Since today is the last day that you can download Beginning Anew: The Naomi Chronicles, for .99 cents, I've posted chapter one. Enjoy!
Coming Home
Chaz
carried Naomi over the threshold and into the vestibule. His gaze caressed her
every feature, resting at last on her eyes. They were a striking couple. She, a
petite woman with olive skin, azure blue eyes, and curly hair that, when let
loose, fell to her waist; he, a lanky man with close cut, dark brown hair and
strong features who had once again married the woman his heart yearned for. As
Naomi met his gaze with her own, she found herself believing that the Spanish
tiles and sideboard stood as silent witnesses to the love encompassing them.
She felt Chaz tighten his hold on her and remembered the first time she came to
this casa, a teenager handcuffed and
dragged here against her will.
He
nuzzled her neck, and her thoughts turned toward Chaz coming to this casa the first time they wed, unaware
of her secrets. When they looked at each other, Naomi believed each of them
were experiencing the magic that surrounded them, magic carried on the soft
velvety breeze that drifted in through the front door, enfolding them in its
embrace. Noticing that they breathed in unison, her heart rejoiced, for their
unity affirmed to her that this was the beginning of all their tomorrows as
their yesterdays faded away.
She
smiled, certain each of them was remembering the vows they had reaffirmed, the
promise of the night they shared, and the many promises they made; promises to
love, cherish, and obey.
Naomi
drank in her surroundings, amazed that the place of fear and trepidation that
had become a refuge for her while serving others, and from which she had fled
weeks ago, was now a place of love and joy. Bringing her thoughts back to the
present, she saw Chaz’s gaze sweep the casa
and noticed his scowl. She wondered if he was remembering their first wedding
night a little more than a month ago that for him, she believed, was a night of
unmet…She blushed and was about to ask him when he turned toward her. Though
she believed, she would never be sure, his look seemed to say…Nomi, you take my breath away!
She
flicked a piece of lint from his tuxedo jacket.
“Nomi!
Did you hear me?” He stared at her.
Though
not given to mind reading, because of the way Chaz looked at her, Naomi
wondered if he was remembering the way they met years ago when he was on the
street inebriated. Before their life had fallen apart, he had told her that the
few moments they spent then changed him forever. Now, as she relieved the
moment, Chaz had called her “Nomi” she realized once more the manifold
blessings of remarrying this man who used the same endearment her papá had.
Chaz had called her “Nomi” before, but this time, when he spoke that name it
sounded like a benediction, and her heart filled with joy. She was certain he
truly loved her as her family had, for none but her family had ever called her
what her papá had until Chaz claimed her heart.
“Nomi,
you take my breath away!”
“Oh,
Chaz, I thought I imagined you saying that.”
Chaz
smiled and kissed her. “Dear one, let us remember what we went through to come
to this place and this time. Let us never take lightly the love we have for
each other.”
“I
promise…I will not forget.”
“Amore, time has robbed us of many
things. Commitments unconsecrated at the beginning of our marriage and your
promise of their completion on that first Sunday night.”
She
blushed. “This is true, but there is nothing we can do about that now.”
“We
can have our special Sunday as you planned.”
Naomi
took the measure of her man with new insight. “Do you mean to tell me that
after all of this, you are willing to wait?”
“SÃ, that is exactly what I mean. If
there is one thing I have learned from all of this, it is that I need to be
patient with you…with us.”
“Are
you trying to develop this trait by putting off our union?”
“I
believe we should come together after we have sorted things out. I must
confess, you were not the only one hiding. I came to you with one suitcase and
allowed you to think I was less than I am. For that, I ask you to forgive me.
It is because both of us have not been open with each other that we need this time.
Besides, waiting until Sunday will be wonderful agony for us both. After all,
what is it they say, ‘waiting makes the moment more special’? I believe we
should wait as you originally requested.”
“What
do you mean, you made yourself to be less than you are? Who exactly are you?”
“See,
you are aware that we do not really know each other, or you would not be
reacting this way.”
“That
is true. I can see the wisdom in what you suggest. But…”
Chaz
watched his bride’s emotions as they flitted across her face. “What are you
thinking about?” he asked as he put her down.
Seconds
ticked by. She smiled at him. “I was thinking about the sign.”
Chaz
drew her close. “I am glad you like it.”
“Well…who
would not be surprised…I mean pleased, to come home and discover the casa had been named after them, with a
sign saying so now hanging above the front door?” She remembered asking him, “Why did you pick these words?” Though
she hated having her name where everyone could see it, she smiled when he
answered, “I told you before, you are
my casa, Naomi. I am at home in you!” Amazed by her response, “I never thought of this as my casa,” Naomi knew she sounded happy like
new brides do. Now, those words seemed to reverberate within the walls of the casa, as if the house was rejoicing with
her because it somehow knew that home had always been an illusion to her until
now.
She
thought of the yellow butterfly on the sign and asked, “Chaz, are you one who
watches butterflies?”
“No,
my sweet, I am one who watches you.”
“What
do you mean?”
“What
were you thinking of that made you blush when I proposed?”
“Well…I
said I would date you…because outside my bedroom’s French doors each spring, I
watched caterpillars spin their cocoons and emerge later in the season as
beautiful butterflies. I wondered if…if I…could be like them…becoming all I was
meant to be by…marrying you.”
“When
hearts beat as one like yours and mine, in time we come to understand each
other’s secret yearnings.”
“And
what is my secret yearning?”
“That
we be happy—”
“Oh
yes, I want us to be happy and… hope for…”
“Una mariposa amarilla, sÃ?”
“How
did you know my secret wish was to be free like a yellow butterfly is?”
“Naomi,
for one who was taught that observing the Jewish faith could lead to her death,
who sought freedom in America, then needed to live in isolation because she had
entered the land illegally, thinking of a butterfly that goes where it wants
and does what it pleases must have seemed like heaven. As for yellow, that, my
lovely, is no secret. Given the choice, if you are not trying to be invisible,
or dressing to please me, you wear something yellow.”
Naomi
thought of the lovely yellow sunhat with embroidered red roses Chaz had bought
her and nodded. “Yes, you are right.”
“Un momento.” Chaz hurried away, returning
a moment later with that hat in hand. She smiled at him as he placed it on her
head and draped the matching scarf artfully around her neck. “I promised myself
that when you came back we would begin again with good memories. For me, this
hat and dancing with you on the patio are the best!”
She
smiled at him.
He
picked her up, and hurried towards the backdoor. Before he crossed the
kitchen’s threshold, she motioned for him to put her down. “Is there a
problem?”
She
frowned. “It is going to be hard enough to wait until Sunday, so…”
He
saw her frown and understood all she had not said. “SÃ…dancing with you is out of the question! Now I wish you had not
agreed to wait until…”
“No.
I know you were right…though it seems odd to be married twice in such a short
time and never come together.”
Chaz
chuckled. “When you put it that way, I can see the humor in our
situation.”
“It
might not seem funny when some will insist that we wed on June fifteenth, 1967
instead of on July twenty-sixth, 1967.”
“I
do not care what date we use. All that matters is that we are really and truly
married.”
“Yes,
a new beginning.”
“Now
there are things we need to do.”
“What
things?”
“We
must go shopping for some new bedding and other things for the master suite.”
At
the mention of bedding, Naomi blushed.
“What
is it?”
Aware
that if she shared her desire, Chaz’s plan might go awry, Naomi cast her eyes
down. “Nothing…nothing at all…”
“Naomi,
do not hide from me again.”
Oh, God, how do I do
this?
she wondered as her color deepened.
"Naomi…please,
please…”
The way Chaz looked when he uttered those two words made her feel weak
in the knees. Talk about something
else,
she told herself. “All right…since you spoke of Madre Vida and the sign, I must
share that her name is misspelled.”
“Is
that all?”
“Um…well…”
“Tell
me.”
“I
am so sorry that I did not clear out her room for you.”
“Nomi,
it is all right. We can do that together.”
“I
could not let go of her presence. With your help, now I can.”
“Good!
Let us make that room our own.”
“I
am glad you will help because that way the room will really be ours. What
should we do with Madre Vida’s things?”
“We
could pack them away,” he suggested. Then seeing his bride frown, Chaz
exclaimed, “Why not pick some of her things and frame them!”
“Oh,
Chaz, that is a wonderful idea, but…”
“What?”
“Well,”
she looked at him for assurance. Seeing him nod, she continued, “It might be
silly to speak of such things now, but though I lived with Madre Vida for more
than five years, I do not know anything about her except her work with girls
like me, and the market she owned and passed on to me along with all her other
commitments. Though not my real mother, she gave me this life.”
“Maybe,
in her things, you will find what you want.”
“I
hope so. I would like to know…” Naomi smiled at him. “She was my only family
here in America.”
Chaz
hugged her tight. “Now you have me.”
“We
have each other.”
Chaz
heard the kitchen clock chime, marking the midnight hour. He escorted his wife
to her bedroom door and forced a smile. “Then we agree, tomorrow we begin to
make the suite fit for us.”
Naomi
smiled and opened her door. “Yes, tomorrow we begin to be us instead of you and
me….Us, as only a couple in love can…”
“Will
be,” Chaz finished her sentence, then he kissed her lips longingly. Drawing
circles in her right hand, he moved closer, so close each could feel the
other’s heart beating. “Naomi, I…” he pulled her to him.
“Whatever
you want, I am yours,” she murmured as his lips encircled hers.
“Naomi,”
he moaned, “I must leave you now or I will never go!” He forced himself to turn
away and walk down the hall.
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