Sanctity (43 page)

We talked about giving it up but then I
thought, “Why don’t you run it for me?” I asked Margaret.

 “No,” she shook her head, “I’m too old
to run a business.   I have no desire to work so hard so
late in life.”

“Get a partner, then, and let them run it for
you.  You could oversee things and maybe do a little baking,
make some new friends, whatever you like.” I was trying to
encourage her, influence her but she sensed what I was up to.

“Elayna,” she turned to Michael. 
“Michael, do you see what your fiancé is trying to do to me?”

He chuckled and it was obvious that he
thought the idea was a good one as he turned to me, “Apparently she
can resist you but I wonder if we worked together…”

I smiled at the challenge and tried to
compliment his will with my own and make it Margaret’s.  She
shook her head, “Oh, alright, we’ll see.  What else would I do
anyway?  Without you and Michael and Kaley all to keep me
busy, there’s not much left for me now is there?”

“Aww, don’t think like that Margaret. 
You’ll break my heart and besides you know Michael and I will never
leave you.”

“Yes, I know but once you are married…when
are you getting married anyway and how do you plan to go about
it?”

“Well, we haven’t had a chance to talk about
it yet.  I guess it will just be the three of us, here, if
that’s alright with you.  We’ll wait until you are better,
keep it simple and once the shop is back in order and you’ve gotten
it going, we’ll take a little honeymoon.”

“Hmm,” I sighed. It sounded like a nice plan,
though I wasn’t sure what kind of honeymoon we could possibly take
since I could only travel at night.

“We’ll leave at dusk and chase the sun,”
Michael suggested, “and we’ll see the world a little at a
time.”

It sounded so romantic the way he said it,
“But where will I rest?” I looked uncomfortably towards Margaret
feeling squeamish about talking like that in front of her.

“We’ll use Victor’s drapes.  I’ll have
to cut them down to size but I’m sure they’ll do the trick.”

I felt a little remorseful imagining the
beautiful tapestry in ruins but also thought, while Michael
explained it to Margaret that it shouldn’t go to waste.  She
just shook her head in amazement that Victor could have come up
with something so creative.

We made some more plans and
talked until it was nearly midnight.  Though she would have
stayed up until dawn to enjoy our company, eventually Michael and I
became aware of how tired she was and that we needed to
say 
goodnight
.

“You rest,” I hugged her goodbye, “we’ll be
back soon,” and we let ourselves out.

Michael and I went back to Victor’s and as we
lay in bed clinging to one another I ran our plans over and over
again in my mind.  All our troubles seemed to be coming to an
end and I finally felt like we would find the happiness we had been
hoping all our lives for. 

“Michael?”

“Yes, Elayna.”

"Do you really think this is it?"

"Yes Elayna," he smiled at me, "I believe it
is."

Michael bent all of his efforts towards
finding a suitable place for Charlie.  He found a beautiful
facility about a hundred miles west of where we lived and quietly
had him transferred there.  It fit all the criteria for his
treatment and was also an independent care facility, so Charlie
could do virtually any and everything he would normally do in
society even though he was safely tucked away from it.

He resisted his treatments for about the
first 6 months, according to the reports Michael received from his
caregivers and then abruptly became a model patient. 
Apparently Charlie formed an attachment to another resident and
together they formed an alliance that blossomed into a loving
relationship.  Charlie eventually got a job there as a
transition officer, helping new patients adjust to a life set apart
from the outside world.  He seemed to accept his fate while at
the same time trying to make the most of it.

Margaret took over the café for me and hired
a sweet gentleman named Henry to help her run it.  She
carefully avoided our questions whenever we hinted that there may
be something more there and insisted that they were just good
friends as well as business partners.  They spent all their
free time together, however, and if there were romantic overtures
taking place, we were never allowed to witness them.

Once Michael was satisfied that everything
would turn out well for Charlie and Margaret he let me set a date
for our wedding.  We considered the day we met as well as a
number of other significant dates in our lives and eventually
settled on New Year’s Eve since it was a day that everyone looked
forward to – a day that the world used to make promises for a
better future. 

Margaret was there and Henry, Michael and I,
as well as one other important guest.  Michael and I presented
Margaret with a new Wolfhound puppy the night of our wedding to
keep her company as we prepared for our yearlong honeymoon. 
We named her Victoria and she took an immediate and determined
attachment to Margaret.  She wore a pink ribbon on her collar
with each of our bands strung through it and sat patiently until it
was time to slip them off and onto Michael’s and my
fingers. 

It may have been a simple ceremony but I
could think of nothing that would have made it more complete. 
When it was over Michael swept me off my feet and carried me to a
waiting car.  We went straight to the airport and began our
journey across the world, chasing the sun.

• Haeven
  

• Vivienne: Le Perdu et Retrouve
  (The Lost and Found)