by Julie Caille
“Well, dyslexia is something she understands. What Mother understands, she can accept. Besides, she and Daddy just want me to be happy.”
“I know someone else who’s going to be happy.”
Alicia’s eyes widened. “Ronnie! My goodness, I almost forgot him! We’ve got to go back.”
“That’s okay,” her new fiancé said smugly. “I was kind of hoping you had other things on your mind. Do you think your parents will let us share a room?”
“I doubt it. Not with Ronnie here.”
“How soon can we get married, do you think?”
“As soon as we can get a license and arrange something with our minister. Unless you want a big church wedding, in which case it might take a while.”
“Tomorrow wouldn’t be too soon, if you want my opinion.” He squeezed her hand. “Alicia, what about your job?”
“That’s easy. I’ll quit.”
“Just like that? No regrets? You’ve worked hard to get where you are.”
“Yes, but it’s just a job to me, Luke. It’s not part of me, not the way you are. I need to be your wife more than I need to be the manager of business systems development.”
“There’s something I haven’t told you.” He gazed down at her, his expression steady and filled with yearning. “Joey’s decided to retire after all. Any chance you’d take his place?”
Her heart gave a leap. “As your full business partner?”
“As my partner in all things.” Luke traced the curve of her lip with his finger, then bent and gave her a gentle kiss. “My partner in business and my partner in love,” he whispered. “My partner for life.”
“For life and for always,” Alicia said mistily. “I couldn’t ask for anything more perfect.”
Epilogue
Late December
Venice, Italy
“I hope Ronnie isn’t missing us too much.” Alicia plopped down on the hotel bed and kicked off her shoes. “Maybe we should call him again.”
Her husband slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her. “Don’t worry so much. Ronnie’s having the time of his life with your parents. Five days in Walt Disney World ought to keep any kid happy. Anyway, you called him when we got here, so he knows we’re fine.”
“I still can’t believe he won the contest. By the way, did you ever figure out how he ended his story?”
“He twisted the facts a little, didn’t he?”
“Well, he wanted a happy ending, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him he couldn’t have one. So I let him say that—”
“Aunt Alicia married Uncle Luke and came to live in Houston. Yeah, I know what he did. I thought it sounded like a great idea. I just didn’t think it was going to happen.”
“But it did.” Alicia snuggled her head against Luke’s shoulder and reached for his free hand, studying their matching wedding bands with a small, secret smile. “It was so nice of Joey to agree to run the store so we could have a honeymoon. I keep trying to decide which I liked better—Rome or Florence or Venice. Venice, I think. I’ll never forget that romantic gondola serenade, no matter how long I live.”
“The gondolier kept staring at you.”
“It was your hat he was staring at. I hope you aren’t going to be a jealous husband.” She rubbed her cheek against his soft cotton shirt.
“Are you kidding? When have I ever been jealous? Only immature people are jealous. I’m just protective, that’s all.”
“Oh, good,” she murmured. “Then it’s okay to tell you I was pinched yesterday in Piazza San Marco.”
“Ah, I think that was me,” he said with a grin. “Sorry, but I couldn’t resist.”
Alicia rolled her eyes. “After what you said about Joey! And you aren’t even Italian.”
“That’s what you think. One of my grandmothers was Sicilian.”
“You never told me that.”
“Why do you think I keep taking you to Italian restaurants?”
“Even so,” she said with dignity, “being one-fourth Italian doesn’t entitle you to pinch women’s bottoms.”
“Just my wife’s bottom. And a very luscious bottom it is.” He lowered himself onto the bed, exerting a firm pressure that brought her down with him. “All soft and round and cushy... Ah, babe, I love it.” He kissed the tip of her nose, his hands cupping her derriere.
“So what else are you?”
“You mean besides hot?”
“I mean besides Italian.”
“Mostly Irish, I think, with a bit of French thrown in for seasoning. Christina’s putting together a family tree. She’s the one to ask.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t know that. There are still so many things we haven’t told each other.” She sighed with contentment. “So shall we go back out and do more sight-seeing?”
“In awhile. That was a great lunch we just had, but now I’m ready for dessert.”
“Insatiable man.”
“I have to be to keep up with you.”
“Moi?” She opened her eyes very wide. “I beg your pardon, but ’twas not I who woke you up at six o’clock this morning for a little hanky-panky.”
“No, but ’twas you who said it was the best wake-up call you ever got.”
Alicia blushed. “I don’t recall saying that.”
“You have a very selective memory, darlin’, but that’s okay because I remember everything.” He began to stroke the curves of her back, his fingers playing little games with her spine.
“Oh, do you?” she inquired, her tone sweet. “And do you happen to remember what you said on our wedding night while I was fulfilling your erotic fantasies?”
He nuzzled her throat, his mouth warm and insistent against her skin. “I said, ‘Alicia, baby, you are absolutely fantastic.’ And you are, honeybun. And always will be.”
“Hmm. Well, you do seem to have a good memory. Like I told you before, you’re probably a genius. I think so, in any case.”
“Of course you might be a little biased.”
“Maybe, but did I tell you what my mother said?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
“It was very complimentary, Luke. Since she got all those pamphlets from the Orton Dyslexia Society, she’s been dying to be helpful. She seems to think—”
“I know,” he interrupted in a suffering voice. “She wants me to join a support group. She’s all fired up about this remediation idea.” Mouth quirking, he touched her cheek. “I’m not against it, Alicia. I think it’s great that help is available. Heck, I’m willing to subscribe to their newsletter and go to their meetings. But right now, I’ve got other things on my mind. And the first of those things is...” Disentangling their assorted limbs, he went over and rummaged through his suitcase, then extracted a small gift-wrapped package. “I bought this yesterday while you were looking at postcards.” He came back and sat on the edge of the bed, kissed her on the mouth and handed her the box.
Alicia tore off the festive paper and lifted the lid. Inside, a set of twin silver bells nestled against a bed of green velvet. She smiled and glanced up. “They’re beautiful, sweetheart. Are we going to wear them?”
“Well, I’m not wearing mine. I like being able to sneak up and grab you.”
She laughed. “Then I’m not wearing mine, either. So what’s their significance, my darling husband?”
Luke’s expression grew serious as he lifted one of the bells and gave it a shake. It had a light, silvery tinkle, like distant sleigh bells on the breeze.
“Any time I’m not telling you something you want to know,” he said, “I want you to ring your bell in my ear. And any time you’re not telling me something I want to know, I’m ringing mine in your ear. We’re going to work on this communication thing, Alicia. I want us to keep our marriage strong.”
“Oh, Luke.” Moved almost beyond words, Alicia leaned over and kissed the hard plane of his cheek. “That’s a splendid idea. I’m so glad you’re my husband. I think I must be the luckiest woman in the
world.”
“I just figure a couple of paranoids like us need all the help we can get.” Looking pleased, Luke set the bells aside and turned back to her with a lazy smile. “And I think this is an ideal time to do a little extra communicating,” he said seductively.
A familiar shiver of awareness rippled through her as, one by one, he worked loose the buttons of her blouse. “Oh, you mean that kind of communication.”
“Well, it is my specialty.” He bent down to plant a row of kisses along the upper swell of her breasts, then moved slowly upward toward her mouth.
Alicia feigned a sigh of reluctance. “We really shouldn’t be doing this, Luke. We ought to go out and do more sight-seeing. After all, this is our last day in Venice, and we paid an awful lot of money...”
“True,” her husband agreed thickly, “and it’s going to be a long while before we can afford to come again.”
“You mean visit again,” she corrected with mischief.
“Uh, yeah. Visit.” He pushed her back down on the bed and covered her with himself. “Wicked woman. How did I survive without you all these years?”
“I don’t know.” She gazed fully into his eyes, her heart filled to the brim with happiness. “But I do know one thing. I love you with all my heart, Luke Garrick.”
“And I love you, honeybun. With all my heart.”
* * * * *
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8812-6
A Family for Ronnie
Copyright © 1995 by Julie Caille
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