"Man, I thought the big guy was a goner," said Moll, as the reality of what had happened washed over him. "I always viewed him as like immortal."
Mathew nodded, his heart still aching from the horrifying sight of Steve totally gone, sprawled on the floor. He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer of thanks. He was so relieved that their business with the Fuentes was over. They would switch back into the van and then proceed to the hospital in Santa Fe. Mathew leaned his head back against the jump seat feeling hope and joy seep into him. It might be all wrong to be part of killing two perps and then drink champagne afterward, but that was exactly what he intended to do once Steve was settled in the hospital.
***
Two days later, Mathew was again sitting in a hospital room waiting for Steve to wake up. This time it was okay, since Steve would be released around noon after having a myriad of tests run on him the day before. Ivy sat by Steve's bed holding his hand. Lenny sat in the corner, gun out. The two of them had spent two nights there, refusing to leave Steve even though he was probably out of danger. Lenny blamed himself that Steve pushed past him and had been shot. In atonement, he planned to stay at the farm for a couple of months in case some belated goon squad showed up.
Steve would have a painful chest for some time but his heart was beating steady and strong, although he did seem tired. Mathew had seen to it that they were packed and ready to fly out for home. The Bubird was scheduled for 2:00 p.m. to take them back to Portland, with the lead medic from the Fuentes operation riding with them.
Chapter 26
Life became a blur of activity after the trip to Santa Fe. Even so, Ivy could still see Steve lying inert on the floor with the Fuentes brothers sprawled dead behind him. She had only glimpsed the Fuentes faces -- two nice looking men who chose a life of underworld power, profit and ultimate ruin. Eduardo, who Ivy thought was the brains of the operation, or El Astuto as he called himself, was almost ghostlike with his pale skin that never saw the sun. The way the whole house had been tightly shuttered and draped made Ivy wonder if he ever opened windows or went outside -- perhaps he did at night when he would feel less risk of detection.
They moved into their new home as soon as it had its Certificate of Occupancy. Mathew returned the rented trailers except one that Lenny commandeered, which they moved inside the barn for added shelter. Even though Steve still had pain and fading bruising, he insisted he was fit for their wedding, celebratory party and honeymoon. Their days were devoted to unpacking and setting up the new house and then decorating it for the holidays. Mathew worked with them daily on the house. Moll and Brian split their time between helping with the party preparations and getting ready for the startup of their first banking client at the beginning of 2014. Their contract was in place and they received an advance sample of the client’s data to test out.
Fred moved with his family back to their home in nearby Dayton, although he worked at Spook Hills most days. He chose to live at home at least until his father, who so far remained sober, found steady employment. Ivy hired his mother to come to Spook Hills weekly to keep the house sparkling. With a ready smile like her son’s, quiet demeanor and attention to detail, she was a welcome weekly addition to Spook Hills.
Ivy sent out the invitations for their party the day after they flew in from Santa Fe. The acceptance rate was surprisingly high for the holiday season, both among Ivy's old friends and business associates and among their neighbors here in the wine country. Mathew helped her with a list of agents who Steve worked with over the years and most of them accepted as well.
They decorated the house with Ivy’s evergreen trees placing one large one downstairs in the games room, small ones in the library and Mathew's rooms, a full size one in the upstairs living room, a tall whimsical one in their bedroom and a small one in the kitchen. Two days before the party, they added fresh greens and holly, festooning the mantels, doors, and tables. Ivy had the stairway bedecked with holly and magnolia garlands, making them come alive with fluttering red and gold bows and flameless ivory candles flickering on each newel post.
Outside they placed little white lights on the garden walls, the square boxwood topiaries, the spruce tree, and at Steve's insistence, another live blue spruce was delivered for front of the house, which they planted and then decorated with the same white lights and with a star on top. He surprised Ivy by placing an angel sculpture on the roof deck with a halo of soft blue lights and a hidden spotlight to remind them to look out for each other.
Finally they reached the eve of their wedding and party. Ivy rechecked the plan for the day. Their civil ceremony was scheduled for eleven the next morning. The caterer was due to arrive around noon to set up for their guests. Steve wanted certain specialties as part of the appetizers: three types of savory Ebelskivers made fresh at station in the upper and lower living rooms and what he called Smørbørd, which consisted of open-faced Norwegian sandwiches with a base of Grovbrød, a whole wheat Norwegian bread. He also asked for a tray of Norwegian caraway-flavored Akevitt served the way it was traditionally, at room temperature and in tulip-shaped glasses.
Sometime when the party would be in full swing, Mathew offered to lead a champagne toast to Steve and Ivy. He had a surprise planned, but he was not even letting Ivy in on it. Ivy knew she was lucky that it was Mathew planning the surprise. If it were Moll, anything might happen -- he might set off an exploding Santa Claus on the rooftop deck. Moll surprised Ivy during this time by following her around to learn the way she did things and asking innumerable questions about even mundane tasks like setting the table. He handled the setup of all the white linen draped mini tables tucked in corners around the house for their guests to enjoy an informal, yet filling dinner of lemon chicken, asparagus, and a creamy stacked potato dish called Dauphinoise. For dessert, the caterer was making a tower of white, milk and dark chocolate truffles.
Ivy’s emerald green dress shimmered sleekly around her, just as she had envisioned. In the master bedroom, she had a long silky nightgown in pale blue to wear on their wedding night. Due to Steve's injuries, they had been sleeping chastely together, but she hoped Steve would feel up to changing that soon. By this time the next day, she would be Ivy Littleton Nielsen. While the road to this occasion has been more rough than long, she hoped that now she could grow the relationship she started with Steve, a man of wonder and character. He filled her with love and kept her life elevated out of the ordinary. What fun they expected to have growing old together here in this house, working with Mathew on their vineyard and traveling as the mood hit them.
***
The next afternoon, Steve looked himself in the eye as he neatly worked the knot into his black tie. Following the short civil ceremony late that morning, he was now a blissfully happy, married man. He found he was smiling without meaning to and humming along with the Christmas tunes Ivy had on the CD player. For a time, he feared their wedding day would have to be postponed. They did get it all together, thanks to Ivy's careful planning and a few stars aligning for them. Even with his chest feeling like it had been blown open and stitched back together with a crochet hook, he helped where he could – arranging things in drawers, unpacking what seemed like thousands of ornaments, testing lights, setting up timers and doing the easier decorating. They worked as a team to have everything ready for what he hoped would be a stupendous party that afternoon. The house glowed spectacularly the way Ivy adorned it both inside and out with all those little white lights.
He stopped for a moment to think. They had a house that was quickly becoming a home! Every now and then he would stop in one room or the other and marvel at the house he had designed and Ivy had decorated. As much as he was looking forward to their honeymoon trip, he was eagerly anticipating settling into this home with Ivy.
Luckily the weather cooperated for December with only a light mist that softened the glow of the lights as night drew on. In addition to decorating shrubs and trees, Ivy had Fred lay out nets of lights flat on the patio to give what
Mathew called a "mille fleur" effect as the day darkened into evening. Steve half expected to see a wood sprite flittering around out in the gardens, it was so otherworldly out there. Ivy clapped her hands in delight when she saw the angel sculpture he had placed on the roof deck, with its crown of blue lights. This transition was bringing out hidden parts of him -- enjoying decorating for the holidays, for example. Who would have thought he would be sneaking out to buy an angel sculpture or a big blue spruce tree to decorate?
Mathew had been his best man that morning in their private civil ceremony at the house, with Moll, Brian and Lenny serving as witnesses. After it, they toasted with champagne and ate a light lunch the caterer had prepared, and then they went off to change for the party. Steve was going to surprise Ivy by wearing black tie. They say men are their best in formal attire and he wanted to appear as good new husband material. He knew he was not a handsome man, but he wanted to look his best for Ivy.
A few minutes ago, she had given him a heavy gold bracelet as a wedding present, which actually fit around his big wrist. On the back of the clasp was an engraving of twining ivy. Luckily for him, she found the heart bracelet he gave her adorable and put it on immediately, letting the rubies wink seductively against her silken green dress. Steve was glad the revealing dress came with that wrap she slid on, because it definitely showed more of her assets than he wanted their guests to see. Jeez Nielsen, he chided himself. Let her show off, for chrissakes. He grinned at himself in the mirror, delighted by the loveliness of his new wife. It had taken over 60 years to get here, making their relationship all the more amazing.
***
Twenty additional agents, retired and active, who Steve had worked with over the years, arrived en masse about an hour before the other guests so Steve would have time to talk with them. Fifteen minutes after their arrival, a long, black limo came up the drive. Steve looked over at Mathew questioningly, but all he did was shrug his shoulders and head to open the front door.
Mathew had arranged for the now former FBI Director, aka the Chief, to fly out for the reception. When two black-suited men and a somberly dressed woman showed up at the front door, all the color left Ivy's face. She seemed to think they were going to open fire or carry Steve off or something dreadful. They filed in with the Chief in the middle. He shook a surprised Steve's hand and kissed Ivy on the cheek, then led their second wedding toast -- the only nod to the wedding Ivy would allow at the party. Mathew had a short speech prepared and then the Director spoke for about ten minutes.
All the FBI agents, retired, inactive and active, lined up in a big semi-circle for the toast in the living room. The ceremony made Steve so touched that tears welled up in his eyes. The Chief used the occasion to present each agent, retired and active, who participated in the Fuentes case sting with special FBI recognition, ending with giving a public service award to Fred for his role in the Spook Hills sting, awing both Fred and his family.
The Chief stayed long enough to sip his champagne, try a glass of Akevitt, eat some food and speak to each of the agents. Overall he was with them for just over an hour, but what an hour! He commended Steve on his career and praised him for the recent success on the Fuentes case. Now Steve felt that he was truly retired from the Bureau and free for the future with his amazing new wife. While the first hour would remain imprinted on Steve's memory, the celebration continued until eight that evening, when Ivy closed the door on the final guest, flung herself down on the couch and flipped her shoes off, gratefully taking a glass of ice water.
Both of them were too tired to do justice to their new bedroom that night (and one of them might have had too much Akevitt), but they made up for it in the days following. Steve found it to be a wonder every time he made love with Ivy that she could be happy with him. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his days ensuring that her life with him would make her glad to wake up each morning.
The three of them were to leave for London the following Thursday. Mathew would spend Christmas with Ivy and Steve at a fancy country manor in the Cotswolds and then he would travel on to Burgundy for wine tasting and learning in that great region, visiting large and small producers. They planned to meet up again in Florence for the New Year celebrations and then Ivy and Steve expected to spend a couple of weeks drifting around Italy, before returning home in mid-January. Steve was happily anticipating this time with Ivy, playing tourist and living his life as fully as he could. Next summer he wanted to take a long trip to Norway to learn more about his heritage and meet up with the remaining relatives he had over there. He hoped Ivy would enjoy that journey with him as he reached back to find more of himself.
Finally Steve was confident that he was progressing down the path of positive answers to those three questions that had previously made him feel so empty: 'In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?' He had found his heart and he was more in touch with his soul. Yes, this was a time of personal growth. He closed his eyes and made a wish for the future.
'Ivy, my Ivy, keep me whole, keep me sane, and keep me happy.
You are my center, my life.'
Epilogue
The Cotswolds, December 24th, 2013
To Ivy & Steve, In Celebration of Your First Christmas Together
I am so thankful that you wanted me to join you in celebrating your first Christmas as a married couple! Here we are at this wonderful manor house that is both relaxed and formal in that distinctive style the English have. I could be a character in the Downton Abbey series, having dressed for dinner and enjoying a glass of bubbly in the lounge.
Ivy and Steve, you remain my inspiration. Today we give you this tribute -- a collection of photographs from your wedding day. Moll, Brian, Fred and I took them as the day progressed. We worked last week to assemble an electronic photo album to mark your wondrous occasion. Intertwined in this volume, you will find shots of Spook Hills, the vineyard in its first year, your house under construction, and more Christmas lights than the North Pole. We hope that this compendium will give you lasting joy and that it will be but the first recorded chapter of your lives together. Perhaps one day, Brian, Moll and I may each have reasons to start our own volumes.
As for me, I must rely on your friendship while I venture out, take risks and hope that I can find a love as strong and shimmering as yours. During my search, may your lives at Spook Hills and on your travels be joyous and fulfilling. I look forward to finding a woman to make those parties up in the little walnut grove a foursome, as we launch our own great love.
Until that time, I remain your "star boarder" and honorary son. You will always be my inspiration and my life guides.
Eis quos amo, "For those that I love"
Mathew E. Heylen
The End
Old Growth & Ivy (The Spook Hills Trilogy Book 1) Page 30
