“We’ll go together.” He held out his arms. “Don’t I get another kiss?” he asked.
Ann flew into his arms and he pressed her close, rocking her back and forth gently.
“I’m going to make it all up to you,” he said softly. “I know I’ve been a first-class jerk, but if I’m a very good boy, do you think you can forgive me?”
Ann held him tightly, too emotional to respond.
“I never wanted anyone but you,” he said. “I tried to tell myself otherwise, tried to have relationships with other women, but it never worked. The memory of you was always there in the background, and it’s like a miracle to have you here with me now. We can make a go of it, can’t we?”
Ann nodded against his shoulder.
He held her at arm’s length to look at her. “Annie, are you crying again?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Don’t you know that we’re supposed to be having a wonderful time?”
“I am having a wonderful time.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“I’m glad to hear it. Now, are we going to hit those stores or not?”
“We are.”
“Let’s go.”
He took her by the hand and led her toward the door.
* * * *
By the time they reached Lusardi’s, the parking lot was packed despite the late hour and the weather, which had turned colder. Ann hugged her coat close about her as they walked inside, where Heath was greeted like a long-lost relative.
“Did you ever eat or sleep at home before we were married?” Ann asked dryly. They were being led to a secluded table near the Victorian Christmas tree that dominated the dining room.
“Not often,” he admitted. “As you so astutely pointed out, nobody was there.”
The maitre d’ seated them and had a little chat with Heath before handing them the menus. The London Philharmonic’s Christmas album played softly in the background and a gas log blazed in a fireplace in a corner behind them.
“It almost feels like a Christmas up north tonight, the temperature has dropped so much,” Ann said.
“That’s all right, it puts me in the mood,” Heath said. “I always associate Christmas with New England, anyway.”
Ann laughed. “What are you talking about? You’ve spent every Christmas in Florida with the palm trees.”
“Not when I was in the navy.”
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot. Where were you?”
“Mystic, Connecticut, for two years.”
Ann was silent.
“What?” he said, looking at her.
“There’s so much about your life since I left Florida that I don’t know,” she said quietly.
“What do you want to know?”
“Were you happy?”
“No,” he said.
“What? Making millions of dollars?”
“I was successful. I wasn’t happy.”
“Some might say there’s no difference.”
“There is. You can take my word for it, I’m an expert. Taking revenge on people is not the path to fulfillment.”
The wine steward appeared at Heath’s elbow and asked if they would like a drink.
Heath looked at Ann, then shook his head.
“Nothing for either one of us,” he said.
“Sworn off the stuff?” Ann asked, smiling.
“I don’t seem to need it anymore.” He covered her hand with his bigger one.
“Who else did you want to take revenge on besides me?” Ann asked.
“You know. You said it once. All the golfers in the pastel polo shirts, everybody who looked through me as if I were invisible when I was a kid.”
“What did you do?”
“Oh, I made sure they knew that I was in their league now. I used my money effectively to get the point across. I hired people like Joe to run my company to rub their blue noses in my prosperity. But of course I really wasn’t accepted by them, no matter what I did.”
Ann said nothing.
“Money doesn’t make those people respect you. It’s background and breeding that count. You’re one of them, Princess, and you always will be, even if you don’t have a dime.”
“They must respect your accomplishments.”
“My invention, you mean? A lucky accident. They have to deal with me now because of my business but you’ll notice I’m not getting invited to their homes.”
“Neither am I, now,” Ann informed him.
Heath shook his head. “You’re undergoing a temporary disgrace because of your brother. That’s different. You’re inside the fence and I’m outside it.”
“But I’m married to you!”
“So you married down.”
“Oh, Heath, you dwell too much on all of that.”
“You would, too, if you’d had my early life.”
“When we first got back together, I thought that’s why you wanted to marry me, to show everybody on Lime Island that you could snag Henry Talbot’s daughter.”
Heath looked at her across the table and said, “That may have been part of it when we first met as kids. You represented the world I never had access to, the better life that was always closed to me. But once I got to know you, you were so sweet and unlike what I had expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“A snob,” he said.
“I guess I did nothing to correct that impression initially, bitching at you when your repair job disturbed my nap.”
He laughed.“But you were so cute standing there, hands on hips, all angry and barefoot in your bikini. I was lost from the moment I saw you.”
Ann grinned. “You certainly didn’t act like it.”
“Oh, well, I was always very careful to cover myself in those days.”
“You still are, Heath. That’s what the past month has been about, right?”
He nodded thoughtfully. “I guess you’ve got my number, Princess.”
“Just remember that,” Ann said archly.
“Are you ready to order now, Mr. Bodine?” their waiter said to Heath.
They looked at each other. They hadn’t even glanced at the menus on the table.
“You come here a lot, Heath,” Ann said. “Just get whatever you want for both of us.”
Heath ordered for them and then lifted a muffin from the basket on the table. “Have one of these, they’re good. You are hereby ordered to gain ten pounds in the next two months.”
Ann groaned.
“Come on, baby. You know I’m right. You don’t eat enough, you never did.”
“It’s Christmas, Heath. Do we have to have the nutrition lecture now?”
“You’re going to my doctor as soon as the holidays are over,” he said firmly.
“Why?”
“For a checkup.”
“There’s nothing to check. I’m just thin.”
“Too thin.”
“That’s a matter of opinion. Anyway, I’ll gain weight when I’m pregnant.”
His hand froze in the act of popping loose muffin crumbs into his mouth.
“What’s the matter?” Ann said at the look on his face. “ We haven’t been doing anything to prevent it.”
He said nothing.
“Don’t you want to have children?” she said, alarmed at his reaction.
“I didn’t think it would come up just yet,” he said carefully. “I assumed we’d have some time to ourselves for a while. After all, we’ve been apart so long.”
“Of course, but can’t you imagine a little boy who looks just like you, with huge dark eyes and that glorious thick black hair?” Ann said dreamily.
“And my father’s glorious heritage of alcoholism?” Heath said flatly.
“Nobody’s family is perfect, Heath. Look at mine.”
“Your father wasn’t a stumbling drunk.”
“He was an unfeeling autocrat. Is that so much better?”
“In my eyes, yes. Your old man wasn’t an ongoing embarrassment.”
“He was a dictator who almost ruined my life! Look what happened to us because of his interference.”
Heath sighed heavily and leaned across the table to touch her cheek. “Princess, let’s not argue about this now, not tonight of all nights. Look, here’s our salad. I’m going to watch and make sure you eat all of it.”
“Yes, sir.” Ann let the subject drop but resolved to bring it up again another time. They finished the leisurely meal talking about other things, and by the time they drove home Ann was full, tired and ready for bed.