Home to Me (The Andrades, Book 2) (28 page)

He gave her an infuriatingly vague look. “You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you? I’ll give you a hint—it’s not a hot air balloon ride.”

Rena smiled. “Hey, that turned out well.”

He tucked her into his side and kissed her forehead. “I remember.”

Rena leaned back so she could see his face. “Just tell me if this is the kind of Saturday we used to have, or a date like the kind we’ve been going on all week.”

Her question gained her a lopsided grin in response. “Which would you rather have?”

Rena ran a hand along Nick’s thigh and squeezed it. “Do I have to choose? They were all amazing.”

He laid his hand on hers, then brought her hand to his lips. “I agree.”

Rena turned his face toward hers. “You’re not going to even give me a hint?”

“I did. Home.”

Rena sighed. “You’re killing me.”

Their car pulled over to a small park on the beach. The driver handed Nick a blanket and a small basket. It was a cool early-autumn evening and the beach was deserted. Nick led her to the edge of the water and laid the blanket down. Rena shivered and Nick took off his jacket, placing it around her shoulders before they both settled on the blanket.

Rena joked, “We’re a little overdressed for a day at the beach.”

Nick took one of her hands in his and said, “I thought of a hundred different ways to do this. Some of them included jetting you off to Europe. I even started to research one here in the city, I was going to pay off the night guard at the Natural Museum of Science, and he was going to let us have a few hours alone in the woolly mammoth display case. I pictured a sort of caveman-cavewoman theme.”

“What are you talking about?”

Nick looked out of the ocean and said, “Don’t rush me. I’m nervous.”

Rena’s breath caught in her throat. Nick wasn’t the nervous type. She squeezed his hand and waited, even though she thought she might pass out from the anticipation building inside her. He couldn’t be about to ask what she thought he was, could he? “Why are you nervous?”

He turned toward her and took both of her hands in his. “This is important. I don’t want any more misunderstandings. I didn’t come from a family like yours, Rena.” He stopped and looked down in frustration. “I probably don’t have to explain that to you. You know my family.”

Rena gave his hands a squeeze and said, “It’s just me. You don’t have to choose your words carefully. Just say it.”

He looked up and met her eyes. “I’ve been looking for something my whole life. I didn’t know what it was, but I do now. I want a home, Rena. Not a big empty house where people live but don’t actually talk to each other. I want somewhere full of love and laughter. A place where I can be myself and know I belong. And that’s what you are to me, Rena. You’re home to me.”

Tears welled up in Rena’s eyes and started running down her cheeks. She would have wiped them away but Nick was still holding her hands. “You’re home to me, too, Nick. When I’m with you I feel like I can finally be myself. Like I’m finally free.”

“I love you, Rena. Say you’ll marry me, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you why this is the right choice.”

Although Rena was tempted to simply throw her arms around him and chant yes a hundred times, she felt a playfulness when she was with Nick that she could not suppress. She looked up at him from beneath her long lashes and asked, “Will we still have our Saturday dates? Because I’ve never had sex with a caveman.”

Nick hauled her to him and rained kisses on her face. “Oh, you just wait and see where I take you next time.”

Rena gave him a saucy smile. “I have a few ideas of my own.” She kissed him deeply, then said, “I love you, Nick Andrade. I will marry you today, tomorrow, wherever, or whenever you want. I don’t care. As long as we’re together.”

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. When he opened it, Rena recognized the simple diamond solitaire inside and gasped. Nick said, “Your mother said this was her mother’s ring. She said your grandparents were married for fifty years so it has to be full of a lot of love. If you want a new one, I’ll buy you one, but I thought . . .”

Rena slid the ring on, then went up onto her knees and kissed Nick again. “No, this is perfect.” Then she stopped as a thought came to her. “How did you get this ring? Did you go see my parents? Did you tell them you were going to ask me to marry you?”

Nick nodded and grinned.

Rena looked down at the ring in shock. “How did that go?”

“We sorted a few things out, but in the end we agreed the most important thing in all this was your happiness. And I can make you happy, Rena. I know I can.”

Rena kissed him, then hugged him tightly. “You already do.”

***

A short time later, when Nick and Rena were back in the car, Nick sent a text:
We’re on our way.

Rena peered over and asked, “You’re texting someone now?”

Nick wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. “Your mother wanted to make sure everything was ready when we arrived.”

“My mother?”

Nick smiled. “You have one more surprise today. I hope it’s what you wanted. I think it is.”

Even though Rena tried to pry hints out of him, Nick refused to say more on the long drive. The street leading to her parents’ driveway was lined with cars. Rena sat up and craned her neck so she could see better as they approached. “Are my parents having a party?”

Nick kissed her shoulder. “Technically we are, but they’re hosting it.”

Rena looked back at him, her eyes round with wonder. “An engagement party?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a bold move. What if I had said no?”

He pulled her back against him and buried his face in her neck. “I didn’t let myself consider that possibility.”

They pulled up to the front of the house and Rena gripped Nick’s arms as she looked around. “Nick, there has to be a hundred people here. Who did you invite?”

He took her hand and led her toward the house. “I started with your family, then my brothers, and some of my friends I’d like you to meet. Then I called Uncle Alessandro and asked him if there were any Andrades around who wanted to come celebrate our engagement. Apparently there are a lot of them.”

A pack of children ran past them like a stampeding herd. Rena laughed. “Do you know all of them?”

Nick pointed to a man who ran past after the children. “That’s my second cousin Tino.” Another man called for the first man to get his child back in the yard too. “Or that’s Tino. I’m still learning all their names.” He put a hand on Rena’s back and guided her closer. “I’m hoping you can help me sort them out.”

Rena shook her head in amazement at the number of family who had come out to support Nick and said, “It might take a while.”

Nick leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “That’s okay, we have a lifetime together to figure it out.”

Two weeks later, Rena had a cab drop her off in front of the impressive Corisi home where Maddy had requested her presence for what she said was an important family meeting.

Keep your friends close, and your wacky family members closer,
Rena thought. With someone like Maddy, it wasn’t a bad idea to attend her meetings just to keep abreast of what she was up to.

Abby Corisi opened the front door of her home and graciously welcomed Rena with a warm hug, beckoning her to enter. Nicole Andrade, Nick’s cousin through marriage, rushed over to also hug Rena.

Maddy joined them with a cautious smile. “Thanks for coming, Rena. I wasn’t sure if you would.” The sad eyes she gave Rena reminded her of the momentary contrition of a puppy who had been caught shredding something and would soon be off to shred something else. It was a clear act of manipulation, but one that was impossible to resist. Maddy’s father had hit the reason dead on the head when he’d said his daughter was all heart. She might be impulsive and have a penchant for meddling, but she meant well.

Rena reluctantly smiled. “I’m not angry with you anymore, Maddy.”

Maddy threw her arms around Rena and gave her a bone-crushing hug. “I never meant to hurt you, Rena. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

Rena hugged her back. “I realize you didn’t know what Patrice was capable of.”

Abby requested they follow her into one of the house’s side salons. As they walked, Maddy linked arms with Rena and said, “She can’t be as awful as you think she is. She’s Nick’s mother and my aunt. Sometimes people go through things that give them a bitter outer shell, but everyone has good in them.”

Rena pulled Maddy to a halt and bore into her with her eyes. “It’s nice to be optimistic about people, Maddy, but not when it endangers the ones you love. Don’t trust Patrice. She has very few allies right now and if she can use you, she will. I may not be related to her, but I’ve seen her up close and in action for a long time. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

Maddy let Rena’s arm drop. “I’m not an idiot, you know. But I also don’t write people off just because they’ve made some mistakes.”

Nicole touched Maddy’s arm gently. “I don’t think you’re an idiot, Maddy. You’ve lived a blessed life where you’ve never had to deal with anyone like Patrice. My father was an angry and vindictive man. I regret not cutting my father out of life. It took his death for me to admit what he’d put my family through. Be careful with your aunt. Stephan says she’s an unhappy woman who seems hell-bent on sabotaging her own sons. Listen to what Rena is saying. She’s speaking from a loving place, too.”

With uncharacteristically sad eyes, Maddy asked, “So, what are you suggesting, that I ignore her when she calls? That I stop going to see her?”

“Yes,” Rena and Nicole said in unison.

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Maddy said seriously.

Their talk was cut off as they entered a room full of other women. Julia put down the cup of tea she was sipping when she saw Rena and patted the open space next to her on the couch. She joked, “Yay, now I’m not the only newbie here.”

Nicole stepped closer to Rena. “They will appear crazy at first, but you’ll never meet a more supportive or genuinely loving group of women. I married into some of this, but all of them are family now.”

Abby smiled warmly at Nicole. “I don’t remember life before all of you. I don’t want to.”

A beautiful woman with similar but leaner features and an easy smile walked over and put her arm around Abby’s shoulders. “It was just you and me.”

A tall, stunning redhead flipped her hair over one shoulder and said, “Don’t forget me, Lil. I was right there with you, driving Abby nuts.”

Abby waved a finger playfully at the redhead. “You certainly were, Alethea. Someday you’ll have children and I will enjoy watching them put you through your paces.”

Alethea smiled unabashedly at Abby. “Marc will keep them in line.”

Nicole laughed. “Rena, as you probably know, Abby is married to my brother, Dominic. Her sister, Lil, is married to Jake Walton, Dominic’s business partner. Alethea is Lil’s best friend. Never lie to her, she’s on Dominic’s security force and probably already knows your bank account balance to the penny. It’s a little scary, but you’ll get used to her. The woman sitting in the chair beside Julia is Marie Duhamel. She’ll tell you she’s my brother’s personal assistant, but really she’s like a den mother around here and a genius when it comes to solving problems. Keep her number handy. I don’t know how she does it. Sometimes I think she has a magic wand she won’t tell us about. Either way, if you need anything, she’s the one to call. I believe you know that I’m a first cousin to Maddy through my husband, Stephan. And, of course, you already know Julia.”

“Wow,” Rena said with a chuckle. “I’ll try to remember everyone’s name. Please be patient with me—I’ve met a lot of people recently.”

Abby took a seat beside Marie. “Marie, I told you about that, right? Nick called Maddy’s father and asked if there were any Andrades who wanted to attend an engagement party.”

The very properly dressed older woman slapped her lap and laughed. “He didn’t.”

Maddy and Nicole sat down across from them. “He did,” Maddy said with a huge smile.

Alethea and Lil sat together on the end of a chaise lounge. Alethea shook her head at the group in amusement. “No one thought to warn him?”

Lil leaned against her friend in camaraderie. “Now where would the fun be in that?”

While Nicole poured herself a cup of tea, she said, “It’s funny, but it’s also heartwarming to see Nick reaching out to the family the way he is. Stephan’s father called and there was no option except going, but we didn’t mind. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank the powers above for bringing all of you into my life.”

Marie dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “Don’t, Nicole. I don’t want to start bawling and ruin my makeup.”

Maddy uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “See, this is why I called a meeting. Family doesn’t just happen. It’s a choice we make. Uncle Victor understands that. Many families stop gathering because it’s inconvenient or because someone is arguing with someone. Yes, we argue, but Andrades don’t give up on each other. We’re so close to our goal. We can’t stop now.”