His bride beamed up at him and concurred. “That was wonderfully said, my darling!” she whispered in his ear as she stood to cut the cake, which had been placed on a side table. With a swift upward patting of air with her left hand she signaled to him to rise as well.
Before the cake cutting could commence, however, the strains of a guitar began to waft into the room. A beaming Sra. Suarez swept open the doors to admit a mariachi trio, accompanied by a number of neighbors and a few of the friends he had made while living in Benson, each accompanied by their families, including children.
Beaming through her tears of joy at the outpouring of welcome, Megan turned to her new husband, whose arm had crept around her waist, drawing her toward him. His eyes, too, shone, as he quickly pressed his lips to her forehead and then turned toward Sra. Suarez, his other arm extended to her for an embrace.
“Tu eres como un hijo para mi,” (you are like a son to me) she murmured as she hugged the two of them, then gestured the room to silence and turned back to the couple.
“Now you cut cake!”
And then the party really began. After partnering her husband in the first waltz, Megan danced with everyone, including the priest, Miguel, and several of the girls. Ted remained on the floor as long as she did, with a brief break for toasts to the bride and groom.
As twilight fell and the heat of the day rapidly dissipated, the doors were thrown open and the guests spilled onto the porches and into the patio. Although the evening’s coolness was welcome, Megan stayed within to see to Camellia and meet young Josue, Sra. Ortega’s infant son, as well as several other infants now sharing the nursery as their parents and siblings partied outside.
Ted joined her, relieved to be away from the crowd for a bit. Even in his college days he’d not been much of a partygoer, and the celebration today was somewhat overwhelming—and exhausting. His bride was clearly beginning to droop, too.
“You know this little fiesta will likely go on well into the small hours, as is the custom here. Much like our own evening soirées,” he chuckled.
“But those don’t usually start until later in the evening!” Megan sighed, realizing she’d have been well-rested prior to such an event, not at the tail end of many days of travel and a roller-coaster of emotions.
“Well, I suppose as the party hosts, we should return to the fray.”
“No,” he whispered in her ear, “we are merely the guests of honor. I proclaim Sra. Suarez the hostess and suggest we slip upstairs. At this point in the festivities, I doubt we’ll even be missed.”
That they were missed was evidenced by the raucous serenade beneath a lighted window. The newlyweds, however, were in another room.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN – A Little Excitement
The next morning Megan awoke to a knock on the bedroom door and Maria’s voice calling out, “Desayuna, señor, señora. Breakfast!”
“Just leave it on the hall table,” rumbled the reply from beneath her ear.
Peering upward through her lashes, Megan saw her new husband smiling down at her, and smiled shyly back at him. She realized she was cuddled up against him and blushed.
“No need for that, sweetheart,” he murmured, bending his head to kiss her good morning. “Sit tight and I’ll bring in the tray.”
He got up and slipped on his dressing gown, and opened the door. Maria bustled in and set the tray on a table by the window and began to pour out a cup of hot chocolate.
“Maria! Out!” demanded Ted.
Chagrinned, the girl curtsied and withdrew, but not before bringing the cup to Megan, who had pulled the covers up to her chin, and setting it on the nightstand near her.
“You call me to dress,” Maria reminded her before scurrying out.
Looking at each other, Ted and Megan started laughing. She sat up and reached for the cup and gave a small groan of pleasure when she tasted the beverage. This was the best chocolate she’d ever enjoyed!
“Would you like your breakfast in bed or might you care to join me at the table?”
Setting down her cup, Megan declared, “The table, I think.”
Ted reached over and picked up her negligee, then helped her into it before escorting her to the table and holding her chair. She’d brought her cup with her and he reached for it to refill for her before pouring a cup for himself.
“While the food is not what I was accustomed to enjoy in Philadelphia,” he mused, “it is really quite excellent.”
“I certainly found it so last night,” Megan agreed.
“With all the excitement yesterday, you never really told me about your trip nor how you came to be traveling without a maid and with a baby.”
“It certainly hadn’t been my plan to traverse the country unchaperoned,” agreed Megan, “but at the last minute Lucy informed me she was courting and had no intention of traveling anywhere. Frankly, in hindsight, I’m delighted not to have to deal any longer with her airs and laziness. She wasn’t a very good hairdresser and would likely not have been much of a travel companion.”
“Why on earth did you put up with her, then?”
“Well, one does, doesn’t one?”
He considered for a moment. “Yes, you are quite right. Better the devil one knows.”
She then proceeded to recount her train adventure, starting with Anna’s parting gift of Sonia’s daughter.
“So this Willie ‘the Dip’ character was dressed up as a woman and attacked you in your private compartment?”
She nodded. He made her go over her self-defense moves a few times, shaking his head and chuckling.
“You
