CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Marissa stepped off the Osprey and the first person she laid eyes on was her mother, Ramey.
“Hey, Mom,” she smiled.
“Hi. Are you okay?” she asked quietly, calmly.
“I’m okay, thanks to Joey and his teammates.”
“Good, then I can give you shit for doing something so stupid.”
“Mom…”
“Don’t ‘mom’ me, Marissa. I’m not talking about getting caught up in all that.
That could have happened to anyone. I’m talking about not calling home for help.
Not reaching out to Joey, who you knew was only a short distance away.
You avoided speaking to us, you avoided asking for help and you nearly lost your life. ”
Marissa could see that her mother was visibly shaken and upset. That wasn’t an easy thing to do. Ramey Curry Jordan was once a Marine. Tough as nails who’d fought her way back from an intentional attack and injury that nearly caused her to be in a wheelchair her entire life.
Instead, she came to work at Belle Fleur as a massage therapist at the spa, where she fell in love with Christopher Jordan and had two sets of triplets. She was Marissa’s hero.
She hugged her mother, letting the tears flow.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so, so sorry and I will never do anything so stupid again. I should have trusted you all and called Joey. I was so happy to see him there, and then scared and worried, and all the other emotions.
“But I’m home now, Mom. I’m home and I’m going to marry Joey. I need help planning that wedding. Do you think you can help me?”
“I think I can do that,” laughed Ramey. “In fact, I’m pretty sure we have the best wedding planners on the planet on property.”
“Then let’s see how they can help.” Marissa looked up and saw her grandmother, Virginia, and her great-grandmother, Mary. They had an expression of concern but also one of love. She knew they would yell at her, then hug her.
And they did.
“I’m worried for all of them,” said Marissa. “Vasily won’t stop now that he knows I can solve his problem for him and now he wants Grandpa.”
“Don’t worry about your grandfather,” smiled Mary. “He’s always been a head-strong boy. They’ll figure this out. For now, let’s get you a wedding dress, you can pick out the rings, and we can make sure that everything is perfect for your wedding day.”
As the women walked the path back toward the cafeteria, they heard a man speaking in low tones and turned to see Gaspar talking to a giraffe and a hippo.
“Stella, I know that you want your own pool but right now we can’t do that for you. I’ll get with Grant and see if it’s possible. In the meantime, you have the whole bayou to swim in. In fact, you’re not supposed to leave the island.”
“Gaspar? Is everything okay?” asked Mary.
“Sure. Perfect. I mean, I’m just an elderly man having a full-blown conversation with a hippo and a giraffe.”
“Yes, I heard that Stella wants her own pool but what does Elvis want?” she asked looking up at the giraffe. The big male blinked his gorgeous brown eyes, the massive eyelashes flipping up and down.
“Not much. He said his neck is cold and wants a knitted neck scarf,” frowned Gaspar. He looked at the giraffe and scoffed. “I don’t know how to knit!”
“I do,” smiled Mary. “I’ll make you one, Elvis. What color would he like?”
Gaspar looked back at the giraffe and nodded.
“Brown if possible. If not, something dark green. You don’t have to be so fucking picky.” The hippo shifted and Gaspar sighed. “A scarf and a pool are two very different things but I’ll see what I can do.”
The animals wandered off and Gaspar stood, then smiled at Marissa giving her a hug.
“Congratulations,” he said grinning.
“How did you know?”
“Honey, you forget who my mother is. Now, if you’ll excuse me there seems to be an issue between the Russian wolves and the caribou. We have to set some dinner boundaries.”
As he walked away the women chuckled, shaking their heads. Five years ago you would have never guessed that this is what life would look like at Belle Fleur. Now, it was the norm. The seniors were talking to animals, especially Gaspar.
“What now?” asked Marissa.
“Let’s go talk to Gwen and Keegan. We’ll get a plan together for the dress and hair, then we’ll talk to the chefs,” smiled Ramey.
“Hey, Mom?” smiled Marissa. “Thanks for understanding and not getting mad at me.”
“Oh, I am mad but I’m happier that you’re getting married and going to give me grandchildren.” Marissa could only laugh as the other women smiled and nodded.
“I love you guys,” she smiled. “I should have come home sooner, more often. But I’m here now and I’ve never been so happy to be home in all my life.”
“Sometimes it takes being away from home to realize how much you love it,” said Mary.
“Dorothy found that out and she had to go through a tornado and a strange land. She wore those horrible, uncomfortable ruby slippers and danced down a brick road, which must have been awful as well. At least you didn’t experience the tornado. ”
“That’s true. Do you think I’ll have triplets?” she asked smiling at them. Her grandmother laughed, taking her hand.
“Oh, honey. That’s easy. Yes.”