Chapter 43: Together at Last

“Okay, Faye, I’m going to close up now. My boyfriend is coming to pick me up,” Rachel announced.

“Oh okay...your what?”

“My boyfriend, Arthur, the Oxford-educated attorney, Beatrice’s grandson, you know.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No. I’m, I’m, just being honest,” Rachel replied, only knowing how close the comment was to her actual truth. She was being honest this time, and it was a rarity that being in a relationship was causing her to do.

“Well, Honey, that’s simply fantastic news. That explains the glow and the shift-long smile. All sorts of good things have been happening this week, haven’t they?”

“Yes, they have,” Rachel enthusiastically agreed.

They closed down the store for the night, and just as Rachel was about to lock the front door and put the alarm on, Arthur showed up with an equally big smile.

“He’s here, Faye,” Rachel beamed.

“Hello, Godson, I just heard the excellent news. You two deserve to be happy and what better way than to be coupled with each other.”

“Thanks, Faye.”

“It couldn’t happen to two finer folks. Now don’t keep her up too late,” Faye said with a wink.

###

“So what would you like to do on our second night of official couple-hood? Couple-ing? Couple-dom?” asked Rachel, unsure of the vocabulary they would choose to define their very new romantic relationship. They both appeared content with the titles of boyfriend and girlfriend for the present, at least.

“Well, I know of one thing, but I don’t want to wear you out,” he said with a grin, “How about you; any suggestions or ideas?”

“Not one. I think that ‘Project Donut’ swallowed my short-term creativity,” she mused as they motored along.

“Well thank goodness there’s ’Project Success’. Maybe there’s a different part of your brain that this one will use and still leave you with some left over,” he jokingly suggested.

“Funny. Mr....Funnyman, so you’ve got jokes, huh?”

He laughed. While they sat at the stoplight, he stole a kiss from her.


“Hmmm. Now that’s much better.”

“What do you want me to call you?” he asked her, “Sweetheart, Baby, Sugar, Love...or something of your own creation?”

“Rachel is fine.”

“No, it has to be one of those cloyingly sweet pet names that make you supremely disgusted when you hear it, knowing that they’re getting sex on the regular and you’re not.”

“Oh, I see...the funnyman has an axe to grind,” she said, flashing him her beautiful smile.

“Make up your mind by the time we get to the next stoplight or I’ll...I’ll...”

“You’ll what?” she asked, calling his bluff.

“I’ll have to kiss it out of you.”

“Seriously?”

“Absolutely.”

“So basically, I win either way?”

“Yeah...,” he realized, happier than he’d been for longer than he could remember.

“What should I call you? The name Arthur does not truncate easily like some other male names might.”

“Good point and good question. How about ‘Artie’?”

“I’d like to think I know a good deal about you, although not everything. Trust me when I say this from a position of love and respect, an ‘Artie’ you’re not.”

“Yeah, I kinda thought you would say that. Believe me, I’ve been trying to get that to catch on for years without success. ‘Artie’ is an internationally known, award-winning architect, speaks seven languages fluently and climbs Mount Everest for a regular workout. Perhaps you’re right. If not ‘Artie’, then what?”

“Ok. I’ve got one for you, oops, wait, we’re at a light,” she said, pausing and positioning for a kiss. “Now, that’s better. How about ‘Lovekiss’? Since you love to kiss, I think it suits you perfectly.”

“Alright. Let me see. ‘Lovekiss’, could you pick me up tonight? ‘Lovekiss’, I thought we talked about that already. ‘Lovekiss’, that was so thoughtful. ‘Lovekiss’, thank you for letting me use your platinum credit card. Yep, it works for me. Any thoughts on one for yourself?”

“I know this is going to sound like I am elevating myself on the highest possible pedestal, but I am rather partial to being called ‘Princess’. Yes. Princess Rachel. Sounds good. Case closed.”

“Case closed? You do realize you are in the United Kingdom and it is always possible that you could be sharing that title with the real deal, right? Choose another.”

“Arrgh. Okay. I did like it when you called me ‘Miss Lady’.”

“You think very, very well of yourself, don’t you? I don’t think I have ever been with any girl with a higher or healthier sense of self-esteem. Okay, but only if you are absolutely certain. ‘Miss Lady’ it is. And look, just in time to seal the deal with a kiss, we are approaching yet another stoplight.”

“You definitely got game, Lovekiss,” she said, turning her face toward him for a kiss, “Mmm magnificent. I love it already.”

###
From that day forward, nothing would be the same again. Arthur and Rachel grew closer together and more in love. After a fruitless search for a house they could afford in Clovelly parish, Arthur asked his grandma if they could take up residence in the cottage until he got his bar exam results in the mail. Those exam scores, pass or fail, would determine what came next for them together.

One thing that did not change, however, was that they were blissfully happy all the time. This time it was completely real and not for show. They had the respect of the community and the love and support of their friends and Arthur’s family of one, Beatrice, at least for the most part.

Beatrice remained cordial, but there was something that was not right for her that she was not sharing. Arthur wondered if it was a health matter. Rachel wondered if Beatrice felt cut out of the loop now that they were a couple. Before, it was the three of them or one of them with Beatrice enjoying one-on-one quality time. Now she was home alone in an empty nest, even if they were only a few feet away from her main house. Faye thought Beatrice might miss all of the bakery salvation excitement that kept her connected, gave her purpose, and made her feel needed. These were the thoughts of her friends, who were all partially correct.

Only one other person knew about the secret lie of omission that she was keeping; she had taken, read, and kept Rachel’s letter to her father! She could confront the person with what she knew or she could bury it with her and none would be the wiser. But, despite what she had done first, starting with taking the letter, Beatrice did not like to lie in any way. She knew what she had to do.

She was aware that after she confronted the other person involved, she would rock the foundation of her house of cards, and risk losing that relationship forever. That might be uncomfortable for a short while, but after carefully thinking about it, she decided to do the right thing for the long term and let the cards come crashing down, with the chips falling where they may.