“Uh-huh. And even more than I'd planned. Your father's one terrific guy, Nessie. And he keeps getting more terrific all the time.”
She was tempted to ask him exactly what Eldon had said, but her better judgment held her back. Lowell's widening grin, the look of tranquility illuminating his face, told her all she needed to know. At long last, Lowell had learned how to let go of his guilt.
He caught her hand. “Nessie?”
“Yes?”
“Could we go somewhere? Just you and I?”
“But why?”
“You'll see.” He tightened his grip. “Just come.”
In a rooftop garden just off the fifth floor, a garden with lush greenery and fountains and roses the texture of velvet, Vanessa and Lowell sat talking.
“I love you, Nessie,” he said without preamble, turning to fix his gaze on hers. “I can't believe I'm hearing myself say this...but I am...and it feels terrific.”
At the sound of his words, her stomach knotted. “Please, Lowell. Please don't say it, just because I said it to you.” She withdrew her hand from his, fearing where their conversation might be leading. “If what you really want to tell me is good-bye again, please just do it and get it over with.”
He turned and faced her, his dark blue eyes imploring. The sunlight glinted off his wheat-colored hair as the heady fragrance of the roses wafted about them. “I'm not trying to tell you good-bye. At least not if it's left up to me. Please just give me a chance to explain.”
She nodded, too choked up for words. How could she refuse him? How--when she loved him more than she ever dreamed possible?
“As you know, when I first came to the lodge, I was in a bad way,” he began, his voice ragged. “Then you came along and complicated my life even further. I knew from the first moment I saw you again, I wanted to make you mine. But loving you, knowing I couldn't offer you any solid future, a future for the kids we might have some day, just about tore my gut in two.”
“No wonder,” she replied, holding his gaze. “No wonder after what you've been through.”
“Then last week when I needed to talk to Morrison and you hurried to meet Carmen...it seemed to me we'd come to a crossroads, each of us responding to our own separate work in our own separate ways. For me, that day, the gap between us grew even wider--and that's when I knew I finally had to tell you what happened back in L.A. I decided once and for all--or so I thought--I was the wrong man to be your husband...and the father of your children. I simply wasn't ready to take any more risks, Nessie. That was the bottom line.”
“And neither was I,” she reminded him. “At least, not at first. You represented to me everything that spelled danger--and loss. And I wasn't ready to open myself to that pain again, especially with Dad's fate still hanging in the balance.”
“Yes,”--one corner of his mouth quirked--“you made that quite clear. So what changed your mind?”
“Something happened that afternoon we went sailing.” She sighed deeply, unexpectedly cleansed by the sound of her own confession. “Though I'd been fighting the temptation to fall in love with you, I knew I couldn't fight it any longer. Maybe it was that romantic picnic lunch you prepared or going back again to Iffleman Island or building the sandcastle and watching it wash away.” She paused, darting him a smile. “Or maybe it was your kisses. Maybe it was all those things.”
His eyes caressed her with a teasing awareness. “So I was that irresistible, huh?”
“Yes.” She chuckled. “Oh, yes. But I tried to kid myself that my feelings for you were nothing but an illusion, as temporary as that beautiful day itself. Still, my love for you kept growing...and...and I simply couldn't hold back telling you--.”
“Ah, Nessie.” Before she could utter one more word, he'd gathered her in his arms, his lips crushing hers. “I do love you so,” he said huskily, finally releasing her. “Believe me. I want this to be a new beginning, not a good-bye. I'm ready to risk again. I'm ready to move on.”
“And I think we've both discovered that without risks, there is no living,” she replied softly.
He turned, cupped her face in his large hands and planted a quick peck on the tip of her nose. “Without you, darling, there is no living. Will you marry me, Nessie? Will you say yes?” Dropping his hands, his words spilled out in a torrent of emotion. “We can find a nice little place somewhere in Seattle--half way between the university and the wildlife headquarters. And while each morning, we'll go our separate ways, we'll have each other to come home to. As often as we can, we'll bring our kids back to the islands. We'll show them how to build sandcastles and dig for clams and go fishing and sailing.”
“Oh, Lowell, I love you so much.”
“So that means yes? You'll marry me?”
“Of course!”
This time his kiss was more wonderful, more wildly intoxicating than before.
“Let's hurry and find Clinton,” she exclaimed a minute later. She could still feel her pulse racing, the warm flush of her face. “Let's tell my uncle there's even more news to phone home!”
He flashed her a grin. “Before Clinton calls anyone, I think we should talk to your father. This time, together.”
“You want to do it the old-fashioned way? You want to ask for my hand in marriage?”
“Too late, my love. I've already taken care of that.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as his smile grew wider. “But right now we mustn’t keep Eldon waiting for your answer.”
Epilogue
The double wedding was cozy and intimate that early December evening at Kaloch Bay Lodge. In the lobby where the ceremony was about to begin, arrangements of red and white poinsettias were clustered about the base of the A-shaped candelabra. From it a pyramid of tiny white lights flickered. Boughs of evergreens adorned the windows, wafting forth a sweet, woodsy aroma.
As Vanessa stood in the foyer next to her father, waiting for the ceremony to begin, she looked down at her mother's white Bible she'd chosen to carry in place of a bouquet. How proud and happy Mama would be right now. Andy too.
And Dad...over the past months, he'd steadily regained his health and zest for living. Now his sparkling blue eyes met Vanessa's. “You're beautiful, kitten,” he whispered. “Absolutely beautiful.”
“Thank you, Dad.” Vanessa's eyes misted as she tucked a delicately gloved hand beneath the fold of his arm. “I love you.”
Ruby was the picture of serenity as she stood on Eldon's other side wearing a pastel pink gown edged in lace. Eldon had heartily agreed to give both Vanessa and Ruby away.
Lowell had never appeared more handsome. Standing tall and strong, the last shades of an Indian summer tan contrasting his white tuxedo, his eyes met hers and he smiled. In his lapel he wore a single pink miniature rose, the same roses Vanessa had chosen for the garland crowning her head.
Vanessa's heart swelled with love. Love for Lowell. Love for family. She blinked twice to make sure it wasn't a dream, then turned her gaze on her husband-to-be who waited in front of the stone fireplace with Clinton and the minister.
Friends were filling nearly every folding chair in the lobby. The soft murmur of the guest's conversations mingled with the sounds of the cello player, who'd begun tuning her instrument. The cellist Clinton had volunteered to solicit, Vanessa thought with a smile. Next to Lowell and herself, of course, Ruby and Clinton had appeared the happiest engaged couple Vanessa had known for a long time.
After the last guest was seated, the musician lifted her bow to the strings and the rich swells of “Mediation from Thais” began.
“Considered by some to be the most romantic love song in the world.” Ruby's words again floated across Vanessa's memory. And today--on their special day--nothing but the most romantic would do.
The music soon ended, and a hush fell over the room. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, the “Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin filled the room. Vanessa held Eldon's arm more tightly as the threesome started up the aisle. Wonderingly she lifted her gaze to Lowell.
He was staring into her face, sending her tender looks of love.
In minutes the minister intoned the age-old words:
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this company...”
Again her heart spilled over with love. Love that would endure. For now and all time...
The End
About the Author
Sydell Voeller grew up in Washington State, but has lived in Oregon for over thirty years. Throughout her twenty-year writing career, her published novels for teens and adults have reflected her love for the Pacific Northwest’s ocean beaches, inlets and waterways, evergreen forests, and mountains. Sydell resides in Oregon with her husband. They married in 1971 and have two sons.
Pet lovers, the Voellers provided a home when their boys were growing up for several cats, a dog, gerbils, hamsters, and a turtle—but not all at the same time! A small rodent cemetery still occupies one corner of their backyard. She and her husband enjoy camping, reading, playing Scrabble, day trips to the Oregon coast, and spending time with their granddaughter and pampered feline.
When Sydell isn't writing, she enjoys camping, walking, amateur astronomy, reading, and surfing the web. In 1987 after the publication of her first novel, she was named by the Washington County Mushaw Center, Woman of the Year in Communications.
Formerly a registered nurse, Sydell now teaches writing correspondence courses, sponsored by the Long Ridge Writer’s Institute (a long distance learning course in writing short stories and articles) in West Redding, Connecticut. Sydell invites you to visit her at her website: www.sydellvoeller.com
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