“This is it,” Massimo says. He draws in a breath and seems to savor the air.
The air is different here. Pure and refreshing.
“This is beautiful.” I smile at him.
“I’m glad you like it.” He gets out of the car and opens the door for me.
I watch him. He’s different. He’s not the ruthless mafia boss I’ve come to know. I get the feeling that this is the real him.
He looks around the place with a reminiscent expression. His lips press together, and a line etches in his jaw. Not one of tension, like I’ve seen. It’s looser, just an expression.
When he looks at me, the strangest thing happens. I notice that he looks different too. It’s his eyes. They twinkle like they do in his mother’s painting. I recognize the boy she was trying to depict. The light showing appreciation shines in his eyes. It’s more than happiness.
It brightens when he reaches out and touches my cheek. He kisses me briefly, and when we part, I suddenly understand it all.
That painting was a memory. A moment of happiness when they probably had nothing, but they had each other. I’ve seen him with his brothers and his father, with Priscilla and with Candace. If it’s one thing I know, it’s that this man takes care of the people in his life who are close to him. He values them.
He’s looking at me like that now. With that same twinkle in his eyes. It’s a look that makes me feel foolish for thinking he would have done anything with Gabriella. A look like that can only speak of love.
“I see you,” he says, brushing his nose along mine.
I smile. “I see you too.”
“Yeah? Well, I’ll let you see me here. All of me.”
“You’re happy here,” I state. He nods.
“This was our home. Some other little houses used to be around, but they were damaged in a fire. It never spread to our house, but we had a shed, and that went. I bought the land and the cottage a few years back. I wanted to preserve the memory of the home my mother created.”
“That’s beautiful. All of this? You bought the whole place?”
“Yeah. Back then we used to pretend it belonged to us. Like one big playground full of adventure. The cottage was our base, the meadows, the river and caves by the creek a different adventure for different days.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“It was. Ma was amazing. She never once allowed us to slip into sorrow over what we lost. The house we lost should feel like home, but maybe it’s because I felt like I grew up and became who I was here. Even when she wasn’t around. She left the magic behind.”
“Magic,” I breathe.
“Magic. Emelia, today I want you to forget everything. All the bad parts. When we take the next step, I want you to leave everything tha
t happened back in LA. It’s not going anywhere, but we can leave it all behind for a day and enjoy being a couple. I can be your husband, and you can be my wife.” He lifts my hands and kisses my knuckles. “Can you do that?”
“I can. I can do it.”
“Great. So, wife… I’m gonna cook you lunch.”
I giggle. I can’t imagine him making a sandwich, let along cook. “You’re gonna cook? You? Boss?” I laugh. I can’t believe I’m laughing.
“Yeah me, Mrs. Boss.”
“And we have food here?”
“We do. I have a custodian. I let him know we were coming by, and he got everything we need for today.”
It’s sounds great. I haven’t seen much yet, but I wish we could stay longer.
“Okay, I’m looking forward to seeing you cook.”