Chapter 7

Connecticut

Jenny was ready when Catherine pulled up in front of the publishing office on Friday night. She’d been watching out for her in the lobby and came running out loaded down with a small suitcase and a grocery bag. Opening the back door she tossed her suitcase onto the seat and set the bag down on the floor then got into the front seat.

"Ok, all set! L let’s roll,." she heaved a sigh and buckled on her seatbelt. "I couldn’t wait for this day to be over; we are going to have a great weekend!" She set her pocketbook on the floor then turned to Catherine. "I’ve thought of something else we need to get, a camera. Y you’ll want pictures of your wedding day."

"Jen, we can’t do that!" Catherine exclaimed as she maneuvered the car through the traffic.

"Of course you can."

"No we can’t!" Catherine replied vehemently. "Pictures need to be developed, people will see them."

"No, no, what we need to get is one of those new fangled digital cameras, a computer, a printer and some of that special paper they make just for pictures." She ticked the items off on her fingers as she spoke. "You can do everything in the privacy of your own home, and make as many copies as you want."

"You’re kidding?"

"Nope I saw it on a commercial; they’re supposed to be better than the Polaroid’s although I suppose we should have a couple of those too."

"Ok, put that on the list of things to get."

Jenny took a steno pad and pen out of her over-sized pocketbook and flipped the pages over to where she had already begun ‘THE LIST’.

"Done." She put the pad and pen down next to her on the seat so it was near to hand if they thought of something.

"Do you remember that brownstone Nell bought a few years ago?" She began eagerly, "I heard she was going to put in on the market."

Catherine smiled. "No she’s not, Vincent and I saw it last night and we decided to buy it."

Jenny squealed with delight, "Cath that’s great! How did you talk that walking hunk into living in a house above the ground?"

"Well if I want to continue working I’ll need an above ground address with access to the tunnels. We figured it would attract too much attention if I used one of the existing tunnel entrances on a regular basis. But most importantly I don’t want Vincent climbing up and down my apartment building anymore; I get anxiety attacks just thinking about it."

"I think that’s great, the poor guy can finally experience a little bit of a normal life for a change. I heard the renovations she did were marvelous."

"They’re unbelievable, she spared no expense and it shows."

She went on to tell her about all the rooms and her plans for them.

"It all sounds wonderful Cath. So I guess we’ll be doing some furniture shopping?"

"I think I’m going to keep some of the pieces from my apartment and some of my fathers’ things I have in storage, but we are definitely going to be doing some shopping."

The rest of the drive they spent in discussing decorating ideas, and adding to the list, which was becoming alarmingly long, but do able in Jenny’s opinion.

***

The Chandler summer house was located on the southern end of Lake Gaillard, close to the town of North Bradford, just under a two-hour drive from the city. Turning into the driveway Catherine stopped the car in front of the security keypad and punched in her code. The black, wrought iron gate that guarded the entrance to the property, slowly swung inward. She drove through, stopping to make sure it closed behind her.

The driveway was long and straight, flanked by huge, towering oak trees that were now bare of leaves in January’s winter chill. The gravel underneath the tires crunched noisily until they hit the concrete pad that went under the front portico and circled the two-tiered water fountain in front of the house.

She parked at the front door and they unloaded the car, taking everything into the front hall. They made themselves comfortable in the living room, lighting a fire and fixing some snacks from the groceries Jenny had gotten. The rest of the evening was spent talking, traveling down memory lane until they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer. Taking their bags up to the bedroom they changed and fell into bed exhausted.

Saturday morning saw the girls sleeping late and going right for lunch when they finally rolled out of bed. After they had eaten they went to what was her parents’ bedroom where the dress was kept in the enormous walking in closet. Carolyn had carefully stored it in hopes that her daughter would some day wear it, and that day was rapidly nearing. Catherine reverently took it out of its bag, gently touching the fine lace and silk covered buttons.

"Oh Cath," Jenny exclaimed, "it’s absolutely gorgeous! Let’s get you into it and see how it fits."

After Jenny finished buttoning the twenty plus buttons that closed the back of the gown Catherine stood in the full-length mirror accessing assessing herself critically. What a sight, t! The gown was beautiful; she could just imagine her mother’s face instead of her own. She thought she could feel her presence close to her.

Jenny whistled appreciatively, "you look stunning in it Cath."

The front plunged into a deep V neckline, showing her crystal off to perfection. The long fitted sleeves were all lace ending in a point over the top of her hands; the bustline to the waistline was white satin. The skirt was full consisting of a silk underskirt and two layers of tulle. The upper portion of the bodice was white lace that continued over the bustline and ended at the top of the midriff. The waistline fell just below the natural waistline ending in a point at the center front of the gown. There was no train, which was just as well considering she would be wearing it in a tunnel. It was just a tad too long, which might be remedied by wearing high heels if Mary didn’t want to deal with shortening three layers of fabric.

She turned to check the back, craning her neck to see how she looked then turned to face front again. She looked over at Jenny to see what she thought.

Jenny stood back a bit with one arm across her stomach supporting the elbow of the other, her chin resting on her fist. She tilted her head to one side, looking Catherine up and down. "Well I guess you’re shorter and not as chesty as your mom." She said summing up the alterations that would be needed succinctly.

"Mary said she would do the alterations, I’ll have to get it to her as soon as we get back so she’ll have enough time to make the changes."

She slipped out of the dress, restoring it to the bag she had gotten it out of and laid it on the bed for the trip home.

They spent the rest of the weekend roaming through the house and the grounds. They discussed decorating possibilities for the new house and planned a trip together to the furniture stores. Jenny pointed out that the couple would definitely need to get a king size bed which earned her a punch in the arm from a blushing Catherine.

All too soon it was time to head back to the city. After dropping Jenny off at her building Catherine practically flew home. Before she could even get the door of her apartment closed Vincent had her in his arms.

"I’ve missed you so," he breathed into her hair. "Now that the time for parting is nearly over I can’t bear to be apart from you."

"I know," she replied huskily, "it’s the same for me."

She turned to raise her face for his kiss, her mouth parted and she let her tongue explore his lips, probing between them for access. Sighing he succumbed, opening his mouth, allowing her free rein. As their tongues intertwined he held her closer, feeling the delightful softness of her breasts and the contours of her hips against him. She reveled in his newfound boldness, but all too soon he drew back, breathing heavily.

"Catherine," he sighed.

"I know Vincent… soon," still a bit dizzy she offered to make tea.

"Yes," he panted, catching his breath, "that would be most welcome." Releasing her he followed her into the kitchen. "How did your weekend go?"

He sat at the kitchen table as she got out the tea things, very aware that his eyes watched her every move she began to tell him. Sitting down sipping her tea she became thoughtful.

"What is it Catherine?"

"It’s been awhile since I’ve been up there, I forgot how beautiful it is."

Suddenly she looked at him, "Vincent we could take the children there on holiday, there’s plenty of room, and there’s the lake, and the pool; plenty of trails for hiking." She became more and more animated as the idea took hold.

He smiled as he watched her face; she looked absolutely adorable to him

"Catherine that’s a wonderful idea I’m sure the children would love it."

"Perhaps we could find a way to get you up there too," she added pensively.

"Perhaps, we’ll see, I’m beginning to think anything is possible."

He took her hand in his stroking the back with his thumb. "How was the dress?"

"It needs to be altered. I was thinking of coming Below tomorrow after work so Mary could see what needs to be done."

"I’m sure that would be fine, I’ll let her know to expect you. Now I should be going you’ve had a busy weekend and work in the morning."

"Wait!" She took his arm as he began to rise, "you haven’t told me about your weekend yet."

"We have added a new member to our community, I was kept busy showing him around. Now I really should be going."

He got up, collected his cloak from the chair, and throwing it over his shoulders took her hand. They walked to the balcony where he took her in his arms kissing her lightly.

"Till tomorrow," he whispered and was gone, leaping over the balustrade with his customary feline grace.

Turning from the doors she sighed, these partings were getting tougher, but soon… soon they would never have to part like this again, and with that thought she went to bed.