Part III
* * *Trixie sighed deeply as she sat on the steps of Manor House. She had seen Mart leave a few minutes earlier but didn’t want to disturb Jim yet. She stood up when she saw him appear from inside the stables. He walked slowly to the house and she held her breath as he approached.
He stopped at the top of the steps and smiled slightly. "Hi, Trix."
"How did you know I was here?"
"Since the accident, my sense of smell has gotten more acute. I can smell your perfume."
He walked up the steps and headed for the glider. He sat down and patted a space beside him.
She sat down and he reached over and took her hand. "Are you okay?" she inquired.
He nodded. "I am getting there."
"What did--?"
"Mart say?" he finished.
"If it is none of my business, I will understand."
"Whatever happens to me is your business. He just reminded me of what I had and what I was risking losing. It has been so hard, Trix, to adjust to being--blind. At first, I was angry, but, lately, I am afraid I have felt sorry for myself."
"It is understandable."
"I just want to get back to where we were before this happened. I am going to start taking an interest in the school again. Mart reminded me that there are boys out there that need the school."
"That’s okay. We have been getting on with the construction while you were convalescing."
He was silent for a moment. "How? You needed my signature."
"That was easy." Trixie laughed, not noticing the frown on his face. "I started copying your signature about a year ago to see if I could do it and now I can sign it as well as you can."
"That is forgery."
Trixie sensed something was wrong. "Yes, but we wanted to have the school ready for you when you were ready to resume working on it."
He stood up suddenly. "So, blind Jim was not able to finish the work. He had to get his fiancée to help him. I didn’t ask for the help, Trixie."
She stood up too. "We love you, Jim, and just wanted to help."
"Don’t help me," he told her. He turned away from her and walked inside.
Trixie stood for a moment and then ran back to her home as the tears began to fall.
"It just made him feel useless, I imagine," Moms told her, as she sat on the bed beside her sobbing daughter.
"I just wanted to help."
Moms ran her hand over her daughter’s curls. "I know, honey, but you have always told me how independent Jim was. That is one of the reasons you fell in love with him. He just needs time to heal properly. Mart told me what happened with Jim today but Jim just needs more time. Go up and talk to him again Trixie."
Trixie sat up and wiped her eyes. "I will in a minute. I just need to compose myself a little more."
Moms kissed her forehead. "You’ll be okay, Trix. You both were always made for each other. This is just a little hiccup."
After Moms had gone, Trixie thought about what she had said. Then, she got up and washed her eyes and headed back to the Manor House.
Honey met her at the door. "What happened between you two? Jim just tore strips off Dad and then stormed up to his room. He won’t talk to anyone."
"I told him that I had been signing his name. It made him angry."
"Are you here to see him?"
Trixie nodded.
"Want a crash helmet?"
Trixie laughed and hugged her friend. "I think I will be okay."
Trixie walked up the stairs and to Jim's door. It was open and she looked inside. He was sat on his bed with his glasses beside him. His eyes were closed and she sighed.
He looked towards the door. "What do you want Trixie?"
She walked into the room. "I came to apologise."
He was silent.
"Jim can’t we talk?"
"Don’t you know how it made me feel? Don’t you think I feel useless enough without others doing my work for me?"
"So, we were just to leave it all to fall down just because you were so absorbed in yourself you forgot about anyone else."
"That is not fair, Trix."
"Don’t you think I wish every day it was me and not you that were blind? Don’t you think that I feel guilty every day because if I hadn’t have been talking to you, you might have seen the truck sooner?"
He swung his legs off the bed as he heard her sob.
"Don’t you think that it tears me apart seeing you like this?" she demanded.
He stood up. "Trix, I am sorry."
"I want my Jim back," she sobbed and then turned to run out of the room.
He hurried after her and fell beside the bed. She was at his side in an instant. He pulled her into his arms. "I am sorry, baby," he said softly.
She heard the pain is his voice. She looked up and he opened his eyes and, for the first time in almost six weeks, she saw his beautiful green eyes.
"I love you, Trixie Belden, and I want to marry you as soon as possible. If you will still have me."
"I could not imagine my life without you in it, Jim. I love you with all my heart."
"I have been so blind," he told her. "And not just my eyes."
He stood up slowly and drew her into his arms. He moved backward and sat on the bed and pulled her beside him.
"We have a lot to talk about. Do you have time, Trix?"
She smiled through her tears. "I have all the time in the world for you.
Brian and Honey walked towards their room later that night. As they passed Jim's room, they stopped. Honey smiled when she saw them both asleep; Trixie held safely in her brother's arms. She turned the light off and turned to her husband.
"You should ring Moms and tell her that Trixie won’t be coming home tonight."
Brian smiled. "When I stopped at Crabapple Farm on my way home from work, Moms told me that she would not be worried if Trixie does not go home tonight."
Honey smiled as she led him to their room. "Smart woman your mother."
"Runs in the family." He laughed as he reached down to kiss her.
* * *
Trixie woke up the next morning as she felt movement behind her. It only took her a moment to realise where she was and what the movement was. She put her hand on Jim's roving hands.
"James Frayne, what are you doing?"
She heard him laugh quietly.
"Hoping you weren’t awake yet. I am glad that we are planning to get married in a few weeks. I can't wait much longer."
She reached over to kiss him and then pushed his face away. "All these romance novels that I have read talk of the man and woman turning to each other in the morning and kissing," she said. "They never met your breath."
He laughed again. "Yours neither, Trixie."
She sat up and he sat up, too. "Lead me to the toothbrushes, Jim, and then I will give you a real kiss."
He stood up and stretched, removing the kinks out of his body. She sighed loudly.
He smiled down at her.
"You watch me, but I can’t watch you any more. I have thought of our wedding night for so long and now I wonder if it will be the same since I can't see you."
"You have your other senses, Jim. I am sure you will not be disappointed."
"Come here, Trixie."
She jumped up into her arms.
"I love you, Trixie."
"And I love you, too, Jim, but a toothbrush, please."
He laughed as he took her hand and led her to the bathroom.
* * *
"Jim, can you come down and see me for a while?"
"Sure, Trix. But can’t you come up here?"
"I have something to show you and I can’t bring it up."
"Okay, I will be down in a few minutes."
As Trixie put down the phone, she smiled. It had been a hard few weeks, but also a good few weeks. They had both cried together often, but also laughed a lot. And tomorrow they would finally be married. But there was one thing she had to do first.
Jim arrived ten minutes later. He walked into the kitchen and called her name.
"In the living room," she called back.
"Where is everybody?" he asked as he came to the door.
"Moms and Daddy are out with the last minute wedding preparations. Honey and Brian have gone on a horseback ride. And Bobby is up at the Lynches'."
He smiled. "I was going to say that a groom should not see his bride the day before the wedding, but I guess I am safe. Now what did you want honey?"
She walked over to him and he heard a gentle swishing sound.
"One of the things you told me a few days ago was that on our wedding day you would regret not seeing me in my wedding dress. So I thought of a way to help you see me."
She reached up and took off his glasses. She looked at his green eyes and smiled.
"Close your eyes, Jim."
"What difference does it make?"
"Please, just do it."
He closed his eyes. She reached over and took his hands. She then put them on her shoulders. He was silent for a moment. "What are you wearing?"
"My wedding dress," she whispered. "Feel it, Jim, and see it."
She saw a tear slip down his face as his hand began to move. He moved them down her arms, feeling the soft lace that went to her wrist and finished in a point over her middle finger. He then ran his hands fleetingly over her bodice to the neckline. His hands felt the modest Peter Pan collar and across her neck to feel the tiny pearl button and zipper and then traveled down her back to her waist where the material became the softest satin.
"Does it have a train?" he asked her, his voice slightly choked.
She smiled. "Can you imagine me with a train?’
He shook his head. "I am the one that usually falls down now. One of us would be bound to trip over it."
"That is what I thought."
His hands moved upward again to her hair. His hands felt the lace of the veil and the small diamond tiara cradled in her soft curls.
"Your mother bought me the tiara," she told him. "It is beautiful."
His hands cupped her face. "No, you are beautiful."
"Can you imagine?" she whispered.
"More than you know," he told her as he sealed his love with a kiss.
Suddenly, Jim groaned and grabbed his head with his hands.
"Baby, are you okay?" Trixie frowned.
"Just one of my headaches. It will pass."
"Brian left some of your pain killers here. Go wait for me in the kitchen. I will get changed and then I'll get you a cup of coffee to go with your pills."
He took her hand. "Thank you, baby."
She kissed him gently. "You are welcome."
Jim sat down and rubbed his eyes and his forehead. The flashes across his eyes made the headaches worse. But he would not tell Trixie. He decided he would go to the doctor's after the honeymoon.
* * *
"So, Jim, how are you feeling?" asked Brian.
"Terrified, but glad that today is here."
Brian smiled. "It won’t be long before you will be another hen-pecked husband."
"I can’t wait, mate." Jim took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. A flash again passed before his eyes and he groaned again.
"Bad headache?"
Jim nodded. "A doozy. Can you get me a couple of painkillers? They are in my side drawer."
Brian got them and gave them to him with a glass of water. Jim sat down on the edge of the bed and took them.
"I have started seeing flashes before my eyes over the last week Brian and I have no idea what that means."
"Have you spoken to your doctor?"
Jim shook his head, a movement he regretted.
"I thought I would wait until after we come back from our honeymoon. I didn’t want to worry, Trix."
"What are these flashes like?"
"Like someone is flashing a torch into my eyes on a dark night. But then all there is is darkness again."
"Doctor Johnson is coming to the wedding. Maybe he should have a look at you."
"This is Trixie’s day and I don’t intend to spoil it in any way. So, how about we go downstairs and get me married?"
Brian reached over and took his hand. "I am glad that you are marrying my sister."
Jim smiled. "So am I, mate." He put on his glasses and they walked out of the room.
* * *
As the music began, Jim's headaches worsened. The flashes of light became colour and he saw movement. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, the movements became people. He saw his mother sitting on the front row already wiping her eyes. And Trixie’s mother was doing the same. He closed his eyes again as pain again moved across his eyes. And then he heard the wedding march.
He was scared for a moment to open his eyes, but he slowly did.
And the most beautiful vision was walking towards him. He had imagined what she would look like, but he never imagined how beautiful she could be.
"I can see Trixie," he whispered to Brian.
Brian smiled at him. "You have always had a good imagination, Jim.
"No," Jim persisted. "I mean really see her."
"What!"
"Your dad is wearing a black tux. My mother is wearing a blue dress and is already crying. The bridesmaids are in blue, pink and purple. And Trixie-- she is gorgeous."
The music ceased and in the sudden silence, his voice carried across the church.
Trixie faltered in her father's arms.
"Take the veil off, Trixie," Jim pleaded. "I can’t see your face and it has been such a long time."
Moms stood up and helped her daughter remove the veil. Her father walked her to the front of the church, and the whole room became silent.
Trixie looked up at Jim and removed his glasses. She looked into eyes that were focused on her.
"I don’t understand," she whispered.
"I have been having flashes of light over the last week, and they have been giving me severe headaches. Just before the wedding march started, I began to see colours, shapes and then people. And then you, Trix. You are more beautiful than I could ever have imagined." He looked over at Doctor Johnson. "Well, doc, what is your verdict?"
"I told you that brains are a fickle thing, Jim, and all I can say to you now is marry that girl. She is one fantastic policewoman, detective and maybe a miracle worker."
Jim smiled at him then looked down at Trixie. "What say you, Miss Belden. Still want to marry me?"
She smiled at him through her tears. "In sickness and in health, Jim. Nothing could happen that could ever change how I feel about you." She leant forward and whispered only for his ears, "And hurry up about it. We have a honeymoon to get to."
His laughter filled church as he hugged her to him. "I will love you forever, shamus."
"And you, too, my beautiful green eyes."
The End
this story is not as good as i had hoped. My mind is elsewhere at the moment. But i hoped to finish it before my birthday and i have accomplished that. Thanks for all the support guys and let me know what you think on the forum. I value your opinions