It was after ten when I left Aunt Joyce's house on Friday evening. It is our ladies gab night when we do our nails. The main topic that evening being the wedding.
Danny was upstairs in his new study when I let myself in and locked the doors behind me. I spend all my Friday and Saturday nights with him now.
I went immediately to my office and put our wedding invitation in my desk. I eventually had to tell Danny because we would be driving down in 9 days. I hadn't decided how to tell him what my suspicions are.
Danny tells me to trust my instincts and my instincts tell me the groom's parents are those vile people.
Danny's mentor the old gentlemen Judge John Anderson left Danny the contents of his study in his will; the furniture, the lamps, etc... which included his extensive book collection housed in five and six tier solid cherry barrister book cases for a total of twelve complete bookcases.
My love spent the entire day with Thomas O'Neil, a client and a man on a brokered probation carefully moving the contents of the judge's study taking special care with bookcases from the widow's house. They carried the wrapped and padded sections one-by-one to the second floor and stacked them in place while I ran the office.
We often have men on work release or men on general probation taking care of the grounds or doing odd jobs. On those days I pack my revolver just in case with Tom being the exception.
I know his history having helped Danny with Tom's case. John Anderson and Danny took Tom's case pro bono in the interest of justice.
Tom was married for nine years and had a daughter with his ex- wife. During their marriage the adulteress had an affair.
Cindy is a sweet child of eleven now. She is presently living with Tom's parents until we get Tom full custody.
Without going into the particulars what that licentious abomination of a boyfriend did, Danny and I met Tom at the hospital where Tom delivered the unconscious boyfriend to the emergency room.
Danny called the police we waited with Tom so he could be arrested, arraigned and released on bail with his attorney present during those mentioned proceedings.
These proceedings were precipitated by a private discussion between Cindy and her grandmother during Tom's bi-weekly visits at his parent's home. The lying ex-wife had sole custody then. The particulars of that private conversation were confirmed and documented by a Pediatrician and her nurse.
That confirmation resulted in the ex-wife's jobless live-in boyfriend being pummeled into a bloody pulp with the unnamed but easily guessed offending body part permanently removed and discarded.
The drastically shortened and remaining upper assaulting appendage has no function other than urinating. Tom stabilized the abomination afterward to keep him from bleeding to death.
I should mention that Tom is a decorated veteran of Operation Desert Storm receiving a bronze star and a purple heart. During his time in the service Tom served as an Army Medic.
Justice is served in both venues. Tom received five years probation and one thousand hours of community service; the nut-less wonder is doing 12 to 25 in Sing-Sing.
The ex-wife fled the State due to a pending warrant for her arrest, the lesser of the charges for filing a false document against Tom in order to get custody two years earlier.
I found Danny in a brown leather club chair sound asleep with a book on his lap and his feet on the matching ottoman. He was barefoot and wearing black pajama pants and a red nylon sleeveless tee shirt that looked like it is painted on him as if to show off his rippling muscles.
It is not so much showing off or vanity with him as it is being comfortable. Danny is generally so rigid during business hours about being dressed properly.
I took off my sneakers and socks leaving on my light sea green peasant blouse and snug blue jeans. I know him so well and Danny's gentle ways with me.
I touched my grumpy bear's face and kissed his lips. Danny smiled and sighed opening his baby blue eyes to look at me. He closed the book and put it on the table next to him and taking my hands he kissed them. I always find this simple and loving gesture so endearing.
"My beautiful Anita, as always you are a lovely sight to wake up to. Would you like to cuddle?"
Danny slid to one side and patted the arm of the chair. I sat down close to him stretching out and put my head on his chest. He wrapped his strong arms around me...I could hear his heart beating and it was beating only for me.
"Well what do you think of my new study? The handmade wool Oriental rug we picked out together is perfect for the furniture, don't you think?"
Yesterday this was an empty room; empty save for the blinds and the curtains. As I said before, Danny is not a material man. All of the rooms on the third floor are still empty however to his great delight Danny now has a study of his own.
"I think the somber and studious traditional decor of the room suits you just fine, or to put it in another way, my grumpy bear has his own man cave."
"Well said and it reminds me of John," he tugged on my ponytail, "and you have such a way with words."
"And the words for the day are I love you Danny."
"I love you more than all the stars in the sky and I never get tired of saying that. I do owe you an apology. Therefore in heartfelt contrition there's a surprise for you in the bedroom."
"What apology? What did you do?"
"It's what I failed to do. In the whole time we have been together I've never given you flowers and I should be horse whipped for that inexcusable oversight. Shall we my gentle lady?"
Danny helped me up and kissed my hands a second time, "You always keep your promises Anita; the first promise being your lovely hands."
Danny took my arm and walked me to the bedroom. There was a vase of beautiful yellow roses on the table on my side of the futon and a small green ice chest on the floor next to his.
I took one rose from the vase to smell it and accidentally pricked my thumb on a thorn resulting in a drop of blood. I held it up to show him and he said, "A rose without thorns is like love without passion."
I read Danny's mind as he carefully took the yellow rose from me and deliberately punctured his thumb on a thorn. We pressed our thumbs together mingling our blood as we looked at the love in each others eyes.
"Yellow is the color of sunshine, the sunshine of your smile. Your gentle laugh is like the sound of little silver Christmas bells that turn my heart to mush. The words that define my life are I love you Anita.....please close your eyes while we undress and keep them closed until I tell you otherwise for my passion rises.
Politely though he asked the tone was firm and unyielding like the stone walls that surrounded us.....I know him well and must obey.
Danny slowly undressed me in the quiet silence of my imagination to the cadence of our beating hearts.
I could hear the swish of my clothes as he dropped them one-by- one to the floor....and then his.... until we stood naked together........
