“Thanks a lot, Andy Stevens!” Geni said sarcastically.
Andy looked at Geni, shrugged his shoulders, and laughed; “Sorry…”
“Mom, how can you say
no now?” Matthew prodded.
Carlee and Geni both laughed out loud.
“Tell me more about this ball,” Geni said, changing the subject.
After the meal, they all went to Andy’s room. He poured wine, and they sat around talking.
“Geni, would you do it?” Carlee asked after a while.
“Would you join us and go along?”
“Is this some kind of conspiracy?”
“I swear tonight’s the first time I’ve heard it! Never even thought of it! But what an awesome treat for the kids,” Carlee said.
Geni saw that passion that she had come to love in Carlee, and Matthew saw Geni’s mind go to that place; she was thinking about it.
“I’ll consider it,” she laughed.
Back in their room, Carlee went on about the whole idea of Geni going.
“You know,” she said at one point, “sometime that week they will announce the expansion in your dad’s name.
She needs to go.”
“She will.
It just has to sink in,” he told her. “Turn that brain off. We need to go to sleep.”
“We do?”
she teased. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, tonight we need to sleep,” he laughed. “Later, maybe… but we will need to sleep.”
~ ~ ~
Dresse
d and ready for the ball, they all met in Andy’s room.
“Wow, Carlee,” Andy said when they entered the room. “You too
, Matt, but… Wow Carlee!”
“I said the same thing,” Matthew said, looking at Carlee, his wife.
“And the best thing is – it was on the clearance rack!” Carlee laughed.
“Mom, you look beautiful,” Matthew said, hugging her.
Andy glanced her way and thought the same thing, but kept his thoughts to himself.
“Thank you,” but Geni was looking at Carlee too. The dress was gorgeous.
Clearance rack,
s
he doesn’t need to worry about that kind of thing, but she’s conscious of it.
Geni thought, and she was even more impressed with this beautiful young woman.
A section of her hair was
pulled back, and there was a beautiful clip with a butterfly holding it in place, but the rest hung long to her waist. She was wearing the sapphire necklace Andy had given her, and she looked beautiful.
Beautiful woman,
Geni thought.
Carlee hugged Geni,
and then Andy, “Check out these handsome men!”
Carlee watched the conversation between Geni and Andy, and
liked what she saw.
When they entered the ballroom it was magical. There were tiny white lights across the ceiling. Each table was lit with flameless candles, and butterflies hung at varied lengths from the ceiling.
Butterfly pictures, covered with glass tabletops
, decorated the tables. Carlee recognized them from the smaller kids’ art projects at camp the previous summer. It was like a ‘fantasy,’ all very beautiful. She noticed every detail. There was a string quartet playing in one corner of the room and she saw a DJ set up in another corner. Dean Rollins was making his way toward them.
“Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Davis!” he said kissing Carlee’s cheek, and then shaking Matthew’s hand.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be able to join us, Matthew. I’m glad you’re here! Andy good to see you,” he said shaking his hand.
“I’m not sure you remember my mom,” Matthew said.
“Genevieve Davis, Dean Rollins.”
“Of course I do! I remember meeting you at the wedding
. I’m so glad you could join us! It will be a lovely evening,” he said to them. “Enjoy! I will see you again later.”
Andy and Matthew went to get drinks, and they all mingled before the meal.
Dinner was an elegant affair.
Everything was first-class, gourmet food, and fancy tableware. They dined on apricot stuffed chicken with wild rice and roasted vegetables. Each table had a beautiful notice in a silver frame thanking the hotel and local companies for their generous donation of the evening’s meal.
After the meal,
a quartet played and couples started dancing. When they played, “The Way You Look Tonight,” Matthew took Carlee’s hand and led her to the dance floor. As he held her in his arms he whispered in her ear and pulled her closer. “How appropriate; you look beautiful, and you feel like heaven in my arms.”
She snuggled closer, and noticed Andy dancing with Geni. “Look,” she said softly. Matthew did and smiled.
She whispered in Matthew’s ear as the next song began, “Unforgettable…,” and she saw Andy making his way toward her.
“Papa…”
“May I?” Andy asked and took Carlee’s hand. Matthew danced with his mom.
Finally, the program began. Dean Collins started with some of the same video presentation from last year’s camp experience that they’d shown at the annual meeting in the fall. It highlighted Matthew’s book, Carlee’s PSAs, and added, was Carlee’s Spirit in Action Award presentation.
“Before we begin the auction
, I have a special announcement to share with you,” Dean Rollins said. “Our attorney advised me today that we’re set to proceed with expansion at the Butterfly Camp. Before I say thank you, I’m proud to tell all of you that we will be able to break ground very soon on the Thomas Grayson Davis Memorial Gymnasium!”
“We received a generous donation of the ten acres of land adjacent to the current western boundary of the camp location.
Thanks to your hard work fundraising and our generous supporters, we will see completion in time for camp in the summer of 2019. I know that our generous donor is here with us this evening.”
“Ms. Genevieve Davis your gift is making all
of this a reality. Ladies and gentleman, Ms. Genevieve Davis...” Geni rose, and the room erupted in applause.
At last, the auction began.
Everything imaginable was up for grabs; restaurant gift certificates, deep-sea fishing excursions, theme park passes, spa certificates… Carlee listened intently for the one thing she would bid on, but nothing sounded like anything she couldn’t live without.
And then there was.
She listened as they described the package.
“This package is for a one-week stay in Panzano in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy. It includes an apartment for two in a thirteenth century farmhouse in an area surrounded by rolling, vine-covered hills dotted with small villages. Explore local towns, go wine-tasting, or take a day trip to Siena or Florence. In the afternoon you can return to the villa and enjoy a dip in the pool or a cooking lesson for an authentic Italian meal.”
Before they opened the bidding, Carlee whispered to Matthew; “I’m bidding on this!
One word… honeymoon!”
She turned to Andy and said, “Papa, this is mine!”
When it began, Carlee raised her paddle to place her bid. Someone across the room did the same. Carlee raised her paddle again. The other bidder went higher, but Carlee was determined. She had a number in her head as a limit, so she bid again. This went on for three more rounds.
Finally, the Auctioneer said; “Going once… Going twice…” Carlee held her breath.
The other bidder bid again.
‘Dang it!” Carlee raised her paddle once more.
Once again the Auctioneer said; “Going once… Going twice…”
This time he said, “Sold!”
Carlee ran to the front of the room to get the certificate to go pay for it while Andy, Geni and Matthew watched, laughing.
The evening went on with more auction items, followed by dessert and more dancing. Andy and Geni shared several dances. Carlee liked seeing him having fun with a woman.
Later in the evening, Andy and Geni looked on as Carlee and Matthew shared one more dance to George Benson’s “The Love of My Life
.” Matthew’s hands lightly caressed her back and her neck as he held her close.
“Such love,” Geni said as she saw him whisper in Carlee’s ear and she smiled up at him.
“I know,” Andy smiled.
Back in their room, Carlee was still excited, happily going on and on about the trip. “What a wonderful evening, Matthew! Italy! Tuscany!” she was beaming as she spoke. “I am so excited! We have a year to use it.”
He sat in a chair, watching her, loving her chatter.
“What?” she laughed.
“Come here,” he said. She went to him, and sat on his lap, draping her arms, lazily, around his neck. “I love you,” he said kissing, her neck.
“I love you back,” she said and got up and stood in front of him. “Can you help me with the zipper on this thing?”
she asked as she turned her back to him.
He looked at the dress that hugged every curve of her body and ran his hands down her hips. “You didn’t have a problem getting the zipper up when you put it on,” he said holding his breath. Finally, he started to lower the zipper and stopped.
She looked back over her shoulder.
“Something wrong?” she asked as the dress slid to the floor. She turned to face him.
“Good grief, Carlee,” he laughed. She wore only a tiny pair of panties, and the SassyNippies like she wore with her wedding dress.
Geni and Andy headed home after they met for breakfast the next morning. Afterward, Carlee and Matthew returned to their room. They planned on Matthew packing light to take some things back that
Carlee had in the car. They talked, they planned, and they made love.
They were at the airport early the next morning.
Before he got to security, Matthew wrapped Carlee in his arms, never wanting to let her go.
She watched him
as he went through security, missing him already. “How many more days?” she yelled to him.
“Nine!” he yelled back
to her. “Nine more days until my wife is finally with me in London!”
She laughed and yelled back
, “I love you, Matthew Davis!”
“I love you back, wife!”
The security guards tried not to smile, tried not to laugh, but it was unavoidable.
~ ~ ~
The next weekend, Carlee was headed to Jacksonville. She’d already been home and had most of what she was shipping from there on the way to London. The closer her departure, the more she and Andy struggled. Carlee was ready to start her life with Matthew, but leaving Andy was finally sinking in. When they were in Orlando, Geni suggested he come to Jacksonville for the weekend.
Done with class, Carlee was on her way to Geni’s by eleven. She’d loaded her car with items to s
end in the last load of things shipping from Geni’s. She still had things at the college that she would take when she went home, to ship another time, or to leave behind.
She arrived at Geni’s just after noon. They had lunch, talked and went through some more things.
Later in the afternoon, there was a beep from a car. Geni looked out the window and smiled. “It’s Andy,” she said.
“Papa?”
“Yeah, I knew he’d want every second possible with you,” Geni told her.
Carlee threw the backdoor open and ran to him.
Geni loved seeing the two of them, imagining their years together.
Earlier in the day
, Geni had put on a pot of chicken and dumplings for their dinner.
“That was some good, down
-home, southern cooking,” Andy said sitting back patting his belly after he finished eating. The three of them shared a glass of wine before heading off to bed.
Saturday morning, they finished packing what they were shipping. Andy planned to stop in St. Augustine when they left on Sunday and help load what was left at the college. Carlee and Marissa would complete the packing, cleaning and check out at the school on Monday, and Carlee would go south afterward to depart Wednesday morning for London.
That evening, Carlee and Andy walked along the river
. As they walked, he reached for her hand told her, “You can’t even imagine how badly I’m going to miss you.”
“Papa, I know,” she said, and the tears started, “and I
’m going to miss you so much that I can’t even put it into words.” He pulled her into his arms, and Andy cried too.
Geni observed the closeness between them from the porch.
She thought about their loss and she cried too. Andy had become a good friend. Thinking about Carlee leaving him saddened her, but having her as a daughter-in-law made her happy; she loved Carlee.
They walked back up to the porch.
“I wasn’t snooping,” she explained. “I came out to enjoy the jasmine; it smells so sweet in the evening. When I sat down, I saw the two of you.” Carlee went to Geni and hugged her. “Let’s go have some cobbler; I made peach.”