There's Always Tomorrow (Immortal Series) (24 page)

“You misunderstand,
dear.
 
I don’t intend to buy you
anything.
 
I’m going to take you
clothes shopping, for me.”
 
He
paraded around the room for her inspection.

“Well, tell me
what you honestly think.”
 
Tony
held his head high and puffed out his nearly healed chest.

Sophie started
to giggle.
 
“I can honestly say,
you’ve never looked this way, before.”
 
She laughed.
 
“I’m sorry,
Tony.
 
I did my very best, but this
isn’t New York, you know.
 
Everything’s in French!”

“Imagine that,”
he said.

As luck would
have it, it was rush hour by the time Tony and Sophie’s plane landed at
JFK.
 
The airport terminal was
packed, and the line for the baggage claim extended around the receiving area
and out through the gate.
 
Tony may
have been immortal, but his ribs hurt like hell and his temper was frayed.
 
The drugs he’d been given in the
hospital had made him nauseous and caused his heart to beat erratically.
 
He was damned uncomfortable.

“Take it slow,
Tony,” Sophie reprimanded.
 
“You’re
going to hurt yourself, if you insist on tearing through the terminal, like
this.”
 
She was clearly out of
breath, just trying to keep up with his long stride.
 
“For God’s sake, slow down,” she shouted, just before Tony
careened into an elderly lady, trying to wheel her luggage up over the curb,
and knocking the woman to her knees.

“Oh,
ma’am.
 
I am so sorry.
 
Are you all right?”
 
Tony was immediately apologetic and
hoped he hadn’t hurt the woman seriously.
 
“Please, let me help you to your feet.
 
This was entirely my fault.”

The woman
allowed Tony to lift her, and set her upright.
 
Brushing at her skirt, she winced, slightly, when she
noticed the scrapes across her knees.
 
Not wishing to cause a scene, she smiled, in an attempt to put the young
man at ease.
 
It was only then,
that she saw his face and the unusual color of his green eyes.
 
His sensuous mouth was a thing of
masculine beauty.
 
He looked
familiar, somehow.
 
Glancing down,
at his strong and capable hands, she saw the ring, and felt the room begin to
spin.

Tony saw her
sway, and lifted her up, carrying her into the main terminal and to the chairs
provided.

“Sophie, I
think she may have been injured.
 
Go get some help, sweetie.”

The lady put
her hand on Tony’s arm.
 
“No,
no.
 
That isn’t necessary.
 
I’m not hurt, honestly.
 
I don’t know what I was thinking.
 
It…it can’t possibly be true,” she
sputtered.

Tony bent low
over the older woman.
 
“What
distresses you, may I ask?”
 
He had
an idea.
 
There was something
familiar in her lavender eyes and the tilt of her delicate chin that played
with his memory.

The woman shook
her head to clear her thoughts.
 
“I
thought I recognized you…but it was so very long ago, it could
not
be
you.”
 
Her eyes stayed fixed on
Tony’s face, as if she could not believe he was anyone else.

“What is your
name, ma’am?” Tony inquired, gently.

“Bea.
 
I was born Beatrice Elisha Wilson, way
back in twenty-six.”
 
She paused
for a moment, before she asked, “And what is your name, young man?”
 
She held her breath.

Tony took her
hand in his, gave it a small, reassuring squeeze.
 
“Bea, I would like to take you home with me, for just a few
hours.
 
My wife, Sophie, and I
would like to make certain you’re okay, before we send you on your way.
 
I would also, like to talk to you about
something you may not understand, at first.”
 
He took a deep breath, uncertain if he should reveal his
secret.
 
But this was Bea.
 
“My name is Tony.”

Beatrice Wilson
turned as white as a sheet, just before her eyes reclaimed their familiar
sparkle and her lips turned up at the corners in a delightful grin.
 
She nodded.

“Yes,
Tony.
 
I’d love to have that chat.”

She stood up on
wobbly legs, and allowed the handsome man, and his beautiful lady, to guide her
to a chauffeured limousine.

Within the
close confines of the car, everyone seemed to relax and let down their
guard.
 
Beatrice could not stop
staring at the stranger seated across from her.
 
She looked at him with awe, and then turned her eyes upon
her own, folded hands.
 
They were
wrinkled and spotted with age.
 
His
were smooth and full of strength.
 
He still wore the emerald ring, she had admired, so many years
before.
 
On her little finger, she
also wore a ring.
 
It was the small
emerald he had given to her.

Beatrice was
first to break the silence.
 
“I do
know you, don’t I, Tony?”

Tony smiled and
nodded.
 
For a moment, time seemed
to stop.
 
“You do, at that, Bea.”

Sophie clapped
her hands, joyfully.
 
“That’s
great!
 
You’re old friends.”
 
Then it dawned on Sophie that the
important word might be
‘old’
.
 
Her eyes grew large, as she caught her breath.
 
“Uh-oh.
 
You’re
old
friends, aren’t you?
 
This should
be interesting,” she muttered.
 
Should she be jealous?

“You look well,
Bea,” Tony said, softly.
 
“It’s
really good to see a friend, again.”

The woman
patted her white hair back into place, and straightened her spine.
 
Pursing her lips, slightly, she
nodded.
 
“It is good, Tony, but it
does cause one to question the circumstances.”
 
She placed her hand gently along side of his face, and said
with wonderment, “You look exactly the same.
 
You haven’t aged a day.
 
How can that be?
 
What kind of magic do you possess? ”

“You’re wrong,
dear,” Tony replied.
 
“I have aged,
a great deal, in fact.
 
My age just
doesn’t manifest itself on the outside.
 
I assure you, I have grown up in the last sixty-one years.”

Tony removed
Bea’s hand from his cheek and brought it around to his lips.
 
He kissed it, sweetly.
 
“I wish I had known, back then, what I
have learned since.
 
Perhaps I
would have done the right thing by my friends.”

Tears began to
fill the lavender eyes in the old woman’s face.
 
“We were special friends, weren’t we, Tony?”

“Yes, Bea, very
special indeed.
 
Now, I think it is
time I introduced you to my beautiful wife, Sophie.
 
She’s the love of my very lengthy life.
 
At long last, I have found the peace I
have sought, for so many years.

He glanced
toward Sophie and knew the questions she must be asking herself.
 
He chuckled.
 
Who knew how she’d respond when she discovered he had once
been in love with Beatrice Wilson?

“Darling, Bea
and I met right after the war.”

“Which war?”
Sophie asked, flippantly.

“Why, World War
II, naturally,” Bea retorted.
 
“How
old do you think I am, child?”

“I’m not a
child,” she mumbled.

Tony
chuckled.
 
His two best girls were
hitting it off just fine.
 
“Don’t
be offended, Bea.
 
Sophie has an
unusual way of saying things.
 
She
has her own way of seeing the world.
 
You’ll soon get used to it.”

“Have you
gotten used to it?” the elderly lady asked, her eyes dancing with
merriment.
 
She could see the love
he had for his wife, and she doubted, very much, if he would ever get used to
her.

Their
conversation was interrupted by Sophie’s gesticulating in the car.
 
“
Hello?
 
I’m sitting right here, and I can hear
every word you’re saying about me.
 
Duh!”

Tony laughed
outright.
 
“Calm down, darling.
 
Let me tell you all about Bea.”

“Oh, not all,
Tony.
 
How would I ever live it
down?”
 
Bea was starting to have a
very good time.

Tony leaned
over and whispered in her ear, “You’re as ornery and as feisty as ever.
 
Glad to know some things never change.”
 
He squeezed her hand.

She giggled.

Sophie frowned
and pretended not to notice their pleasant camaraderie.

“Bea was my
nurse, and once saved my hide.
 
The
saw-bones wanted to cut off my leg,” his eyes conveyed the horror of that, to
Sophie, “but Bea wouldn’t let him.
 
For that, I am
eternally
grateful.
 
You can understand that, right sweetheart?”

Sophie was
clearly horrified.
 
“Oh, Bea.
 
I am so grateful to you.
 
You have no idea how awful that would
have been for my husband.
 
He has a
fear of such things, you know.”
 
Sophie glanced back at Tony, wanting to kiss his lips.
 
She truly wanted to put her arms around
the older woman and squeeze her good and tight.
 
That, however, might have been too much, so she decided to
gift her with one of her most brilliant smiles.

Tony remembered
the day he was discharged from the hospital.
 
“It was June, 1945, and I had been hospitalized in San
Francisco, facing certain amputation of my left leg, above the knee.”
 
Tony shuddered, and unconsciously began
massaging his left leg, perhaps to reassure him that it was still there.
 
“I remember it, as if it were last week
…”

* * *

 
“I can’t thank you enough, Bea, for
giving me a place to stay while I heal.
 
I really don’t have anywhere to go.
 
What will your roommate say when you bring a man home to
convalesce?”

Bea’s face
reddened.
 
“I don’t have a
roommate, Tony.
 
We’ll be
alone.”
 
She busied her hands in
her purse, trying to find her keys.
 
What had come over her?
 
In
all the years she’d been caring for the war wounded, she had never thought of
asking a patient to her home.
 
But,
this man was different.
 
She wasn’t
ready to say goodbye to him just yet.

“I’ve got
two bedrooms.
 
It will be private
enough,” she stated, as the lock turned and she gave the door a good hard push.

The apartment
was grand.
 
It was old, from
another era, and boasted high ceilings, carpets on the floor, and windows with
unobstructed views of the bay.

For a
moment, Tony was speechless.
 
“Wow!
 
Get a look at that
view.
 
This place must cost you a
bundle.”

Sophie
tossed her coat across the back of the sofa, and walked over to Tony’s
side.
 
She shared his view of the
lights of the city and the dark waters of the San Francisco Bay.
 
The war was over, and it was once again
safe to live on the coast.
 
There
had been a time when she was filled with apprehension, looking out her window,
but no longer.

“Actually,
it costs Daddy a pretty tidy sum.
 
Believe me, he can well afford it.
 
I became a nurse just to irritate him.
 
He would prefer me to marry well and carry on his legacy.

“Come on
now, Tony.
 
You must get off that
leg.
 
Your bed is ready, and I’ll
bring you your dinner, as soon as it arrives.”
 
She blushed slightly.
 
She was a great nurse and a terrific cook, but lately, she hadn’t had
the time, nor the desire, to pursue her culinary skills.
 
“I’ll fix you something later, but for
right now, carry-out will have to suffice.

Tony
laughed.
 
He secretly doubted she
knew her way around the kitchen, but that was fine with him.
 
“Hey, I’ll take your superior skills as
a nurse, anytime.”
 

Suddenly,
his voice lowered, as his eyes stared into the two loveliest, lavender eyes,
he’d ever seen.
 
So often, he had
held on to the strength in those same eyes; eyes that gave him the will to get
through the pain and the nightmares of losing a leg.
 
“I’ve never had the opportunity to thank you properly,
Bea.”
 
He spoke softly, his voice
rich and deep, and extremely seductive.
 
He reached for Bea’s hand, and pulled her into his room.

“I’m going
to kiss, you, Bea.
 
I’m going to
show you my appreciation.”

She blinked
up at him, mesmerized by the sound of his voice.
 
Her body trembled with excitement.
 
He was devastatingly handsome, with a just a touch of the
mystery she found so irresistible.