Simone (The Ciprianos of Kellington Book 2) (13 page)

“I made sure no one
told her who I was and this lasted about a month or so.”

“So, how did you tell
her who you were?” Delia asked, wondering how this story was going to end.

“After a month of
sending notes, I decided to surprise her on my day off. I made her favorite
dish and brought it to her along with a red rose. I had gotten all cleaned up,
was in the best clothes that I had and she sat there at her table, wearing a
pair of black slacks and a cream-colored blouse. She wore her hair in a
ponytail that day, like Michelle wears hers now. I put the plate on the table
and sat down in the chair next to her. She said, ‘Excuse me’ but then I told
her, ‘My name is Philippe Bordeaux. I’m the one who has been giving you the
notes these past few days and I want to know more about the lovely woman who
has been sitting here every day.”

Delia felt herself
about to melt, hearing this story, and she could tell by the interaction
between the two that they were still very much in love.

“We had a time
convincing her parents about me but soon they saw that I was worthy of their
daughter. After a year and a half of dating, I asked her to marry me on
Fourviere
Hill, very famous in Lyon. I had saved up enough
money to buy her this ring.” He took Jillian’s hand where a small diamond ring
was presented on her dainty finger. “I got down on one knee and proposed to her
and of course she said yes. It was rough at first when we moved in together to
make ends meet but soon I found out that Jillian could cook, really good food,
especially her desserts. That’s when we decided to buy our own small bouchon,
it was only big enough for about four people to sit out front and only six
inside. The kitchen was large enough for just us two but with me making all the
food and Jillian making the desserts, it was hard. So what we had to do was
cook at our parents’ houses and bring all the food to our home to store along
with what we needed at our bouchon. But then it got even more difficult when
she became pregnant with our first child Andre. Then a couple of years after he
was born, we had enough to move to a bigger place, we were able to hire a small
staff.”

“And that’s when Jules
and Julien were born,” Jillian giggled as Delia couldn’t help but listen on
while Jaslyn continued to eat. “Michelle is our only girl and she’s her
father’s
cherie
ange
.”

“Cherie
ange
?” Jaslyn asked.

“Umm, how do you say?
Darling angel. Well, after we had our daughter, we decided to come to America
to start off new and now we are here in Kellington, restarting in a brand new
place.”

“Now, that’s an amazing
and beautiful story.” Delia looked at the plate, realizing that the quiche that
had been there was now gone except for some crumbs. “You could have at least
saved me some, Jaslyn, geez.”

“I’m sorry, but it was
too delicious,”

Philippe let out a
hearty laugh and told her, “This is what happens when you get hold of one of my
quiches. I will get a slice just for you, my dear.” And with that, he walked
back inside as Jillian rolled her eyes while shaking her head. “You better
watch out, now he knows you love his food, he’ll be sending you more and more.”

“Oh, I don’t mind at
all, everything here smells and tastes so good,” Jaslyn said as Philippe came
back out with another slice of quiche, putting it down in front of Delia who
began to eat it. “Where are your sons, now?”

“Andre is a lawyer in
New York. He has a wife and our grandson, Andre Jr., or, as we like to call
him, A.J. Jules went back to France after he graduated from college and he
works in film. Julien lives in Arizona with his girlfriend and they are both
artists.”

“I know you are very
proud of them all, Jillian, as you should be,” Delia told her as she watched
Jillian smile.

“I will have Michelle
bring you your desserts right away, excuse me.”

Delia continued to eat
some of her quiche while Jaslyn sipped on her tea. Never had she tasted
anything as heavenly as this quiche, she thought while taking bite after bite
of the egg and spinach concoction. She knew that she needed to stop but of
course that was not going to happen as Michelle came out with two beautifully
made desserts. “Oh my goodness, will you look at these.” Jaslyn smiled when
Michelle served the beautifully made plate with the two puff pastries on top of
one another with chocolate in between to hold them together. Chocolate was
swirled like a pool around this little confection. Delia thought it was too
beautiful to eat and she watched Jaslyn go into her purse to grab her phone.
She took a picture and started to text something right afterwards. “What are
you doing?”

“Sending this little
morsel to Renzo with a note saying ‘Look what I got’. And after I eat it, I’ll
send him another one saying ‘All gone’.”

They heard Michelle
start to snicker a bit, “Now that is funny, for sure.” She placed the small
beautiful tart with strawberries that were so bright and red and glistening
with some kind of glaze in front of Delia who said, “Thank you. How do you like
it here in Kellington so far?”

“Oh, it’s nice and
quaint here. I’m going to have to get used to it here but I think we’ll do just
fine.” Delia watched her walk away, noticing that sound of discontent in her
voice. There was something there, she thought, but of course she wasn’t about
to dig any deeper.

Chapter Fifteen

Simone looked at
himself in the mirror while he was in his bathroom. He found himself staring at
his reflection for the longest time while he was trying to get ready for their
date. He didn’t understand why in the hell he was so nervous.

“Hell, it’s just a
date, man,” he told himself for what was now the fifth time. He put on his tie,
which of course was now the eighth time he’d tried to put it on. Even something
as simple as putting on a tie tonight was proving difficult for him to do.
Letting out a huge sigh, he closed his eyes for a moment. “Just put on your tie
and get yourself ready. Tonight is your anniversary with the woman you love.”
And with that he started on his tie, this time going slowly because the last
three times he’d rushed and ended up tying his fingers in knots along with the
tie.

After finally getting
himself together, Simone looked around and thought about whether he’d
remembered everything he needed before the limo came to pick him up. Grabbing
the phone he called Delia to see if she was ready. He slipped on his shoes
while waiting for her to answer and after the second ring she picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hi sweetheart, are you
ready for our date tonight?”

“Of course I am, just
fixing my hair a bit more and going to put on some perfume. Are you ready?”

“Yes, I am. It feels
just the way I felt on our first date. I bet the dress looks beautiful on you.”

“I want to thank you
for it again, it is simply gorgeous. I didn’t think that you would have
remembered the color of the dress I wore that night.”

“I remembered
everything about that night and I know tonight will be no different than it was
that first night.” He told her, sitting on the bed to adjust his feet within
his shoes. “I just wanted to call and see if you were ready, the driver should
be here soon.”

“I am so ready for the
night to begin.”

A knock sounded at the
door before Renzo came in and said, “The limo is here.”

“Well, the limo is
here. See you in five minutes, darling.” He made his way out of the room while
both he and Renzo started walking down the hallway. “So, you have everything
ready?”

“Yup, everything is set
and ready for you both. My guys will know what to do.” His brother assured him
as they made their way up front.

“Thanks, bro, talk with
you later.” He headed out of the door, seeing the driver standing next to the
limo, wearing a full tuxedo and saying, “Hello, Mr. Cipriano. I’ll let you in
and we’ll be on our way.” He opened the door for Simone who got inside, seeing
that the entire limo was well stocked with a small bar of liquor, water and
sodas. Soon the driver got in and then they were off. His heart started to race
a bit as they drove out of the driveway and down the hill. He looked over at
the bar, thinking that maybe if he had a drink, he might calm down. But as he
moved toward it, he stopped himself. No, he thought, he wanted things to be
like they were that night and everything was going to be just fine. Resting
against the seat, he looked up through the sunroof at the evening sky and found
himself starting to relax a bit more.

As they made their way
through town, Simone reached in his pocket to grab a mint for he knew that they
would soon be at her place. Rolling the mint around his mouth with his tongue,
he let it click along his teeth nervously as they made the left turn onto
Parsons Avenue, Delia’s street. They drove a bit further until they stopped in
front of Delia’s family home. He waited for the driver to open the door for him
to get out and when the man did, he stood there looking over at the other house
of his childhood.

He walked slowly up the
driveway, the same one he remembered him and the guys playing basketball on
every Sunday after church. He smiled when he saw the old swing chair where they
used to sit and talk until her mother would tell them it was time for Delia to
come inside for bed. When her mother had died about six years ago, it broke
Simone’s heart the most. He had been there for Andrew and Delia’s mother,
Olivia, when she had gotten so sick with leukemia. When Andrew or Delia got too
tired to handle her, he would take time off from his job to help out. Either by
taking her to chemotherapy or making sure she went to her other doctors’
appointments. Sometimes she would ask to go and visit his mother because she
always loved her garden. He would take her there, sometimes wheeling her in her
wheelchair if she had gotten too tired to walk and she would sit there in a
special spot that his mother had made especially for her. They would sit and
have tea if she was able to drink it and just talk until she had gotten too
tired to do that.

When she had gotten so
weak that they knew she wasn’t going to make it through the night, she had
asked for everyone to leave because she had wanted to talk with Simone alone.
He sat down next to her in her hospital bed and she looked so tired and worn
from all that she had been through those last couple of months but she put on a
small smile for him.

“Simone,
darling, I just wanted to talk with you for a bit. There is something that I’ve
been wanting for a long time and I wish for you to do it for Delia.”

“Sure,
Mrs. Whitney whatever you want me to do I’ll do it.”

“I
want you to fix up my house for her. I plan on giving her the house so that one
day she can raise a family of her own in it. I want her to have a lovely place
to stay and I know she wouldn’t want to leave Kellington. Also, there is
another thing I want you to do for me as well. I want you to find yourself
someone special because you deserve someone in your life. I don’t want you to
be alone forever.” Tears flooded her eyes which ended up making him tear up as
well, just from looking at her.

“I
promise to get the house done and to find someone to make my life complete as
well.” He took her hand, kissing it softly while she smiled. It would be the
last time anyone would see her smile, for about ten minutes later she passed
away with family and friends around her. He made good on his promise about a
month after she passed, the brothers had people come to fix up the entire house
inside and out, according to what Delia wanted.

It was something that
he could see now when he looked at the house and how beautiful it looked.
Making his way up to the door, he pressed the doorbell and waited only briefly
before the door slowly opened up, revealing something before him that he
thought had stepped out of a dream.

She stood there wearing
the dress he had picked out for her, looking like a beautiful royal goddess in
lavender. Her smile brightened her face which was flawlessly made up, with only
a little makeup. Her hair was pinned up except for some curls which lightly
framed her face. “Hi.”

Simone was at a
complete loss for words, standing there. She kept staring at him, waiting for him
to at least say something. For Christ’s sake man, say something, quick, he
chastised himself. “I’m sorry, but you look so beautiful that you literally
have taken my words away.”

“Why, my goodness, I
can’t believe I’ve made the eloquent lawyer Simone Cipriano speechless.” She
walked back in, turning off the lights as she closed the door. He immediately
took her by the hand while walking over to the limo and its driver. “Good
evening, ma’am.” The driver nodded as Delia did the same before she got inside.
Once they were both in, the door was closed and the driver went over toward the
driver’s side, got in and drove toward the
Cipriano
home.

* * * *

Delia thought it was
funny how Simone had become speechless when he laid eyes on her that night. She
thought he looked handsome, though, standing there wearing the same clothes
he’d worn the night of their first date. When they got into the limo, he held
her in his arms while holding her hand. “Oh yeah, before I forget,” He reached
in his pocket, pulling out a blindfold and she started to laugh.

“But I already know
that you are taking me to your mother’s garden.”

“True but still.” He
handed it to her. “Put it on anyway.”

“Fine, I’ll put it on
even though I honestly don’t know why.” Putting on the silly blindfold she felt
him take her hands once more. “So, you must have changed it up a bit, then?”

“Maybe I have, and
maybe I’ve left it just like our first date. You’ll have to wait and see,
sweetheart.” She felt his lips lightly caress her temple. Even though her eyes
were blindfolded, she closed them to relish the feeling that overcame her.
Before long those lips trailed their way toward her earlobe which immediately
made her melt. Letting out a sigh she moved her hand along his knee and quickly
up between his legs, grabbing hold of his cock. She heard him gasp which made
her smile. “Easy, tiger, with all that kissing you’re doing there.” Her fingers
found themselves rubbing gently against his cock and she felt him grow
suddenly. “You’re going to start something you can’t finish right away.”

“Keep rubbing me like
you’re doing right now and I plan on doing something that I’ve only dreamed of
doing with you.” His kisses trailed along her neck which only tightened her
grip on his cock. A growl rumbled from his throat when he whispered, “Do you
know how much you’re turning me on right now, Delia?” He nipped at her neck
which made her nipples go erect. She knew she needed to stop, but having him
like this was something that she had found herself dreaming of late at night when
she was in bed. She would often moan his name when she was alone in bed, years
and years before she had even gotten with Rodger.

“We’d better stop,
Simone. We can put this on pause until later.” Delia assured him.

“You promise?”

“I promise for sure,
sweetheart.”

“That’s good, because
we are almost here and I’ve got to calm myself down now.” Simone told her while
she smiled. She felt them going up a hill which she knew meant they were at his
parents’ house. Soon they stopped and his hand took hers, gripping her fingers
softly within his own. The warm air of the night came into the limo as he
pulled her out into the open once more. He was her guide as they walked along
the gravel and grass.

“Be careful,
sweetheart, watch your step right here, we are going up onto the pathway.” She
moved her foot up as it came to the pathway and they continued walking even
further. The creaking of the gate along with the faint smell of flowers told
her that they were walking into the garden. “All right, darling, you can take off
your blindfold now.”

Slowly taking it off,
her eyes had to adjust a bit to the glow of the lanterns and candles that
illuminated the garden. My goodness, she thought to herself, how beautiful
everything looked. When she walked toward the pergola, which was accented with
candles, and saw the table set just for the two of them, she smiled. “It’s just
like our first night, Simone, everything looks so perfect.” He helped her with
her chair before he sat down in his. She saw the small silver bell sitting next
to her flatware and immediately picked it up to hear its harmonious ring. That
was when two men, wearing white shirts with black vests and slacks walked in
with two silver domed trays in hand. Once they sat the trays in front of them
and took off the domes, the instant fragrance of cream and parmesan cheese hit
her nose along with the scent of fresh egg noodles. “Your mother’s fettuccini
alfredo, still my favorite of all time.” She watched him quickly uncork a
bottle of wine, which was a Pinot Blanc, from what she could see on the bottle.
“This time we can have wine instead of sparkling apple cider,” Simone joked
while pouring her a glass.

Delia smiled, for she
remembered that cider as she looked at the sparkling white wine in her glass
which gave off an almost amber glow. “A toast,” he announced as she too raised
her glass. “To new beginnings with the woman I have loved since the first day I
met her and loved even more after our very first date here in the garden. I
love you, Delia, with all my heart and soul for now and forever. Salute!”

“Salute.” Delia’s voice
quivered with emotion until she took a sip of wine. They both continued eating
their meal, making small talk here and there while eating. It was moments like
this that Delia remembered how much she loved this man and how easy it was to
be able to just sit and chat. Sure, she could have done that with Rodger but
once she was able to sit back and think upon how it was with him, the more she
realized that he wasn’t the one for her after all.

Wiping her mouth she
decided to ask him, “When are you going on vacation?” She watched him slurp up
a noodle, eating it quickly and wiping his mouth before answering her.

“Well, it won’t be for
another couple of weeks since I’ve got three major cases coming up. After that
I’m free for about a month and I was thinking about us going on a vacation
together somewhere.” He gave her a wink which let her know that he had been
thinking about it.

“I just asked because I
had hoped we could get together and go off somewhere.”

“We will, for sure, it
will just have to be after these cases are done. I will make sure to surprise
you by taking you some place special on our vacation together.” He assured her
as she nodded and continued to eat her dinner.