Chapter 25
Later in the month, Bella found herself at home alone - no kids, no Jack.
Angela and Madeline were in Australia of all places - they’d gone travelling for the month before they each had to head back to their respective schools.
Jack had been back east all week, meeting with various agencies in Washington D.C.
, and wasn’t due back until sometime the next week.
Sloane was at tennis camp, and Piper at dance camp, so Bella had Daisy with her and Primmy and would see them all the following weekend in Houston.
Deciding it would be a good weekend to catch up on a few things, Bella put the dog gates up, corralled the dogs in the kitchen, set the alarm, and headed to Bella Pelle.
She let herself in, reset the alarm and dropped her bag in her office, then headed to the lab to collect the samples Luis had left for her.
She pulled on her white lab coat — embroidered with Il capo, The Boss in Italian — over her white men's undershirt, beneath which she was already wearing cropped camouflage pants and pink Valentino Garavani Rockstud flip flops.
Love the shirt, hate that name.
Heading into the lab, she gathered all the samples into a basket and took them to the conference room, where she could spread everything out over the enormous marble table.
A quick trip back to her office for her reading glasses, a pad, a pencil, and her phone — she twisted her hair into a messy bun, secured it with a pencil from the pot on her desk, and got to work.
Luis had spent the last few months working on a body version of Astra Seta.
The base would remain the same though they'd need a thinner consistency, reducing the percentage of the more expensive active ingredients to keep it cost effective.
Deciding to make it a true balm in a decorative tin — Jerome was already working on the design — they had also agreed to give it a fragrance, since it was a body product and not meant for the face.
Remembering the night-blooming jasmine from Jack's backyard, she had paired that with sweet orange and lemon oils, with a hint of oud as one of the base notes. After testing several options and making detailed notes for Monday, she set her pen down.
There's something missing.
She walked quickly to the fragrance room — where they kept samples of every essential oil and natural fragrance imaginable — scanning the shelves until she found what she was looking for.
Back at the conference table with a bowl and mixing utensil, she scooped a small amount of balm and added two careful drops.
HA — that's it. I know what it needs.
Perfect.
The fragrance had a faint sea salt quality that changed everything.
This smells just like Amalfi on hot summer nights. It's fabulous.
The scent was sultry but not overpowering. Combined with the slight sheen of the olive oil-based balm, it left the skin smelling and looking luminous — like silk you wanted to feel under your fingers.
This is going to sell like crazy. I can’t wait to see what Jerome comes up with for the design.
Pulling up the note’s app on her phone, Bella dictated:
“Stelle di Mare - which means ‘Stars of the Sea’ in Italian.
Inspired by sultry summer nights along the Amalfi Coast, where stars shimmer on the surface of the sea. A true body balm, rich with Castelvetrano olive oil, scented with night-blooming jasmine, sweet orange, lemon and a whisper of sea salt.
For skin as luminous as a Mediterranean night sky.”
Marking down the amount of fragrance oil on her notes that she had used, along with the correct sample name, she headed back to the lab to leave the information for Luis, as well as put the other samples away.
As she approached her office to grab her bag, Bella paused, certain she’d heard something.
Glancing over at the alarm system monitor on the wall, she could see it read ‘DISARMED.’ Huh, I know I set that. Wait, what was that? I DID hear noise.
Moving quietly, picking up a stapler, oh yeah, Bella, that’s really going to help, and poked her head around the corner, peering into her office.
“JACK!”
Jack sat there, on the edge of her desk, with a wide smile on his face.
“Surprised?”
“Yes! What are you doing here? I didn’t think you were back till next week. How did you get in?”
“Carrie gave me the code. We finished up early, and with Sloane and Piper away, and me missing my best girl, I caught a flight to Dallas instead of going straight to Houston — I hope that's okay?”
Moving into the room, she smiled, “It’s more than okay, you know that.”
Wow, she makes even a lab coat look sexy, he thought.
“You’re looking pretty good in that lab coat, Ms. Genovese. Like a sexy scientist.”
She paused, then pulled the pencil from her bun, shaking her hair out, giving him a smile that was warm and wicked in equal measure.
Holy Hell - that was hot - like some kind of 1980s video vixen.
Moving slowly across the room, Bella came to a stop between Jack’s legs, reaching out to take his face in her hands, then leaned in, kissing him.
Jack wrapped his arms around, returning her passion with his own, when he felt Bella lean into him more, deliberately pressing him back against the desk.
Wait? Is this happening? Are we about to make love on the top of her desk? OMG - we are! This is like one of my fantasies come to life!
Much later, lying still, Jack thought: No, that was better than any fantasy could ever be.
The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing at home, puttering about the house, lounging by the pool, and walking the dogs.
With so much of their time both spent with other people, they had learned to hoard their alone time like dragons with gold.
Jack caught a short flight to Houston late Sunday night, as NASA required him bright and early Monday morning, and the girls were due back from camp the following weekend.
School would start up shortly after Labor Day, so that meant the weekend would be spent doing last minute school shopping.
As he let himself into the house, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, indicating a text message. It was from Bella.
Captain Calloway?
Yes Ms. Genovese?
You can step into my office anytime you like, followed by a winky face emoji.
Grin on his face, he headed to the kitchen for a cool glass of water before heading to bed.
Back at Bella Pelle on Monday morning, the reaction to Stelle di Mare was immediate. Jerome and Carrie had loved the fragrance she'd come up with for the new body balm and adored the name.
"So evocative," Carrie said.
Jerome's eyes had gone wide, his mind already racing — he could already see it: a cobalt blue tin with an enameled Amalfi coastline across the lid.
By the end of the meeting, they'd signed off on the formula, excited to launch the following spring as a companion to Astra Seta.
September came and went and all of a sudden, it was October.
True to her word, Bella had met up with the Hansens while in San Diego, meeting them for lunch at the Hotel del Coronado.
They gave her a mini tour afterwards, driving past NAS North Island where she could see helicopters taking off and an aircraft carrier in port.
This is where Jack will come after he returns from the moon.
From there they drove in silence to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma, where Susan had been laid to rest — she had been eligible as the spouse of a veteran. It was beautiful and peaceful, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Bella took the bouquet she'd brought from the car and hung back, letting the Hansens have a moment alone at the gravesite. After a few minutes Wendy turned and gently beckoned her over. Bella approached while Bill and Wendy quietly stepped back.
She knelt and gently laid the bouquet of pink and white gladiolus — Jack had told her they were Susan's favorites. He hadn't told her what to write on the card, so she had written simply: With love forever — Jack, Piper, and Sloane.
“Hi Susan - can I call you Susan? It’s me, Bella. I hope it’s okay that I’m here - if not, give me a sign and I'll go.” Bella waited. Nothing. She continued.
“Jack and the girls miss you - they will be coming to visit soon. They love and miss you so much. I wanted you to know how grateful I am that they came into my life. I will never take your place - I don’t want to, but I'd like to love them and take care of them — for as long as they'll let me. I promise I will always be there. Well, I guess that’s it really. Is that okay with you?” Bella saw a flutter from the corner of her eye - a Monarch butterfly, drifting lazily before settling gently on the gladiolus. Bella smiled and she knew.
“Thank you,” she said, pulling a small rock from her pocket and leaving it on the headstone.
Turning, she saw Wendy and Bill watching, wiping tears from their eyes.
“That was beautiful, Bella. Truly,” Wendy said softly.
Bella squeezed her hand. “Thank you for bringing me here to visit.”
From San Diego she went to Los Angeles, where she was booked to appear on a few morning television shows, talking about Fall and Winter skincare trends, and plug Bella Pelle’s latest releases.
Her last stop was San Francisco, and after her meetings she went to Jack’s parents’ home in Palo Alto.
They had a lovely meal out, and after getting into the twin bed in Jack’s childhood room, she felt like a teenager, texting him under the covers with the lights out - hoping his parents didn’t catch her.
She loved seeing all the pictures of Jack on their walls - growing up, in various airplanes, of course a few of him next to his jet from his Navy days.
They had a lot of pictures of Jason as well, so it was nice to see both boys got ‘equal time.’
Hey Flyboy. Guess where I am?
Hmm, in my bed? Without me?
It’s kind of small, I don’t think we’d both fit.
Oh, I’m sure I could get creative.
Ha ha - behave!
Did you have fun?