Page 12 of Beau

“Mr. Beau does not run my life and right now, I am not in the mood to go home.” Ivan was a long-time employee and therefore a very loyal one, hence her freedom to speak of her husband in that manner to him.

“What time should I be back to pick you up?”

“I will call," she had assured him.

Now she was seated on a padded bench with the overhanging arches she had made right at her parents’ graves. Her sisters hadprotested at what they call an extravagant waste, but she had not cared about that. They didn’t understand why she had to do it.

She had been five when they were killed in a multi-vehicle pileup on the highway.

The driver of an oil tanker had lost control when the brakes failed. Daniel and Martha Potter had been two of the fatalities of that fateful afternoon that had left their four daughters orphans.

Georgie could barely remember them but could recall snatches of her mother singing to her in her lovely voice and her big, brawny father, lifting her on his wide shoulders and whirling her around the room. They had been taken in by a distant cousin who had relinquished her role to a very responsible Marla, when she turned eighteen.

Georgie had missed out on so much. Her sisters had rallied around her and brought her up the best way they knew how to, but there had always been something monumental missing. She had confessed as much to Beau during a time when they were just getting to know each other.

“Not having my parents during my formative years, took a toll on me. I could never discuss it with Marla, because she wouldtake offense and be of the idea that she had not done a good job bringing me up," she cried in his arms and felt comforted by him. He had lost his mother and told her that was when he started acting out.

“Nothing felt good or right anymore," he admitted. “She was the light, and her leaving extinguished it completely from our lives. I became reckless and unanchored. I partied and collected as many women as I could.

I was determined never to form any lasting attachment for fear of loving and losing another who means so much to me.” He stared at her bleakly for a minute. “I cannot lose you Georgie, it would destroy me.”

A brisk wind picked up and pierced the protective layer of clothing she had on. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she rubbed her hands up over them absently, before placing a protective hand over her flat stomach.

She needed this. She had tried to make her husband understand the myriad reasons why this was so important, but he refused to listen.

She had also said some very damaging things to him in the doctor’s office and before they could fester, she was going to have to apologize.

But damn him! He was so stubborn and so aggravating. And why did he have to leave? Yes, she had ordered him to, but he usually would not listen to her. Why had he done so when she needed him more than ever? Blake had called and asked after her, right after the procedure and she assured him she was okay.

“Give him time my dear.”

“I am trying.”

“Oh, Mom and Dad,” she whispered bleakly. “I wish you were here. At times like this I really need someone to talk to. Do you think I am doing the right thing? My husband is afraid of things going wrong and if I am being honest, I am a little anxious myself. What if it doesn’t happen for a while?

Will I be able to withstand the disappointment and keep going or will I want to give up?” She closed her eyes briefly and rubbed her hand over her tummy. “I have been praying for a miracle. I was not so young that I don’t recall your prayers when you tucked me in, when it was bedtime. I need God to hear me now.”

The first splatter of rain jarred her out of her reverie. Pulling out her phone, she called Ivan. It was time to go home. Besides, she was feeling the aftereffects of the procedure.

*****

Beau knew she had stopped at the cemetery because Ivan had called him immediately.

“I am sorry sir, she insisted.”

“Don’t worry about it, my wife does what she wants, and no one can stop her.’ He had meant to keep his voice light, but he knew it came out embittered. “She’ll be fine.”

Now seated behind his desk, he stared at the documents in front of him, unable to concentrate. She had called him selfish and entitled and those two traits had been true of him in the past. Now he could think of nothing but her.

His whole world revolved around her. The taste and texture of her skin were in his nostrils every breath he drew. Her laughter filled him with a joy he had never had before. Her beauty made him want to wax poetic.

Her candor was refreshing. He was selfish where she was concerned. The truth was that he had wanted her for himself for years. He had spoken about children of course, but in the distant future. They were still young enough to wait another five years or so.

He figured that would give him enough time to relinquish this awful possessiveness he had where she was concerned. He wanted to be with her. He loved going home to find her waiting for him. He loved the fact that they were alone in that big house, loved how adventurous and creative they could get when it comes to making love.

On any surface, up against the doors, the parquet floors, on the wraparound porch, in the pool, in front of the pool. They were insatiable for each other and did not deny themselves.

One night while they were coming home from a function, passion had overtaken them and right there he had brought the car to a screeching halt in front of the lovely Grecian sculpture in the middle of the driveway. He had proceeded to rip off her panties and haul her on top of him.