By this time Rae had forgotten all about Carol and her occasional exchange of looks with Max.
Max asked, "How about breakfast, Rae? Church is at ten, so perhaps we could meet at eight-thirty. Is that too early? I noticed that Pastrami Haven serves breakfast."
"Eight-thirty sounds great. I'll meet you there. The breakfast is typical: two eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and coffee. The place is always busy and fun. Many of our church people go there."
"Great. After church, I was hoping maybe we could go for a walk. There are a couple of things I want to tell you."
"Max, what is it? You look so serious. I don't think I can wait through breakfast and then the church service."
"Don't worry," Max said. "One is something I want to show you. If I tell you now it will ruin the surprise. The other is something I want to share with you. And it's nothing to worry about. I promise."
"Okay, I'll try not to let it spoil my sleep. Besides, I do love surprises . . . good ones, that is!"
The next morning they met for breakfast as planned. Rae was dying to ask Max to tell her whatever it was he promised to share, but she held her tongue.
While eating, many of the church people came over to their table and she introduced Max to her church family. Afterwards, he commented that this was what he had been looking forward to for a long time.
After they were through, they went to the small church. To her great surprise, Jake and Carol Austin were there, and so was Kim Blakely Townsend with her husband Frank. Rae had a good feeling that today was going to be one of those extremely happy days.
For an instant she again sensed a connection between Max and Carol. Maybe one of the things Max was going to tell her was that he knew Carol before she introduced them to each other. Perhaps they'd had some kind of a relationship. Whatever it was, she knew Max would tell her in his time.
After church, they all wanted to go to lunch. Max and Rae said that they had already eaten a late breakfast, just before church. So today they were skipping lunch.
Rae was kind of wishing they hadn't already eaten, so that she and Max could spend some time with the four of them and they could to get to know each other better.
She said, "If you like pastrami sandwiches, Pastrami Haven is the place to go. They also have a great salad bar, and it's near to here."
Max agreed. "I guarantee you won't be disappointed."
They parted ways after giving the four guests directions to the Italian restaurant and saying their goodbyes.
Max took Rae's hand, and said, "Let's walk toward the park. I want to get two things off my chest."
CHAPTER 32
Dreams Do Come True
They walked in silence for a while. Rae finally said, "I'm so happy that our four new acquaintances were at church this morning. I believe they'll become very special friends of ours."
Max agreed. "They're nice people. And even though we're much younger than they are, except for Carol Austin of course, they seem to want us to be with them."
Rae looked up at Max, smiled, and nodded her head. She was wondering when he was going to get around to talking about Carol.
"Rae, remember the day when you said to make our engagement and marriage work, we have to be honest with each other?"
"Yes, I remember." She thought about Ava Montez, about when she had confessed to Jake that she had been married before and had a child. She was wondering if perhaps Max had a child, or maybe even children. She was also wondering where Carol would fit into all of this.
She waited, and then Max said, "The night we went to Pinocchio's you asked me how I got the reservations so quickly. Remember that?"
"Yes, you said the maître d' was a good friend of yours. What does that have to do with anything? Were you telling a small white lie, Max?" She allowed a little teasing in her voice.
"It's the truth. He's a very good friend of mine. He's also one of the investors in the restaurant. He loves to go there and play host. He's very talented at that."
"Max, what are you trying to tell me?"
"Rae, my love, I've been wanting to tell you something about me for a long time. But with all that's has been happening, with your life being in danger, the threatening notes and you writing the story, I just couldn't find the right time."
"Please just tell me." Again the thought of Jake and Ava came to her. She remembered Jake telling how he'd said to Ava, "I love you, Ava, and nothing about your past will change that."
She looked at Max and said almost those exact words.
Max smiled. "I think I've read those words somewhere in your story. Don't worry, Rae, I've never been married, and I have no children." He hesitated for a few moments. "Rae, I'm one of the investors in Pinocchio's. I had a family legacy that came due, and I wanted to put the money somewhere that would give a good return. Not that I ever imagined it would be so staggeringly good." He sounded relieved to have finally got it out. "Please don't think I've tried to deceive you. It's just that I haven't been totally honest with you from the beginning about my finances."
Rae stayed silent for a few seconds. Then she said, "Max, are you trying to tell me that you're a millionaire?"
"Not just a millionaire," He emphasized the letter A, "but a millionaire a few times over. How do you feel about that?"
Again silence from Rae. Then she said, "I love you, Max. It doesn't matter to me if you're rich or poor. In fact, I'm glad I didn't know. This way no one can say I married you for your money!" She smiled and laughed all at the same time. Then she looked up at him, gave him a kiss, and asked, "If you've got so much money, why do you still work at the Reader?"
"I love being a reporter, Rae. It's in my blood, so to speak. I never want to give it up. I think you can relate to that. Sam mentioned to me the other day that in a few years he hopes to retire and sell the paper. I told him I might be interested in buying it. I'm not sure he took me seriously. He doesn't know about my money. But he seemed happy, and said he'd give me first choice, and that we could work something out. He said he would even carry the note for very low interest, because he thought I would make a perfect owner for his paper. I wonder what he'll think when I pay him cash for the deal!"
They both laughed.
"Sam also said that I could keep the name or make a change if I wanted to. I've thought about maybe using the name . . ."
Rae interrupted, "You could change it to the Maxi News."
"I could. Yes, I've thought about it, but I've decided to leave the name as is. I'm sure Sam would like that. After all, the New York Reader is his baby. Besides, it has a great following. So I've been thinking about having two magazines. One will be Sam's new Stars of Yester-Years. You can be in charge of it if you want. And the other magazine will be called the Maxi News. What do you think?"
"I think it's a great idea, Max, and I'd love to be part of both of them. I can hardly wait. Sam's sure going to be surprised."
They were in the main street facing the park, with the Golden Towers beyond. Rae took Max's hand and headed to the cross walk to the park. She told him, "This is where Martha Brown was killed."
"I know," Max said.
They walked slowly through the park, arm in arm, and crossed the street to the Towers. Max gave her a kiss and said, "We need to go in there for a minute."
Charles was standing at the door. He tipped his hat and smiled "Good afternoon, Miss Rae."
She returned the smile. "Good afternoon, Charles. This is Max, my fiancé."
Charles again tipped his hat. "Good afternoon, Mr. Max. You're a very lucky man." He looked over at Rae, touching the front of his hat. Rae got the impression that Charles had met Max before. In which case, Max probably did know Carol!
Max led Rae into the lobby, and started to walk toward the row of elevators. Being Sunday, there was no receptionist on duty.
Rae said, "Max, you can't just go up like that. Someone has to call the person you want to visit, and then they'll come down and get us."
Max kept on walking to
ward the elevators. Then she remembered. Max said there was a surprise for her. "Max, are the Austins having a surprise bridal shower for me? Is that why you took me to breakfast so we could say we were skipping lunch, and you could bring me here for the surprise? Is that why Carol looked at you the other night as if she had already met you? How long have you been planning this?"
Max ignored the questions and kept walking. He stopped at elevator eleven, pushed the button, and when the doors opened, he walked in.
"Jake and Carol live in the twelfth floor penthouse," Rae said. "Not the eleventh. Did Jake give you a key to their apartment?"
Max said, "Rae, get in, please."
"No, Max, you're in the wrong elevator!"
Max reached into his pocket, held out a key and motioned for Rae to take it. She walked in and took the key. It said ELEVENTH FLOOR PENTHOUSE. She felt confused.
Finally Max said, "This is your surprise. It's my wedding gift to you."
Rae was dumbfounded. Then she remembered that first day on the story, when she was interviewing Jake Austin. Carol had said she had just sold her eleventh floor penthouse to a person who wanted to remain anonymous. It was a wedding gift for his future wife. Then it hit her . . . that was the connection between Max and Carol. Max had bought the place from Carol for her! Carol must have started to say something to Max, and then realized that she was the future wife!
Rae's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't believe it. She would soon be married to a millionaire, and living at the Golden Towers. Her childhood dream had come true. Max was truly her Prince Charming.
She took the key. Max closed the doors, and said, "Put the key in here and turn it to the right. "
She inserted the key to where Max had his finger and turned it. The elevator started to go up.
She leaned against Max. They kissed a long kiss that didn't end until the elevator doors opened up at the eleventh floor penthouse that was soon to become their new home.
THE EPILOGUE
TWO YEARS LATER
Hi, this is Rae. It's been almost two years since I wrote the story on Ava Montez' life for Stars of Yester-Years. A lot has happened since then. Joseph Morgan pleaded insanity for the murder of Martha Brown, and the plea was accepted. He was found guilty of the murder of Ava Montez in 1968, and has been locked away in a secure institution for life. So I have no more worries there.
Max and I got married the following September, just as we'd planned. In a few months we'll be celebrating our second wedding anniversary. It's been a great two years. Next year we plan on starting our family and I can hardly wait.
Living here at the Golden Towers has been everything I expected it to be. I still can hardly believe I'm living here. I cherish every moment. But it has made us think of Ava secretly helping the homeless in Hollywood. Well, we don't need to do it secretly. Sam has given us a regular section in the Reader where we make the readers aware of the problems the street people face, and promote the excellent work being done with them. And Max and I are major supporters of a Christian charity for the homeless, both financially and practically. And I kept my old apartment. We let missionaries and other Christian workers stay there when they are back for a break. We thank Ava for the example she set.
Jake, Carol, Kim and Frank have become very good friends. We meet once a month for dinner and games, just the six of us. Each couple goes to a different Bible study, so during our special times together we also share things we've learned about God's Word. We've all grown in our walk with the Lord. It's been exciting to watch the growth in our dear friends. We're like family.
We all go to the same little church around the corner from my old apartment. Sometimes after church on Sunday we join them for lunch. But many times Max and I go to breakfast at Pastrami Haven, my favorite place, before church. Then after the service we walk over to the park, hoping to sit on the same bench where he asked me to marry him. We often reminisce about that day, and laugh a lot about how he slid off the bench to one knee to propose.
Next year Max will buy the New York Reader. Sam says he's ready to retire, and we're excited to be taking over the paper. We have many new ideas for its growth.
The Chief, Sam and their wives go to our church whenever something special is happening. I always make sure I invite them, but they still sit in the second row from the back. They seem to enjoy the message. We pray for them each day, and know that someday they'll walk forward to accept Christ during one of the Pastor's altar calls.
The story I wrote about Ava in the Stars of Yester-Years went over really well. The first edition of the magazine sold thousands of copies. The magazine is still going strong after two years of publication. Sam's really happy about that.
Right after the story was printed in the magazine, a publishing company asked me to turn it into a novel. It was fun. I wrote about Max and me; our relationship, the threats, and of course the time Joseph Morgan almost killed me on Pier 9. It's on the best seller list and moving up each week. I've also been approached by a major motion picture company who would like to make it into a movie. They're searching for an unknown actor to play the part of Ava.
I wasn't sure what to call the novel. I contemplated calling it . . .
Ava
or
The story of Ava Montez
or
Ava Montez, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World.
or
Ava, the Life and Death of Ava Montez.
But I finally settled for
Ava Montez – Her Life and Death.
It's the book you're reading now. I hope you're enjoying it.
Take care, and may Jesus bless you greatly.
Yours truly,
Rae Collins Bright.
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THE PRAYER
If you have never said a prayer to invite Christ into your life and would like to, please say the following prayer out loud. You will never be sorry.
"Dear Jesus, I believe I am a sinner and that You are the Son of God and that You died for all of my sins. I believe You rose from the dead, just as You said You would. I now want to invite You to come into my life, to wash me clean and give me eternal life with You. Amen."
If you said this prayer, have faith that Jesus came into your life immediately, as He refuses no one.
Please tell someone who is a Christian, and find a church and a Bible study that teaches Jesus is the Way to eternal life, so God can work in you. You will be happy you did.
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