Moore than Forever Read online

  With the sun now below the horizon, the clouds scattered throughout the sky took over their portion of the show, with oranges transforming into pinks.

  His cheek pressed to hers as he watched the sky, “You did very well being in a room with CJ and Beau, Baby Girl. I was very proud of you.”

  Turning in his arms, “I was in a room with CJ, Schooner.” The look on her face imparted amazement.

  Nodding, “Yes, you were. Though it probably wasn’t anywhere near as scary as you had imagined.”

  Shaking her head and smiling, “No. It wasn’t. Right before I entered the room, your mom asked me when was the last time I had seen her and I told her it was the night that CJ told me that you never loved me,” Mia’s eyes filled with tears just verbalizing it. “But today we sat, so many years later, me and you on one side of the room, them on the other, and there was nothing they could do to take us down. The truth, all the truths, were out there for everyone to plainly see and there is nothing they can ever do to us.” Mia was smiling as the tears rolled down her cheeks, glistening in the fading light.

  “Faith and trust.”

  She nodded, “Yes, faith and trust. We are unbreakable, Schooner. I know that now. I do. I really do. You are mine,” nodding, the tears were flowing, “You are mine.”

  Taking her face in both his hands, “Baby Girl, I have been yours since you threw a snowball at my head.”

  “But I missed,” she laughed through her tears.

  “Yes, you missed my head, but you didn’t miss my heart,” pulling her face to his, he kissed her lips softly.

  “Beau looks like Pee Wee Herman.”

  Mia’s non-sequitur elicited a hearty laugh from Schooner, “Sad, but true.”

  “CJ looks good,” Mia admitted.

  “You handled her beautifully,” his real smile was beaming with pride at how well Mia managed today’s awkward and tense situation.

  “I think it’s time for me to handle you beautifully,” Mia stood, taking Schooner’s hand with the intent of taking him to a cabin below deck.

  Shaking his head no, “Let’s stay up here. There were so many nights I dreamed of you under these stars. Tonight I will take you under these very same stars.” Stars that once mocked me, he thought. Tonight I’ll show them who’s got the last laugh.

  “Then take me.”

  “That was my plan, Baby Girl. It’s such a treat to get you alone. And in a few minutes, you’re going to be standing naked before me on the deck of this boat.”

  Mia shivered at his words.

  Standing before him between his legs, he reached forward and unbuttoned the top three buttons on her linen blouse. Inserting a hand, he gently ran his thumb over her lace bra, back and forth, until he was satisfied with the hardness of her nipple and her sharp intake of breath.

  “Do you have any idea of what you do to me?” he moaned, “Just feeling your nipple harden beneath my touch and listening to you gasp has gotten me so hard,” he pinched and rolled her nipple through the lace of her bra.

  Standing very still, she waited for him to continue, the words faith and trust running around her brain. Unbuttoning the rest of her blouse, he pushed it down her arms and it silently fell to the deck.

  “Take off your bra,” his voice was gruff.

  Reaching behind her, her trembling fingers fumbled with the hooks. He’d already gotten her worked up to such a feverish pitch that she was shaking and the cool breeze off the Pacific certainly wasn’t helping. The bra joined her linen blouse on the deck.

  Schooner sat back, smiling, arms crossed over his chest. “You really are so beautiful,” he sat silently and she waited. “Take your pants off.”

  “Would you like to help?”

  He just shook his head no.

  Taking that in, she nodded and undid the top button on her pants and pulled down the zipper. Gently wriggling, they fell to the deck. Stepping out of them, she playfully kicked them out of the way.

  Removing his crossed right arm from his chest, he pointed at her silk bikini underwear and made a slight downward movement with his index finger, clearly indicating he wanted them gone. Pulling down the soft fabric, she stepped out of them, too.

  Leaning forward, Schooner picked up the soft silk panties from the deck and brought them to his face, his eyes closing as he took in her scent. Gently, he let it trail slowly down his cheek before discarding them on the bench next to him.

  Opening his eyes, Mia stood before him, the last vestiges of a beautiful sunset painting the sky behind her, a perfect backdrop to his perfect vision. She shivered in the rapidly cooling sea air.

  “Put your left foot up on this bench on the outside of my leg,” he directed and she complied.

  With one leg up, she was spread open before him.

  “Very nice,” he commented.

  He was silent and she just stood there, waiting, wanting him to touch her, lick her or let her touch herself. Mia was getting more turned on with every second that passed. And he kept letting them pass.

  “So many nights I dreamed of you, right here on this deck and on the deck of the boat before this one and the one before that. So many nights.”

  The cool breeze continued to swirl around her body, cooling it down, making her shiver. Or was she shivering in anticipation? She wasn’t really sure. As the chilly air surged between her legs, she could feel how wet she had already become just waiting for his next directive.

  “Touch yourself,” his voice was rough.

  Wanting to please him heightened her arousal, yet, at the same time, a wave of shyness was invading. Shy around him, she questioned, how could that be? We’ve been intimate in every way possible. Yet, standing naked on the deck of his boat, Mia felt more vulnerable and exposed than she’d ever felt in her life.

  “Touch yourself,” he commanded, with little more than a whisper.

  Reaching between her legs, Mia was not surprised to find that she was wet. She was already aware of that. Finding that she was as wet as when she’s had a tremendous orgasm, or two - now that was surprising. But that is exactly how wet she was already. Sensitive and slick, she gasped immediately and could see the flicker in his eyes. Dipping two fingers inside herself, she spread her juices forward to her clit and rubbed in a circular motion until she got the position and pressure just right, her shyness long gone, her focus split between two places, what she feeling between her legs and what she was seeing in his beautiful sapphire eyes.

  Involuntarily, she moaned, “Oh God, so good.”

  “Make yourself come for me,” he was mere inches from her fingers, watching her work her magic on herself.

  “I want you to touch me,” she begged, gasping for air.

  Shaking his head slightly, eyes never leaving hers, he made it clear that she would make herself come for him as he had asked.

  Trying to make the wonderful sensation last and the exquisite build to release go on forever, Mia focused on Schooner’s eyes. Silently, she tried to tell him everything with her eyes, everything she ever wanted him to know; the depth of her love, the all-consuming pain of loss without him, the incredible need to be his, for him to be hers, the dream of sharing every moment, good and bad, the solace and strength she felt when she was wrapped in his arms. She needed him to know all this. He had to know.

  The screams in her ears were her own, yet they sounded miles away. It was Schooner’s face and his own ragged breathing that let her know she was coming. He snaked an arm around her waist to hold her steady and worked his way out of his cargo pants with the other hand. Lowering her onto him, she moaned at the invasion as he filled her. Needing more, she quickly searched for her rhythm to regain the feverish pitch she had just tumbled from. Finding it, she rapidly ascended and then quickly began to fall behind the veil again.

  “Mia,” his voice, hoarse with desire, brought her back to a place where she was once again able to focus on his eyes. “Mine.”

  Vigorously nodding, “Yes. Yes,” before she was gone again.


  “Mine,” he hissed into her ear with jagged breath, “Always. All ways.”

  He heard me, was her thought, he heard everything I silently told him.

  Later, as she clung to him, wrapped tightly in his arms, her sweat quickly chilling in the night air, she lay her head on his shoulder. “I love your boat.”

  Pulling her away slightly so that he could look into her eyes, “Our boat. This is our boat, Mia.”

  Smiling, her eyes filled with tears and she nodded.

  Pulling her back into him again so that her head could rest on his shoulder, he looked up into the night sky. Smiling at the stars, “I got the girl,” he silently told them.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Mia was in the kitchen feeding Nathaniel when she heard the doorbell ring.

  “I’ll get it,” Schooner called out, as he was coming down the stairs.

  She couldn’t make out the conversation, but she could tell by the tone of Schooner’s voice that he was very happy and excited to see whoever it was that was visiting. The voices moved into the family room and she could tell by Dee and Gavin’s tones that they too were very pleased to see the latest visitor.

  “Daddy is having the best time seeing everyone, isn’t he?” Mia spooned the cereal and applesauce into Nathaniel’s waiting mouth. “And I think you are having a good time too with everyone telling you what a beautiful boy you are.” As if on cue, he smiled at Mia and made a sound, as if totally agreeing with her.

  After a few more spoonfuls, she cleaned him up. “Are you ready to go meet the company?”

  Talking with Gavin, Dee and Schooner was a distinguished looking man a few years younger than Gavin. He had thick salt and pepper hair and a golfer’s tan. His hazel eyes were warm and inviting and his smile genuine when he saw Mia enter holding Nathaniel.

  “Hello,” the man stood.

  “Hello,” Mia extended a hand, “I’m Mia.”

  His grip was firm, “So nice to meet you, I’m Malcolm Faulkes and I’m guessing this handsome fellow here is Nathaniel.”

  Malcolm Faulkes. I know that name, thought Mia, why do I recognize that name?

  Malcolm turned to Schooner with a quizzical look on his face, “Mia? Your Mia?”

  Schooner’s smile made his eyes crinkle as he nodded, “One and the same.”

  “I’ll be darned,” and he looked at Mia approvingly. “Well, this was most unexpected.”

  Mia looked from one man to the other, smiling, and waiting to get let in on this ‘other’ conversation that was clearly taking place. Handing the baby to Dee, she sat down next to Schooner.

  “Is there something I should know about here?” Mia was beginning to feel self-conscious.

  “Malcolm was responsible for both putting my hand back together when I smashed it and for taking me over to Africa.”

  Mia couldn’t help but notice the joy in Schooner’s eyes just at the mention of Africa.

  “Coach Schooner here was quite the entrepreneur. Talk about a guy that knows how to play to his strengths. That village came alive with what you brought to it.”

  Smiling with pride, Mia watched the joyous look on Schooner’s face as the memories started to flood back, “I brought soccer tournaments and tailgating to the village,” he laughed.

  “You brought a lot more than that, Schooner,” Malcolm was not going to let him make light of his accomplishments. “You taught lifesaving techniques, the importance of exercise and diet, as well competitive team sports. Those kids had the summer of their lives with you. Every year when we went back, everyone always asked about you and if you were coming back.”

  Mia and Dee exchanged glances and all Mia could think of was a word she had learned from her grandparents, a word that had its roots in Middle High German, but was generally found in the Yiddish language. Kvell. To be extraordinarily proud.

  Both Mia and Dee were kvelling from all they were learning from Malcolm about Schooner’s accomplishments in Africa. A teenage American boy, from a privileged background, with his hand in a cast and his heart in a sling, took all he had learned and coupled that with ingenuity and humility to make a lasting difference on the children of a poor village in a developing nation. Mia could not wait until Nathaniel was old enough to understand his father’s accomplishments and maybe someday follow in his footsteps.

  Fascinated by the details of all she was learning, Mia asked, “Malcolm, have you been back recently?”

  “Not in the last eighteen months or so. My associate, who is much younger, is making most of the trips these days. So much of the disease we’re seeing over there is brought on by lack of sanitary conditions and the inaccessibility to clean water. So, there is still a lot of work to be done. One in five children don’t make it to their fifth birthday.”

  All eyes in the room flashed to Nathaniel as the gravity of that statement hit everyone in the gut.

  “Is HIV and AIDS still so prolific over there?” Mia was keenly interested and Malcolm was impassioned on the subject.

  “Unfortunately, yes. The internists struggle with this terrible cycle that they can’t break. Patients are sent home with anti-retroviral drugs and then take them with unclean water and end up with secondary infections that their immune systems are just too compromised to handle. You should join a trip. I think it would be meaningful to you,” turning back to Schooner, “and you should visit Macha again. It was a transformative time in your life.”

  Looking at Mia to gauge her reaction, Schooner was somewhat surprised to see a look on her face saying, “We should do this.”

  “When is your team going back again?” Schooner had a light in his eye.

  “Late spring, early summer,” Malcolm had him hook, line and sinker. “I’ll put you in touch with my associate Roberto Castillo. I’m sure you can take what you started and expand upon it.”

  Mia could see Schooner’s mind racing a million miles per hour, “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking that orthopedic rehab is probably not as prevalent as it should be over there. I’m thinking the number one college physical therapy program in the United States is right here at USC, where I know you have excellent connections, Malcolm. I’m thinking that every health club in this country, L9 included, scraps perfectly good equipment when the new models come out and I’m thinking it’s time to go back to Zambia.”

  Sitting there shaking his head as it all began to process and gel, Schooner was feeling a touch of déjà vu as the exact feeling he felt that day in Malcolm’s wood and leather office resurfaced. That sense of purpose and the excitement of an unknown adventure lying before him once again snuck up out of nowhere and grabbed him.

  But this time, there was no escape or heartache involved, only renewed purpose and the ability to share his expertise and good fortune with those in need. Now, Mia would be at his side and all the images he tried so hard to capture with his Nikon, everything he dreamed of sharing with her, would now be part of their shared memories.

  “Baby Girl,” that gorgeous All-American boy smile was beaming, “we’re going to Zambia.”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  With her laptop propped on her knees and Nathaniel curled up on the bed next to her in the Moore’s guest bedroom, Mia laughed at the shocked expression on Seth’s face.

  “I’m telling you, Seth, I’m not creative enough to make this shit up.” Mia could see their office in the background of the Skype image and missed the crazy energy of her Manhattan agency.

  “BBC, can’t you send him to Africa on his own? This is not like a high-end safari tour you are going on.”

  “I think it will be exciting.”

  “You want excitement, we’ll drop you off somewhere in Brooklyn or The Bronx with two dollars and let you panhandle your way home.”

  “Oh my God, I miss you,” Mia couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Who’s going to watch, Nathaniel?” his arms were now crossed, as he began to get worked up.

  “Well, I can have Lois come up fro
m Florida,” Mia instinctively reached out and rubbed Nathaniel’s back. When she looked back at the screen, it was clear that her last statement had not gone over well.

  Tapping his fingers loudly on the desk, “I’m his Godfather, Mia. Do you not trust me?”

  “It’s a lot of work and it’s exhausting. I don’t want to saddle you with that, Princess.”

  “Fuck you, BBC. I’m watching Nathaniel when you go off on your Hemingway adventure.”

  “Ok, ok,” Mia laughed. “Are you sure you don’t want Lois up to help you?”

  “That would be fine. You can call her. So, with all of those little CJ/Zac shenanigans, what is going on with the divorce?”

  Smiling, Mia scrunched back into the pillows, “Princess, Pretty Boy would’ve gotten you so hard…”

  “He always gets me hard,” Seth interrupted.

  Mia laughed, “I don’t think I want to know that. Well, he would’ve made you even harder than he usually makes you. He is really very different out here. I guess because he’s in his own domain, his empire. He’s really commanding,” and demanding too, thought Mia, a visual of their latest tryst on deck causing a tingling between her legs.

  “BBC, he’s always commanding. If you’d just put that dick of yours away every so often, you might actually notice.”

  “Fuck you, Princess,” but Mia knew he was right, “and you’re right, he is always commanding, but it’s like kicked up a notch out here. It’s really kind of hot. Anyway, he just told CJ, this gets signed this week or I’m going to ruin your life.”

  “You’re right, I would’ve come in my pants. So, what does that mean if she signs it this week?”

  “It means as soon as it gets in front of the judge, he signs it. So, it could all be completed in a couple of days.”

  “Oh my God,” Seth literally squealed, “so, Lois and I do need to get together. When do you want to do this?”

  Amused at how he had already switched into wedding mode, Mia shrugged, “I don’t know. Late summer out at the beach or maybe even late September/early October, when the leaves are changing, maybe somewhere up along the Hudson River.”