Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  “Hi, Rob. How are you, handsome?”

  “Tara. Hi. Nice to see you as always.”

  Blah!

  “I heard through the grapevine that you finally ditched Frizzy Lizzy and you’re a free man again. That’s true, right?”

  Elizabeth couldn’t see her, but she could almost hear Tara’s incredibly high-wattage smile beaming rays of intense desire at him. She felt nauseated.

  Rob, however, was probably staring lustfully back at Tara, so he didn’t answer her question.

  “Rob, honey, why don’t you come with me to the Beer-N-Brat Fest in Milwaukee this weekend? We’d have so much fun together. It’d be just like old times when we—”

  “Why don’t you take Lance to it, Tara?” Rob said.

  “Lance? What does Lance have to do with any—”

  “The guy’s crazy about you,” he replied. “He goes insane with jealousy whenever any other man so much as looks your way. I know you’ve been more casual about dating him than the other way around, but think about it. Think about the attention he pays to you. You’re his kind of woman. You always were. Even in high school. And, unless you don’t feel anything toward him at all, he’s the man who should get the honor of spending time with you now.”

  Elizabeth listened to this statement without taking a breath. Wow. He pushed Tara away, too. He must really be set on heading back to Chicago soon. Tara must also have realized this because she didn’t speak for a full fifteen seconds. Then she said, “But what about you and me?”

  “There’s no you and me,” Rob said simply. “Here, have an ice cream cone on the house. And have fun in Milwaukee at the Beer-N-Brat Fest. With Lance.”

  Elizabeth heard a pause and some rustling of paper napkins or other such things.

  “Well, um. Bye, Rob. Good luck with everything,” Tara murmured. Footsteps clicked toward the door and the bells jangled as she left the shop.

  After a lengthy moment of silence, Elizabeth heard Rob mutter, “So long, Tara-rantula.”

  In spite of herself, she almost laughed. Tara-rantula? And all this time she’d thought Frizzy Lizzy was a bad nickname. Nothing like perspective.

  Elizabeth knew she needed to get out of the shop before Rob discovered her back there, eavesdropping and guiltily holding a frozen novelty. Still, it was hard for her to creep out the backdoor—which she did very, very quietly—and head toward her car after overhearing what she did. Rob didn’t sound like himself. He was breaking away from everyone. Not only her, but the Wilmington Bay townspeople, too. He wasn’t the gabby Gabinarri who’d strode so confidently into the shop in June. She felt sad for him. And for herself.

  Outside, she took a big bite of her ice cream sandwich. Creamy. Sweet. But not nearly as good as one of Rob’s kisses. Sometimes in life you had to settle, huh? At least he was still here with her for a little while longer. At least she got to look at him and admire him and remember everything they shared together, which was helpful when her days seemed bleak.

  But the thought of their lost relationship gave her knots in her stomach again and, suddenly, the dessert didn’t taste so good after all. She was about to toss it in the trash when she heard a chuckle followed by a distinctive “Liebling!”

  Startled, she accidentally dropped the ice cream sandwich on the ground and a curious squirrel nabbed it. “Uncle Siegfried. You—you’re back.”

  *

  “ROBERTO! THERE you are.”

  Rob almost stopped breathing. “Uncle Pauly? When did you get home?”

  “Just a coupla hours ago.” He marched up to where Rob was standing at the counter and threw his hefty arms around him. “The place looks great.”

  The last time Uncle Pauly had hugged him that enthusiastically, Rob had been under five feet tall. He shot his mother’s big brother a suspicious glance. “Uh, thanks. How was the trip?”

  “Oh, great, great. Anita’s feeling real healthy now. She invited us back sometime soon. Maybe we’ll take your Mama along with us next time. She’d love it.”

  “I’m sure she would,” Rob said, feeling the oddest combination of emotions. If Uncle Pauly went back to Europe—and Siegfried and Mama went with him—he and Elizabeth would have to run the shop again. He’d be stuck returning to Wilmington Bay, which hadn’t turned out to be so bad after all, and he’d get to be with Elizabeth for another few months, which had turned out to be damn terrific. Until very recently.

  So maybe all they needed was a little more forced time together and then…and then what? He wasn’t sure how much she really wanted a guy like him in her life, but more time to figure out the truth couldn’t hurt, right?

  “When are you thinking of doing that, Uncle Pauly? The fall, maybe?”

  His uncle shrugged. “Eh, I dunno. Maybe next summer. Maybe not.”

  “Oh.” And Rob had to face the fact that there was only one feeling he was experiencing now: Disappointment. He didn’t want to wait until next summer—or whenever it was convenient for everyone else—to be with Elizabeth again. He didn’t want to leave her. Period.

  “So, Siegfried and I are going to sleep off our jetlag and then we’ll take over tomorrow. You can go home to Chicago and not worry about us old men up here. You left everything in great shape, Roberto. Grazie.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said automatically, but he felt dismissed. He wasn’t needed anymore. He could go. And no one would miss him.

  The bells jingled.

  “Hi, Rob,” Elizabeth said, looking strangely pale and walking in the shadow cast by her own smiling uncle. She greeted Uncle Pauly, and Rob said hi to Siegfried. “It’s great to have them both back, isn’t it?” she asked him.

  “Oh, yeah. Definitely.” Hell, no.

  “Uncle Siegfried just told me that we should close the shop early today.” She glanced at her uncle and he nodded earnestly.

  “You two have done so much work for us,” Siegfried declared. “Why don’t Pauly and I help you wrap things up for the day, then we can all relax. I know Pauly and I need some sleep. Liebling, you must have some writing business to finish up and, Rob, you’ll probably want to start packing.”

  Rob clenched his jaw. Everyone was trying to get rid of him. “That’s…thoughtful,” he managed.

  “Great.” Siegfried turned the sign on the door to “Closed” and began washing the metal cookie sheets and ice cream scoops. Pauly grabbed a broom and did a quick sweep of the floor.

  Rob and Elizabeth looked at each other. Their Tutti-Frutti rein was officially over but, somehow, despite weeks of anticipation and waiting for this moment to arrive, he got the distinct sense that she was feeling the same reluctance to end it as he was.

  The tiny bit of hope that lived inside him, the part that remembered the ecstasy of their lovemaking and the thrill of her saying she loved him, began to grow bigger. Maybe it all just came down to believing it could be done. Maybe when a choice was made in favor of intimacy, most barriers bowed down to a superior power. Maybe he just had to really look…and to really listen to what she was saying.

  He decided to take a chance and see if his theory proved true. “I’ll head back to Chicago in the morning,” he told Elizabeth and watched for clues.

  She shuttered her eyes and tightened her lips before nodding slowly. “I-I understand,” she said.

  But she didn’t.

  There was a tremor in her voice that had nothing to do with stuttering, and a tiny, almost imperceptible catch in her breath. There was a rigidity in her posture that suggested she was working extra-hard to keep her shoulders from drooping.

  Rob felt a couple of obstacles shattering in front of his eyes. She knew
him well enough by now to know what she was getting into with him. He was loud. He was talkative. He was into sports. He wasn’t as smart as she was by a long shot.

  Yet, every nerve fiber told him she didn’t want him to leave. And, hey, he was catching up in the brilliance department. When given a chance and a little time to think, he could make good choices. He was going to try his damnedest to make an excellent one now.

  He pulled her into the backroom, away from the prying eyes of their uncles. “Are you doing anything this Friday night?” he asked and, again, scanned her face and her body for any signs that might give away what was really going on in that whirling mind of hers.

  Her forehead wrinkled. “I…can’t think of anything. Why?”

  Total confusion on her part. Cool, ultra-reserved voice. Not exactly good, but not bad either. He’d have to make his intentions clearer.

  “I’m going to go to Chicago tomorrow, but I’m going to come back up on Friday night.” He held her soft hands in his and looked deep into her gorgeous green eyes. “I’d like to take you out on a date.”

  The eyes got significantly wider, and her luscious lips parted in surprise. But those same lips turned up at the corners, just the slightest bit, in an indication of pleasure at the news. And her fingers tightened in his palms. And when she said, “Oh, okay,” her tone warmed up about forty degrees.

  He grinned and kissed her hands first and then her forehead. “I’ll see you then, sweetheart.”

  *

  ELIZABETH REVIEWED ROB’S parting line about, oh, seventeen thousand five hundred and eighty-three times between that moment and Friday.

  Why did he want to leave immediately to Chicago? Why did he want to come back after only a few days? How long did he intend to stay here? What was he hoping to do on Friday night—and did his plans also include Saturday morning? Was this a guilt visit or more of an attempt to prove to her that he valued her friendship? And, most perplexing of all, what did he mean when he called her “sweetheart”? A term of genuine affection…or a sweet nothing?

  Try as she might, she didn’t know any of the answers for sure. But she intended to find out within the first fifteen minutes of his arrival.

  He only made her wait five.

  They were at her apartment, sitting a respectable distance apart on the sofa, when he turned to her.

  “Elizabeth, I have a few questions for you.”

  She didn’t trust herself to speak so she just nodded.

  “Okay,” he said. “Here goes.” He fiddled with his wristwatch and gulped some air. He looked even more nervous than she felt, which made her anxiety rise to match it.

  “J-Just say it, Rob. Please.” If it was going to be something unpleasant—like that this was his last visit to Wilmington Bay for a while—she just wanted to get it over with.

  “Remember that day when we were in third grade together and you loaned me your very best pencil and we talked and talked all through the art project?” He looked up at her with bright, expectant eyes.

  She smiled slightly. “You talked and talked. I listened. But, yeah, I remember.”

  “Good, because I thought you were the most wonderful creature to walk the planet that day.” He took her hands in his and they were shaking. Not her hands, but his. “I still think that.”

  Okay, this was going differently than she’d expected. Better, but way, way differently.

  “Um, thanks,” she said.

  “You’re welcome.” He paused. “All right. Let me try this again. Remember how I said that I couldn’t imagine having a whole houseful of kids? That I thought this was a really strange female thing and that Tony’s ability to procreate little Gabinarris was way beyond me?”

  She remembered.

  “Well, I’ve kind of changed my mind.”

  Her heart did a weird little tap dance. She squinted at him. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Not a lot of them, mind you, but I could handle one or maybe even two…I think. Especially if they’re half as sweet as their mother.”

  He didn’t give her even five seconds to process this before he said, “And you know how I was really glad to leave Wilmington Bay and live in the big city far away from my dear mama who was trying so desperately to marry me off?”

  She remembered that, too.

  “Well, to be honest, that part is still kind of up for grabs. So, I wanted to know…” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper he quickly unfolded. “Are you afraid of flying?” he read from the list.

  She shook her head. She’d done it a few times and, while not exactly her favorite pastime, she wasn’t too scared.

  “Good. Are you in any way opposed to leaving Wilmington Bay for a week or two every few months? Perhaps an occasional spontaneous weekend away every now and again?”

  “No, but why—”

  “Super. Moving on then. Could you be happy being the mother of, say, only two children instead of four?”

  A happy premonition she couldn’t name began to spread inside her like chocolate frosting on a hot peanut-butter bar, but she kept a straight face. “Well, that all depends on who the father is, Rob. Now why are you—”

  “I’m getting there. Are you uncomfortable having these children with a man who’s not as smart as you are?”

  “Rob!”

  “Well?”

  Now her hands were trembling, too. “I would only share my body with a man I considered both very clever and extremely kindhearted. Period.”

  He looked pleased with her answer. “Okay, then. Last question. Will you marry me, Elizabeth?”

  “No,” she said without hesitation and watched his expression fall. “Not Elizabeth. It’s Lizzy to you.” She smiled her sweetest smile at him. “Try it again.”

  He recovered after a few deep breaths and shot her a dangerous look. “So, Lizzy, will you marry me?”

  “Oh, yes, Roberto,” she said, again without hesitation. “I’m yours forever.”

  “Damn right,” he muttered, pulling her into his arms and pressing his mouth hard against hers. “And don’t you forget it.”

  “With you,” she whispered, “I never forget anything.”

  He hugged her tight. “Elizabeth, I love you, and only you. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, and you’ve had a piece of my heart ever since you were a shy five-year-old. I don’t ever want to be without you.”

  She looked into those warm eyes of his and saw sincerity there—an incredible, almost inconceivable truth. And she knew if a thousand women as pretty and tenacious as Tara Welles threw themselves at him it wouldn’t matter. As long as he loved her, she didn’t have a thing to fear. Rob’s loyalty to those he loved beat like a drum in his chest.

  She kissed him back even harder. When they came up for air, she finally got to ask, “Now, what’s all this about flying?”

  “Oh, I’m planning to turn over management of the Chicago branch of The Playbook to the capable hands of Miguel who, along with his new assistant—this Greek-American guy named Nick—” he paused to raise a cocky brow, “are taking the patrons by storm with a bunch of sticky new desserts and some spinach appetizer thing.”

  She grinned. Nick’s brother Jason would be so proud.

  “And I decided to start a second restaurant out in northern California, in a hot spot I’d heard from a reliable source was just incredible.”

  “Mendocino?” she said, almost gasping out the four syllables.

  “Yep. That’s the place,” he said, making a show of feigning indifference. She wanted to kiss and strangle him at the same time. “Itâ�
�™ll need to be checked up on, though,” he added. “We may need to fly out there a few weekends a month to make sure it’s running smoothly—especially in the beginning.” Then he gave her a serious look. “So, do you think you’re up for it?”

  “I do,” she told him. And she was.

  *

  ACROSS TOWN, SIEGFRIED Finklehooper and Pauly Carrera were reviewing their books at the shop.

  “They did a great job,” Pauly said, noting the increase in profits over the past two months.

  Siegfried read over his shoulder. “Well, we knew they would.”

  The two men looked at each other and laughed. “Those two kids have been meant for each other for twenty years,” Pauly said, patting his belly and grinning at his longtime friend and business partner. “That European idea was inspired, Siegfried. I thought so. Anita thought so. Even Alessandra thought so. She couldn’t believe we’d found a way to hook Roberto.”

  “Ah, well, your sister has a bright son. I know my Liebling will be very happy with him. He’s already brought about wonderful changes in her.”

  “Think they’ll be pleased with their engagement gift?” Pauly said, still grinning.

  “How could they not adore it?” Siegfried said, handing the other man a card that read: Congratulations, Rob and Elizabeth! Tutti-Frutti is yours with love… Your Uncles.

  OTHER TITLES BY MARILYN

  Double Dipping

  Holiday Man

  The Sweet Temptations Collection

  Pride, Prejudice, and the Perfect match

  The Road to You

  All I Ever Wanted

  According to Jane

  Friday Mornings at Nine

  A Summer in Europe

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  http://www.marilynbrant.com

  Marilyn Brant is a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy, and mystery. She was named the Author of the Year in 2013 by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She loves all things Jane Austen, has a passion for Sherlock Holmes, is a travel addict and a music junkie, and lives on chocolate and gelato.