Melanie made her way down the path past the shade of weeping willows to where Luciano knelt. Beneath her arm were two bottles of ice cold water from the cooler she’d plugged in and left in the back seat of her car. In her hand was an unopened package of plant food spikes. Sometimes, the communes splurged and purchased them particularly when there was a dry spell or when the soil was bad that year. Melanie knew they’d do a fine job.

As she approached, Luciano looked up. He smiled at her and dusted his hands on the sides of his ratty jeans. Melanie wrinkled her nose and made a note to bring hand sanitizer and wipes next time they stopped by. She figured Luciano would want to do some weeding the next chance they had to visit.

“Hey,” he said. “Thanks again for making the trip back to the car.”

“No big deal,” Melanie said truthfully. She sank to her knees beside him and offered him one of the bottles. He twisted the cap off and drank deeply. “I’m glad to help out.”

“You’re already helping out with all the flower selection and care,” Luciano said. “If it were up to me, I would have chosen all the wrong things. I didn’t even know I had to worry about shade exposure, or soil pH, or any of those things you concern yourself with.”

Melanie lifted a brow. She set the package of plant food down and twisted the cap off her own bottle. The sun beat down upon them, but she enjoyed the dry desert heat. It felt a lot like home. “If you looked it up online, you would have known.”

“When have I ever researched anything?” Luciano capped the bottle and set it down again. “Not my style.”

“Right. Which is why you’ve got me around.” Melanie stuck out her tongue. “Girlfriend and secretary. What more could a guy ask for?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Luciano shrugged. “How about a vacation? I was thinking it might be fun to head out to Atlantic City after all. It occurred to me that you’ve never seen me in action.”

Excitement welled in her chest, but Melanie didn’t give in to it right away. There was a delicate balance between sarcasm and realism when it came to Luciano, and she didn’t want to jump to conclusions in case he wasn’t being sincere. “You mean that?”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “I thought I could take along a bunch of money, turn that money into more money, and then we could go do something with it. I’ve already bought you a house, so… what else? A trip to Montreal?” he winked.

“God, no.” Melanie stuck her tongue out. “Why don’t we make plans after that to go see my parents for a little while? I’ve had the chance to see different parts of your past, and now I want to show you mine.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” Luciano leaned over and kissed her chastely, but even though his affection was muted, Melanie felt her heart swell with joy. The small, tender moments between them were just as precious to her as the wild chemistry they shared, even a year later. “You think your parents are going to like me?”

“They like everyone.” Melanie laughed. “They’re not bad people; I just couldn’t live like them. I’m a modern girl. We live in different worlds. But for a few weeks? Yeah. I can do that. Especially if it’s with you.”

He reached out and squeezed her hand, and she leaned against him so their arms brushed.

“Now, let’s get some of these plant food spikes into the soil. They’re going to give you really big, beautiful blooms. We should probably think about weeding once a week. I’m pretty bad at weeding, but I think you’ll be okay with it, with your eye for detail.” She winked at him.

“Thank you for doing this,” Luciano said softly. He tore the package of plant food open along the perforated line on the back of the cardboard packaging and removed the first two spines. He wedged them into the soil in front of them, spacing them out just like Melanie instructed him. “You have no idea how much it means to me.”

“I never got to meet her, but I respect her, and I love her, too,” Melanie said. She placed a reassuring hand on Luciano’s thigh. “If she loved you the way you led me to believe she did, she was a good woman. I like to think we would have been friends.”

“I like to think that, too.” Luciano drove in the last of the spikes, then took Melanie’s hand and guided her to her feet. They collected their belongings, cuddled up to one another, then slowly headed back down the path toward the car. In their wake, they left Cassandra’s tombstone, now livened by the flowers they’d planted in front of it. “I love you, you know that, right, Melanie? There’s not another woman in the world like you, and I feel blessed that I unwedged my head far enough from my ass to realize that.”

She scoffed. “No, it’s still in there pretty tight.”

“Hey!” Luciano elbowed her, and Melanie laughed and danced away from his jab. “You sure learned from the best, didn’t you?”

“Totally the best.” Melanie fell back into line beside him, holding his hand once more. “The best, most handsome, totally artistic and did I mention talented guy there is. And I love him with everything I am.”

They made their way back to the car, and then back to their new house, talking and laughing and taking jabs at each other along the way.

The future was bright, their present was dazzling, and most importantly, they were in love.

Melanie wouldn’t trade their journey for the world.