a voice from behind stunned her out of her reverie. “Well, my darling girl, you must be very proud of yourself.” She turned and her father Jack wrapped her in his arms and hugged her warmly.
Right at that moment it was exactly what she needed. A big bear of a man, Jack gave the best hugs in the world, although sometimes he overdid it and upset an elaborate hairdo, or knocked one of her earrings off. But tonight Chilli didn’t care and embraced him tightly. He sensed something in it.
“Come out onto the front deck my girl.” Ushering her outside, he pulled a chair out for her and sat down next to her, taking her hand in his large one, reminding her of how safe he always made her feel.
“It’s a huge thing when the baby cub grows up and leaves the den isn’t it?” He paused. “But darling, he has been grown up for a while. Perhaps you didn’t see it until tonight.” He spoke gently to her. Jack had always been excellent at reading his daughter. There was nothing she could hide from him.
“Dad I’m truly happy for them. She’s perfect.” But Chilli’s voice was shaky.
“She is perfect!” Jack said firmly. “She’s been a member of our family for a while now. This is just a formality. We all love her. You know your son has excellent taste. Do you know I saw it with your mother with each of your brothers when they got married? God knows, we love those girls. Of course Charlie’s first wife was another story. Thank God that marriage didn’t last long. Your brother wouldn’t listen. We all saw it coming...”
Patiently, Chilli smiled at her father but then interrupted. “Dad, what are you getting at?”
“I’m trying to say, when a son gets married, for a brief moment, the mother feels misplaced. She has been his biggest female influence until then. If you’re lucky and they have a happy marriage, the new wife will now be the biggest influence. It’s what we want for them. It’s the same for a father when his daughter marries. It’s a shifting of the tides for everyone. Give yourself a little time to work out your emotions.”
“You’re probably right. But at least Mum had the three boys and me, I only have him. I feel far too young for that part of my life to be over.”
“It’s not over. It’s just a different chapter sweetie.” He squeezed her hand.
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak for a few seconds. “I know. But I liked the old chapter.” She shrugged. “Really, I think I just need a good night’s sleep. I feel rather exhausted. Tomorrow I’ll be fine.”
“Of course you will.” Yawning, he stood up. “I’m off to find your mother. An old guy needs his sleep.”
As he went to walk away, she took hold of one of his hands. “Dad you’ll always be the king. I do a have a prince charming, but you’re the king...”
He kissed the top of her head and squeezed both of her shoulders. She watched him go, looking very distinguished in his dinner suit. The years had been kind to him and, at 72, he remained a handsome, fit looking man with a full head of hair, silver though it was. A retired dentist, he now spent most of his days playing golf.
Chilli waved to her parents as they left. Her mother mouthing, “Call you tomorrow.” Chilli nodded. She wondered where Rob was. All evening, they had played the perfect hosts and had not had a moment together since the wedding.
From across the room, she saw him farewelling their good friends, Cherie and William.
“Typical of you Montgomerys to throw the best parties ever,” William called.
“We’ll see what we can organise for the next one,” she heard Rob answer. “We do like to please.”
Chilli walked over and kissed them goodbye.
“I’m sure we’ll speak tomorrow,” Cherie said.
“I’m sure you will,” Rob said, waving and placing an arm around Chilli. He seemed to have recovered.
She tucked her arm around him. “Rob, I’m exhausted. I think it’s time to go. There are just a few of Sam’s mates left and they should be off shortly.”
“I might go and hurry them along. Miranda is wilting as well.”
*
They decided to leave Rob’s car at Montgomery’s and come back for it in the morning. All day, they had been backwards and forwards from the restaurant, until finally both of their cars had ended up there.
They climbed into Chilli’s small car for the brief trip home. She loved her little blue pearl Crossfire coupe. But it had been a sore point between her and Rob for the longest time. He had really wanted her to have the Mercedes coupe, but she had chosen the Crossfire, because she said it made her smile. He had told her that was not the way to select a car. But it was for her. After that, every time Rob got into the car, he’d shake his head and mutter, “Should have got the Merc.”
With a flash of her eyes and more than a little annoyance, she’d determinably say, “But I loved this car.”
For the first time tonight, he forgot. Chilli was grateful. It had begun to wear a little thin.
Rob let out a huge breath and glanced across at her. “What a night. It blew me away. God, did you have any idea?”
“Not one! It’s incredible. I’m overwhelmed.” Chilli yawned. “Not to mention very tired. I just want a cup of tea, a hot shower and bed, in that order.”
“What do we do about gifts? People were asking,” he remembered.
“Yes, I know. People were asking me as well. I think that Dad wants to give them either money to invest or some shares. Why don’t we ask the kids tomorrow? They might have a plan. They seem to have one for everything else.” Looking sideways at him, she gave a brief smile. He squeezed her knee.
Chilli pulled into their driveway and continued down past the tennis court. The tennis court was on the street front, with the house behind it, nestled within a lush garden on the riverfront. It had been their home for the past two years. They had purchased a dilapidated old house on a huge block of land, which they were then able to subdivide into four blocks. The house had been pulled down and three of the blocks developed with homes, the fourth was their tennis court.
The approach to each of the homes was an easement driveway that ran down beside the tennis court. The block of land that it was on meant that it was an expensive tennis court, but Rob always maintained that it was a good investment and they could sell it anytime as a housing lot. Each of the houses had its own design, character and personality and it had been a challenging project for the architect to combine all of the properties into one cohesive enclave. The houses had all been built to maximise privacy and to complement each other.
Chilli loved her home. It really was like a large two-story apartment. With this move, they realised that they didn’t need as much space as what they had previously had. As much as they had hoped and wanted, there was never going to be more than just the three of them. They had delegated an area to Sam, should he decide to return home, and the rest they had designed quite simply for the two of them, without any wasted spaces.
At the front door, Chilli removed her very glamorous, but much too high shoes, her tired feet enjoying the coolness of the limestone
