43

It was noisy on the roof, with the wind whipping over our heads, and she recoiled in shock as I touched her shoulder. All three of us were still jumpy after the day at the warehouse. It was going to take some time to get back to normal.

Once we’d figured out what normal was.

“What are you thinking?” I said, and Linda turned around, and smiled. But there was a sadness in her eyes.

“Been a long time since anyone asked me that,” she said.

“I’m making it my business to know these days,” I said, as I took her in my arms. I cradled her waist and pulled her up to me, and we kissed, her eyes glinting with the far-off neon and streetlights of New York City beneath us.

“I’m thinking that I’m going to miss this view,” she said.

“You don’t have to miss it just yet,” I said. “After all, you’re still going to need to find a new apartment.”

“I guess so,” she said thoughtfully. “And a job.”

“Well, when the restaurant’s rebuilt in November, I’ll be sure to give you a ring.”

“Actually, I was thinking that I’ve been working as a waitress for too long,” said Linda. “You were right that day in the coffee shop, the day we met again.”

“I don’t think I could have been more wrong,” I said.

“How so?”

“I thought that there was some reason you gave up singing. Some reason other than…” I looked back downstairs, thinking of our daughter, sleeping. “I had no idea.”

“I didn’t tell you.”

“You should have told me.”

“Let’s not have that one again,” said Linda. “You know I’m very proud of her. And she’s just like you. She’s clever, you know.”

“Is that right?” I said. “And she’s beautiful, too. Like you. She takes after her mother,” I added, and Linda smiled, and rested her head on my chest. I span her a little, in a slow, short dance.

“Maybe there is a way I can persuade you to look for somewhere close by.”

Linda snorted. “Not with these rents.”

“Well, as a matter of fact, whenThe Blue Orchidreopens, we’re looking for a manager.”

“What about Zeke?”

“Zeke’s doing something new,” I said. “He’s always wanted to. So I’m giving him a blank check and telling him to make it happen. We’re going fifty-fifty. We’ll be partners.”

“That’s good,” said Linda. “That’s real good.”

“Would you be interested at all?”

“What?” said Linda.

“In managing it,” I said.

“Axel, I can’t manage a restaurant,” I said.

“You managed the wine cellar pretty well.”

“But I’ve never managed a restaurant,” Linda spluttered.

“Well, of course, Zeke’s going to train you,” I said. “After all, I need someone I can trust.”

“And do you really trust me?” Linda looked guilty for a second. “After I turned you away?”

“I do,” I said. “You sent me away because I got you into this mess. And I did. But I want to help now. I’m no longer up for making messes. I’d rather clean them up.”

“Oh, Axel,” said Linda softly.

“Which brings me to my question,” I said.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. How do you feel about the current mess we’re in? Together?”

“Oh, don’t get me started,” said Linda. “What am I going to tell her?”

“The truth. Not all at once. But by bit.”

“The whole truth?”

“Nothing but?”

“What about—" Linda looked around, and whispered, “themarriage?”

“Well, I guess we need to decide what to do about that.”

“What can we do?”

I stepped back. “Close your eyes,” I said.

“Axel,” moaned Linda. “I’m tired.”

“Come on,” I said, and I grinned. I was getting used to smiling a lot more these days. “Just for a second.”

“Okay,” said Linda.

“Count to three. Then open. Okay?”

“Okay. One. Two. Three.”

Linda opened them.

I was down on one knee in front of her.

“Oh,” she said. And suddenly, even the wind seemed to go quiet on the penthouse rooftop.

“Linda Ryder,” I said. “I love you, and I think I’m always going to. No matter where you go, or what you do. Or what I do. So, would you do me the honor of divorcing me?”

Linda laughed a little. Then, her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. As she saw the diamond ring that was in my hand.

“I will,” she said, nodding.

“And will you do me,” I went on, “the much greater honor, of remarrying me?”

“Yes,” said Linda. “Yes,” she said, “yes, yes, yes,” and laughed, and I laughed too, and I leaped up and embraced her.

“But there’s someone else we need to ask,” she said.

“First thing tomorrow,” I said.

Linda held out her hand, and I practically growled with pleasure, as I slipped on the ring.

I kissed her while the stars and the wind and the city lights shone around us. It was a miracle to be somewhere so beautiful. But the miracle was that we were there to see it.

Epilogue

Linda

Threemonthslater,ona Sunday in Manhattan, while the Summer was ending and the trees in Central Park had begun to go red and golden brown, the day came.

I was late, as my father and I sped down 5thAvenue. My dad had never been to New York before, though my mom had.

“Look atthat,” he said. And I turned around, watching the Flatiron building in the distance.

“You having fun there, Dad?” I said. “Anything important to do today?”

He turned around, and blushed. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s just…it’s all so much to take in.”

And it was. There were so many preparations to make that I didn’t know where to begin. It had all seemed so easy when the wedding was fake. I’d breezed through the decisions enjoying myself. But this time had been hectic.

It was worth it, though. Worth it for this moment, to have my dad and my mom by my side.

When we pulled up at St. Thomas’s, I saw that Sara was waiting for me. I got out of the car, my dad holding me by the hand.

“You look a million dollars,” she said. “You always do.”

“I feel like it,” I said.

“Good?” she said.

“Heavy,” I said.

And I meant it. Because there was something no one could have expected coming my way that Summer. And I only realized after I’d told my parents that I was engaged to Axel, that I’d finally recovered from the madness of the last few weeks, the wedding, hiding out, the awful events that had folLindend.

I’d missed my period. Twice, by the time I finally went and bought a test from the drugstore. It was down the road fromThe Blue Orchid, and Zeke and I had been meeting with the new architect to discuss the features that would occupy the property, when I suddenly realized what had happened.

I was pregnant again. As a matter of fact, by the time we got to our wedding, I was well into my second trimester. So I couldn’t wear my beautiful wedding dress after all.

I told Axel before anyone else, of course. He was delighted, and couldn’t stop holding and kissing me and asking me when it was due, and whether I knew it was a boy or a girl (I didn’t, of course). And then I told Macy.

“You’re going to have a baby brother,” I said. “Or sister.”

“I hope it’s a sister,” she said philosophically. “Boys are gross.”

That made Axel laugh.

Of course, there was one conversation I hadn’t been looking forward to having. And luckily, I only had to have one half of it. The morning after Axel and I got engaged, I woke up to see him and Macy having breakfast on the balcony in the sunshine.

I opened the door, and what Macy turned and said to me was quite the shock.

“Mommy,” she said. “Mister Axel is my daddy.”

I looked at Axel, a smile playing on my lips.

“But you don’t have to call me that,” said Axel, quickly.

“He was my daddy, and then he lost you, because he wasn’t paying attention,” said Macy. “But now he’s found you again,” she added happily. “So he can be my daddy. If I want him to be.”

“I couldn’t put it better myself,” I said.

There wasn’t a hint of resentment, a hint of worry. There was only the gorgeous and wonderful way that Macy saw the world. And though I wouldn’t always see it that way, I loved her for saying it all the same.

“But you are,” said Macy, to Axel. “And mommy loves you.”

“Does she?” said Axel, winking conspiratorially at me.

“She said to me the other day she wants to marry you,” said Macy.

“I did NOT,” I said.

“She said it to Aunty Sara,” said Macy, rolling her eyes. “While I couldn’t hear.”

Today, there at the church, Macy was waiting inside, next to my mom. As I straightened my dress and made the final adjustments, my dad slipped on my corsage and Zeke stepped out.

“Well, Jesus H, I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “We got the world’s most nervous groom in there.”

“Sorry,” I said. “Damn dress got stuck.”

“We’ll have to call Christian Dior,” said Sara. “Get a refund.”

We giggled, and then Zeke and Sara kissed. She gLindend as she waved him inside.

“You know,” I said. “I think there might be more than one wedding happening this year.”

“We’ll see if it’s true,” she said to me. “What they say about the best man and the maid of honor.”

The music had already struck up inside, and Sara walked in to take her place.

And then, it was my turn.

Smiling faces awaited me, as they stood while I stepped forward. I couldn’t help but look and see. Everyone from The Blue Orchid was there. Cherise, and Andy. My mom and my brother smiled and waved at me. And Macy too: and while we hadn’t told my mom or my dad, I felt sure that they knew somehow. The little blue-eyed girl was growing up fast. And she was looking more and more like her dad.

And then, there was a moment when everything stopped. And through the parting in the crowd, I could see him.

I don’t think Axel had ever not looked handsome, but seeing him today was like the first time. His dark hair had been neatly combed, and his skin was soft and a little tanned, from our walks in the park. The happiness we’d both come to share had brought him to life. And I knew that he wasn’t the same man I’d known all those years ago.

My father shook his hand. “Treat her well, son,” he said.

“I will,” said Axel, smiling. I loved his darkness, his moods. I loved him when he was angry, when he was wild. But I loved him all the more for being able to smile, to be happy.

He took my hand. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I said.

The music came to a stop.

And there, for a second, I realized that this was where I’d been coming, to this moment, for years. I’d been traveling in time to get to this day. The day which marked the end of all the days that came before. The day which marked the start of something new, and altogether better.

The End