Chapter IV
That evening, Vincent had the honor of escorting two beautiful women to dinner. Catherine was casual chic in blue jeans, a white silk shirt and brown leather jacket slung casually around her shoulders against the tunnel’s chill. Mary was again a vision, she wore a long tunic-style blouse in varying shades of muted greens, set off by black velvet pants. Catherine had surprised her with this last gift a little before Vincent had come to escort them into dinner.
"You two are spoiling me, you know that?" Mary said as they were walking to the dining hall.
Vincent answered before Catherine could, "Out of all the well-wishers here, you alone raised your voice in our behalf, Mary. Catherine and I were going to be together anyway, but your words helped to smooth our path."
"Yes and for that, Vincent and I will be forever grateful. You believed in our love as much as we did and do," Catherine added.
"Well now, what can I tell you? I’m a hopeless romantic," changing the subject entirely, Mary asked Vincent, "How’d it go today with my preschoolers?"
"Oh. Uh. It was a very rewarding experience Mary," Vincent replied diplomatically.
"That good. huh Vincent?" Mary smiled knowingly. "How was little Ziggy and the twins?"
"The girls are very sweet. I noticed they tend to cling together, holding hands, each making sure the other one is all right. Ziggy is actually a very bright little boy. It appears he is more of a
‘hands-on’ learner. I gave him mostly manipulative and take apart toys today, and he was quite satisfied. He did quite well," Vincent said.
"Yes, you’re right, I had noticed that myself in Ziggy. I’m going to steer him more towards the clay and play-dough areas, give him a chance to develop more fine-motor skills," Mary stated.
Catherine had been silent during this exchange; she’d noticed a bittersweet quality in Vincent’s voice. He would have been an outstanding teacher Above, but that would never be. She felt a little bubble of sadness floating along the Bond, yet when she looked into those magnificent azure eyes, he gave her his characteristic small smile that seemed to say, "All is well."
As the three entered the dining hall, Father stepped forward, and giving Catherine a courtly bow, a clap on the shoulder to Vincent; he took Mary’s hand, gently raised it to his lips, and offered her his arm, which Mary, smiling sweetly, took.
Father escorted Mary to a seat next to himself, and then proceeded to give Vincent a pointed look. If anyone else noticed, they didn’t say anything, and besides, most of the families had already eaten, now there were mostly adults.
William often referred to this time as the "Gourmet Hour", because it was then that he tried out his more exotic dishes. Tonight, William was serving spicy enchiladas, and nopales ensalada .
The tunnel community had noticed a decidedly Latin flavor in Williams’ cooking since the arrival of Londie.
Father, who usually enjoyed Mexican food, found that tonight he had little appetite, he couldn’t keep his eyes or his thoughts off Mary, and it appeared that she too was preoccupied.
Vincent and Catherine kept giving each other significant little glances as one and then the would look over at Father and then Mary - until Father caught and held Vincent’s gaze and gave him one of his patented scowls! Vincent dropped his head like a chastised schoolboy, then looked up at his father and gave him a most mischievous wink!
With a nearly inaudible snort of irritation, Father went back to his meal, picked at a cactus leaf, and declared that he couldn’t eat another bite, and after excusing himself, he took his leave. Eventually the meal was completed, the tables and dishes cleared and put away, and the tunnel residents retired for the evening. All except two.
Father couldn’t sleep for some reason, so he decided to go to the kitchen and make himself some tea, and maybe get a little snack. His hip had started bedeviling him again, but if the truth were really told, he was thinking about the question Vincent had asked him earlier concerning Mary. ‘Stuff and nonsense!’ he huffed to himself. But still, in his mind’s eye, he could see Mary’s face; her gentle smile. He liked the way she was always so patient, especially with the younger children. In fact, Jacob thought, he had only seen Mary lose her temper once; of course, it was with him, and of course, it was because of his being so pig-headed where Vincent and Catherine were concerned.
"She really lit into me that time!", he said out loud, and nearly dropped his cup on the tunnel floor, as Mary’s voice answered, "Excuse me?" and then "Jacob, what are you doing here this time of night?"
The tunnel patriarch was clearly flustered, "Oh, well, I just couldn’t sleep, thought I’d get myself a cup of tea." Then regaining his composure, "I just want to say, you looked very lovely this evening at dinner Mary. But then, you’re a beautiful woman anyway, anything else simply enhances your loveliness."
"Why Jacob Wells, you’re just a sweetheart aren’t you?", Mary looked at him fondly.
"I’m nothing of the sort", Father answered with fake grumpiness, then added, "Would you like to sit and talk for awhile, maybe share a snack with me?"
"I’d love to do just that Jacob." Mary answered
They sat and talked about various things, their observations on life and living. They even talked about that evening’s dinner. "Good, but a little too spicy. Usually I enjoy spice, but that… well maybe it’s just me." Father said
"Maybe we’re just getting old Jacob. I noticed Vincent and Catherine seemed to enjoy dinner, especially the Sangria", Mary chuckled.
"Oh those two are so in love with each other, they barely notice food anyway." Father laughed and so did Mary.
"Well, I’m going to call it a day", said Mary
"Yes, me too", Father answered.
Mary impulsively turned, leaned in and planted a kiss on Jacob’s cheek. Thinking she had caught him off guard, she was surprised at his reaction. Jacob caught her face in both hands, looked at her for a long moment and gently returned the kiss. Both knew that Jacob’s kiss held the promise of kisses to come.
They smiled at each other, and then turned to go to their respective chambers.
"Good night Jacob"… ‘My dear Jacob’ thought Mary.
"Good night Mary"… ‘My dearest Mary’ thought Jacob.