Home For June

by Juliet Madison

  ‘I don’t know how to do this, I don’t know exactly what to do, but I can’t have you leave here tonight and I can’t leave here next weekend. Oh, Luca. I think I’ve made a big mistake.’ She covered her face with her hands.

  ‘Hey, hey. It’s okay. Let’s talk about it. Are you saying you want to stay here at Iona or you want to stay in town and be with me?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Both. I don’t think I want to leave my home. And I don’t want to leave without giving things a chance with you. But I don’t want to get in the way of your dreams, of your new home.’

  ‘Hannah, don’t you see? You are my dream too.’ He caressed her cheek. ‘I made a silly little wish, not too long ago, that if there was a way for me to have my dream of my own successful restaurant, but also have you stay here somehow and be with me, then please make it come true.’

  ‘You wished... for me?’

  He nodded.

  She smiled. ‘I thought only girls did silly things like that.’

  ‘Nope. Us boys do them too.’ He smiled back.

  ‘But what do we do about the house? About my job? And Karen’s got everything ready at her house. And I’ve told everyone I’m going... It’s all set, all done.’

  ‘Then let’s undo it.’ He grasped her arms. ‘It’ll be messy and weird and crazy, but we’ll work it out somehow, and hey, we launched Home in six weeks from scratch, we can do anything. I’ll speak to Lily about the house, and I’m sure Karen will understand and help you talk to your boss and they can probably give your job to one of the other applicants, and I’ll give you work with me running all my special events and theme nights!’

  ‘Luca, it seems so crazy. I feel so stupid.’

  ‘Hey. Not at all. Sure, I love this place, but I am perfectly happy to stay on with Nathan while we see how things go. And you call the shots. I’ll be fine. It’s still your home and I’m not going to get in the way of family history.’

  ‘Luca, you’re absolutely amazing, you know that?’

  ‘Yup.’ He grinned.

  ‘Can we really do this? I mean, undo this?’

  ‘Consider it... undone.’ He held out his hand.

  She shook it, then did the handshake, then he lifted her up and carried her up on the porch, through the front door, and straight to her bedroom.

  Chapter 30

  The Following June

  ‘Ahh, why is it so hard to get out of the shower?’ Hannah said, as warm water ran down her body, the firm pressure both relaxing and invigorating her.

  ‘It has nothing to do with it being winter and everything to do with me.’ Luca kissed her cheek and hopped out. ‘But alas, I must get ready. And you too. We don’t want to be late for Stefan’s birthday party. Ooh, he’s going to love his birthday cake, really outdid last year’s!’

  ‘You did, honey. A chicken cake with egg-shaped cupcakes. He’ll love it as much as a five-year-old,’ she said. ‘I’ll just be a few more minutes in here.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll go get dressed, then feed Mocha. That puppy eats more than I do.’

  She smiled. Luca had moved into Iona with her three months ago, and two weeks ago they’d decided to get a new addition. It was nice to have a dog around the house again, even if she did scratch up and chew everything in sight.

  She could hear him getting dressed in the room, his zipper zipping up, his belt buckle buckling. She would never tire of those sounds.

  When a few minutes were up, she reluctantly turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing her towel and wrapping it around her. She wiped a section of the mirror so she could see her reflection, then applied some moisturiser.

  ‘Hannah?’

  ‘Yep?’

  He didn’t respond.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘You coming?’

  ‘Soon, I just need to put on a touch of make-up. One minute.’ She squeezed a smidgen of liquid mineral foundation onto her fingertips, then rubbed it over her face.

  ‘Okay then. I’ll ah, just leave this here then while I go feed Mocha,’ he said, with the sound of putting something down on the bedside table.

  ‘Leave what?’ she asked, her gaze still on the mirror as she applied her make-up.

  No response.

  She turned around and looked through the entrance to the ensuite, but he’d left the room.

  ‘Leave what, honey?’

  She walked out and peered around, then her sight rested on the bedside table. Between her lamp and her photo of Scarlett, was... a pebble.

  She gasped, picked it up. It wasn’t a stone, or a rock, but a definite, smooth, small pebble.

  Hannah glanced to the side through the bedroom doorway, to see Luca standing there, leaning against the wall with one foot crossed over the other leg, a huge smile on his face.

  He didn’t have to speak for her to know the question, and she didn’t have to reply for him to know her answer. She simply held the pebble to her heart with tears streaming down her face, and nodded her acceptance as she walked forwards and met him at the doorway, her arms embracing him and his embracing her.

  Epilogue

  Six Weeks Later...

  ‘Phew,’ Luca said, lowering Hannah back down after carrying her through the doorway and into the bedroom. She stood and he looked at her with eyes that radiated pure love. ‘You really are beautiful, Mrs Antonescu.’

  ‘You’re not too bad yourself, Mr Antonescu.’ She smiled widely.

  ‘I’m so glad,’ he said, coming in closer, ‘that one of my mother’s favourite creations got to be worn by one of my favourite creations.’

  Hannah glanced down at the beautiful V-shaped beaded bodice of her wedding gown, and the sparkly hem near her feet. ‘I’m honoured to wear it. And what do you mean, your creation? Are you likening me to one of your meals?’

  He chuckled. ‘Well, looking at you does make me want to gobble you all up.’ He slid his arms around her and nuzzled her neck.

  ‘Can’t believe we’ll be on a plane tomorrow,’ Hannah said.

  ‘I know, right? And then a boat, or was it a ferry...’

  ‘Something on water anyway. As long as we get safely to the Isle of Iona, I don’t mind if it’s on a flying carpet.’

  She kissed his neck too.

  ‘I can’t wait,’ Luca said. ‘And...’ he fiddled with the back of the dress. ‘I can’t wait to get this beautiful creation off you.’ He carefully slid the zipper down, although it stuck a little at her lower back. ‘Hang on...’ He gave it a nudge. ‘There we go.’

  She stepped out of the dress. ‘Lucky I got to wear it... a few weeks later and it probably wouldn’t fit anymore.’

  ‘Yes, lucky. We did well to plan a wedding in six weeks,’ he said, undoing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

  ‘It worked for the restaurant, no reason it wouldn’t work for our wedding.’

  He nodded. ‘It was such an amazing day. Even the chickens enjoyed it, I think.’

  She smiled. ‘They did.’ They’d had the ceremony in one of the paddocks, chairs set up, a temporary gazebo erected with fairy lights, and a few of their closest loved ones. It was everything Hannah had hoped for and more. A simple but special occasion that suited her and Luca to a T. No huge fancy expensive wedding, just the basics, and in the surroundings of home. Perfect.

  He undid his belt and trousers and let them fall to the floor.

  ‘Mmm,’ she said. ‘Looking good, hubby.’

  ‘You too, wifey.’

  She giggled. ‘We could jump on the bed I guess, but...’

  ‘Hmm, tempting. But I don’t know if that’s appropriate.’ He held his hand to her lower belly.

  ‘You know, if it’s a girl, I think we should call her...’

  ‘Winifred.’

  ‘No,’ she gave his arm a whack.

  ‘Pollyanna?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Hmm...’ He tapped his temple. ‘Milifiscentannaliserisa.’

  ‘What on earth?’ She chuckled.

  ‘Hey
, just throwing out options.’ He raised his arms.

  ‘Jasmine,’ Hannah said softly. And with that, she lit the jasmine candle he had given her, which she had only used sparingly for special occasions, to make it last.

  He rubbed her belly in tender circles. ‘Jasmine,’ he said. ‘I love it.’

  ‘I love you.’

  ‘I love you too.’ He kissed her lips, and she pretended to feel nauseous, heaving her chest.

  ‘Oh no, you okay?’

  ‘Ha, gotcha.’ She winked.

  ‘Oh, Hannah, don’t go tricking me like that.’

  ‘Couldn’t resist.’ She grinned. ‘I just wanted to see how you’d react if I really did have morning, or night-time sickness. And what if I get it on the plane, or boat, or on the island?’

  ‘Then I’ll look after you, don’t you worry.’ He brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. ‘I’ll always look after you, my amazing, beautiful Hannah.’

  ‘Promise?’ she asked, looking up into his dark, deep, eyes that she would have the pleasure of looking into forevermore.

  He leaned in for a slow, firm, loving kiss, his lips promising even before he spoke.

  ‘I promise.’

  Thanks for reading Home for June. I hope you enjoyed it.

  Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.

  If you liked this book, here are my other titles in this series, The January Wish, February or Forever, Miracle in March, April’s Glow and Memories of May. You might also like my romantic comedy titles, Fast Forward, I Dream of Johnny, and Starstruck in Seattle, collected together in Juliet Madison’s Romantic Comedy Collection, and Haunted Ever After.

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