Page 43 of Marsala and Magnolias

Antonio knew there was a restaurant there and Smoke had told him there’d be live music tonight. He’d spoken to Jack yesterday and he’d said that he and his wife Emma would be there tonight, as would Pete and his wife, Holly, and Nate and his fiancée, Lily. He smiled. They were all ahead of him on their life’s journey. They’d already found their woman and managed to persuade her to spend her life with him. He’d found Mary Ellen, but he knew he needed to convince her that he was for real before he could ask her to spend her life with him. He hoped this weekend would help his cause. He’d been uncertain about bringing her here; he wanted her all to himself, but he wanted her to meet the guys, too. It was about making her a part of his life, and about letting her know that he wanted her to be a big part of it—the most important part. He hoped she’d understand. He’d thought about taking her to meet his parents, but that was a long way to go just for a weekend. He still planned to take her, but she might think this was too soon and he’d want more than a weekend anyway.

He turned as Mary Ellen came out to join him. “This place is spectacular,” she said with a smile. “Thank you.”

He shook his head. “Thank you for agreeing to come. I’m so happy I get to enjoy this beautiful place with my beautiful woman.”

She smiled at him uncertainly.

“What don’t you like about what I just said?”

She shrugged. “Your woman?”

He nodded vigorously. “That’s what I want you to be.”

She stared out at the lake, but didn’t say anything.

“You don’t believe me?”

She shrugged. “I kind of do.” She came to him and leaned on the railing beside him. “It’s weird. I’ve known you all this time, but never really knew you at all. It’d be easier if I could believe that I had you all wrong.” She turned to look him in the eye. “But I didn’t, did I?”

He bit the inside of his lip while he considered how he could best answer. He wanted to be honest; that was most important, but he wanted her to understand him. “In some ways, no. You know who I’ve been, you know how I’ve lived my life.” He shrugged. “I can’t tell you I’m ashamed of any of it. I had fun. I did no harm. I’ve always been honest.”

She nodded and drew in a deep breath. “I know. I’m not judging you. I don’t have a problem with any of it. I think my problem stems from the way I saw you, not from the way you were.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “I’m not sure I want to hear the answer, but how did you see me?”

“I thought you were shallow. I thought you were superficial. I’m sorry. I judged you by your lifestyle. You went with so many women—but only incredibly attractive ones. You obviously weren’t drawn to them for their personalities.”

He chuckled. “Some of them were very nice people.”

She dug him in the ribs with her elbow. “I’m sure they were, but you know what I mean. It seemed to me that you were all about the things that don’t really matter in life, at least not to me. You were interested in looks and material things.”

He pursed his lips. He didn’t want to interrupt her to defend himself, but it was hard to hold his tongue.

“I mean, everything about you says you’re wealthy and you like to spend your money on the finer things in life. Things that look good and cost a lot and … I don’t know. Status symbols.” She turned to look him in the eye. “I thought that was what you were all about and it’s totally not what I’m about.”

He blew out a sigh. “What was your life like growing up?”

She shrugged. “Normal, I guess.”

He smiled. “I think the way I grew up was normal, too, because to me it was. What does normal mean to you?”

She cocked her head to one side. “To me, it means middle-class, suburban, down-to-earth kind of living and good old-fashioned values. I grew up knowing you have to work hard to achieve anything in life. And whatever you do achieve, you appreciate and you’re proud of.” She gave him a puzzled look. “I’m not ashamed of where I come from. I’m proud of it.”

He smiled. “And so you should be. I just wanted you to think about it a little. See, to me, the normal of growing up was being wealthy, living on two continents. Having a big extended family who are also wealthy, who work hard and reap the rewards. It was never down-to-earth living, but I was brought up on good old-fashioned values.” He hesitated, wondering how he could make her see what he meant. “My point is that I grew up believing that having the best of everything is normal. And being the best at things is normal, too. When you think about how I’ve lived my life, you’ll see that I’ve lived according to my normal. I like to have fun, and I have the means to have whatever kind of fun I want to. I only want the best.” He shrugged. “Going out with lots of women was fun. In the circles I move in there are lots of women who are just out for a good time. Again, I only wanted the best. It may not have seemed like I was living any good old-fashioned values to you, but I was. As I said earlier, I never made any promises. I always made my intentions clear. I truly am a man of my word.”

She gave him a grudging smile. “I can see that now, but looking at it from the outside, can you see how it looked to me?”

“Of course I can. I know most people see me that way—as shallow and arrogant. It didn’t matter to me until now. I don’t care what people think of me.” He turned to face her. “But I care what you think. I want you to know who I am, in my heart. I want you to learn to believe in me. I want you to trust me and know my intentions are real.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I think it’s a little too soon for all of that.”

He frowned. Did she mean it was too soon to trust him or too soon to talk about his intentions? It didn’t really matter which. He’d just have to keep showing her, keep proving to her that he was for real.

She pushed away from the railing and smiled. “It’s not too soon for lunch, though, is it? I’m starving. Do you want to take a walk into the resort? There was a restaurant on the little town square. I’d love to sit out on the deck over the water.”

He smiled. She wanted to leave all the serious talk and get on with their weekend? That was fair. He took hold of her hand and led her back inside. “Let’s go eat, then. And afterward, what would you like to do? We can rent a boat, go horseback riding, go for a hike, or ride four-wheelers ...”

“I prefer boats and hikes, but if you want to go for something with four legs or four wheels, I’ll give it a try.”

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