Ghost on the Wind Pt. 02

I know I am not as young as I used to be, but I'm not old, yet. An hour later, and with just a little encouragement from Kate, I regained my strength and we lovingly consummated round two.

In the morning I woke to the smell of bacon and coffee. Now, a younger man might have walked naked into the kitchen, but a man of my age and experience knows that you never know what waits for you around the corner. What was waiting was Kate's son, Bobby, nibbling a piece of bacon and sipping his first cup.

"Sleep well, AB?" There was no mistaking the smile on his face at catching us.

Well, this was embarrassing. "Ah, yes, very well. Thanks."

Kate started laughing at my discomfort. "Relax, AB, I already told nosy here that you spent the night."

"So, what exactly are your intentions where my mother is concerned?"

Smart ass. He was grinning from one ear to the other.

"Well, since you ask, I intend to get some bacon and coffee and then take your mother back to bed."

That earned me a kiss. "Sit down and eat. You'll need your strength for later."

Bobby just about choked on his bacon. He knew full well what his mother and I were up to, but that bit of candor from his mom caught him off guard.

We enjoyed a breakfast of bacon and eggs with some local-made salsa and toast with jam and we washed it all down with some good dark coffee. I guess Bobby decided he'd busted my chops enough because breakfast was an enjoyable affair that felt like family. I guess after all these months and the time we'd spent together, this really was the beginning of a new family. It felt good and I wouldn't change it for anything.

In time, after a few more strips of bacon and several cups of Kate's excellent coffee, Bobby announced it was time for him to leave. I walked him to the door and for the first time since I'd met him, as I extended my hand which he took, he pulled me in for a hug. "Welcome to the family, AB. I know mom's in good hands now." I hate to admit it, but I had tears in my eyes as I watched Bobby walk to his car.

"Are you two good?" I turned to see Kate standing behind me, smiling.

"Yeah. We're good."

From that morning on, Kate and I rarely slept apart. When we did, it was usually because one or the other of us were working late or had to travel. Bobby seemed to make no effort to keep our secret, and before long my daughters would call and ask leading questions like, "If I need to speak with you tonight, where will you be?"

The first time I heard that I misunderstood and panicked. "What do you mean? Is everything okay? Is something wrong?" It became a running gag with both my daughters.

From that first night on, my life only grew larger and richer. My girls visited more often and continued to bring their friends with them. They chose to spend another summer working in the labs on campus but spent an increasing amount of time in Maine. Kate's daughter brought her family north for their summer vacation. With both a house and an apartment, the weekends when all the kids were in town required logistics that only the women could organize. Bobby seemed to view my daughters as his sisters, but their friends were fair game. He started looking forward to their visits almost as much as me.

By the end of summer, I knew what I wanted to do. There's a nice little jeweler in downtown Portland who's been there forever. The shop is not part of a national chain and they make lovely, one-of-a-kind jewelry, so I paid him a visit. It just so happens that he was approaching retirement and his daughter was taking over the business, so she was especially helpful in designing a ring. It has a flawless center stone with smaller stones one either side set on a band that is slightly flattened along the top.

It was the last weekend of summer and the whole family was in town. Spirits were high and we decided on a cookout on the back deck. The steaks were grilled, the salads were made, and the beer and wine were flowing. As everyone finished their meal and conversation resumed in earnest, I called for everyone's attention.

"If you would give me your attention for just a moment... Everyone here knows my story. A year ago, I was running from my problems. I ended up here and throughout the fall all I had were my girls and if I lived the rest of my life with just these two jewels, I would still die a happy man. But things turned out very differently than I expected. For once in my life my clumsy nature worked to my advantage." That drew a laugh from the table. "I met someone who changed my life. She made me smile again, she made me live again, and she expanded my family to twice its size." I saw smiles all around the table. "I've thought for some time that I must be the luckiest man alive and now I think there's something I need to do about that." With that I got down on one knee.

She gasped. "What are you doing?" Kate was shaking like a leaf.

"I'm doing what I've wanted to do for some time now. Kate, you gave me back my life and made it better than it's ever been. I know this is the life that I want today, tomorrow, and forever. I'm asking you to become my wife."

The girls were holding their breath and the men were staring at their mother.

"Yes, AB, I'll marry you." And with that, the cheers went up, the hugs and kisses went 'round, and I was a grinning fool. There were toasts and congratulations. Bobby asked if his mother was pregnant and the girls all rolled their eyes. It wasn't long before the women adjourned to the living room to make wedding plans while Bobby, Gabe, and I were left to watch the sun go down.

That was late August. They say it takes a year to plan a wedding, but in two months we were married. It was late October with the last of the fall colors in the trees. I guess an autumn wedding is appropriate for a couple our age, but I'm not ready to think of us as being in the autumn of our lives just yet. I imagined a small wedding with just family, but that was not to be. Once word got out, the invitation list took on a life of its own and grew from fewer than twenty to well over one hundred. Standing by the alter, I marveled at how my life had changed in just one short year. My parents and siblings were there as were Kate's. I guess we have good genes as our parents were all in their early- to mid-seventies and still going strong. My old friends from Raleigh made the trip up. My new friends from work and the sailing community showed up along with Kate's friends. Even Karen's parents made the trip to wish me well. Despite everything that transpired with their daughter, they never disowned me. It was a full house with a lot of love.

The reception was one for the record books. The fall air was inviting, and the party spilled out of the hall and onto the lawn. More kegs and bottles appeared as if by magic and the band turned up their amplifiers. Kate and I stayed until after the sun went down and quietly left while the party was still in full swing. We met our closest family members for brunch the next morning, and while both Kate and I felt fine, some of them were looking a little rough around the edges. When I told the waitress that I liked my eggs runny, two of the women bolted for the bathroom.

I gave up my apartment and we settled into Kate's house, but that was not to last. We soon decided that while the house had many happy memories for Kate, it also held too many bad memories of her first marriage. We set out to find a house to call our own and settled on a three-bedroom shingle-style cottage with a large front porch that gave us room for family to visit. Waterfront property was far too expensive for us to consider, but a place in a community on the northern edge of the bay just two blocks off the water and with a view of the harbor was something we could manage.

By spring we had updated the kitchen and heating system and I was looking forward to a summer with my bride where I could leave work early, take a sail before dinner, and watch the last of the boats make for their moorings as the sun went down. That's when I began to learn that my bride would forever be surprising me.

"Your parents are coming to visit for the Fourth of July." Well, that did sound like fun. They came for the holiday and stayed for three weeks. The girls came up every weekend with their usual group of friends while Kate's daughter and her family spent the holiday week as well. It was crazy, but we managed it. The married couples got the bedrooms and the young folks took sofas and sleeping bags. It was a great holiday, and as with every time before I missed them all when they left.

It's now five years after the wedding and I could never have imagined my life today.

My various friends from Raleigh come to visit every summer. Between friends and family, we seldom have an empty bedroom.

My parents decided to become snowbirds: they spend summers in Maine with us and winters back in Raleigh. Dad, who served in the Navy decades ago, took to sailing like he was born to it and we now sail Casco Bay and the waters off Maine all summer long. Mom and Kate join us when they aren't exploring the antique shops and used bookstores along the coast. Kate's parents have bonded with mine and they now spend the worst of the Maine winters in North Carolina.

Rose and Gabe have a second child, a son. When his company wouldn't move him back to Maine, he left them and found a new position here. With a couple of fast promotions, he is doing better now than he would have had he stayed in North Carolina. Ben turned out to be a keeper and a year after he and Claire graduated, he asked me for permission to marry my daughter. I readily approved of her choice and they were married in a June wedding. Their first child is due in two months. Denise has graduated and found a good job in Portland. She's been bringing a young man around whenever she visits, and I suspect we will be seeing him from now on. Bobby still plays the field, but Kate believes that when the right girl comes along, he will fall hopelessly under her influence.

Kate, forever surprising me, announced two summers ago that my former in-laws would be visiting the week of July Fourth. I didn't see that coming, but Kate believes in building bridges and they have always been loving toward me. It turned out to be a delightful week with my own parents here, Kate's parents coming over, and the kids in the house as often as not.

I thought that was about as strange as it could get, but Kate had one more surprise for me. Do you see it coming? I didn't. Not in my wildest imaginations, not in my worst nightmares did I see it coming. In late July she quietly and calmly sat me down and announced that Karen would be staying with us the first weekend in August.

"What?"

"Your ex-wife will be here for the weekend. I know how you feel about her, but it's time to bury the hatchet for good. Your daughters need to know their parents can get along and she's feeling abandoned with the girls living up here."

"And whose fault is that?"

"I know, but it's time. She can't hurt you anymore."

I will admit there was a dark cloud hanging over our house for a few days after that, but in time I acquiesced. It was only a weekend, right? It seems that Karen was still single. I always knew that Frank wasn't a keeper and she learned that fact when he moved on to younger pastures. While she visited, she avoided any mention of Frank or our divorce except to give me her one true apology. In the end, we got along well enough and I saw brief glimpses of the girl I once loved and married. While Kate made it her mission to build a friendship of some type with Karen, I could not help but notice that she was exceptionally loud that night when we went to bed. Always demonstrative, Kate was generally quiet enough to keep our activities private. That night, she made sure that Karen heard.

So here I am, living 600 miles from where I thought I would spend my life. My plans to become a ghost and disappear have failed wonderfully. I have a new life, a new wife, and a family twice as large as I imagined with grandchildren and friends that enrich my life every day. There is love all around me and it doesn't get much better than this.