seasonal songs. Marie and Richard huddled up with each other in the thirty-degree temperature, the cold air occasionally ripping into their faces when there was a slight break in the crowd.

  The band started playing “Auld Lang Syne.” People in the crowd, including Marie and Richard, joined in the chorus.

  As they were singing the chorus for what seemed like the hundredth time, the heavy iron ball started to drop, the spotlights on it making it appear weightless. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,” the crowd shouted. Children screamed and danced in the street. “Five, four, three, two, one!” Richard gave Marie a bear hug and a firm kiss while forty million pieces of ticker tape and confetti were released from windows high above the crowd. The band continued to play, but it could not be heard above the shouts and laughter.

  Richard took Marie by the shoulders and kissed her hard on the lips. “Happy New Year, sweetheart,” he said trying to be heard. “I love you!”

  “I love you, too!” Marie yelled.

  He grabbed Marie by the arm. “Let’s get out of here!” They pushed their way through the tightly packed crowd. When they finally reached the outskirts, they were both out of breath. They headed toward the hotel, arms wrapped around each other. Revelers were everywhere, blowing horns, shouting “Happy New Year!” and carrying on like it was the last New Year they would ever see.

  It was two in the morning when they finally reached their hotel, and Marie and Richard were exhausted. “What time is our flight tomorrow?” she asked him.

  “One thirty. I thought we could sleep in, have room service for breakfast, and stick around the hotel until we have to leave for the airport.” He pulled her to him and kissed her. “What do you think of that, Mrs. Marchetti?”

  She pulled her upper body away from him and smiled in his face. “Mrs. Marchetti. Hey, I like the sound of that!”

  * * *

  Back in Chicago, Mr. Steinberg had been ready for Marie and Richard when they arrived in his jewelry store the following Saturday. After the usual introductions, the jeweler pulled out a tray of diamond rings, all of similar size. “Let’s start with these. I have more if you don’t see anything you like.”

  They spent an hour looking at rings and finally chose the first one she had tried on: a two carat Emerald cut stone. Afterward they walked hand in hand down State Street to Marshall Field’s, where they stopped at each Christmas window display along the way. The air was cool and crisp and filled with the voices of shoppers. Mothers and fathers with their children watched Snow White with eager faces and giggled at the comical animation of the seven dwarfs while Snow White cleaned their house.

  “Can you name them?” Richard asked her.

  “Are you kidding? After spending the night with them, I feel like I’m Snow White!”

  * * *

  Richard and Marie moved into their new home the week before their wedding. In bed that first night, they talked about what needed to take place during the week leading up to their wedding. He held her with one arm as they talked and with the other played with her hair and stroked her cheek. He kissed her neck and then kissed his way down her body, including in all the most intimate places, but continued talking in between kisses as though nothing else was going on. Waves of sensation ran through her like a river as he kissed her breasts. He explored the curves of her hips and when he found the sweet spot between her thighs, she let out a soft murmur of contentment to let him know her body ached for him.

  She slid her fingers around his manhood, and he responded with a breathy, “More.” They continued with their conversation right up to the end until neither one had enough air in their lungs to say anything else. Afterward, lying there beside him, Marie felt like nothing could ever come between them.

  * * *

  They met in the judge’s chambers in Crown Point at five o’clock on Friday, February 15, 1946. The ceremony was simple and over in about five minutes. Marie wore a teal knee-length suit and matching pill-box hat. Richard wore a steel grey double-breasted pinstriped suit, light grey shirt, and a wide tie with stripes in shades of grey.

  That night as she lay in bed, Marie convinced herself she had done the right thing. The thought of being Mrs. Richard Marchetti was exciting, but the thought of creating a family with him was even more promising.

  * * *

  The newly wedded Marchettis returned from their Hawaiian honeymoon tanned, rested, and very much in love. They spent seven carefree days thinking about not much more than each other. Seven days of swimming, shopping, and lying on the beach. Seven incomparable sunsets and long moonlit walks in the salty ocean air. And seven days of blissful sex.

  They swam in the ocean, challenged by the strong waves. When the waves became more than Marie could handle, Richard took her in his arms and carried her to shore. Then they rested in the lounge chairs for a while, drank tropical drinks, and talked about everything
and nothing before going back for more frolicking in the water.

  On the last morning of their stay Marie woke up alone in their bed. She found Richard drinking a cup of coffee on their private patio. She followed the direction of his gaze far out into the ocean and decided not to disturb him. She picked up a piece of paper he must have dropped. On it was written a phone number: RF4-1609. She wasn’t familiar with the RF4 telephone exchange. Thinking nothing of it, she stuffed it in her robe pocket.

  CHAPTER 7

  Virtues and Faults

  Marie tried to put Capone’s funeral out of her mind, but it wasn’t easy when every few days, Richard did or said something that made her suspicious of his activities. She tried to concentrate on each incident by itself, because each one by itself wasn’t bothersome. It was the sum of all the little parts adding up to something shady that she didn’t want to think about. She tried to concentrate on Richard’s virtues whenever her mind drifted over to his not-so-virtuous side.

  On their one-year wedding anniversary, Marie and Richard attended a Mardi Gras party at Rosa’s. It wouldn’t have been Marie’s first choice, but Richard’s behavior lately had been nothing short of contentious, and Marie didn’t want to upset him even more by suggesting an alternate venue.

  Richard was his usual congenial self, going from one end of the bar area after another, talking to everyone he knew, which was almost everyone. But he wasn’t his usual attentive self toward Marie. She was left to spend her time with the other wives and girlfriends.

  Richard had been talking with the same man in the corner of the bar for more than ten minutes. The man’s eyes darted around the room every so often, but the rest of the time he faced Richard with an intense face. He looked familiar to Marie, but she couldn’t place him. Grey haired, thin lips, narrow in the jaw, and a flawless complexion, he was older than most of the other men she had seen with Richard.