Her Heart's Desire

“Exactly, so come on, woman, and prepare to be impressed.”

They found a quiet area in the south rose garden to sit down. Ivan opened the basket and pulled out a plaid blanket. He spread it on the grass while Tiffany set the rest of the things out.

“Wow, you’ve been shopping,” she said, taking out four gourmet sandwiches, several desserts, pasta salad, wine and glasses. “Ivan, there’s way too much food in here.”

“I like having choices, and since I wasn’t sure what you’d like, I wanted to cover all the bases.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Tiffany chose a Mediterranean sandwich of roasted lamb, lettuce, tomato, feta cheese and an olive tapenade. Ivan picked roast beef and cheese.

“Name one thing about this city that you love the most,” he asked a few minutes later.

She thought about it for a moment. “I’d say how well the myriad of cultures, traditions and history blend together. There’s literally something for everyone here in the food, the architecture and the people. It’s a wonderful place to live, and there’s always something new to discover.”

“True.”

“Where’s one place you haven’t been that you’d love to go?”

“There are hundreds, believe me, but I’d pick Fiji as being one of the top ten.”

“It looks beautiful there,” she agreed. “There are so many awe-inspiring places to go in the world that it’s hard to pick just a few.”

They discussed a few more destinations before Ivan said, “Your birthday is coming up. Any ideas what you’d like to do?”

“Not really. I have this same problem each year. You’d think I’d take the other three hundred and sixty-four to figure it,” she joked.

“Would you mind if I picked something for us to do?”

“Of course not. Why would I?”

“I wouldn’t want you to think I was being overbearing or anything,” he teased.

She tried to swat him, but he moved backward. Not to be outdone, Tiffany lunged for him. He grabbed her around the waist and took her with him. They collapsed back on the blanket, and tussled playfully. Ivan tickled her until she started hiccuping.

“Do you give up?”

“Yes, yes.” She laughed. “Scout’s honor.”

He released her. She sat up, smoothed her clothes down and then got up. Before Ivan knew what she was up to, Tiffany belted him with a plum and took off running.

He let her get a good distance away before he sprinted after her. Tiffany saw him advancing. She was unable to outrun him, but there was no way she was going to make it easy for him. She darted around bushes, benches, trees, whatever she could find to slow him down, but to no avail. Ivan scooped her up in his arms.

“Scout’s honor, huh?”

Tiffany panted from the exertion. “I guess I forgot to mention that I was never a Girl Scout.”

Chapter 16

“Mom, you do know that some places actually have carryout? Which means a lot less cleanup later?”

Norma Jean turned to see her son standing at the kitchen entryway. “Boy, when have I ever had carryout for a Sunday dinner?”

Milán, Tiffany and Ivan filed in behind Adrian. After greetings were exchanged, Norma Jean handed each person a dish to take into the dining room.

As usual, Heathcliffe blessed the food. Norma Jean said her usual thanks to the crowd for coming to dinner, and for making her home lively with laughter and love.

“I want you kids to know how much it means to Cliff and me that you all can still take time out of your busy schedules to share an evening with us. It truly means a lot to me.” She sniffed. “Especially since I’m not getting any younger.”

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