The Thrice Born Read online

  Her hand turned palm up, slipping under his, fingers tugging at his as she moved back deeper into the bed. “Be patient, dear. In a few months, I’ll be more...substantial.”

  She may as well have said years, the ache in him was so real. “When?” he asked.

  She smiled. “When you ask the right question.”

  Over the next few weeks they saw a lot of each other, and not just because Jason had reserved Estelle a room at the casino hotel.

  It was more than lunch and dinner, more than the casual walks in the casino, nearby parks, and occasionally to the hills overlooking the city. Jason explained it to no one at the casino, nor did he feel the need to. His personal business was his; now Estelle was part of that, and he intended to keep her very personal.

  He’d made a cursory check on her on the Internet, but gave up on the idea. He didn’t want to ask enough questions to do a proper background on her, nor did he want to ruin or perhaps taint any future they may have together. And, in all honesty, he wasn’t quite sure how to search for information about her. He had the feeling it was not the kind of information he could easily find at the standard sources. There was something nearly futuristic about her, but whenever he thought along those lines, Corky and all his far-fetched fantastical ideas leapt to mind, and Jason was not ready to climb that mountain.

  But it was a possible future with Estelle that made him schedule time away from the casino long enough for an in-depth walk around his favorite lake, and to ask a few pertinent questions of her at their leisure.

  They made time for a picnic at the lake, enjoying the late summer’s breeze, and talking of nothing. Jason had learned the joy of nothing with Estelle, the nothing that required only her presence and his tolerance of questions unanswered. Surprisingly, it was she who brought up the future as they walked around the lake.

  A few loons were among the cattails at the shoreline, taking cover from the high sun under the willow trees fringing the water as Jason and Estelle walked along the pathway.

  She sighed, her arms encircling his at her hip as she walked at his side. “Someday, Jason, I’ll have to go away,” she said. “Far away,” she added when he looked to her. She pushed her hair over her shoulder, seeing his gaze drop to her tangerine blouse. She smiled, but this time there was a bit of sadness to the smile. “I’ll not be so readily retrievable.”

  “What do you mean?” There was something in her tone that sounded more ominous than he thought it should despite the gentle way she’d said it. He smiled, trying a more philosophical approach. “We all have to die, I suppose, but not for a very long time.”

  She nodded, leaning against his arm, “For some of us, death is a complete impossibility in our world as life eternal is in yours.”

  He slowed their stroll, making her look to him. “What on Earth are you talking about?”

  She shrugged, liking the feel of his arm against her. “Think of me as a visitor, Jason,” she said, looking up at him, wishing he’d remember more than she could explain. “One day, no matter what I wish, I’ll have to leave.”

  “Forever?” He knew little of her past; there was much unsaid that could affect their future. “How permanent is this leaving?”

  “No, not forever. You and I – nothing can separate us completely.”

  He sighed, turning to face her, and possibly, the truth. “What are you, Estelle?” he asked lowly. “I’ve searched all my usual sources and I get nothing. What kind of creature...or what species can you possibly be? I know you’re beyond this,” he said, gesturing one arm to the woods around them. “I’ve read dozens of books on various topics that skirt the realm of the possible; it was my job for a long time to look into such impossibilities. The military is like that,” he admitted. “And I’ve spent hours on the Internet, and I can’t place exactly what is missing with you.”

  “I know, but there are limitations to human knowledge. Even the highest echelon of your intelligence communities have limits of what is,” she paused, and then continued, “fathomable. One day, my love, you’ll join me, and you’ll see all. You’ll understand it all. It may seem impossible, right now, with these archaic concepts of knowledge, but you will understand.”

  He nodded and accepted it for the moment.

  They continued around the lake, noting her particular interest in the loons and the few swans circling further out across the water. By the time they reached the far side of the lake it was nearing dark, but neither of them wanted to go back to the car. Jason took a path that branched out from the lake through the birch trees that grew thicker on the slope of a hill.

  Estelle followed him, her arm locked under his, her flesh and bone seeming to be as solid as any other woman he could hope for. They reached the top of the grade where the trees thinned. There the hill looked out over Las Vegas in the distance.

  The lights were starting to make shining points in the increasing dusk. They spread out below the slope to the highway like fireflies twinkling. The Crib wasn’t visible from the distance, but Jason looked in that direction anyway.

  He turned to Estelle, letting one arm sweep toward the city. “I offer you the world,” he said with exaggerated grandness, settling one arm around her waist.

  She sighed, leaning to his side possessively, letting her arms encircle him. “Oh, I already have my world.”

  Chapter Five

  THE SEED OF UNION

  The weeks passed into months. Two months, to be exact, and an uncanny bond developed between Jason and Estelle. He didn’t ask too many questions, and she gave fewer answers to the ones he did ask, and an unreserved contentment settled over them

  No one could understand it, the close-knit attachment that formed. Even Benjamin’s suspicious nature was assuaged as the weeks passed. It came as a great surprise that one of the highest rollers in Vegas had taken the gamble of a lifetime and won most where it most counted.

  It also came as no surprise that Jason wanted more permanency in his relationship with Estelle. She seemed plenty eager for the same from him.

  It was a sunny afternoon when Jason drove them both down to one of the most popular spots in the city and parked his silver Jaguar at the curb. He leaned to Estelle in the passenger seat, his glance going from her out her window to the small chapel beyond, and then returning to her again.

  Her attention was on him, as usual, not their surroundings, just as he hoped. “Close your eyes.”

  A smile perked her lips as she gave the chapel a quick look.

  He pushed a strand of blonde hair from her face, watching her smile more at his touch. “Promise me you’ll close your eyes and not open them until I tell you.”

  She nodded, eyes closing.

  He got out the driver’s side and went around the car to her door. “Now don’t open them,” he said, opening her door and bending to take her hands.

  She nodded, letting him guide her out of the car.

  “I want you to keep your eyes closed now.” He led her across the sidewalk and into the chapel. “In a few minutes, we are going to have a picture taken, so just follow my lead, darling.”

  She nodded, her hand gripped in his as she blindly stepped through the doors to the photography set inside the chapel where several backdrop themes rolled at one wall. “They know we’re here?”

  “Yes.” Jason looked to the photographer and his assistant, both of whom looked slightly bored and jaded, but with instant smiles when they saw the couple approach.

  The photographer nodded, keeping silent, and noiselessly adjusted the lighting around the set to highlight better on the cutout Jason had chosen. It was more caricature than angelic, the setting Jason decided upon for the surprise photograph session, but something about it seemed just right for Estelle.

  The cutout was shaped like an angel, complete with halo around the head of the oval opening, lending an almost festive atmosphere to an otherwise campy notion. Jason hadn’t wanted a big wedding, not with the tentativeness of Estelle’s visibility and the few question
s about some of her identification paperwork, and he had the strongest feeling she would say ‘yes’ when he asked the pertinent question.

  “Right here,” he said, leading her to the back of the angel cutout.

  She put a hand before her, feeling the silhouette, but didn’t open her eyes.

  He helped her angle her head just right, so that she was positioned behind the oval opening, and then leaned to her ear. “Stand real still, Estelle, and in a moment you can open your eyes, but not until.”

  “Okay.” The hint of smile grew larger on her face as she detected the murmured whispers of the photographer and assistant.

  Jason nodded to the photographer, and then went around to the front of the cutout. The assistant met him, still silent, and handed him the bouquet of fresh cut roses he’d ordered.

  Estelle sniffed, giggling slightly, but didn’t open her eyes.

  Jason kneeled before the cutout and Estelle, straightened his jacket and lapels, and looked up to her. Behind him the assistant placed three fingers on his shoulder to indicate a countdown, and then two, and then one before she stepped back out of the frame.

  “Open your eyes, but just look straight ahead at the camera,” Jason said to Estelle.

  She did, almost focusing at first on him, and then looked directly to the photographer fifteen feet away. A flash sparked as the picture was snapped.

  Before she could speak, Jason stood and said, “Okay, close your eyes again and listen.”

  She did, but this time her head angled up to his as he stepped around the cutout and turned her to face him.

  “Estelle, I love you more than I can say in words,” he said, earnestness subtracting any comical aspects of the cutout that had framed her face. “But in these last few months, I’ve become a desperate man, insane with the thought of losing you.” He returned the smile that she gave him, seeing her eyelids flicker. “I am committed to you. I love you, Estelle.”

  “I know,” she said softly.

  “I need you to know how deeply I feel,” he continued, nearly unaware of the camera that the photographer was adjusting. “And how committed I am to you. I don’t want you to ever leave.”

  Her eyelashes fluttered, but she kept them shut. “I would never leave you, not willingly.”

  “Well, then will you prove it?” He felt her hands tighten in his, saw her nod. “Will you share your life with me? Will you marry me, Estelle?”

  She smiled fully, her eyes now glistening with tears of happiness. She put her arms around his neck as he readily embraced her. “I love you, Jason.” A tear began a slow trek down her cheek. “This is the capstone of my hopes and dreams.”

  Instinctively she lifted her face to his as he pressed his lips to hers, kissing him slowly without hesitation. She lingered there, sharing the moment of heady warmth that galvanized both of them.

  He let her ease away and handed her the bouquet, placing them in her hands as she sniffed back a few teardrops, thinking she was more lovely than ever, even in tears. Suddenly her body, which had always had that slightly ethereal feeling to him, strengthened into a solid form. He felt it in her waist, her hips, her breasts still barely touching his chest as she held the flowers to one side.

  For a few seconds he studied her closely, transfixed by the alteration in her. “Suddenly, you seem to have changed,” he said sotto voce, aware of the photographer and assistant still nearby. “You seem, well, more solid.”

  She smiled as his fingers tenderly touched her cheek, wiping away a warm tear. “I guess you asked the right question.”

  Her eyes began to open.

  “No,” he said quickly. “Keep your eyes closed.

  The photographer snapped another picture of the private moment.

  “Don’t open them until I say so,” Jason told her, leading her by the hand.

  She nodded, following as they walked. She was unaware where he took them, but she heard muted whispers as they walked, making a few turns, the air turning fragrant with flowers. A moment later he stopped her, and she felt his face bend to hers.

  “Now you can open them.”

  Estelle did, and looking back at her in the chapel’s small ceremony hall was a collection of mostly familiar faces, with stands of vases pouring with flowers along the walls. She nodded to Chuck and Benjamin, who was dressed in his finest as best man, a few of the women from Security, some of the cocktail waitresses, and other members of the casino staff she knew.

  She smiled at them, and then looked up at Jason as the minister cleared his throat. “You are serious?”

  Jason nodded, taking both her hands. “More serious than ever, Estelle.”

  It was a short ceremony. As far as Jason and Estelle were concerned, their vows had already been promised to each other, and the rest was show. Benjamin showed a softer side to himself, not exactly teary-eyed, but definitely emotional. Pearl gave in, hugging Estelle like a lost childhood friend, and joined the throng of well-wishers in heartfelt congratulations.

  They were soon shuffling off to the Jaguar, leaving the small but cozy group of wedding guests to throw birdseed and rice along the sidewalk.

  Jason closed Estelle’s door and got in behind the steering wheel, giving her a longing kiss as she turned to look at him. “You’re so wonderful.”

  She smiled, fingers toying with a button on his shirt. “In this?” She lifted one shoulder. She’d worn a modest sundress in soft white cotton that was sprinkled with small red and mild yellow cabbage roses. He hadn’t told her where they were going, not exactly, but she had an inkling about the nature of his sudden secrecy. She’d played along, hoping she was right. “I would have worn whatever you wanted, Jason.”

  He grinned, ignoring the cheering and waving of the wedding attendees out the window. “Time for that a little later, darling.”

  A bit of blush settled on her cheeks, and he took the moment to reach inside his breast pocket. He glanced at the photo they’d taken, and then showed it to her. “What do you think? I’d say it’s about perfect.”

  She eagerly looked at the photo, and then a startle flashed through her eyes. “Oh...you, you like this?”

  He nodded, looking at the photo with her.

  In the photo she was framed by the set cutout of an angel, showing her face through the oval hole. The outline was shaped like an angel with the wings curving around her, an off-center cartoonish gold halo over her head. The wings were tipped with pink and glitter. She frowned slightly, and then looked to him, studying him.

  She saw no mockery, nor recognition, in his expression, and she smiled more, sighing as she leaned to his shoulder across the polished wood seat console.

  “I like it very much,” he said, kissing her cheek and then the top of her head before settling to his side a few inches. He started the car engine, which brought a renewed fervor to the cheering crowd outside on the sidewalk. “Where do you want to spend our honeymoon? Somewhere tropical? Hawaii? The Bahamas?”

  “Oh, no,” she said quickly, her smile dissolving. “No, Jason. Please not that.”

  He chuckled, looking to her sudden switch in demeanor. “No? Too many bugs, eh? Well, how about...” he said, drawing the word out as he checked for traffic and pulled the car into the busy street, “Europe. Maybe Vienna. Or Salzburg. We can catch an early Mozart festival.”

  “No, Jason.”

  “Paris?”

  She smiled again, relieved the mention of islands and southern locales was past. “I just want to go home and start our life together, Jason. Our future.”

  He glanced to her as the traffic slowed. Her hair held the day’s light, giving her more of a glow than the photographer and any silly halo could ever portray. He let one arm settle across the seat behind her. “Sounds good to me too, Estelle.”

  “That’s Mrs. Newhart, now.” She giggled

  “So it is.”

  * * *

  That year passed quickly for Jason and Estelle. He learned a lot about her, but not as much as he thought he shou
ld. She, on the other hand, seemed to already know much about him.

  At least, that was how it felt to Jason.

  She wasn’t hiding anything, he decided; just elusive. He didn’t let it bother him too much, focusing instead on making his house a home. As their first anniversary approached, he was surprised to realize how homey the spacious two-story house was to become.

  With arms laden in anticipation of celebrating their first year of marriage, he stepped into the house bearing half a dozen neatly wrapped gifts. It was late summer, a balmy day for the usually dry heat of Las Vegas’ outskirts. Estelle was generally at the pool in the back, but lately she’d been inside when he got home from the casino.

  He hadn’t been scarce at The Crib that last year, but he had definitely been away from it more than usual. Benjamin understood wholeheartedly; so did most of the married and once-married men at the casino. Jason was not about to let him become one of his own statistics.

  He set the gifts on the kitchen table, sniffing. Estelle had proven a successful cook, and while he was still amused by her appetite, her figure certainly hadn’t suffered. He rather liked her full curves and surprising strength. She easily bested him in swimming, proving agile and inexhaustible, and he sometimes wondered what she’d be like if she took a notion to learn martial arts.

  “Estelle, darling?”

  He looked around the empty kitchen. It was mostly stainless steel and earth tones, a few overtly feminine touches in the counter’s delft blue canisters and the cobalt glass cases in the window sill. Marita only came in twice a week to oversee the cleaning; Estelle did nearly all the cooking, something Jason enjoyed more than he thought he would. Not only did she look stunning in glitz and heels, but she could turn his eye just as easily in Capri pants and a comfy silk tunic.

  He heard a movement from upstairs, and took the staircase that wound from the living room past the formal dining room to the second floor. Once on the landing he could see her shadow in their bedroom down the hall, knowing she was standing at the window overlooking the pool in the backyard. He stopped in the doorway there.