Chapter Two

When Anything Is Possible…

"You're not feeling cold?" Edward asked solicitously as he escorted his wife from the noisy party onto the night-shadowed Rodeo Terrace of the Beverly Wilshire hotel.

"Not at all." Hope shook her head as she walked to the edge of the terrace and looked down into the busy street below. "It's been a lovely evening. But it was becoming too stifling back there with all those people. I needed some fresh air." She fanned her hand at her flushed cheeks.

Somewhere, a clock struck the hour of midnight. But it didn't diminish the sound or the congestion of the noisy traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, that moved along the street far below.

"It seemed that everyone decided to turn up for the party tonight," Edward replied as he put one arm around his love's shoulders. "Reta had to upgrade the venue at the last minute. But she couldn't be happier."

"And now you and I have the whole summer to be alone together…" Hope held up her left hand to admire the new gold ring that adorned it. The design was a Celtic love knot. "I'm glad that everyone finally knows about us. About our getting married last Christmas. I was tired of walking on eggshells and hoping no one found out before we were ready to tell them."

"It's been a secret for long enough," Edward admitted as he held up his larger left hand beside hers. "I want everyone to know you are mine and I love you more than my own life."

His hand was also adorned with a gold wedding ring. A band broader than hers and more masculine, but with the same intricate knotwork.

"Yes." Hope nodded as she took his hand and pressed it against the rounded front of her body. "And we can hope that, by the time we get back from our holidays, the press with have found someone else's love life to talk about."

"Sadly, I doubt that." Edward shook his head as he leaned forward to look down into the hustle and bustle of Rodeo Drive below. "With the show's continuing popularity, they'll be doubly interested in what two of the stars are doing and who they're seeing."

"Well, I'm seeing you, Mr Mulhare," Hope teased lightly as she turned within the shelter of his arm.

She stepped closer to him. "I want to get away from all of this. I want you to take me away." She glanced over her shoulder at the light-spangled sprawl and towers of the L.A. downtown. "I want to go somewhere where no one knows our names or what we do. I long to become completely anonymous."

Edward sighed long and deeply. "I'm afraid there aren't any flights to the far side of the moon."

He looked down at his love with solemn eyes. "Even if I took you home to Cork, I'm too well known there. We would get no peace."

"Well, Christopher and Patricia have already asked me if they could spend some time with their father this summer." Hope put her arms around his waist and moved as close as the rounded swell of her abdomen would allow. "Of course, I agreed, since they both have their hearts set on it and Don's willing. Now that they're growing up, they've become very independent in their thinking."

She sighed and raised her shoulders. "And then I just happened to hear a new song out by Jim Reeves. It was playing on the radio a couple of weeks ago, when I was sitting in makeup. It seemed to be calling to me. Like it was trying to tell me something."

She went up on tiptoe to press a series of soft kisses along the line of his jaw. "One of the lines of the song says, 'Watch the sun rise on a tropic isle.' What about we go somewhere far away from here and find for ourselves that tropical isle?"

Edward looked down at her. "I gather you're not thinking about flying to Hawaii. We would be spotted there in a heartbeat. Your face is too well-known. The press hangs out in the airport."

"No…" Hope shook her head. "Somewhere a lot further than that." She moved back while still keeping her hands at his waist. "We could get away from here for one glorious month and then still be back in time for our baby to be born."

"It seems you're given this flight to obscurity a great deal of thought," her love teased lightly as he kissed the tip of her nose. "Where exactly did you have in mind?"

"My new makeup girl, Sarah, was playing that song. She also told me all about where she comes from. And it's a long, long way from here."

"It sounds intriguing," Edward replied. Would you care to share? Where does your Sarah come from?"

"New Zealand," Hope replied in a breathless rush. "From what she's told me about it; everything sounds totally perfect. Just what we would be looking for."

Her love smiled. "I'll agree it's about as far from anywhere you could get and not end up at the South Pole."

He shook his head. "I have heard it's very much like Ireland. Green, verdant and untouched. I'll admit getting away from LA to avoid the smog and the summer heat is very tempting. But do you truly want to go that far away? I do have my new house in Connecticut. We could go back there."

"But you're too well known up there. Really, what could be more perfect than a tiny country down at the bottom of the world." Hope dropped her hands to link her fingers through his. "Sarah says it's quaint and rural and has lots of small towns. And she'd never heard of our show until she came to work in L.A. A lot of places there still don't even have television."

"If it's that idyllic, then why did she leave to come to the US?" Edward strove for some logic.

"Love…" Hope's nose crinkled. "She fell in love with a US Marine and married him. It didn't work out, but she stayed and found a job here. She wasn't going home empty-handed. When she's ready, she will leave."

She glanced at the bright lights of the cityscape that never dimmed or slept. "Sarah said we would love it there. At night, the sky is so black that you can see all the stars. It truly does sound like heaven. There are places where no one has been."

"'To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower,'" Edward quoted softly.

"That's right," Hope agreed quickly. "'Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour…'" She grasped the material of her husband's shirt and shook him gently to emphasise her point. "We can do this. I want to do this. While we still have time."

"You drive a hard bargain, Mrs Mulhare."

"So do you, Mr Mulhare. And you're being too modest. You forget how good a teacher you are."

"Tá grá agam duit… I love you…" Edward repeated tenderly and with love. "Cuisle mo chroí…"

"Tá grá agam duit…" Hope repeated. "Go raibh maith agat go leir as gach rud…"

"You're a quick study," Edward approved, as he put his arm around her shoulders again and turned them away from the view.

"I told you that you're a good teacher," Hope replied as they crossed the terrace and stepped back through the wide-open glass doors into the noise and bustle of a lot of happy people having a very good time. "Now, how soon can we leave? Sarah has already made us an itinerary of the places we need to see."

"How soon do you want to leave?" Edward asked with his lips against her ear so he could be heard over the noise of the party.

Hope's green eyes sparkled with anticipation. "How would you feel about two days from now? We only need to tell Charles and Reta. I'll telephone Don and the kids when we get back home tonight. Then we can pack and be on our way before the press finds out."

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