"Daddy!" cried Jordan. "Mummy, look! Daddy's home!"They both heard the honking of the horn and watched as the new little Chevy Luv headed up the long driveway toward the house.
Jordan went running happily to his father. Alexis gave Max a dutiful hug and kiss.
"Hi, you guys. Boy, I missed you. Well, this is our new truck. Do you like it?"
"I wanna drive, Daddy! Let me drive it!" Max put Jordan on the driver's side. The little boy wrenched the wheel back and forth and made truck noises.
"It's real cute,” said Alexis. “You must be exhausted."
"I'll sleep well tonight, that's for sure, but first things first. Give me a hand taking in all the goodies from the truck. I brought presents for everybody and some very good news."
It was a treat to see all the store-bought items from the States. Max brought a portable cassette player and some new tapes of their favorite artists. He gave Jordan a pair of Oshkosh overalls and a big yellow Tonka bulldozer with a backhoe. Alexis got an elegant rust-colored skirt, a pretty frilly blouse, and a stylish pair of leather shoes. Max had an uncanny knack for picking out beautiful things that fit."Those are for your army trips, Alexis, so you can look good, and make lots of money. And here's your jewelry stuff. I got you a rotary unit with a flexible shaft. Here's an assortment of burrs and bits, mostly dentist-type stuff, and a bunch of fine-grade sandpaper, buffing wheel, and jeweler's rouge."
"That's fantastic," Alexis said. She really was pleased. So far the black coral had been completely handmade. Now she would be able to work the raw material much faster.
"Now for the real surprise." Max was grinning as he gave Alexis another small box to unwrap. She opened the tissue paper and found the lovely teardrop of crystal. As she lifted it to the light, she saw that it hung inside a crescent-shaped moon made out of wood.
"It's lovely. What is it? A window ornament?"
"Exactly. The wooden moon catches the breeze and turns it in the wind. The crystal reflects the light and throws rainbows on the walls. I met a guy named John who markets these wholesale." Alexis thought of Mark with his crystals so long ago. Berkeley now belonged to another lifetime.
"There's more." Max opened the two large boxes. "This is a band saw, and this is a router," he said. "With them comes an order from a man named John for one thousand crescent moons made out of Belizean mahogany. We are now in the crescent moon business, and I'm the ‘moon man.'"
Max's mood was expansive that night as they lay in bed together.
"It's a whole new ball game. This is just the break we needed. With a financial link to the U.S. we can live here in Belize and still enjoy the best of both worlds."
"Are you going to run this moon operation here on the farm?"
"Why not? We've got the generator. That way, you can use the electricity for your black coral work at the same time. We'll have the new little truck for comfort and the old Toyota for the rough stuff. Tomorrow I'll check the lumber mill for prices on one-inch mahogany. Generally, ‘shorts’ are no good for construction anyway. I'm sure I can get them cheap." He paused. "Alexis? Did you miss me while I was gone?"
She paused, perhaps a fraction too long. "Yes, I missed you."
"I've been rough on you lately. I guess I can be a real bastard sometimes."
She held her breath, not daring to say anything. This was as close as Max had ever gotten to an apology.
"Come here, Ntombi," he said gently, reaching for her. "Let's make love."
