down to you know, you know . . .”
“Yeah, I think it’s so they won’t fall down.”
“You’d better get out of here.”
“I’ll be back, Little Queen Bee.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You need your own hive.” He smiled. “And I’m going to give it to you.”
“G’night!” I said and thought, Holy shit, there’s sex in my future after all.
Epilogue
SULLIVAN’S ISLAND
April 2019
Leslie finally divorced Charlie, who, as predicted by everyone involved, went on to become wildly successful as Cher’s long-lost identical twin sister, Char. We were actually all delighted for her. And Leslie’s involvement with Archie became more serious. Who cared? They were both happy. The boys were happy. But she would not marry him.
“I’m just dividing my time between our house and his. That’s enough for me. You think I want to be his third dead wife? No way, baby. Uh-uh.”
In the Lowcountry, we believed bad things happened in threes. Becoming the third wife of a man twice widowed was a terrifying prospect.
“I don’t blame you,” I said.
But good things also happened in threes. I had so many good things happening around me and to me, I wasn’t quite sure where to start counting. I’d started teaching at Sullivan’s Island Elementary School eight months earlier, and I loved it. Because of that and a few other details, I couldn’t go to Italy with Maureen, but Ted promised to take me there someday.
“When’s the baby coming?” Tyler asked.
“Any day now,” I said.
Last fall, Ted gave me a diamond ring. It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t too small, either. We got married as soon as we could, right after Suzanne and Momma. Everyone knew we would run to the altar because our pants were on fire. We had a small ceremony at Stella Maris Church. Monsignor Ben Michaels performed the ceremony and Lynn Bagnal played the organ. Leslie was a maid of honor and, in a surprise choice, Ted asked Suzanne to be his best man. They had become very close. He had taken to calling her Suz, which Suzanne said suited her better anyway. It was a gender-neutral name. So first Suz walked me up the aisle to give me away and then she stood by Ted.
My friends from Publix and school came and, of course, friends of Ted’s, lots of folks from the township office and the police force, our neighbors, Maureen, her husband and son, and Archie and his boys. Archie and his boys bought us a remote-controlled toy Maserati as a wedding gift and I thought it was really sweet. Of course, Mark and Darlene were there, too. Afterward, we had a small reception at home with wedding cake from Publix, finger sandwiches, and champagne. It was simple but beautiful, and exactly what we wanted.
My garden was a botanical wonder that season, with so many gorgeous roses and dahlias, still in bloom, as though they were staying in bloom, waiting for my wedding to happen. They filled every container we owned, and I even made my own bouquet. I decorated my beehives and the fence around them with yards and yards of white tulle and bouquets of herbs. And of course, I got a sense that the bees were pleased for me. I really did.
Don’t you know that when we announced we were going on a short honeymoon to Bermuda, Hunter wanted to come.
“Aren’t we related yet?” he asked with those gorgeous eyes of his.
“You are such a little charmer,” I said and tousled his hair.
The boys had survived the reign and wrath of Sharon and appeared to be unscathed.
“I’ll take you to Bermuda this summer if you have a good year in school. And Tyler, too, of course,” Archie said.
Leslie shot Archie a hairy eyeball.
“And you, too!” he said. “Of course!”
There must’ve been some magic in the coral sand where we stretched out on beach towels to watch the stars in the night sky over Bermuda, because I came home with a little biscuit in my oven and a whole lot smarter about what goes on between the sheets. All I can say is that I wish I’d taken Ted more seriously in high school. I would’ve married him the day we graduated and dragged him to bed every chance I had. All those wasted years of self-deprivation! Ah, well. Deprivation no more!
When we got home we moved my hives to Ted’s backyard, which was now our backyard, and he quickly constructed a fence to keep Stubble from getting into trouble. Stubble became my constant companion. The bees buzzed around and bearded some, but overall, after a bit, they settled down and got back to the business of foraging, pollinating, and making delicious honey. I kicked up some dirt in the long-neglected flower beds and said I could get them going again. I did, and by April, our yard looked like somebody loved it. We were only a few blocks from Momma, in case, well, you know, if something happened and she needed us.
What of Momma and Suz? If laughter and happiness were the best medicines, then Suz was going to keep Momma alive on this earth forever. I’d never seen her so happy. And oh, interesting side note, all those pounds on Momma just melted away. Suz had her walking all over the island and the result was astounding. Her doctors told her to ditch her blood pressure meds and her statin. She was delighted. And there had been no recurrence of tumors.
“I feel so much better!” she said every time someone told her how great she looked.
I prayed that the good Lord would give her plenty of time to be together with Suz. She deserved happiness. We all did. I just never believed that we, the crazy bunch of outliers that we were, would find it so happily and completely.
It became obvious that I needed to go to the hospital to deliver our baby at about four in the morning on May 14. My back had been killing me all week. My ankles were swollen, and I was just generally uncomfortable all over. I labored until around noon and then, by the grace of God, I delivered the most exquisite baby ever born.
“It’s a boy!” my doctor said. “A little fat guy, and he’s perfect!”
Ted cut the cord and fainted. He was out cold on the floor of the delivery room and had a small cut in his forehead.
“I thought he was the chief of police!” a nurse said.
They revived him, got him up and into a chair, and gave him a cold cloth and a Band-Aid.
“What are we going to name him?” Ted said.
“He’s Theodore, my love. He looks just like you.”
“Okay,” he said. “Theodore. I’ve always wanted a son.”
I was just so glad I’d have two Teds to love. What could be better? We brought him home and laid him in his bassinet and I thought my heart would burst from all the love I felt for my little Ted. I stared at him for days on end and walked around in a fog of joy.
I could go on with this story forever. You know it wouldn’t be hard. There will always be shenanigans to entertain you from the islanders like Leslie, Momma, Suz, well, all of us, and our friends, too. That’s what it is to live in the Lowcountry. The colors are a little brighter. The air is a little sweeter. Jokes are funnier, love runs deeper, and life overall is richer. But I have a baby to feed and a gorgeous husband who’ll be wanting dinner, too. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be back another time. Remember Tolstoy? He said something pretty clever. He said, “One can no more approach people without love than one can approach bees without care.” Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we took that tiny bit of advice? The hive has many lessons to teach us. This was only one of them.