Beautiful in My Eyes (10 page)

“Okay, but no wild parties, all right? I wouldn't want the neighbors calling the cops or anything.”

“
Weel
, tis no fun if we
cannae
make a wee disturbance, but I promise ta keep Aidan from
servin
' any jail time, all right?”

“All right,” I agree, laughing. “Will you tell him I love him?”

“Already don',
darlin
'.”

“I love you, Julian.”

“I love ye, too, an' I’ll be
thinkin
' o you,
alwa's
.”

“Me, too.”

I'm just returning to the main sitting area of the suite when there is a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Dad says with a smile.

“Sir, your limo is ready.”

“Thank you. We will be right down.”

“Dad, a limo?”

“Yes, a limo.”

“I can’t believe you did this!” I hug him, kissing his cheek.

“Believe it. While we are here, we are going to travel in style.”

“Where are we going?”

“Well, first we are going out to dinner. Then we'll go for a drive around the city and see some of the sights before it gets dark.”

I glance down at myself. “Maybe I should change . . .”

“No need. You look great.”

We dine at an Italian restaurant and I can’t remember eating a better Italian meal. I love everything, from the main dish of stuffed Chicken
Marsala
to the rich Tiramisu I have for dessert. In fact, the dessert is so
good,
I order an extra one to go.

“Dinner was great, Dad. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I am glad we could do this. There won’t be many opportunities like this after I’m married.”

“I know. And I won't allow myself to be sad thinking of you being over a thousand miles away.”

His smile is somber. “I'll try not to be sad, too.” He pauses, silently looking at me for a moment.

“What is it?”

“You look so much like your mother. You have her beautiful smile and her soft spoken manner.” He kisses my hand. “You mean the world to me, and I don’t know how I would have made it through this last few years if you hadn’t been here for me. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Dad. And repeating what you what you told me, you are much stronger than you think you are.”

“But a large part of that strength comes from you. I have been so blessed to have you as a daughter.”

I struggle to keep the tears at bay. “I have been blessed to have you, too.”

“I want you to know that even though my life is changing, I will always be here for you.”

“Thank you.” I smile, not trusting myself to say more for fear that I will start crying and not be able to stop. I will miss my dad more than I can say.

A few minutes later, our waiter is back with my boxed dessert and the check. Dad pays him and thanks him for his great service. Then we leave.

We spend an hour driving around the city, just talking and enjoying our time together.

“So did you and Cassie decide where you are going on your honeymoon?”

“Yes, we have. She has always wanted to go to Europe, so we're going to travel and see the whole country.”

“That’s so exciting! How long will you be gone?”

“About a month. We want to take our time.”

“Be sure to take lots of pictures.”

“We will. Cassie is very much into scrap booking, so I’m sure we will be bringing back a suitcase full of photos.”

By the time we make it back to the hotel, it is 11:00 and we're both pretty tired. I place my packages on the sofa and hug Dad. “Thank you for a wonderful day.”

“You're welcome. Now go and get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”

“Bigger than today? Is that possible?”

“Just wait and see.”

“Okay, since I have no choice.” He chuckles and kisses my brow. “Goodnight, Dad.”

“Goodnight, honey.”

Chapter 10

The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

Julian

H
aving finished his breakfast, Julian smiles as he watches his son eat his soggy toast, dripping with the milk he'd dumped on it. “
Tha’s
definitely an acquired taste,” he says, clearing off the table.

As he fills the dishwasher, Julian's thoughts wander to Giselle. It has only been a day, but he misses her immensely. The only time they have ever been apart is the
one day
each year that she spends with her father. The two have always been close and Julian can tell she is more heartbroken about the move than she is letting on. But Giselle is strong that way, the strongest woman he has ever known, and he loves her to distraction. Being without her for a whole week is going to be tough. But she and her dad need this time.

             
We will have plenty of time to make up.
The thought makes him smile and warmth spreads th
r
ough him.

             
Giselle is everything to him, the light of his life, the very air he breathes, and her very essence keeps him steady. Even now, knowing she is in New York with her father, he subconsciously wanders through the house looking for her, feeling a part of
himself
missing. It's as if his heart is driven to seek her out. The final verse of her favorite Scottish song comes to mind.

             
Tho
' ‘
twere
ten thousand mile, my love

             
Tho
'
t'were
ten thousand mile,

             
And I will come again my love,

             
Tho
'
t'were
ten thousand mile.

             
Julian could never have guessed when he went to work that night at his pub in Glasgow that his entire life was about to change. The moment he walked up on the small stage with his guitar, then turned around and looked into her eyes, she captured his heart and soul, and he had felt driven to make her his. Never in his life had anything like that ever happened to him. He hadn't dated anyone in over a year, and it hadn't been because of lack of opportunity. The way women threw themselves at him regularly had been both nauseating and off-putting. But Giselle had been different. He
felt
different just being near her. He knew she would most likely think he was using a line to pick her up, but somehow his heart had spoken to hers, and he knew if she hadn't been open to him and the words he spoke–words that hadn't come to him until the moment he approached her table–he would have been lost. She possessed complete power over him and she hadn't even known it.

             
Drawing his thoughts back to the present, Julian turns as Aidan holds out his plate, and he quickly takes it before the little boy becomes impatient and drops it.

“All don',
laddie
?” He cleans his son up and takes him up to the playroom. Then he heads back down to finish cleaning the kitchen, missing the finishing touch Giselle normally adds. He is wiping off the counter when the phone rings.

“Hello.”

“Hi, it’s me.”

“Hi, me,” he says, happy to talk to her.

“How are things this morning?”

“All right,
darlin
', except I’m
missin
' ye
somethin
' fierce.”