Heirloom

"That's the reason I went to San Diego. I didn't want to interfere between you and Ethan but I couldn't stay around and watch you two together. It would have torn me up inside. If you don't feel the same way, please understand that I would still like to be your friend. I want you in my life even if it is just as a friend," I finished and waited for Bobbie's response.

I watched as tears welled up in her eyes. Damn, now I've lost her completely I thought. Worst case scenario Mary Kate, I said to myself. Then I saw that Bobbie was smiling.

"I'm glad you told me John but I already knew how you felt," she said surprising me. Now it was her turn to hold up her hand when I started to say something.

"The day that you left and gave me a hug and kiss good bye I saw it in your eyes that you loved me. By the time I got over my surprise you were already driving away. I should have chased after you or I should have said something to you during one of the web chats," Bobbie explained.

"Said something? Said what?" Now I was confused.

"I love you too," she admitted.

Now I was shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was afraid of losing your friendship too; you had never done or said anything to suggest that you wanted to be more than friends. I know now that's why I never liked any of the girls you dated. That's why I gave you crap about Amber and all the others. The fact that they were after you was the problem." Bobbie stopped to catch her breath for a few seconds.

I looked at Bobbie for what seemed to be an hour but was really only a couple of minutes and then broke out laughing. Standing up I started around the desk and Bobbie came to meet me. We grabbed on to each other and I finally gave her a lover's kiss.

We heard a muffled "About damned time" from behind the door and knew we wouldn't have to tell anyone about "us"; Mary Kate would take care of that.

I did go visit my dad and Ethan and told them the news. Dad said, "Well you finally got your head out of your ass, good job John."

Ethan hugged me when I told him and said, "That's one heirloom that won't get out of this family."

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Bobbie and I didn't get engaged and start planning a wedding; instead we planned dates to reacquaint ourselves. We wanted to make sure that our feelings were real and not colored by our being close to each other again. It was a waste of time because after the first three dates there was no doubt that we were in love. Then we got engaged and planned a quickie wedding.

Bobbie wanted Mary Kate to be her maid of honor so we needed to get married before she had to leave for New York. Dad had bypass surgery and came through without any problems the day after Bobbie and I talked. Ethan had already come home from the hospital, was doing well, and was going to be my best man. We had to plan the wedding around all those factors.

In addition we had to arrange lodging for Bobbie's parents; they were coming to the wedding of course. James did his fatherly duty and walked Bobbie down the aisle. The four hundred mile round trip to their home was too much for a one day turn around after attending a wedding and what proved to be a great reception. Mr. Jack Daniels and Senor Jose Cuervo both attended but I made it a point not to visit with them except to say hello.

Dad's nurse, Sally Johnson, came to the wedding with my father. She said it was to make damned sure he behaved himself and didn't waste all the work she had done getting him well. They didn't fool anyone, there was a romance blooming there. You could see it every time they looked at each other.

At the reception Dad stood and asked for quiet. He called Bobbie over to him and put a blue agate cameo pendant around her neck. "This belonged to my wife; it belonged to her mother and her mother before her. The day that she passed away she told me to give it to the wife of the first of our boys to get married. That's you honey."

Dad lifted his glass of Jack Daniels, it was the one and only drink that Sally let him have, and toasted Bobbie saying, "One valuable heirloom should be worn by another valuable heirloom."

Everyone toasted Bobbie; I thought Ethan was going to bust his stitches he was laughing so hard and pointing at me. Smart ass.

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A lot has happened in the year and a half since Bobbie and I got married. We had a little boy and named him Thomas Lane Chance; following in my dad's footsteps by naming him after two of John Wayne's characters.

Bobbie redecorated the office next to hers so she could bring Thomas to work with her. We cut a doorway in the wall between the two offices to make it easy for Bobbie to check on him. Bobbie said she was going to be a working mother but she'd be damned if she leave her child in daycare.

Dad and Sally Johnson got married about six months after Bobbie and I, surprising no one but Dad. He retired to the "26 Bar Ranch" and left the building supply business to Ethan, Mary Kate, and me. The company name was changed to Chance & Sons and our new motto was "Take a Chance on Quality"; the customers seemed to like it.

Sally had been raised on a cattle ranch in Texas and knew more about raising cattle than her new husband.. She and Dad got serious about raising Hereford cattle; they bought the two farms that adjoined the ranch and increased its size to over 1000 acres. Now Dad has someone that cares as much about his ranch as he does and he is happy again; I didn't know if he ever would be after Mom passed away.

Ethan was physically able to come back to work at the company soon after Dad retired. Ethan, Bobbie, and I have actually been able to increase our share of the market. Mary Kate decided she didn't want to live in New York and is coming home. So she, Ethan, and Bobbie can run the supply company.

I'm back in the construction business, no not as a framer but I'm starting my own custom home building firm; I've got an in with a building supply company and can cut my cost on supplies.

Bobbie is pregnant again. She says she wants to have our children in a bunch so we'll be young enough to enjoy each one as they grow up. She won't tell me how many kids are in a bunch though.

I told her just last night how much I love her saying, "It's not every man that can kiss an heirloom good night."

We're as happy as any two people can be and life goes on.