Take Me

“But I thought it was all just for fun up there.” Her voice was faint.

Travis squeezed her hands. “The Festival of Weddings is special.” He stared into her eyes, willing her to read his apology for what he had so stupidly said in front of Luke and Janica. He wanted to be alone with her, to explain his fears, to say that he still loved her. But everything was too raw, and he didn’t feel like he could say “I love you” to Lily in front of their siblings.

Lily blinked several times, and he thought he saw the sheen of unshed tears in her eyes. “So, you’re my husband now?”

He swallowed hard and tried to infuse the two words, “I am,” with every ounce of love he possessed.

That was it, he decided, he was going to get down on one knee and profess his undying love to her right there, right then. She’d see how much he loved her, and everything would be okay. But there was no more time for talking as the music started up again, and, for the second time that night, they were pulled into the center of the celebration.

Chapter Thirteen

Lily wanted to shut off her mind to let the magic of the celebration draw her in again. But it was difficult—

no, impossible—after what Travis had said.

” We were just messing around” he had said. ” It doesn’t mean anything” His careless words had hurt so much, and she had run away from him, in more pain than ever before. But when she saw Luke coming up the stairs to console her, she realized that she couldn’t stand to play the victim again. This was between her and Travis. She would somehow manage to play along, even as her heart tore into a thousand pieces.

And when Travis had taken her hands in his and told her that they were actually married, it had been such a shock. But an even bigger shock had been the vulnerability she saw in his eyes. As if he expected her to throw the marriage in his face.

If he had said that he loved her in front of Luke and Janica, she would have forgiven him. But he didn’t.

And it would be all she could do to get through the night in one piece.

Travis was given a tray filled with small glasses of grappa. The man who handed Travis the tray spoke rapidly in Italian, gesturing to Lily. How she wished she knew the language. Lily, who had spent so much of her life feeling powerless, had never felt quite so helpless before.

Softly, Travis translated for her. “I’m supposed to hand these glasses out to everyone, but first all of the men are supposed to kiss you for good luck.”

Woodenly, Lily went along with the ritual. She greeted first one man, then the next, letting them kiss her on the cheek in congratulations. Travis followed close behind her handing out grappa to the men and women. By the time she made it through the crowd, Lily felt like she’d been kissed by every man in town.

And then everyone had their drinks raised high in the air as they yelled, ” Per cent’anni” throwing their drinks back with gusto.

Travis’s eyes pierced her. “For a hundred years,” he translated and she shivered in response, her heart bruised and battered.

How she wished they had never come to the festival. Why couldn’t they have gone back to their room and just made love instead? Then none of this mess would have ever happened.

But then Lily remembered Janica and Luke and knew that the mess would have happened, if not in the square after their impromptu wedding, then at the hotel. Lily could hardly believe it, but she was actually mad at them for ruining her fantasy. For thinking she needed to be rescued. Whether she did or not was beside the point.

At the same time, Lily knew that even if they hadn’t come to Italy, something similar would have happened in San Francisco.

Travis would have acted like she didn’t mean anything to him, and she, being lily-livered as always, would have hidden her broken heart and played along.

Long wooden tables were being brought into the square. It was chaos as they were draped with tablecloths, candles were lit, and huge, steaming platters of food brought in.

The priest directed Lily and Travis to share the head of the table, plush velvet seats that seemed fit for a king and queen. Overwhelmed by it all, Lily swayed on her feet.

Travis reached out to hold her steady. “Are you all right?” he asked with concern.

Lily couldn’t bear to look at him. “I’m fine,” she said as she tried to pull away from him. He was so close to her and so hot, so incredibly hot she was burning up, but instead of giving her room to breathe, he drew her closer. “If you want to leave, its okay, Lily. We need to talk about what just happened.”

That was all she needed to hear to get back on her feet. “No,” she said, desperate for any reason not to hear what Travis had to say about their impromptu wedding. “I don’t want to ruin the celebration for everyone.” She needed to buy some time to plan her escape so that she wouldn’t have to hear Travis say the awful words she already could imagine.

“I never meant to lead you on this way.”

“I got caught up in the heat of the moment and that’s why I said I loved you.”

” I thought the wedding was a joke. If I had known it was for real, I would have stopped them.”

“We both know that you and I could never be together.”

Stiffly, she made her way to the seat of honor. Travis followed behind her, with Janica and Luke close on their tails. Dinner was endless, with at least a dozen courses of meats, cheeses, fruits, and breads. Lily didn’t have any appetite at all. It wasn’t that the food didn’t look delicious—it certainly did, given the way all the celebrants were stuffing themselves—but she was on pins and needles and could hardly breathe.

Even so, Lily didn’t want the celebration to end. Because as soon as it did, she was going to be cornered by Travis, or Luke, or Janica. All three of them wanted to pick her brain, or worse still, talk to her about things. She didn’t have anything to say to anybody right then. All she wanted to do was lock herself in the hotel room and go to sleep and never wake up.

As the tables were cleared, Lily’s heart raced faster and faster. A grand procession announced the arrival of the wedding cake—a glorious concoction at least three feet high, decorated in pinks and blues.

“Oh my God, Lily, look at that cake!” Janica gaped in amazement and elbowed Luke. “I want one exactly like that at my wedding,” she said to him, but Luke was busy watching Lily’s face. She looked sad and tired and different. Luke couldn’t pin down what it was about her that had changed. There was a new strength in her certainly, but that wasn’t it.