THE FALL

by Marie Force

  Smitty took his coffee with him when he went to look out at the sunny day in Sydney. He ran a hand over his bare chest and stretched out the kinks from the long, busy week. He found it hard to believe that just seven days ago he had been unaware of how dramatically his life was about to change.

  A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He crossed the room and opened the door to Marjorie. She had tied her hair back in a high ponytail and wore jeans with a yellow T-shirt. Today she looked about eight years old, but her eyes skirted over his bare chest with a woman's appreciation.

  "Come in." He stepped back from the door. "Want some coffee?"

  "No, thanks. What are you doing?"

  "I worked late last night, so I just got up. What about you?"

  "I've been packing up my father's belongings all morning."

  He couldn't deny that the sadness he saw in her every time she mentioned her father moved him. "How's that going?"

  She shrugged. "He had a lot of stuff. Most of it will be sold at auction next month, so I'm putting aside the few things I want and packing up the rest."

  "Why don't you pay someone to do that for you?"

  "It doesn't seem right to have a stranger pawing through his things. I'd feel like I was violating his privacy."

  "Is there anything I can do to help?" Despite his desire to stay detached, something about her touched him.

  "Do you know what I really want?"

  He had his suspicions but kept his expression vague as he refilled his coffee cup. "What's that?"

  "I want to get out of here for a few hours. What do you say I show you around Sydney? You haven't been outside since you got here."

  "I'm here to work not play tourist."

  Her face sagged with disappointment.

  "Oh, all right." He sounded more aggravated than he felt. "Let me grab a shower, and I'll come get you so you can show me Sydney."

  Glee replaced disappointment as she clapped her hands. "Goodie," she said on her way to the door.

  Smitty shook his head with amusement at her retreating back. He was not going to get sucked in by her too-adorable-for-words act. He had learned his lesson. Never again.

  * * *

  They began their tour in Sydney Harbour where she took him for an up-close view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. "Do you mind if we go to the zoo?" she asked as they strolled along the waterfront wearing jeans and sweaters.

  "Whatever you want," he said, enjoying the fresh air and her company. "You're the tour guide."

  They spent two hours wandering through Taronga Zoo where they saw red kangaroos, wombats, and the orangutan rainforest. "Oh, look at them!" Marjorie giggled at the faces the orangutans were making.

  Smitty smiled at her childlike pleasure. "What about the koalas? I can't be in Australia and not see a koala."

  "Right this way."

  "You must've spent a lot of time here. You know this place really well."

  "I used to come with my mother all the time. She loved the zoo."

  Smitty thought of his own mother. She had certainly never taken him to a zoo or anywhere else for that matter.

  "What are you thinking about?" Marjorie asked.

  "Nothing special."

  "You get this look about you every now and then that makes me think you have all kinds of deep, dark secrets."

  "Maybe I do." He could tell she was showing restraint by not pursuing it further.

  "I've always thought if you had only one day in Sydney, the thing you'd have to do is take the ferry to Manley."

  Smitty hurt when he recalled his last ferry ride.

  "There it is again." She glanced up at him. "More secrets."

  Unnerved by her ability to read him so well, he glanced down at her. "What's the deal with this Manley place?"

  "I've heard it said that Manley is 'seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care.'"

  "Hmm, a thousand miles from care." That might just be far enough. "How do we get there?"

  * * *

  They spent the rest of the day in Manley, wandering through the Corso—an outdoor pedestrian mall—before heading out to the far end of Manley Cove to visit Oceanworld with its underwater tunnel view of sharks and stingrays. As the sun began to set, they had a beer in a beachfront bar and then bought fish and chips to eat on the beach.

  "This was a great day," Smitty said, reclining on the sand after they had eaten. "Thanks for talking me into it."

  "Thank you for coming. I couldn't stand another minute locked up in that glass tower." She shivered and burrowed further into her white wool fisherman's sweater.

  Against his better judgment, he reached for her.

  Startled, she took his outstretched hand and scooted over to take shelter with her back against him.

  Tentatively, he rested his hand on her hip. "Better?"

  "Much."

  As they watched the sunset in silence, Smitty was amazed to realize he hadn't thought of Ted, Caroline, or the mess he had left behind at home in hours. He glanced down at Marjorie and was grateful to her for getting his mind off his troubles, even temporarily.

  They had snuggled together on the sand for at least half an hour when Marjorie put her hand on top of his.

  Smitty told himself to get his hand out of there but couldn't quite work up the energy to make it happen. So he couldn't very well protest when she laced her fingers through his.

  "Your hand is so warm, John."

  "You know, you're the only one who calls me that—you and everyone here."

  She looked up at him, but kept her firm hold on his hand. "What does everyone else call you?"

  "Smitty."

  "Smitty," she said, trying it on for size. "I like John better."

  "I'm starting to think I do, too."

  "Smitty's a boy's name. John's a man's name. It's a strong name."

  "I've always thought it was kind of boring."

  She shook her head. "No, it's not. Not like Marjorie." She made a face. "It was my grandmother's name, and it's better suited to an old lady."

  "Do you like Margo better?"

  "Uh huh. That's what my friends call me. You could call me that if you wanted to."

  He could see she was offering more than friendship with the nickname and didn't want to encourage her. "We should get going back."

  She kept her eyes trained on him for a long moment before she said, "Okay."

  He helped her up, and they brushed the sand off their clothes, collected the trash from their picnic, and walked to the ferry. On the short ride back to Sydney, they stood together at the rail and watched the city lights come into view.

  After they disembarked at the Circular Quay, they walked slowly back to the Jergenson building. Their hands bumped together, and Marjorie linked her index finger around his. As her signals became less subtle, his reaction to her confused him. She was so warm and easy to be with that remaining aloof from her was almost impossible.

  They rode the elevator to the sixteenth floor, and Smitty was almost sorry to see their day come to an end. He hadn't realized how much he had needed the diversion, and the idea of being alone again with his own thoughts was unappealing after the relaxing day he had spent with her. "Do you want to come in for a drink?"

  He could tell he had surprised her.

  "That would be nice."

  In his apartment, he opened a bottle of the wine he knew she liked and poured them each a glass. He handed one of them to her and raised his glass. "Cheers."

  "To new friends."

  He nodded and touched his glass to hers.

  She kept her eyes trained on him while she sipped her wine.

  "Marjorie…"

  "I thought you were going to give Margo a try." Her teasing smile lit up her face.

  "Margo," he said, trying to remain focused on what he needed to say to her. "You're a nice girl, a beautiful woman. You don't want to get mixed up with the likes of me."

  "The likes of you?" she asked with a perplexed frown. "
What does that mean?"

  "You don't know me, and if you did you wouldn't want anything to do with me."

  "Why in the world would you say that? I've spent long hours with you over the last few days, and all I've seen is a kind, generous man with a big heart and a sharp mind."

  Smitty shook his head with scorn. "You don't know the half of it. And believe me, if you did, you'd run for your life."

  She didn't let him look away from her and never wavered when she said, "Try me."

  "You're mixing me up with the guy who's going to solve all your problems by buying your business."

  Her eyes flashed with anger. "Don't treat me like a child, John. I'm fully capable of understanding the difference. You're just looking for a way around telling me why it is you think you're so unworthy of me." She put down her glass. "Thank you for a lovely day."

  She had reached the door when he said, "Fine. You want know who I am, I'll tell you. I'm a guy who never knew who his father was because his mother slept with so many men she had no idea which one fathered me. She forgot to feed me most nights because she was too busy banging men for money so she could buy her next fix."

  Marjorie kept her back to him, but the stoop of her shoulders told him his words were having the desired effect.

  "I haven't seen her since I left for college on a scholarship I would've sold my soul to the devil for, just so I could get away from her. My wife left me when I finally told her my sordid story three years after we were married. Oh, and just before I came here, my best friend of nearly twenty years made off with my girlfriend. I'm a multi-millionaire who has every imaginable possession, but I've got nothing really matters. Is there anything else you want to know?"

  Her face stained with tears, she turned, crossed the room, and launched herself into his arms.

  Smitty took a step to keep from tumbling backward and closed his arms around her.

  She rained kissed over his face and then found his lips.

  As he realized she knew everything there was to know about him, all his dirty secrets, and didn't seem to care, he felt something inside him shift to accommodate the possibility that she might be the answer to every question. And then he kissed her as if there were no tomorrow, only right now.

  She clung to him, and when he would have withdrawn from her, she didn't let him.

  The phone rang, but they ignored it as he lowered her to the sofa. They were still there fifteen minutes later when the phone rang again. She whimpered when he pulled back from her.

  "Let me get that," he said with a light kiss. "Only a few people have this number, so it might be important."

  She released him, and he got up to answer the phone.

  "Smitty?"

  His lips tingled from Marjorie's passionate kisses. "Hey, Parker, how are you?"

  "Man, I'm so sorry to do this to you, but Lillian's had a heart attack. It's not looking good."

  "Oh, no," Smitty gasped. "No."

  "I know. It's awful. She's asking for you, buddy, and she told Duff to tell you she'll wait for you. He asked me to call you. Can you come?"

  "I'll be on the first flight I can get."

  "She's in the ICU at Mass General."

  Smitty's eyes burned with tears. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Tell her I'm coming, Parker."

  "Hurry."

  Smitty hung up and a sob rattled through his big body.

  Marjorie came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "What is it, John? What's wrong?"

  "The woman who's been like a grandmother to me is dying." His voice caught. "I need to go home."

  "Go pack. I'll call for a flight."

  He squeezed her hand. "Thank you. I need to go to Boston."

  She reached up to hug him and then sent him along to pack.

  Twenty minutes later, she drove him to Sydney Airport for a twenty-six-hour trip that would somehow get him to Boston on Sunday morning. He would have to figure out how that would work when he was thinking clearly again.

  "You have your passport?" she asked.

  "Yeah."

  "Will you be all right?"

  "I just hope I get there in time." He wiped new tears from his face. "We were dancing at her anniversary party just a week ago. I can't believe how much has happened since then."

  Marjorie reached for his hand. "I'm sorry."

  Grateful for the comfort, he held her hand until they reached the airport.

  She pulled up to the curb at the international terminal and got out to help him with his bag.

  He embraced her in a tight hug.

  "Call me when you can?"

  He nodded.

  "Will you come back, John?"

  He studied her pretty face for a long moment. "Yes," he said, leaning in to leave her with one last thorough kiss. "I'll be back."

  Chapter 33

  Getting married turned out to be a bit more complicated than Ted and Caroline had expected. Lillian was groggy from some medication she had been given during the night. While they waited for that to wear off, Theo tried to track down his friend, the retired Superior Court judge, who was playing in a golf tournament on Cape Cod. When Theo finally reached him, Judge Daugherty promised to be at the hospital by seven that evening. So they spent the day taking turns visiting with Lillian and tending to Theo.

  Parker came bursting into the ICU at six. "I just got your message an hour ago," he said, breathing hard from running. "I got here as soon as I could."

  Ted noticed his friend was wearing the same clothes he'd had on the night before. "Did you call Smitty?"

  Parker nodded. "He's coming. It'll be Sunday morning before he gets here, but he's on his way. Chip and Elise are, too."

  "Good. Thank you."

  Parker glanced at Caroline and then turned his attention back to Ted. "How's Lillian?"

  "She's hanging in there. Come on, I'll take you in to see her."

  Lillian was asleep, so they didn't disturb her.

  Ted was touched when Parker wept at the sight of her in the big hospital bed. He reached for his friend and was relieved that Parker let him offer comfort. Once Parker had collected himself, they walked out to the hallway.

  "I was so happy to see you with Gina," Ted said.

  "Yeah, it went a thousand times better than I ever imagined it would."

  Ted grinned as he tugged on the lapel of Parker's suit coat. "Apparently."

  Parker's smug, satisfied smile faded when he seemed to remember there were other things they needed to talk about. "What the hell's going on with you and Caroline, Duff?"

  Ted checked his watch. "Well, in about an hour we're going to be married."

  "What?"

  Ted looked at his friend, and a thousand memories of joy and sadness and foolish fun passed through his mind. He hoped those memories would be enough of a down payment on what he was about to ask of him. "I want you to know how sorry I am that you found out the way you did. That wasn't how I wanted it to happen. You may not believe me, but I'd planned to tell you at lunch today." Parker started to say something, but Ted held up his hand to stop him. "There's a lot we need to talk about. But not today. All I'm going to say right now is I'm going to marry the woman I love in less than an hour because I was going to anyway, and my grandmother asked me to do it before she dies."

  Parker's cheek twitched with tension, and he got busy studying his shoes.

  "I'd like very much to have you there with me when I get married. I'm asking you to remember what we've been to each other for more than half our lives and to put everything else aside for the time being so you can stand up for me at the most important moment of my life." Ted's throat tightened with emotion as he tried to prepare for the possibility that his friend might say no. "Do you think you could do that for me, Parker?" He held up the rings he and Caroline had bought earlier.

  After what seemed like an endless pause, Parker reached for the rings. "Yeah. I can do that."

  "Thank you."

  Parker nodded.

  * * *<
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  In the waiting room, Caroline found herself alone with Ted's sister while everyone else went to get something to eat.

  "Um, Tish." Caroline waited until she had the other woman's attention. "I don't know what you think of all this…"

  "I think it's very romantic," Tish said.

  "Really?"

  Tish nodded. "I've never seen my brother light up the way he does when you come into the room. I can see that he loves you. I only hope you love him just as much."

  "I do."

  "Then that's all I need to hear. My mother will put you through the paces at first, but you'll come to love her if you can be patient with her and give her a chance."

  "I'll try my best to do both. I know we don't know each other that well, but I find myself in need of a matron of honor. Since my own sister can't be here, do you think…"

  Tish reached out to her. "I'd love to."

  "Thank you."

  "Thank you for what you're doing for my grandmother."

  Caroline smiled. "It's not really much of a sacrifice when you consider that at the end of the day Ted will be my husband."

  "That's not such a bad deal."

  "No, it really isn't."

  * * *

  Judge Daugherty arrived at seven fifteen full of apologies and complaining about the traffic between Cape Cod and Boston.

  "Where're the bride and groom?"

  "Right here," Ted said.

  Mitzi stood off to the side with her husband and watched as Ted introduced the judge to Caroline.

  "Well, you're all grown up since I saw you last, Ted."

  "All grown up and practicing pediatric oncology," Theo said proudly.

  "Ah, yes, the Duffy family business. Do you have a license?"

  Ted reached for the inside pocket of his navy blue blazer. "Right here."

  The judge propped glasses on the end of his nose and inspected the document. "Everything appears to be in order. Shall we?"

  Theo led them to Lillian's room where she was propped up in bed wearing a scarlet bed jacket Mitzi had brought from home.