Her Italian Soldier

“Maybe some grapes and a roll.”

“I’ll tell Annabelle, then I’ve got to go. Carlo and I are going to a soccer match.”

“That sounds fun.”

“Not really. Our team’s going to lose.”

“Maybe you’ll meet a cute girl there.”

“You mean one who looks like Annabelle?”

Since there was no chance of that, Lucca didn’t say anything “Did I hear my name taken in vain?” She breezed into the bedroom carrying another vase of freshly picked daisies and put them on his dresser.

Fortunato grinned. He wasn’t the only one who enjoyed looking at her dressed this evening in jeans and a jade-green blouse with cropped sleeves. Lucca could feast his eyes on her indefinitely.

“Uncle Lucca wants some grapes and a roll. Now I’d better leave or Carlo will have a fit. See you tomorrow. Thanks for dinner, Annabelle. You’re not a bad cook.”

“You mean for an American.”

“I was just teasing. Those fajitas were awesome! You’ll have to teach Mama how to make them.”

“Fajitas?” Lucca questioned.

“Mexican food,” she explained. “You take strips of steak, peppers and onions stir-fried in a special sauce. Then you roll it all up in a flour tortilla. I brought a couple of cans of them in my suitcase to fix a different kind of meal for you.”

“Yeah, Uncle Lucca. Too bad you don’t feel good enough to try one.”

“Maybe tomorrow,” Annabelle said. “For such a lovely compliment, you can come over anytime, Fortunato.”

“Thanks for helping me,” Lucca called after his nephew.

Soon they were alone. Annabelle’s smile faded as she stared at him. “You’re not hungry, are you.”

“Not particularly. Why the concern?”

“Maybe it’s the new painkiller you’re on. I’ll call the doctor in the morning and see if he’ll prescribe your other one. You need to eat.”

“It’s not the medicine.”

“So you admit there’s something wrong.”

He heard the alarm in her voice. “Yes. There’s been something wrong for a long time, but I couldn’t speak about it until now.”

She stood by the bed looking nervous. “What is it?”

“I’ve never asked a woman to marry me before. If I can’t have you, I plan to remain a bachelor for the rest of my life because you’ve spoiled me for anyone else. I’m not going to give you any time to think about your answer. Do you love me?”

A cry escaped her lips. “How can you even ask me that? I’m desperately in love with you. It’s why I came back.” The love-light in her eyes almost blinded him.

“Don’t come any closer. My heart can’t take it when I’m lying here incapacitated right now. I love you, Annabelle Marsh,” he said, his voice throbbing. “I want to put my roots down with you so thick and deep, you’ll know this is for real and forever.”

She nodded.

“First we have to get married. Just as soon as the doctor gives me a clean bill of health. How about at the church we pass between my farmhouse and the villa?”

Her beautiful blond head nodded again. “Is that the one you went to with your parents?”

“Yes. I’ll fly your parents and family over. You don’t know how eager I am to the meet the people who raised such an angelic daughter.”