“Oh, my God. My head. Ugh.” Ava groaned and wriggled away from me. She struggled to sit up, one hand on each temple.
“Lay down, baby. I’ll get you some water and ibu.” I tossed off the covers and got out of bed.
“I’m not sure I can handle it yet.” She put one hand to her stomach. “I just want to sit here for a minute.”
I tucked a strand of her hair back behind her ear, frowning. “You didn’t even have that much to drink last night.”
She shook her head, pressing her lips together. “Too much wine. You know how I get.”
“You sure that’s all it is?”
Ava’s eyes flashed open and rolled at me. “I’m not pregnant, if that’s what you mean.”
I sat down on the bed and drew her close to my side. “I didn’t. Remember, I live with you, babe. I know when things happen. I just meant, do you think you might have a bug or something?”
“I don’t think so.” She eased herself back onto the pillow and reached to hold my hand. “Might just be the whole week catching up with me.”
“I can see that.” I traced a circle on the back of her hand. “You just need some down time. Maybe a little more sleep.”
“Hmmm. Maybe.” She inhaled, deep, and the sheet covering the swell of her breasts slid down a little. I concentrated on not reaching out to touch them. Even lying there, feeling queasy, pale and with her hair spread in a snarled mess on the pillow, Ava was the most beautiful sight in my memory. My heart thudded almost painfully. It was like I was hit all over again by how much I loved this girl. How precious she was to me.
“Babe, can you get me that water now? I think I might be able to keep it down. I need to do something for my head, anyway. It’s pounding like a jackhammer.”
“Sure.” I stood up and dug into my duffle bag for the bottle of ibuprofen. Instead, my fingers closed over that small velvet box. And I knew.
Hands shaking, I found the bottle of pills and stood up to get some water in one of the plastic hotel cups. When I sat back down on the mattress, Ava stretched out both of her hands, eyes still shut.
“Here’s the water.” I put the cup into her right hand. “And the meds.” I dropped one pill on her left palm, and she popped it into her mouth, taking a swig of water and then holding out her hand for the next. I gave it to her and waited while she swallowed it, too. “One more wouldn’t hurt.”
Ava put out her hand again, but this time, I laid the black velvet box on it. When she opened her eyes, forehead wrinkling in confusion, I slid off the bed and onto my knee.
Her face was a study in absolute shock. Eyes wide, mouth agape, she stared at the box. I took the cup of water from her other hand and set it on the nightstand. Snagging her right hand in both of mine, I brought it to my lips and kissed the palm.
“What—what’s—what’re you doing?” She sounded as though she’d been running a marathon.
I licked my lips. My mouth was suddenly dry, and I was tempted to take a big gulp from her cup of water. And then I looked into her eyes, deep into those beautiful brown eyes that had been my lifeline, my salvation and my temptation. I wasn’t nervous anymore.
“Ava Catarine. Since the day I met you, I knew you were someone special. The more I got to know you, the more I liked you. You’re kind, funny, loyal and so smart you scare the shit out of me half the time.
“And you’re beautiful. God, so beautiful. More than you’ll ever realize, because you don’t see it. Sometimes I look up at you, when we’re studying at night or when you’re cooking . . . or when we’re riding in the car, and you’re singing along with Frank . . . and I think, my God. What wonderful thing did I ever do to deserve this girl in my life? The answer is nothing. I don’t deserve you, but like we always say, I’m keeping you anyway.”
Tears had pooled in her eyes, and now they spilled over down her cheeks as her bottom lip trembled.
“Ava, you saved my life. Before you . . . I was barely surviving. I was getting by. But nothing mattered to me. I did what my parents expected. I pretended to be someone I hated. I was the jerk and the asshole you all thought I was.”
“And then you . . . you saw me. You looked at me, and you told me I could be more. You believed in me. When you did that, when you touched me and loved me, I believed in me, too. I knew that as long as you were with me, believing in me, I could do anything in the world.”
Ava drew in a ragged breath and raised our joined hands to brush tears from her face.
“All I want for the rest of my life is to be with you. To belong to you, and to know that you belong to me. I don’t care what else happens, as long as I have that. As long as I have you. You are my life. Let me be yours. Marry me, Ava. Be my forever.”
My hands still shaking, I took the box from where it still sat on her left palm, and I opened it. Ava’s eyes widened, and she bit down on her bottom lip. I watched, my heart pounding, while she raised her gaze to mine and the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen spread across her face before she whispered the only word I wanted to hear.
“Yes.”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU proposed to me while I looked like this.” Ava laughed, standing in front of the mirror. “I’m hung over, yesterday’s makeup is smeared across my face, and my hair looks like a bird’s nest.”
I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “You’ve never looked more beautiful to me.”
“Which goes to show how crazy you are.” She turned in my arms and kissed my chin. “And tells me that you really must love me, because you’d have to be blind in love to ask me to spend the rest of my life with you, looking like this.”
“I do, and I am.” I gave her a light smack on the ass and began to get ready for a shower.
“This is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.” Ava held up her hand to the light, turning it to let the diamond sparkle. “I love the round diamond.”
“There’s some history in the ring.” I stripped off my T-shirt and took her hand, kissing the tips of her fingers. “The main diamond . . . it was my grandmother’s. My granddad, the one who liked old time movies? He left me Gramma’s ring. I had the stone reset, and then I was talking to your mom one day, and she told me she had a ring that belonged to her grandmother. We took the small accents from that one and added them to this ring. So it’s a combination of our families. Of us.”
“Oh, my God, Liam, that’s . . . that’s the most wonderful thing—wait. My mom? You talked to my mom about engagement rings?”
I grinned, smug. “Yup. And your dad, too.”
She swatted my shoulder, and I dodged. “When was that?”
I shrugged. “Earlier this spring. Right after I asked for your father’s blessing.”
Ava sat down on the edge of the bed. “Just when I think I’ve got you figured out, Liam Bailey, you blow me away. Again. Here I was thinking you’d changed your mind about ever getting married.”
I turned on the water in the shower and then poked my head around the corner of the bathroom door to look at her curiously. “Why’d you think that?”
She pulled her knees up to her chin, a classic Ava-pose. “You stopped talking about it. I figured with everything going on between your mom and dad . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“Yeah, well, that played into it, but I never changed my mind. I planned to ask you before, but I didn’t want our engagement tangled up with my parents’ mess. When I realized that wasn’t going to end any time soon, I decided I wasn’t going to let them interfere with our lives.”
Ava smiled, those sweet lips curving up and her eyes shining so that I wanted to grab her and take her back to bed. I glanced over her shoulder at the digital clock next to the bed. Damn. It was too close to check-out time.
“I’m glad you decided that. Did my parents know you were going to propose this weekend?”
I smiled and shook my head. “No. I didn’t exactly plan this out. I had another idea, but this morning just felt . . . right. Like it was the best time.” I s
nagged a towel off the rack.
“So I guess we better call them on the way home. Mom’ll freak out if I don’t let her know right away.”
“I might have a better idea. Why don’t we just swing down there? It’s Sunday, the restaurant’s closed. We could tell them in person.”
Ava’s whole face lit up. “Really? We could do that?”
Making this girl glow like she was right now was my goal every single day. Knowing it was as easy today as a little side trip made my heart swell. “Sure. It’s just about twenty minutes out of the way. Why not?”
“NOW LISTEN . . . WHEN WE get to my parents’ house, they’re going to ask a lot of questions. About our plans for the wedding, when we want to have it, where we want to have it . . . don’t let them bulldoze you, okay? We’re going to stick to the party line.”
I quirked a half-smile at Ava. Sitting in the passenger seat of the Beemer, her feet under her and knees curled to the side, she looked about as intimidating as a baby kitten. But I’d seen my girl get her dander up, and I knew she was a force to be reckoned with.
“Okay. But what’s the party line, exactly?”
She held up one finger, and then another, ticking them off. “We just got engaged today. We’re going to enjoy being engaged for a while. We’ll make plans in our own time. And we’ll be the ones making the decisions, without any pressure from anyone else.”
“Aye-aye, captain.” I sketched a salute. “And how do you think that’s going to fly with the general?”
Ava stuck out her tongue at me. “First of all, you’re mixing both your metaphors and your branches of service. Second, if by the general you mean my mother—” She swallowed and set her jaw. “I’ll take her on.”
I whistled under my breath. “I think I’ll just duck and stay out of the line of fire.”
She laughed. “Probably a good idea.” She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on top of them. “My mom means well. But I’m her only daughter.” A shadow fell across her face, and I knew she was thinking about her sister, Antonia. They’d been so close, and even though Antonia had been gone for seven years, Ava still missed her. Reaching across, I took hold of her hand.
“Hey. You know we can do this however you want.” I struggled for a minute with what I needed to say versus what I really wanted. “Do you think you want a big wedding?”
Ava made a face. “Right now, after seeing everything that went into Julia’s huge shindig? I want to run in the opposite direction. I’m thinking you, me, my parents and yours—”
I stiffened a little. “I’m with you until the part where you said my parents. I want them kept far away from this. From us.”
“Liam, I understand how you feel about them. But they’re still your parents, and I think in the long run, you’ll wish you had them at your wedding.” She gripped my hand a little tighter and fixed me with that steely-Ava gaze. “Even if you don’t believe me right now.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you. And maybe I would regret it, eventually. But right now, seeing them, telling them we’re getting married . . . it’s the last thing I want to do.”
Ava bit the side of her lip. “Well, we can table that discussion for now. One mountain at a time. But like I was saying, I don’t want a big wedding.” She slanted a look at me. “Unless you do.”
“Babe, I just want to marry you. In a church, on a ship, in a courthouse—wherever it happens, I don’t care. As long as it happens.”
She rose up on her knees and leaned across to kiss my cheek. My upper arm brushed against her breasts, and I felt the familiar stirring between my legs. I loved that my girl never failed to turn me on, no matter what.
“So we’ve worked out that we don’t care how. But not too big or over the top. What about when?” Ava sank back onto her seat.
“As soon as possible.” That was an answer that I didn’t have to think about. “I’d put another ring on your finger today if we could.”
“I feel the same. Although would you think I’m hopelessly corny if I told you I’d always wanted a Christmas wedding?”
“Really?” I checked out the rearview mirror and changed lanes. “Nah, not corny, but why Christmas? Don’t most girls want a June wedding?”
“I’m not most girls.” She winked at me. “I don’t know. One of my cousins got married during the holidays when I was really little, and I remember thinking the church was so pretty, all decorated with evergreens and the tree.”
“So you do want to get married in the church.”
Ava looked surprised for a minute, and then she laughed. “I guess I do. I hadn’t thought about it, but whenever I picture myself getting married, it’s in the church. Or a church, at least.” She frowned. “Does that bother you?”
“No.” Although I’d been raised Presbyterian, my family had really only gone to church when my father needed us to look good for a campaign. Ava was undoubtedly more devout. “Do I have to do anything special? Like . . . a ritual bathing or something?”
She sighed. “Liam, have you been watching Sex and the City again? No, Charlotte was converting to Judaism, not Catholicism. I’m not sure of the whole process, but we can talk to Father Byers.”
I’d met the priest, who was a long-time friend of the DiMartino family. He was now rector of Our Lady of Mercy, the Catholic church just off the Birch University campus, and I sometimes accompanied Ava to Mass on Saturday nights. He seemed pretty cool . . . for a priest.
“Did you call your mom and tell her we were coming?” I slowed to merge onto the exit ramp for Seagrove City.
“No. You know Mom. She’d immediately think something horrible had happened, or that we were coming to tell them bad news. I texted with her before we left, though, just to say hello, and she said they were planning to stay home all day and do yard work. So they should be there.”
I followed the route that was so familiar to me now, through the winding two-lane roads, with dunes and sea reeds on one side and tall pine trees on the other. We passed by Cucina Felice, looking empty and forlorn today with its empty parking lot and dark windows.
The DiMartinos lived in a modest house on a quiet street about five minutes from the family restaurant. As soon as we turned the corner, I spotted Mrs. DiMartino in the front yard, wearing a wide straw hat as she knelt among her flowers. She turned as I pulled into the driveway, and true to her daughter’s prediction, I saw a flash of panicked surprise cross her face.
Ava squeezed my hand one more time. “Ready to face the music, lover? Gird up your loins.”
“Hey, my loins are always ready. Bring it. I’m not afraid of your family. Much. Anymore.”
She laughed and opened the car door.
“Ava, what in the world are you doing here? What’s wrong? What happened?” Mrs. DiMartino tugged off her gardening gloves as she approached us.
“Ma, always with the jumping to the worst conclusions. Geez. Where’s Daddy?”
“He’s inside with Frankie, watching the ball game. Why?”
The front door opened, and a small dark-haired tornado spun out, followed by Ava’s father. “I thought I heard a car pull in. Hiya, honey. Hey, Liam.”
Frankie, Ava’s seven-year old niece, threw herself against my knees. “Liam! I didn’t know you were coming today!”
“None of us did. I thought you were at Julia’s wedding.” Mrs. DiMartino was still tense, waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop.
“We were. But . . .” Ave glanced at me as I bent to scoop Frankie up into my arms. “We had good news that we want to tell you in person.” She held up her hand, and the ring glinted in the bright summer sunshine. “We’re engaged.”
“Oh. Oh, Ava!” Her mother dropped the small hoe she’d been holding and her gloves and snatched at her daughter’s hand. “Let me see. Oh, thank God . . . it looks so beautiful on your hand.”
“Yeah, aren’t you the sneaky one.” Ava pulled her hand back and hugged her mom. “You knew. And you didn’t even give me a hint.�
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I watched Mrs. DiMartino’s face as she embraced Ava. Her eyes were closed, but a suspicious moisture had gathered at the corners. “Why’s that such a surprise? I can keep a secret.”
“Stop hogging her, Frannie. Let a father have a turn.” Mr. DiMartino’s face relaxed into a smile as he held his little girl. “This is a happy day. We’re so glad for you, Ava.” He reached out an arm and pulled me into the hug. “Liam. So happy.”
“Nonna, why is everyone hugging?” Frankie looked from her grandmother to her aunt. “Auntie Ave, what’s on your hand?”
Ava came to stand next to me, holding her fingers up to the little girl. “It’s a ring, Frankie. Liam gave it to me.” She glanced at me, her eyes shining. “We’re getting married.”
Frankie’s small forehead wrinkled. “So you’re going to have a wedding? Do I get to be a flower girl again? Like when Uncle Carl and Auntie Ange had their wedding?”
Ava’s gaze met mine over the little girl’s head. No way in hell I was going to tell her that she couldn’t put on a princess dress and walk down the aisle. I was one of Frankie’s favorites, and I wasn’t going to mess that up.
“Well, sweetie, we’ll have to see. Liam and I probably aren’t having a wedding just like Carl and Angela.”
Her parents had already started into the house, but Mrs. DiMartino stopped abruptly and turned around. “What do you mean by that?”
“Let’s go inside and talk, Frannie. Come on.” Ava’s dad turned and smiled at me. “The boys are coming over in a little while for dinner. Can you stay? I’ll open a bottle of prosecco and we’ll celebrate.”
I held the door with my free hand and let Ava go in ahead of Frankie and me. When she glanced back at me with eyebrows raised, I nodded. “Fine with me. I’m on break from both classes and work at the university for the next week. It’s up to Ava. She’s the one who has to get up and go into the agency tomorrow.”
I Choose You Page 7