Take Me (Take Me 1)

And then, out of the blue, his worst nightmare had come true and his mother had left them forever. At ten years old, Travis hadn’t understood what breast cancer was. But he understood too well that his mother had deserted them.

Forever.

He remembered listening to Luke cry in the middle of the night on the bottom bunk in their bedroom. He remembered his dad coming home late from work and having too much to drink. But apart from that, Travis couldn’t remember feeling anything at all.

Nothing, that is, apart from an emptiness that hadn’t gone away until he’d kissed Lily for the first time at the fashion show.

The other kids at school had left him alone, everyone except for Lily, who kept trying to invade his space, who kept trying to get him to admit his feelings, his hurt to her. She was his friend, she’d said, and she knew he was sad. Having already lost both her parents by then, he supposed she felt it was her duty to reach out to him and Luke. She offered comfort and understanding, and with Luke, it had made the two of them closer, like brother and sister, even after all these years.

But Travis had thought that Lily was trying to expose him as weak, as a coward. Couldn’t she see that he had to stay strong? If he hadn’t been there to hold his brother and father together, what would have happened to his family?

So from that day forward, he shut her out in any way he could. He ignored her. He turned away from her when she needed him. He let her down again and again until one day she stopped trying to talk to him. Of course, the fact that she was bigger and more insecure than everyone else made his job all too easy. But still, she was always on his radar screen. He even knew that she had watched him tongue the cheerleader beneath the bleachers and knew that her adoration of him had been a turn-on, even as he tried to convince himself that she meant nothing to him.

Lily snuggled in tighter to him and sighed softly. Travis smiled into her hair and stroked one soft shoulder.

He hated to admit how awful he had been to Lily all these years, but by God he was finally going to own up to it. Could he ever make it up to her?

By a sheer stroke of fate—some magic, maybe, that was sewn into the seams of the dress Lily wore at the fashion show—he had finally been able to see past his own idiocy, and he and Lily had finally come together.

Lust had broken down the door, letting love saunter right on in.

I’m finally doing something right, Travis told himself as he lay with Lily in his arms, looking out the large window at the Tuscan moon. Sure, he was still scared. Who wouldn’t be?

But he’d just take it one day at a time. With Lily by his side. Travis smiled and closed his eyes. Lily’s soft, even breathing lulled him to sleep.

Everything about the next two days was perfect. They found endless treasures for his client’s house and as Lily grew more confident in her decorating skills she began to lead the buying trip. Tips from vendors led them to little towns and old farmhouses. Between meetings with unique craftsmen, they pulled the car off into deserted valleys and made sweet love.

On Sunday night they drove their rental car back into the village and found the streets blocked off at the bottom of the hill. Travis parked the car. He and Lily got out, and she pointed to the large banner strung between buildings.

” Festivale di Matrimonio.” She clapped her hands. “Oh, Travis, it’s the Festival of Weddings that Giuseppe told us about! Do you think anyone will actually be getting married?”

Travis shrugged and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go find out.”

Beautiful music streamed down the streets of Saturnia. There were musicians on every corner. Locals were dancing in the street, so Travis and Lily joined them, spinning and twirling and laughing. The sun was beginning to set, turning the hills and the stucco buildings to gold.

Travis felt utterly content. “We should stay here forever.”

Lily sighed with longing. “Wouldn’t that be heaven? I’d miss Luke and Janica way too much, though.”

Travis’s heart skipped a beat. Luke. Janica. What were they going to think about him and Lily? He twirled Lily again to hide his conflict from her. In the past three days he had almost started to believe that he and Lily were in a safe cocoon where the rest of the world didn’t matter. But if the mere mention of their siblings’ names made him panic, what was going to happen when he introduced Lily to his friends and colleagues as his girlfriend?

She’s my girlfriend, he thought, startled by the revelation. A hundred bells rang out, and Travis let the music of the bells carry his doubts away. Together, they ran up the narrow streets toward the festival, eager to witness whatever magic the Saturnians had for them on this beautiful night.

Colorful lanterns hung between buildings and from every window. The effect was dazzling, a thousand fireflies twinkling. Travis kissed Lily again and again as they made their ascent to the top of the street.

Their giggles fell away when they spotted the festival. White paper wedding bells mixed with the lanterns.

Women in incredible wedding gowns held on to the arms of their men, dapper in dark suits and tuxedos with bright, colorful sashes.

Everyone was drunk on love, and the many stalls selling grappa and fruity pinot grigios didn’t hurt any.

The bells sounded their final chime, and a band began to play. As couples took the floor, one after the other, Lily and Travis were swept up into the music. Together they twirled and laughed and kissed.

“I’ve never been this happy in my entire life.” Lily nestled her cheek against Travis’s lightly stubbled jaw.

“I love Tuscany,” she breathed.

“I love you,” he replied, his breath blowing softly across Lily’s ear.

Neither one of them noticed when the music stopped. They held tight to each other and swayed to the beating of their hearts. Travis looked up and realized that everyone was clapping and hooting and looking at him and Lily.

“Um, Lily,” he said.

“Yes,” she said, looking up at him with stars in her eyes.

“I think the locals are trying to get our attention.”

Lily peeked over Travis’s shoulder and blushed. “Why are they all looking at us?” But before he could reply, several women grabbed her hands and pulled her from his arms. They herded her off toward a grove of olive trees with a white canopy between them. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Travis was getting the same treatment from the men.

“Now would be a good time to know some Italian,” she muttered, as the women fussed and cooed over her. But she was willing to go along with their fun until they started to undress her.