Bondi Beach (21 page)

Chapter 40

MAY 28-31

Other than an occasional phone call or text message, Martin had finished up a few of his contracts and gotten a lot of work behind him. He was feeling more caught up and able to take a little time off.

We
decided to fly into Brisbane for a few days to visit Janine. She and Martin had talked almost daily ever since their mother had died. Understandably, they were both struggling with it, but, at least, they had each other.

We spent some time at the house with Janine, and she asked Martin what he wanted to do with some of Flo’s things that she had run across. There were some personal journals, more photos, family knickknacks, and so forth. While it was difficult for them to go through Flo’s things, it also helped to distract them from the larger issue of the loss of their mother.

Some of Flo's friends and neighbors were still bringing food for Janine. The freezer was stocked, and there was no shortage of meals. When Janine tired of what was in the refrigerator and became disinterested in the food in the freezer, we took her out to dinner for some Thai food. I had tried to be sensitive to the fact that Janine might want to spend time alone with her brother, but both had insisted that I join them. Knowing how close the two of them and their mother had been, I was concerned that Janine might see me as an outsider during this difficult time and prefer to be alone with Martin. Yet, whenever I tried to work in another area of the house when Janine and Martin were working together on something, they would always find me and urge me to join them. I appreciated being so embraced by them and welcomed into their family the way that I had been.

When Janine was at work,
Martin showed me around town, driving me through the neighborhood where he'd grown up and gone to school. As we drove along the streets of suburban Brisbane, he pointed out the homes of friends he had growth up with and told me about how they would play together building forts and tree houses and camping in one another's backyards.

While we were in Brisbane, t
he crematorium contacted Martin. We had hoped to hear from them while we were in town. Together with Janine, we picked up Flo’s ashes and drove them down the coast to one of her favorite spots near Kingscliff. He asked Janine if she wanted to sprinkle any of the ashes, but she was in tears and simply shook her head. Martin said a prayer and sprinkled the ashes. Just then, the wind picked up, and we watched Florence float through the sky and out over the water just as the sun was setting.

At the end of our time with Janine, we had brunch with her and
her boyfriend Bill. He worked as an accountant for a manufacturing company in Brisbane. Janine had known him for five years, but they had only started dating a few months before. Between Bill and her friends, she seemed to have plenty of company and a great support network.

We promised that it wouldn’t be long before we visited again.
Meanwhile, Janine announced her intention to visit in about a month, and we looked forward to having her back in Sydney. In the brief time that I had known Janine, I really liked her and looked forward to getting to know her better. We made plans to go shopping, and she planned to take us to some of her favorite spots south of the city. After we said our goodbyes, we caught our flight back to Sydney and were happy to be home.

Chapter
41

JUNE 1-5

Martin and I celebrated our five-month anniversary by re-reading Martin’s journal entry, driving by the hospital at his insistence, and eating at a restaurant on Bondi Beach. When he ran into some of his surfing buddies there, I realized how much he must miss doing one of his favorite things. I felt a little guilty for taking so much of his time.

What was intended to be a private feeling went unmissed.
“What's wrong?” he asked, his eyes reading me easily.

“I just realized how long it's been since you went surfing last. I think it was that day that I ran into you on the beach
. That was way back in January."

“If not your fault," he laughed. "There was Gabon, malaria, and….”

“Your mom. I know.”

A few of his friends came over the table and express
ed their condolences. They’d heard the news from Bud and Syke. Martin introduced me to them, and they seemed really nice.

“I
heard that Martin has been spending a lot of time with a very beautiful woman,” Henri began. He picked up my hand and kissed it.

Martin laughed, and I smiled.
“Eva, I’d like you to meet Henri. He’s an old friend.” The two men hugged.

“So sorry for your loss, Martin."

"Thanks, man."

"Hey," he leaned in toward Martin
. "Someone's been looking for you.” Martin drew back with a questioning look on his face. Ever so slightly, Henri motioned toward the other side of the room where Steve and Melanie were sitting. “When she heard you were with someone else, I hear she went ballistic. Guess she's allowed to be with another man, but you're not allowed to be with another woman. No offense, Eva.”

“None taken.”

"What does she want?” Martin asked.

Henri chuckled. "What else? To make you as miserable as she is."

Sensing that she was being talked about, Melanie glanced over and left her table with Steve, walking over toward Martin, Henri, and me.

"Hey, B
aby,” she said in her best Marilyn Monroe voice. “It's nice to see you. Where have you been?” She put her hands on his chest and moved forward to kiss Martin on the cheek, glancing at me as she did.

Martin took her by the wrists and dodged the kiss.
“Quit the bullshit, Melanie,” Martin told her.

She looked over at me
. Martin didn’t introduce us so she took matters into her own hands. She put her hand to her chest as she looked at me smugly. “Hi. I’m Melanie. Martin and I used to be –
together
.”

I could tell that Martin’s
blood was beginning to boil. I glanced over at him, and our eyes met. If she hadn’t been so obvious, I might have felt a twinge of jealousy, but there was nothing to be jealous of. Looking back at Melanie, I smiled and reached out to shake her hand, and she took mine tentatively. "Hello, Melanie” I said, “I’ve heard so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you.”

“And what was your name?” she asked, glancing over at Martin
. “It’s hard to keep up with all of his girlfriends. Which one are you?"

She was so obvious
in her attempt to disconcert me that I laughed. “I'm the one that's here to stay," I said.

Looking disappointed, s
he withdrew her hand from mine and said, “Well, I’d better get back to my husband.”

Clearly, this hadn’t gone as Melanie had expected
. She shot a nasty look at Martin and turned on her heel and walked back toward her table with Steve.

“
Eva,” Henri laughed so hard that he could barely catch his breath. He reached out and squeezed my arm. “You’re alright.”

Martin pulled me into his arms
and simply said, “I love you."

By the time that Melanie had returned to her table, Steve was standing and could tell that something was wrong. He looked curiously at Martin, who gave him a “she’s your problem now” shrug before
Steve followed Melanie out of the restaurant.

Henri joined us for dinner, and we had a great time
together. I heard more stories about Martin, which I always enjoyed, and the two men reminisced about their surfing times together. Finally, the evening grew late, and we were all getting tired.

“
Eva,” Henri said, chuckling. “It’s been a pleasure.” He turned to Martin. “You’d better keep this one.”

Martin squeezed my hand
. “I intend to,” he said, hugging his friend.

Chapter 42

JUNE 6

One glorious Australian winter morning, I woke up and found Martin watching me. We lay in bed under the covers, and he had just been making sure that I was fully covered by the comforter when I woke up. He reached up to move some hair away from my mouth and smiled. “Hi.”

I smiled, still a little groggy
. “Hi.”

“I love you so much,” he said softly.

I stretched my arms, moving them out from underneath the comforter. “I know.”

He laughed
. “You do? How do you know?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute
. I have to go to the bathroom.” He was still laughing when I closed the door behind me. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and washed my face before reemerging. I walked back into the bedroom and climbed into bed. “You’re warm,” I told him, burying my face in his chest.

Holding me
and smiling, he said, “You never answered my question.”

I pulled back from him, and we lay face to face. I reached for his hand,
our fingers intertwined. "You tell me that you love me. You always treat me well. You're very kind. You’re protective without being overbearing. You’ve tried to integrate me into your life with your friends and family.” A smile crossed his face. "You came to me when you had malaria and let me take care of you.” I smiled. "And I can still tell from the way you make love to me."

"Something I haven't done in a while
,” he said quietly. “I'll make it up to you."

"I know
. Your mom…."

He
turned serious for a moment and nodded. “I just really haven’t felt like doing anything."

“It's okay. I understand. Anyway," I changed the subject, “that's how I know you love me."

He smiled. Then, he moved toward me and kissed my lips, gently at first then more passionately. I would never tire of making love with this man. He was all heart and allowed himself to be vulnerable enough that I felt his love. If he had held back, I would have had doubts, but he never did. He gave me all of himself every time.

He rolled over on top of me and began the process of undressing me, making certain that I was fully covered and warm
. Afraid that he would be too heavy to lie on top of me, he lay just to the side of me and continued to kiss me. It had been a while since we had been together in this way, and running my hands over the terrain of his body was like coming home again. I loved the smell of him, the feel of his sweat on my skin, and knowing that I turned him on. We made love and, afterward, he wrapped his body around mine.

I reached out and put my hand on his arm
. “I love making love with you.”

H
e smiled. “I love you, Eva. I want to be able to make love to you every day for the rest of our lives.

I
smiled. "That sounds perfect, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does."
He looked into my eyes for a long moment.

S
omething in him had become much more serious. As I struggled to understand what had shifted, he moved his arm out from under the covers. In his hand was a small box that he held about eighteen inches away from my face. He slowly opened it, watching my reaction closely as he did. Inside the box was a beautiful round diamond engagement ring surrounded by sapphires with tiny diamonds down both sides of the band.

He reached out to hold my hand. “
Eva,” he began, “will you marry me?"

I wa
s quiet for a moment. It sounded impossible. We'd only been dating for just over five months, and we still hadn't worked out the long-distance relationship issue. Honestly, we were still getting to know one another.

Yet,
there had been nothing to indicate that there would be any major surprises down the road. We were both loving and steady with one another, and we had met some of each other's friends, and I’d met his family. We’d each seen how the other was perceived by those closest to us. There was something that was so easy between us that I had never experienced with anyone, not even Jack.

How much information was enough
? How much time was enough? How long would I need to wait to lower my risk of making a bad decision? Because that was really what this was all about. The idea that the more time passed, the more information my head would have, and the more “rational” my decision would be. It was my rational mind that was trying to do the data crunching, and it was failing miserably. My heart already knew the answer.

I closed my eyes
, and the strangest image came to mind. I was a little girl, and I was holding my Magic 8 Ball. I had a burning question, and I turned the ball over so it would tell me the answer – sort of like a fortune cookie but better. I looked down at the ball. My answer? “All signs point to yes.” And it was right. Every sign along the way did point to yes, from the way we’d met to Martin’s dream to how fully we loved each other.

I opened my eyes and
smiled at Martin, who was still holding the ring. “Yes.”

He
grinned broadly and let out a big sigh. Then, he took the ring out of the box. With his hand shaking, he slid it onto my finger and wrapped his arms around me. We held one another, and he buried his face in my neck. “I was afraid you'd say ‘No.’"

I shook my head
. “How could I? I love you. Besides, we already agreed that this is going to work.”

He kissed me, and we made love all over again
.

*****

Around lunchtime, we got out of bed, showered, and dressed for the day. We were both so happy that we hadn’t realized how hungry we were until we could hear one another’s stomachs growling. We made soup and sandwiches and ate lunch. Martin was so happy that he wanted to go out to celebrate, but I told him that we should let a few close friends and family know, first, just in case we saw someone that we knew and they noticed my ring.

While Martin was on the phone with Janine
, Bud, and Mike, I texted Denise, Tess, and a few other friends. Then, I logged into my Facebook account and changed my status to “Engaged.” Janine, Tess, and Denise were ecstatic. Other friends who hadn’t met Martin wondered if we’d been together long enough. I didn’t mention that I was eight years older than Martin. It didn’t matter to us and shouldn’t to anyone else.

Martin was
happier than I’d ever seen him, and I was elated. We still hadn’t worked out the “where to live” issue, but we would have had to work that out, anyway, even if we were just dating and not married. I'd actually been considering moving to Australia and renting out my house in North Carolina. If I ended up being too homesick, I could always go back to my house, and we could split our time between Australia and the U.S. as Martin had suggested earlier.

That evening,
Martin took me to one of the nicest restaurants in Sydney. We were so happy and wrapped up in our own news that we didn't even realize that we had passed Mike on our way in. Bud texted Martin later to let him know that Mike had seen us and that “Eva was sporting a new rock.” I didn't care, and Martin didn't seem to either. Instead, we had a wonderful time, laughing and planning our future together, and it was a future that excited us both.