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The Tessarae Inn |
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Dreams In Amber Refrains CHAPTER 32 “Do you believe RJ and Toni? I swear they are about to have a mutual meltdown. The wedding is still three weeks away and you would think it was tomorrow.” “Toni definitely needs to up her meds.” “Toni? RJ is just as bad. That man is so into this wedding I think he’d have planned the whole thing if Toni let him.” “He loves her.” She stared at him. “What?” “Just a fact.” She touched his arm. “Forgive me while I check to make sure you’re my husband and not some pod person.” “I didn’t say I can see why he loves her, but he does.” “Can you see that I love you?” He glanced at her. “Yeah, but enough mush, okay?” “Sure, but you owe me an I love you and I plan to collect before the morning light.” “Jeeze.” “Do you know anything about this Carmen who’s working at Capricorn now?” “Hey, Mayberry is your area of expertise. But it’s interesting that Emily asked me about her too. RJ hasn’t said anything to me other than he gave her a job when she showed up in Llanview. Nothing to worry about though is there? Nothing to worry about ever comes out of Mayberry does it?” “There’s just something about her. Can’t put my finger on it. Maybe we should check her out… Oh, my God, Todd!” The Llantano Mountain house had suddenly become visible as Todd roared up the last few feet of the driveway. All of the lights were on, which against the midnight blue sky made the house look like a castle floating in the air. The yard was perfectly landscaped and there were lights along the walkway and selected plants. The effect was so beautiful she couldn’t seem to find her voice. She had seen the house in various stages of construction but never at night or like this. “You like it.” “It looks beautiful. When did you have time to have all of this done?” “I’m bringing my family to our new house tomorrow and I told the landscapers and construction people that I wanted everything completed today. What can I say they took me seriously.” Blair got of the car slowly then stood and stared at the house. Todd walked next to her and took her hand. “Let’s go in. Need to make sure you’re happy with everything.” Blair walked into the foyer and couldn’t stop smiling. The last time she was here everything showed the signs of the construction but now the house was spotless and perfect. She tried to react with a measure of decorum but still found herself jumping up and down and then racing through the house. She headed to the back first to check out the deck and the kitchen and the great room. Then she careened back toward the dining room then to the living room, which was her favorite room or at least she hoped it would be. She walked in slowly. Todd was standing by the windows. He smiled at her. “Turned out like you wanted it?” Blair nodded and glanced quickly around the room. The hardwood floors were beautiful and the windows they had spent so much time selecting worked better than she’d hoped. She shifted her gaze to the large fireplace mantle dominated the wall to the right. It was gorgeous too. When she looked up and saw the family portrait above the mantle, she stopped short. She turned and looked at Todd who was staring at her. “Do you like it? Toni did it. She’s not too bad at some things.” Blair couldn’t seem to find the words to say what she was feeling. The photograph took her breath away. The four of them looked so happy, so together, so obviously a family. Todd walked close to her. “Toni worked her magic and stuff. Gave it that look but if you don’t like it we can change it. Get another one.” Blair shook her head. “It’s perfect.” Todd seemed to exhale then smiled at her. Blair looked at the portrait again. “I remember when she took that picture. Starr wanted to show Jack how to kiss and you kissed me on the cheek and then Jack kissed Starr and we all laughed and Toni snapped the picture.” “I figured if we ever forget how happy we were…how happy we are that picture would always remind us. It was kind of Emily’s idea. Something about a bridge or something.” Blair sat down on the floor and stared up at the portrait. Todd sat beside her and she leaned her head on his shoulder and tried not to cry. No one who looked at that picture could ever question how much the four of them loved each other.
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Blair counted to five. So many good things had happened in the last few minutes her brain was sending her signals that she was about to go into overload. Now she was waiting for what Todd called his “surprise.” She concentrated on inhaling and exhaling. “Can I open my eyes now?” “Yeah.” They were standing in their bedroom! She scanned the room quickly and tried to control her mounting excitement. Even though the room was empty it was beautiful! Just like she and Todd had imagined it. She rushed to the bank of windows that covered the entire left wall and stood perfectly motionless for a few seconds. The view at night was more breathtaking than she even imagined. Through the trees, she could see all of the lights of Llanview below her. She felt like she was flying--soaring above the town. Todd walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Is it okay?” She couldn’t speak so she just nodded her head. “See that clump of lights over there. I think that’s Llanview U. and way out that way is Llanfair and over there is my new best friend Asa’s place and …” “I can’t believe we’ve made it. I wanted this house for so long. I held onto to that promise even in the worst times. And we’re finally here. We finally made it.” “Blair, I’d give you the world if I could.” She turned around slowly and faced him. “You do that everyday.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and glanced to the right. “House or no house, you make me very happy, Todd.” He exhaled, shifted his gaze to her face and smiled. She touched his face and looked him in the eye for a moment. The connection between was so intense and consuming, she felt as if something was physically touching her. She needed to catch her breath so she stepped back and looked around the room. For the first time she noticed a futon against the wall to the right. It was fully made up with sheets, blankets, and pillows. She exhaled then laughed. “I see we’re staying here tonight.” “Tomorrow I’m bringing my family to our new house but tonight it’s just you and me. In the beginning it was just the two us.” “You feel it too, don’t you? This is kind of like a new beginning. A little bit scary to hope so much after everything we’ve been through.” “Can’t erase the past or rewrite it but finally decided that there is no reason why it’s more important than the present or the future. You’re my present and my future as well as my past.” She bit her lower lip then pressed two fingers to her mouth. She was not going to cry. Not going to. This was a happy time. “So what are we going to do tonight?” Todd reached out and took her hand. “Got something for you.” He led her to the end of the room then opened the folding doors to what she knew was supposed to be the mini-kitchen—a small fridge, a microwave and so on. He opened the doors and she gasped. “Oh, my God, a jukebox! You got us a jukebox!” “It doesn’t have to stay up here. We can put it anywhere you want but for tonight I wanted it here.” Blair moved close and ran her hands lightly over the surface. “It looks just like the one at Poe’s.” “It’s a reproduction. I didn’t have time to find an exact copy and have it for tonight but its’ pretty damn close –a Rock-Ola Bubbler! See it has the same bubble tubes and the colors. And it uses CDS but it’s loaded with all the same songs from Poe’s 45s and more.” “It’s so beautiful.” “I even brought the ocean,” said Todd pointing to a portable CD player. He pressed the play button and the sound of roaring waves and noisy seagulls filled the room. “You give me the world everyday.” “You give me…," He dipped his head. "Never been happier in my life, Blair.” Okay that was it. Too much. She looked down to keep him from seeing the tears in her eyes. He cleared his throat then reached behind the jukebox and turned it on. A rainbow of colors radiated from the jukebox and cast a soft glow on the room. “Your turn to select the songs. I’m going down to the kitchen and get us something to drink. Forgot to move it up here to this fridge. And I got some pretzels and nuts, just like at Poe’s too.” Blair watched him leave then went into the bathroom, threw water on her face and tried to compose herself. She wasn’t surprised to find the linen closet full of towels, soap, and any other toiletry she could ever ask for. When Todd planned a surprise he tended not to forget anything. She stared at her face in the mirror and told herself to breathe. It was okay to let the fear go. It was okay to let herself hope. Love was worth the risk. She went back into the bedroom and studied the jukebox. It was wonderful and as far as she could tell even though there were lots of new songs the songs that were on Poe’s jukebox had the same numbers. She ran her favorites through her mind then selected them as well as an array of new songs. If she had anything to say about it, it was going to be a long night. Todd returned with a bottle of Scotch, two glasses, a six-pack of beer, a bag of pretzels and another of beer nuts and a kid’s plastic beach bucket full of seashells. They put the beer in the fridge then she poured each of them a shot of Scotch. For a while they sat on the futon and drank the Scotch. They listened to the music with the “ocean” roaring in the background and looked up at the stars. Blair tried not to grin like a moron. She was so happy. Her man made her so damn happy. Todd put his glass down and pulled her to him. “I want you, Babe.” She kissed him then pulled back. “I want to dance first. C13 is going to play next.” “Do we really have to do this? Why can’t we just get to the good stuff?” “Because I feel like singing and dancing. Because I’m happy. Because you bought me a jukebox. Because Jack is so beautiful and growing like a weed. Because Starr is a wonder. Because I’m so happy we are together in our new house. Because you make my dreams come true just by being here with me.” “Okay, whatever… I guess I can…but well…” Blair stood up and reached out her hand to him. “Come on and dance with me, Stud.” “Aw, Blair, that song is so old. It’s like creaky. When was that song recorded circa 15 AD? Let’s wait for another one.” “Nope. You’re just stalling. So it’s C13 one way or another. You can dance with me or I’ll sing it to you. Your choice.” He jumped up, moved close to her and pulled her into his arms “Had enough singing for a while so I’ll dance with you.” He bent his knees slightly and moved his pelvis as close to her as humanly possible. “But I’m going to make you wish we were already doing something else.” Blair felt a fire shoot through her body as he glued his body to hers. Just then C13 started and as he promised when they started moving in rhythm with the music, she felt like she was going to scream from the sweet tension. “Baby, I’m yours,” sang Barbara Mason.
“And I’ll be yours until the stars fall from the sky. Yours until the rivers
all run dry. In other words, until
I die.” “Baby, I’m yours.
And I’ll be yours until the sun no longer shines.
Yours until the poets run out of rhyme.
In other words, until the end of time.” Blair kissed him and her fingers raced along his neck and rubbed the base of his head. Todd stretched his head back and grinned at her. “Got to wait to the end of the song, Blair. Remember?” Blair tried to concentrate on the song and not on what he was doing to her. Oh, but he did not play fair. “I’m going to stay right here by your side. Do my
best to keep you satisfied. Nothing
in the world can drive me away. So
everyday you’ll hear me say…” “Baby, I’m yours. And I’ll be yours until two and two is three. Yours until the mountains crumble to the sea. In other words, until eternity. Baby, I’m yours.” As the last strains of the music washed over her, Blair felt a rush of relief. She grabbed Todd’s hand and moved toward the futon but he held back. She turned toward him. He smiled at her with sleepy eyes. “I love you, Blair. I owed you that one from earlier and I always pay my debts.” “Yes, you do. Now, I think I better give you what I owe you.” “What’s that?” “Like the song says, I’m going to do my best to keep you satisfied.” THE END
I hope you enjoyed Dreams In Amber Refrains.
Thanks for Reading it! --Tessarae87 Coming Soon (Sequel):
Suspicions In Scarlet Repose
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