by Jo Leigh
“About that,” he said. “I wanted to discuss it with you first, of course, but I was thinking...”
“Yes?”
“I was thinking of applying for a new job. Here in Los Angeles. With a local airline.”
Her heart thumped so hard in her chest that she could barely hear the ocean. “But you don’t want to fly local runs.”
“I didn’t, that’s true. Things change.”
“I don’t want you to do this for me, Nick. You’ll be unhappy, and that won’t work. You’ll just end up resenting me.”
“You’re right. If I was just doing it for you, I would be unhappy. But I’m not, Jessica. I’m doing it for me. I don’t want to be away from you.” His hand moved to her stomach, where he rubbed her gently. “I want to watch the baby grow, from now until he goes to college.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, hardly believing this could be real. “Are you very sure?”
He nodded. “Even if we weren’t going to have a baby, I’d still want the same thing. I love you, angelo mio. With all my heart.” He leaned forward and kissed her. Softly, tenderly.
Then he broke the kiss but stayed so close she felt the warmth of his breath linger on her lips. “Will you marry me, Jessica? Be my wife?”
Jessica felt the cool sand under her feet. The sun on her shoulders. The wind teasing her hair. She’d remember this moment for the rest of her life. Every sensation. Every detail. But most of all, she’d remember the look in Nick’s eyes, and how she knew without doubt, without pause, that this was the man she would love forever. And that he loved her right back.
Then, she remembered another moment—a coin tossed in the water, a wish. It hadn’t come true. She was a fool for love. A crazy, contented, blissful fool, who’d never stopped loving Nick. For once in her life, she was glad wishes don’t always come true.
“Yes, my Nicolo,” she whispered. “I will marry you. I’ll be your wife.”
Epilogue
Three months later
Dear Libby and Gina,
I’m just delighted with the idea of this round-robin letter. So much has happened to all of us since that afternoon in Rome!
Gina, Jackson sounds like a dream. I’m so happy for you! But you didn’t give me near enough details about your wedding. What did you wear? Were there a lot of dignitaries there? And I’m dying to know where you took your honeymoon!
I think I’ll be seeing you in Italy, but more on that in a moment.
Libby! You sound so happy! Your Ethan also sounds just wonderful. And the two little ones sound simply adorable. I can’t wait to meet them all at your wedding.
Can you believe it? Both of you married. Well, guess what, girls. Me, too!
Hold on to yourselves, ’cause you’re going to faint. I married Nick.
Are you finished screaming yet? Okay, so let me explain. See, it turned out that when we all met in Nick’s bedroom, I was pregnant. Only I didn’t find out about it till the next day. Then I went home, but guess who showed up a few days later? That’s right. The louse. Only it turned out that he wasn’t quite the louse we’d imagined.
You see, he really didn’t mean to hurt any of us, and he still feels awful about what happened. And of course, he wanted to do the honorable thing and marry me. The funny part is, we sort of fell in love. Hard. Wonderfully. Happily. Forever.
Okay, okay. I’ll stop. But not until I tell you that I’ve never been more content in my life.
The wedding itself? That’s a whole other story, but guess where we ended up having the ceremony? At the Trevi Fountain! Yes, right where we threw our coins and made our wishes! Can you stand it? It was so perfect. His whole family was there, and, oh, did you know the woman in the negligee was his sister? My sister, now.
Nick and I are back in the States, but we’re going to spend several months each year in Rome. That’s what I was talking about, Gina. Maybe we can get together when I’m there? From your letter, I think you won’t have transferred back to New York yet. We’d both love to see you, and to meet Jackson. Libby? Maybe you could make plans to join us, too? I’d love to have a reunion. And if you bring Ethan and the kids, that will be all the better.
Anyway, while I was at the fountain, I threw in another coin for each one of us. The old legend turned out to be true... sort of. I mean, no matter what we wished, each one of us got our heart’s desire, right? Not just one. So I figured, why not? Why not make three more wishes? Only this time, it truly was for all three of us to come back to Rome. I’ll bet they still have our table waiting at the bistro.
Well, my friends, Nick is home, and I must go. Did I tell you he’s not flying internationally any longer? Nope, our Nick is now based in Los Angeles, flying to and from San Francisco. He’s home pretty much every night. Which is a good thing. I’d miss him too much if he stayed away longer.
Write back soon, and tell me how you are. I want all the news! I miss you guys.
Love,
Jessica
P.S.—Nick sends you both big kisses! From our hearts to yours, ciao!
ISBN : 978-1-4592-6094-8
IF WISHES WERE...DADDIES
Copyright © 1998 by Jo Leigh.
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