Buttons and Grace (Buttons 6)

“Yeah,” Adelina said, hardly convincing. “If you guys aren’t busy, we wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Sure,” her mother said. “Would you like to join us for dinner?”

“Yeah,” Adelina said.

I hadn’t said anything up until that point, and I knew I needed to show some manners. “We’d love to.”

We sat down in the dining room, and her mom served baked chicken, green beans, and potatoes.

I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I ate anyway. It was pretty good.

Adelina ate and talked to her parents about school, even though that wasn’t why we were there.

“So, are you here for a visit?” her mother asked.

I swallowed my tap water before I turned to her. “I just wanted to make sure Adelina was doing alright…adjusting back to her old life.”

“Oh,” her mother said. “That was nice of you.”

“She’s gotten back on her feet,” her father said. “Has her own place now and is back in school.” The pride was heavy in his voice, as it should be. Adelina was a strong woman who didn’t let the past define her. She never gave up on herself—not once.

“I noticed that,” I said. “I’m happy for her.”

Adelina looked up at me, the sadness in her eyes. She didn’t want to say the words, to break their hearts with her news.

My hand moved to her thigh under the table, and I gave it a gentle squeeze, telling her I would take care of it. “I came back here because I wanted to know Adelina was doing okay…but also because I love her.”

Her mother didn’t react in the slightest, as if she already expected my feelings.

Her father looked down at his food.

“I stayed away from her because she said she wanted to come back here and start over…but she told me she’s been having a hard time. She misses me, I miss her…and she loves me.” I watched Adelina’s emotional expression, waiting for the final blow. “We talked about it, and we decided that we want to be together…in Italy.”

Her mother dropped her silverware onto the plate, unable to contain her surprise.

Her father looked up, tensing all over his body. Even his jaw was hard.

Tears immediately welled up in her mother’s eyes. “Adelina, is this true?”

Adelina finally looked at her mother. “Yes…I want to be with him. I know he and I didn’t meet under the best of circumstances, but…I don’t want to be with anyone else. He’s the only one who really understands me. Everyone else looks at me like I’m a freak, but Cane never does. He makes me feel beautiful when the rest of the world makes me feel scared. I’ve tried moving on, but this place doesn’t feel the way it used to…”

“I see,” her father whispered.

Her mother dabbed her eyes with a napkin.

I felt like shit watching this scene, so I could only imagine how Adelina felt.

“I’m sorry,” Adelina whispered. “I don’t want to leave you guys again, but I can’t stay. Cane has his business and properties in Tuscany. He can’t just walk away from that.”

Her mother started to cry. “We just got you back…”

“I know, Mama.” Now Adelina started to cry.

Even her father was choked up.

I didn’t want to rip apart a family. I wanted Adelina so much, but I didn’t want to cause her pain. Her parents had been nice to me even when I didn’t deserve it, and I didn’t want to do this to them. “I have another idea.”

Adelina wiped the corner of her eye with her fingers. “What?”

Her mother’s eyes were puffy and red. She had the same eyes as Adelina, and she possessed the same beauty Adelina had inherited.

I grabbed Adelina’s hand under the table. “Come with us.”

“What?” her father blurted.

“We have jobs and a mortgage,” her mother said. “We can’t just drop everything for a vacation.”

“I’ll take care of everything,” I said. “I’ll buy you a house and some land nearby. You can see Adelina every day while I’m at work.”

Adelina gave me the biggest look of surprise I’d ever seen. Her mouth was open, and her eyes were filled with shock. “Really…?”

“Are you being serious?” her mother asked. “You would do that?”

Adelina kept staring at me. “Cane? Are you sure about this?”

I squeezed her hand. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” If I was going to take Adelina back with me, she was bound to become my wife. And if I had a wife, I knew I would do anything in my power to give her whatever she wanted. If she needed her parents, I would give that to her. It was a small investment to make this woman happy.

Adelina’s eyes filled with tears but for a different reason than before. “I love you.”

I smiled at the affection in her eyes. “I know you do, Bellissima.”

“You would do that for us?” her mother pressed. “That’s very generous…”