by Tina Martin
“I do listen.”
“No, because if you were, you would already know the answer because I told you why.”
“Well, tell me again.”
“Because I want you, and before you think too much into this, me wanting you has nothing to do with sex. With that being said, I would like very much to make love to my wife, but since that’s not something you want, I’ll try to be on my best behavior.” A sly smile came to his lips. He knew he could seduce her at any time and any place, but what he wanted even more than that was for her to want him equally.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” she said.
“Shoot.”
“What did you do with all those necklaces you bought from my boutique?”
He laughed. “I donated them to a women’s shelter.”
“And I thought you were giving them to your niece...”
“Yeah, I don’t have a niece...I sort of made that part up just to have an excuse to be in your company.”
Emily blushed. “I figured as much.”
“Did you?”
She nodded. “Yep. That’s sweet of you, though...to donate those necklaces.”
“Wow. My first compliment from Emily...hope it won’t be my last.”
She held his gaze, then looked away. There was something about the heat in his eyes that made her insides weak. Maybe she had missed being with a man moreso than she thought...more than she would admit to. Dante was oozing sex appeal out of his pores. He was extremely good-looking and could definitely get any woman he desired.
“Let’s take a walk,” he suggested.
“Okay.”
They strolled along the beach at night. There were a lot of people out, no doubt enjoying the night in such a beautiful place.
“So where is your family?” Dante asked, walking side-by-side with her watching the light breeze blow her hair away from her ear.
“My parents live in Jacksonville, Florida.”
“Retired?”
“Yes. They retired there. My mother was a school teacher and my father worked for the postal service.”
“I noticed, when we were messaging each other, you didn’t mention them much.”
“That’s because I don’t talk to them as much as I used to.”
“Why not?”
“Um...” Emily sighed. “It’s just that every single time I call them, they ask me how I’m coping and if I need to see a therapist.”
Dante nodded. He could understand why they would ask the question, especially after the loss she had experienced.
Emily interrupted his thoughts and said, “After getting that out of the way, then comes the dialogue about when I’m going to get married again and have some babies.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly. Now you see why I don’t talk to them a lot.”
“Well, to be honest, my parents were the same way when Anita died. They were always on my back about remarrying. My mother used to tell me that I needed someone to cook for me...told me I was getting skinny and needed some meat on my bones.”
Emily smiled and looked him up and down inconspicuously. He wasn’t skinny in her book. Skinny men were just that – straight up and down flimsy with no muscle definition. Dante was more of the athletic type and everywhere her eyes roamed on his body, she could see muscle definition from the firm ropes in his calves to his neck, forearms and biceps.
“The real reason she wanted me to marry was because, since I’m the oldest, she said my brothers looked up to me and they would do what I did.”
“You believe that?”
“To a certain degree, but my brothers are their own men, and being such, they make their own decisions.”
Emily nodded in agreement.
“Anyway, back to my parents...my father died three years after Anita and a year after he died, my mother passed away.”
“Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry to hear that. I know it must’ve been rough on you and your brothers.”
“It was, but we got through. Now the reason I told you that is to tell you this...enjoy your parents while you have them, sweetie, because they will not be around forever.”
“You’re right. I need to call them soon.”
Dante stopped walking and turned to face Emily, just staring down at her face. At her lips. “You want to sit for a while.”
“Sure.”
Emily sat down with her legs folded in Indian-style, facing the ocean.
Dante sat down in front of her, blocking her view of the water.
Emily didn’t mind it. She’d much rather look at him than trying to strain her eyes to see the ocean at nighttime. Just the tranquil sound of the wrestling water was enough for now.
Dante stared at her for a moment, catching her gaze a few times before she would quickly look away. The woman he’d fallen in love with online was here and he planned on taking advantage of the time he had to get to know her one-on-one like this, as he had online.
“You’re shy,” he said.
“Is that a question or a statement?” she asked, all smiles.
“It’s an observation.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, for one thing, you can’t hold eye contact for longer than a few seconds.”
“I can, just not with you.”
“Oh, really?” he asked, smiling, then seductively biting his bottom lip. “Why’s that?”
She shrugged, not wanting to give him an explanation. How do you tell a man that he’s so fine, he blew your mind in every way possible...so freakin’ good-looking that you had to look away to catch her breath?
“Come on. See, that’s what I’m talking about. You give me a timid shrug and that’s all I get?”
“I’m just not used to being open and conversational with anyone besides Melvin. It’s like, I knew him. I knew what he liked, what he didn’t like. I was extremely comfortable with him, and I knew that he had my back no matter what. That if it came down to my life or his, he’d die for me in a heartbeat.”
So would I. It was on the tip of his tongue and on his mind, but Dante held in his thoughts so she could continue confiding in him. Melvin meant a lot to her. He could understand that better than anyone, having dealt with the loss of his wife.
Emily raked her hands in the sand, gathering some of it together rubbing it in her hands and brushing it off.
“I think that, if you share your story in group therapy, it will help you tremendously.”
Emily shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because when I talk about Melvin too much I cry and I can’t stop crying.”
“This will help you with that. You may not think so initially, but after you’ve shared your story, you’ll see what I mean.”
Emily batted her eyes to fight tears away.
“Look at me, Emily,” he requested in a soft, concerned voice, taking her hands into his.
When she did, a lone tear rolled from her eye and down her face. “I’m going to go,” she said. Removing her hands from his grasp, she stood up.
“Emily.”
“I’m sorry, Dante. I’m just going to take a shower and go to bed,” she said and rushed off.
Dante blew an agitated breath. He hated to have upset her when he only wanted her to talk about her feelings. She needed to let Melvin go so she could make room in her heart for him.
Chapter 19
Emily took a quick five-minute shower then moisturized her body in a raspberry lotion before sliding into a silk, white gown. She stepped out of the bathroom and slid under the covers into bed, lying there, thinking about Melvin. She hadn’t accepted the fact that Melvin was gone and wasn’t coming back. That’s why she couldn’t stand up in group and tell her story. She was still pretending it hadn’t happened, still grieving. Then she thought about what grief was – keen mental suffering or distress over a loss. Were there rules about how long a person was supposed to grieve? How long was too long? Could grief over the d
eath of a love one ever be conquered? If so, was this grief retreat really the way to do it?”
She inhaled a much needed breath as tears ran down her face, towards her ears before wetting her pillow.
The knock at the door jolted her, but she hadn’t responded to see what Dante wanted.
“Emily, are you sleeping?” Dante waited a moment for an answer, but when he hadn’t heard anything, he turned the knob, walked in and saw her lying on the bed – a white sheet covering her body. He walked closer to the bed. Her eyes were opened. He stooped down and said, “I didn’t mean to upset you, Emily.”
Emily saw a blurred version of him through her tears. “Everything you said about me is right,” she told him. “I haven’t accepted the fact that Melvin is gone. I don’t know how...how do I move on without him?” she cried.
The sound of her whimpering and the way sadness distorted her voice touched him deeply. It hurt him...felt like a knife was being driven through his heart. All he wanted was to make everything right for her but he couldn’t do that when most of her problem was an internal one – not one that money could fix. “Sweetheart, that’s why we’re here, and if you trust me, I’ll help you. I give you my word, Emily.” He reached for her hand. “Will you trust me?”
She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Yes,” she responded, accepting his hand.
Dante scooped her up into his arms. He used his index finger to trace and wipe away the tears that fell from her eyes. “Please stop crying.”
“I will eventually, when I fall asleep,” she said sadly. “Will you lie here with me for a while?”
“Of course, dear.”
And he did. After wishing her a good night, he watched her close her eyes. She was a broken soul and he’d planned on fixing her again.
When he knew she was sleeping, he left a kiss on her temple, tucked her carefully into bed and, like a gentleman, he headed for the couch where he fell asleep, thinking about her.
Chapter 20
Over breakfast, Dante mentioned to Emily that he was going to share his story today at group therapy. He hadn’t planned on it, but in order to motivate her to talk openly about Melvin’s death, he wanted her to see him do the same about Anita.
During therapy, he’d stood up and boldly told his story about how Anita had battled cancer for two years until her body couldn’t take anymore. Until she was too tired, too drained, too sick to fight any longer. After he was done, he sat down, leaned over in her ear and whispered, “Go ahead. I’m here for you, sweetie.”
Again, Emily told him she wasn’t ready, but if she wasn’t ready now, especially after hearing him tell his story, when would she ever be ready?
Dante tried to talk her into it again, but she adamantly refused. His patience was wearing thin. He tried to suppress his anger by taking a deep breath but he was unsuccessful. Anyone looking at him could see he was upset. But still, he sucked it all in and told himself that he’d coach her through this, but before he could give her further encouragement, she stood up and walked away.
She was giving up, quitting, and he hated that. He wasn’t a quitter and he certainly didn’t want one for a spouse. But molding her into the woman he wanted her to be was proving to be more than he bargained for. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and stood up, on a hunt to find her and fast before he lost the nerve to do what he was about to do. It was a new day and she was wasting it.
Not anymore.
When he stepped in the suite, he walked to the bedroom where he knew she would be, and there she was, sitting there brooding on the edge of the bed with her arms crossed underneath her breasts.
He stood in the doorway, leaned up against the frame with his arms crossed, watching her for a few moments as he juggled all kind of thoughts twirling around in his head. He didn’t want to be too firm for her, but he had to do something drastic so she knew he meant business.
“How is this supposed to work, Emily, when you won’t make an attempt to try.”
“I am trying,” she shot back.
“How? How are you trying when every time I tell you to participate in group, you refuse to take part in the program.”
“I just need time.”
“Time?”
“Yes. Time. I can’t do everything on your timeframe, Dante. I know you want me to magically forget about Melvin overnight—”
“No. That’s not what I want.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Why ask me what I want when your actions have proven you don’t care?”
Emily shook her head. She’d already had a headache and she hated feeling pressured like this by Dante. “Dante, please. My life is already messed up enough to go back and forth with you over a bunch of nonsense.”
“Nonsense? Getting your life together is nonsense?”
“My life is just fine.”
“Yeah. Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day you’ll believe it.”
“I already do believe it. I certainly don’t need you telling me otherwise, like you know me.”
“I do know you!” he snapped. “I spent three months of my life knowing you, Emily. I don’t know every single detail of your life history, but what I do know is you’re living in denial and until you make some changes, you’re going to continue being miserable and lonely.”
“I’m not mis—”
“And don’t tell me you’re not miserable because I see it every time I look into your eyes. All I wanted you to do was give this trip your all, but you refuse to participate, just like you refuse to wear the ring I hand picked for you...it’s been on the nightstand since the ceremony last Saturday. And just to think I used to pride myself on having the acute ability to read people, but I failed with you because I thought you had feelings for me, but I see now that I was horribly mistaken. So you’re free to go. I’ll waive the breach of contract penalty on your behalf. All you have to do is pack your bags and run back home to your canned world of false hopes and dwindling memories of a man who can’t love you anymore because he’s incapable of doing such.”
Dante walked away from the door and soon after, Emily heard him leave the suite.
Tears poured down her face at the realization that she’d lost a good man in Melvin, but he was gone, and now, she was on the verge of losing another good man, a living, breathing, passionate one who’d just angrily dismissed himself from her presence.
Chapter 21
Dante sat at a table out by the pool, trying to cool off. He was on the phone with his brother Dimitrius; a pair of Cartier sunglasses masking his worried eyes – worried that he was about to lose the woman he’d waited so long for.
“You told her to leave? The woman you’ve been practically stalking for the last six months?” Dimitrius asked. Dimitrius was the level-headed brother, the one Dante could talk to about anything. The one who could offer some good advice.
He drew in a breath and said, “Yeah, man. I did. I told her to go.”
“Why would you do something like that?”
“She just doesn’t get it. She prefers to sulk in self pity and pretend she’s fine when I can clearly see she’s not, so I did what was best for her and told her to go.”
“You sound like you’re pretty bummed about it.”
“I am. A part of me wants to run back up there to the suite and stop her from packing her bags because I know that’s what she’s doing, especially since I gave her an out. Then another part of me wants her to go. I’ve never had to chase a woman before. And after all I’ve done – joining the GHC site just to get a chance to talk to her, visiting her store and buying out inventory just to be able to talk to her for five minutes, she’s still not giving me what I want.”
“And what’s that?”
“I want her to acknowledge the fact that we’re married and stop treating this like a joke. I want her to let the therapists we have at this resort help her overcome her grief...help her move on from Melvin so she can see me for the man I am. But every time I try to get her to take a s
tep forward in the right direction, she takes three steps back and I just can’t keep getting my hopes up, trying to convince myself she’ll come around and she never does.”
“That’s tough, bro, but I have to say I think you’ve done the right thing here. You gave her the option to leave. Now the ball is in her court, and I know you would prefer to be an active participant in this process for her, but it’s your turn to be a spectator. I know that’s difficult for you, Mr. C.E.O., but you have to sit back, relax and let her make the next move. Then you’ll know how to move forward.”
“And what if she leaves?” Dante said rubbing his hand across his head, frustrated. “I really don’t want her to leave, even though I told her to go.”
“Dang, bro. This girl really got you going...sounds to me like you might’ve fallen in love with Ms. Emily.”
Dimitrius was right. He had fallen in love with Emily, and fallen hard.
“Do you love her?” Dimitrius asked.
“Yes. I love her. I love everything about her except for the unhealthy fixation she has with her deceased husband.”
“It must be love. I’ve never seen you so intent on getting a woman.”
Dante sighed.
“Unfortunately, though, you may have to let her go,” Dimitrius advised.
Dante frowned. It wasn’t something he wanted to hear, but he knew Dimitrius would tell you straight up whether you wanted to hear it or not.
“I understand that,” Dante said, “Even though I can’t accept it. I won’t accept it.”
“Then you know what you have to do, right? You have to tell her how you feel, Dante. Tell her you love her, that you want this marriage to work and you’ll do everything in your power to make it work.”
Dante nodded.
* * *
Dante had been nervous about going back up to the suite. If her suitcase was missing, then he was certain she was on her way back home.
When he arrived, he saw her suitcase on the bed. Some clothes were in it, neatly folded. Another small pile of clothes were lying on the bed next to the suitcase. She’d certainly been packing, but she wasn’t there at the moment.
