The morning came too soon for Catherine, as Jennifer plopped down on the foot of her bed, cheerfully, saying, “Hey wake up sleepy head!”
Catherine opened an eye, and peered irritatingly at Jennifer, as she pulled the pillow about her head, and pleaded, “Jen!”
Jennifer then prodded, “Come on Cath, I am starving, and I don’t have a clue where to go for food around here! What do they do, set up a Continental Breakfast type buffet?”
Catherine assured her hungry friend, “We will be eating in a little while Jen. I promise I won’t let you die of starvation, oh, check my purse, there's a Snickers in there.”
Frantically digging inside Catherine's purse, Jennifer found a half eaten candy bar! Holding it up, she noted, "Its half gone!"
Consoling her, Catherine said, "I know...I'm sorry Jen. I became nauseous on the plane, and couldn't eat it all."
Scarfing it down, Jennifer replied, "Well, its better than nothing!"
Catherine then dreamily stretched, as she asked, “Have you seen Vincent yet?”
Jennifer shook her head, and said, “Nope, not Vincent, but I was just interrogated by this guy who was carrying a Raccoon! He came up behind me and scared the %$#@ out of me!”
Catherine told Jennifer, “Oh that sounds like Mouse! He’s harmless Jen, and so sweet.”
Quizzically, she asked, “So what’s his story?”
Catherine answered uncertainly, “I only know Vincent is the one who found him when he was lost, and all alone in the world above, and he brought him below to the tunnels to live.”
Widening her eyes, Jennifer stated, "Hmmm....most interesting!"
She then excitedly switched subjects, and announced, “I met that good-looking Ronny last night.”
Questionably, Catherine asked, “Ronny? Who? Oh, you must mean Ronald!"
She then curiously inquired, "What did you do, go wandering around after Vincent and I left you?”
Jennifer explained, “No, he came to the Guest Chamber! Of course, he didn’t know I was staying there. He was very upset, and he explained he finds himself drawn to the Guest Chamber, when he is missing his family. It turned out yesterday, was 10 years to the day, he lost his family. We talked for…Oh …I don’t know, way over an hour. We talked about his family, the tunnels, his friendship with Vinny, and just everything! Cath, he is so sensitive, very nice and soooo cute!”
Jennifer then scolded, “And, what I want to know is, why didn’t you tell me how cute he was? I could have used that valuable information, about this possible eligible, before hand! I certainly would have given more thought to my wardrobe this weekend!”
Catherine smiled as she asked, “I never mentioned that Ronald was cute? I can’t believe I left that out.”
Jennifer seethed, “No you never mentioned it, and I know why! It’s because you don’t notice anyone but Vinny!”
Catherine smiled to herself, as she knew Jennifer was right, she did have eyes only for him, and no one else could compare, or hold a candle to Vincent.
Jennifer beamed, as she asked, “Do you think I will see Ronny today?”
Knowing she most likely would, she left her hanging a little bit by responding, "Hard to tell Jen, maybe...”
Jennifer then pulled on Catherine’s leg, and said, “Come on get up, I am dying for a hot shower!”
Catherine reluctantly crawled from the warmth of her bed, and said, “Ok Jen, just give me a minute to wake up. Just to warn you, a shower will not be found here in the tunnels, but we can go bathe in the hot springs chamber though. Maybe we can catch up with the others.”
As the two headed for the bathing chamber, they met Mary, Rebecca, Brooke, Jamie and Laura. They were all carrying their toiletries, and had teamed up for their daily Hen Session.
Catherine greeted the group of ladies, and asked, “Good morning, is there room for us to join you?”
Mary waved her hand and said, “Good Morning Catherine, and lands sakes yes!”
Catherine then said, “I want you all to meet my friend Jennifer.”
With a friendly smile, Rebecca said, “I am so pleased to meet you…welcome!”
Jamie, and Laura excitedly greeted Jennifer too. They really liked this friend of Catherine’s, because Jennifer was like no one they had ever met!
Mary and Brooke also said their hello's, and then the seven of them continued together, and chatted all the way!
Catherine turned to Mary and said, “Mary, thank you for all you have done to help Vincent ready my chamber, and also for the beautiful quilt you made for me. I love it more than I can say!”
Mary smiled, a Motherly smile, and said, “I wanted to do that for you Dear, it was my way to express, just how happy I am you have made this courageous move. I just want you and Vincent to have a good start and to be happy.”
Catherine sincerely said, “Thank you Mary, that means so much to me.”
She then said, “Vincent told me about the Cameo, Peter brought back for you from his trip abroad. It sounds really pretty.”
Mary blushed, and said, “Oh yes it is Catherine, I will show it to you later! It took me totally by surprise, I can tell you!”
Over-hearing the conversation between Catherine and Mary, Jennifer, put two-and-two together, as she gleefully deducted, “Of course! You are Mary!
Peter, told me and Vinny, he had brought you a souvenir from England, and…He got all flustered talking about it!”
Mary smiled shyly, and assured, “Oh we are just friends, Dear, nothing more!”
Meanwhile, Vincent, and Ronald had just finished their refreshing swim at the falls, when Ronald turned to Vincent, and teased, “You and Catherine must have had a lot of catching up to do last night Vincent!”
Vincent blushed, as he tried to hide his smile, and questioned, “What do you mean?”
Ronald explained, he had met Jennifer last night, and they had talked quite late. Ronald added, he couldn’t help but notice, Vincent’s chamber was completely darkened as he passed by it, without the customary Night Candle burning.
Ronald went on to say, “So I assumed, perhaps wrongfully so, you were with Catherine.”
Vincent looked to his friend, and admitted, “No Ronald you were not mistaken, I was with Catherine. However, please do not misunderstand, we are taking things slowly. However, my need to be near her is so strong, I find it difficult to pull myself away when I must leave her.”
Ronald slapped his friend on the back and said, “Well that is how love is supposed to be Vincent, and it is clear, the need is quite mutual on Catherine’s part, anyone can see that!”
Just as the ladies were about to enter the bathing chamber, Jennifer spotted Vincent and Ronald as they were coming toward them from an adjacent tunnel. Jennifer grabbed Catherine’s arm and whispered to her friend, “Be still my heart!”
As Catherine looked over, she saw Vincent and Ronald walking together toward them, looking striking, strong and so powerful! Both Catherine and Jennifer tried to divert their eyes upward as they looked at the two muscle-bound, shirt-less, tunnel hunks!
Lovingly Vincent greeted her, as he said, “Good morning Catherine, I trust you slept well?”
Catherine wanted to say, If you mean for the mere 2 hours since you left me, well then yes! However, keeping up a united front she said sweetly, “Yes I did, my chamber is as cozy as could be.”
After Catherine politely answered Vincent’s question, giggles could be heard from Jamie and Laura.
Vincent and Catherine shot them a look and then looked back at each other, and they both had the same question…Were these two girls aware of how late Vincent had visited Catherine last night?
Clueless of any innuendos, Mary asked Vincent, and Ronald, “Oh my, have you two completed your daily constitutional already? Both your game of ball and bathing?”
Ronald cheerfully answered, “Yes we did Mary.”
To which Mary noted, “Oh such energy! If I could rise as early as you two, just think of all the chores I could consummate!”
Giving Vincent the credit, Ronald clarified, “Ah but Mary, Vincent is the one with all the energy! I was sleeping away, when he came and woke me.”
Shyly, Vincent looked downward, and said, “Sleep would not come to me, so I merely came by to see if perhaps we could get an early start to the day.”
Mary innocently said, “Oh you are probably just too excited to sleep, because of Catherine’s move below.”
Vincent raised his eyes to look toward Catherine, and agreed, “Yes Mary, I am sure Catherine is the reason for my lack of sleep.”
Once again a few giggles erupted from the girls, when Mary obliviously gushed, “Catherine’s move below is exciting for all of us! We are all thrilled my Dear!”
The giggles this time mortified Catherine, causing her to motion to Vincent that she was concerned they had the wrong idea.
And then Mary rallied the girls, saying, “Come, come now! Let us bathe, as I am sure William will bang out the Breakfast tocsin soon!”
But before Laura and Jamie could follow, Vincent asked them to hold back, because of his and Catherine's concern of being a good example for the young ladies.
Asking Ronald and Jennifer to excuse them for a moment, they stepped aside with the young girls.
Not minding a bit, they both said, sure, thinking this gave them a chance to reacquaint!
As the four privately spoke, both Jamie and Laura looked up at Vincent, and Jamie queried, "Yes Vincent? What's up?"
And so with Catherine at his side, Vincent in the role of Big Brother/Mentor, began, "Your amusement this morning is a bit disconcerting for Catherine and I. It appears you are aware of how late I visited Catherine, and we don't want you to get the wrong idea."
To which Catherine added, "We had so much to catch up on, and time got a way from us."
As the two girls looked from Vincent then toward Catherine, soaking up every word, Vincent then concluded, "I will say this straight out, there were no sexual relations going on! We are both old fashioned in this regard, and are concerned you got the wrong idea."
Laura looked to Jamie, and then signed, "Well we did imagine some romancing was going on."
To which Vincent clarified, "Well you both would be wrong, and I was wrong to stay so late. But again, the point is, Catherine wants to set a good example for you two, and is concerned."
With assurance, Catherine said, "I very much care what you two think and want you to be able to look up to me. So we thought it was important to speak to you both. We are now better aware that we should keep a curfew of sorts, so no one gets the wrong idea."
To which Vincent added, "And your giggling made us feel very uncomfortable, and you may have given others the wrong idea as well, and this is how rumors start!"
Laura feeling guilty, replied, "We are sorry we laughed, and we feel kinda important you care what we think."
To which Vincent declared, "Of course we care what you think. We are all family here and each of us are important. Well that is all we wanted to explain. I will see you both at breakfast."
The two ran off, leaving Catherine to feel so much better and wiser!
Meanwhile, as Catherine and Vincent were talking to the girls, Ronald spoke up first to Jennifer, and said, “I wanted to thank you again for last night Jenny. You have a great insight into the human heart, and what it needs to heal itself. Your advice has helped me to see things a little brighter today.”
To which Jennifer softly said, “I hope so Ronny. I felt good thinking I helped in some small way. And I very much enjoyed our conversation about the excavating you had done at the ancient burial site in Portugal!”
In reply, Ronald said, “I would like to tell you more about it. Maybe later on. Oh it was the experience of a lifetime!”
Eagerly, she replied, “I would love it Ronny.”
As Vincent and Catherine re-joined Ronald and Jennifer, Vincent told the girls, “I shall come for you both in a short while for breakfast.”
Happy to hear a conversation pertaining to the topic of food, Jennifer sighed, “Great Vinny, I am starv…”
Jennifer quickly stopped herself from sounding too boisterous in front of Ronald, and continued in a more feminine tone as she said, “Yes I guess we haven't eaten yet! I could probably eat something in a little while Vinny.”
As Catherine looked at Jennifer wondering what has gotten into her, because she knew her friend was starving! She then noticed Jennifer’s skin was getting all blotchy around the neck! She has seen this happen to Jennifer before and knew it was a sign of nervousness…or rather a sign that her libido was a "Hormonal Battle Ground!
Jennifer was finding it harder by the minute to keep her cool, but still she managed to inquire, “Won’t you be joining us for breakfast?”
Ronald regrettably said, “Unfortunately no. Mouse has me on early work detail this morning, so I am going to eat now, but I am hoping to meet up with you for lunch.”
Jennifer just short of batted her eyelashes as she said, “Great, I will look forward to it.”
Just then Brooke came out and said, “Catherine, Mary said you and Jennifer better come on, or there won’t be time for you to bathe!”
Catherine looked at Jennifer and said, “Oh oh, we are in trouble all ready! See you a little later Vincent.”
Vincent watched as Catherine walked away, he felt that a piece of him was walking away with her.
He then turned to Ronald, and said, "Catherine seems so happy with her friend here.”
Ronald nodded and said, “Yes, I think so too. Jenny is a great girl.”
As the two men continued onward, Vincent couldn’t help asking, “Do I sense something perhaps developing between you and Jennifer?”
Ronald searched his heart for an answer that would be true.
Finally he said, “I don’t know exactly what you sense, I suppose I wouldn’t be truthful, if I didn’t admit to something…but I don’t think I could ever give my heart again. I can’t conceive that would be possible. But I do like Jenny, like I said, she is a wonderful girl.”
Vincent nodded in agreement, “Yes, she is.”
Vincent wanted to say more, to help Ronald along in his healing. He wanted to say, the heart does heal, and it wouldn’t be a betrayal to his family to give his heart again to someone else.
However, Vincent wasn’t certain that he himself believed it. For if anything would happen to Catherine, he knew there could be no other to offer his heart to, as there would be no more heart to give.
But what he did say to Ronald, urging him to be open to the possibility was, "Never say never my friend."
To be continued.
Chapter Nineteen
| Dreams of Gold! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Eighteen |
