Love Beyond Words (City Lights: San Francisco Book 1) (41 page)

“Such a martyr. Saint! I meant to say saint.”

Liberty snorted. “So how’s tricks? Let me guess: you’ve spent most of your tour of Europe with your nose in that new book of his, right? Be honest. You’ve read it ten times by now, right?

Natalie smiled to herself. “Nope. Only once.” She’d only needed to read it once, and felt as if she could have recited it word for word.
It’s our story.

“I just might believe you,” Liberty said, laughing. “How was Croatia? Where did you go again? Reykjavik?”

“That’s Iceland. We went to
Rijeka
for about eight days.”

“You say potato…How was it?”

“It was absolutely stunning. Just beautiful, and Julian was so happy to be there.”

Happy wasn’t the right word. Julian had found it challenging and painful at first, then ultimately exhilarating to be there, to learn that his father had been more than the inconstant ghost who’d haunted him for so long. But she didn’t tell Liberty that.

“He reconnected with family he never knew he had. Filled in a lot of blanks. It was amazing.”

“Happy to hear it,” Liberty said. “And then you’re in Italy for what…a few more days? Then Paris?” She heaved a sigh. “Such is life for the nouveau riche.”

“We’ll be back in San Francisco at the end of the month. Hopefully the house will be done by then.”

“That Victorian mega mansion? Don’t hold your breath.”

“It’s not
that
huge.”

“It has to be,” Liberty said, “to hold all your books. I swear, between you and Julian, don’t be surprised if the city library comes knocking to borrow a few.”

Natalie laughed. “It won’t be
all
books. It’s old and beautiful and perfect. You’ll see.” She smiled to herself. “Anyway, how is Marshall?”

“Aggravating, as usual. He’s all hot and heavy with Carter.
In love
with Carter, he says.
Carter
. They both have last names for first names. It’s so cute I could barf.”

“I’m so happy for him.” Natalie’s smile slipped. “But how
is
he? I feel like I can’t go too long without seeing him. I start to get nervous…”

“He’s fine, honey,” Liberty said. “Really.”

“Okay. And what about you? How are things with Angelo?”

Liberty sighed. “Slow. Things are so uncharacteristically
non-
dysfunctional for a change, I’m petrified I’ll screw it up. Plus, my agent would kill me if I lost focus. See how I worked that into the conversation? My agent. I’m still quite stunned over that development.”

“You shouldn’t be. You’re long overdue for the recognition.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Liberty said, though Natalie could hear how the compliment touched her. “Will you be back in time for the last leg?
My agent
says we wrap up in S.F. early in August.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Natalie said. “I start work that week at Solar Initiatives too, so—”

“So you’d be in double trouble for not being in town, mostly from me.”

Natalie grinned. “Right.”

“All right, hon, I’d better let you get back your glamorous Italian palace life. Plus,
my agent
doesn’t want me talking too long and tiring out my voice.”

“Oh stop,” Natalie laughed. “Hey, give Marshall a big kiss and one for you too.”

“Will do. Love you, Nat.”

“Love you, Lib.”

Natalie hung up and thought about turning the phone off entirely. The view of the city from the top of the Gritti was stunning. To her right, the Grand Canal was a blue swath between sandstone homes and shops that still looked like they belong to another time.

Julian appeared a little less than an hour later. “After six of these interviews, you’d think I’d develop a tolerance.” He sat down on a lounge chair beside her. “So. Ready for dinner?”

“Dinner?” Natalie laughed. “It’s not even four o’clock. And don’t forget my gondola ride. You’ve been putting that off for days.”

“So much to do, so little time,” he said with a grin. “Come on, let’s eat. I can only talk about myself for so long before I start to feel like a bear in trap, ready to gnaw my own leg off to escape.”

“That’s a lovely visual.” He stood and she took his hand. “Okay, food then boat.”

He kissed her sweetly. “We’ll see.”

#

The sun was just beginning to set, casting glowing embers over the mouth of the Grand Canal as they set off from the Gritti. They ate
dinner, and then strolled the canal, past shops full of handmade carnival masks and blown glass jewelry. Julian offered to buy her one gorgeous Murano pendant in rose-colored glass but Natalie laid her fingers over the micro mosaic willow tree she wore around her neck always.              

“This is the only jewelry I need.”

“Is it?” he asked, a strange smile gracing his lips.

“Yes.” She kissed that smile. She never tired of kissing him, nor he of her.
We’re a constant menace of PDA,
she thought and giggled. “We have just two days left in Venice,” she reminded him as they left the shop. “Two. And who knows how busy we might get...”

“Are you trying to tell me you want a gondola ride? Right now?”

“Right now. Before I burst.”

“We can’t have bursting. Okay, let’s see if we can find something close.”

They walked a few blocks off San Marco to find a
servizio
that would take them along the quiet back canals of Venice as well as the Grand. They found a gondolier in black pants and black and white striped shirt, leaning against his gondola and smoking a cigarette. Julian negotiated with him for a minute and then said, “Okay, we’re set.”

Natalie clapped her hands with joy as their gondolier—Luca—handed her in. Julian sat beside her and they pushed off.

Luca took them through the quiet, narrow canals, using the pole to push off the old sandstone homes. He said nothing, but called out around corners and called
Ao! Heh heh
! as he maneuvered them around other gondolas.

Natalie watched, enchanted, her hand clutched in Julian’s, as the sun sank, setting the stone homes to glowing. The wrought iron flower boxes burst with color above them, and then their canal spilled onto the Grand where the water was a swath of blue velvet in the dying sunlight.

The Canal was busy with other gondolas, some holding as many as seven people, most carrying fewer than four. They all pushed upward, floating closer together while their gondoliers called and whistled to one another.

“It’s so beautiful,” Natalie commented to Julian.

“Mmm,” he replied, a small, pensive smile on his face.

“Are you not enjoying it?” Natalie asked. “You’re not bored are you?”

“Bored?” Julian laughed though she noticed a slight twinge of nerves in his voice. “Watching this unfold through your eyes is nothing short of miraculous. But we could use some music, don’t you think?”

“I suppose…”

Julian gestured at someone and an accordion began to play. A violin joined it, and then a man began to sing—a gorgeous tenor in a gondola near the prow of their own. The gondolas carrying the musicians converged on theirs to form a small flotilla that held their boat still on the water that glowed in the setting sun.

“Julian.” She clutched his hand tighter. “What have you done?”

The music surrounded them, a song of love as old as the city, and then Luca turned around and held out his hand to Natalie. Her heart pounding madly in her chest, she took it and let herself be pulled to her feet. “What…?”

Luca turned her around, steadied her, and there was Julian on one knee, a small box in his hand.

“Natalie Hewitt,” he began, his throat chocked and his astounding blue eyes shining, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

She clapped her hands to her mouth, dimly aware of other passengers in other gondolas watching intently, elbowing one another and pointing.

“I love you, Natalie, so much that I…” Julian’s breath hitched and his words were tremulous. “I can’t express it, not in a hundred books or a thousand poems.” He opened the black velvet box to reveal an antique diamond ring that glittered in the setting sun. “But I can offer you this symbol of infinity—my infinite, boundless love for you—and ask you to
marry me. Will you?”

“Yes,” she said in a tiny voice, and then half-laughed, half-sobbed at the audience straining to hear. “Yes. Yes, of course! Oh, my beautiful love, yes.”

The people in the gondolas burst into cheers and applause, as did those watching from a bridge above them. The musicians and singers started up a lively song, vibrant and celebratory.

Natalie heard none of it, saw none of it. Only him. She sat beside him and let him slip the ring over her finger. His kiss tasted of his salt tears, and her own, and then she pulled away and held his face in her hands.

“You already asked me, didn’t you?” Natalie said, a beautiful, hazy memory tugging at the corners of her mind. “I remember…”

“Yes,” Julian said. “I already asked.”

“And I said yes,” she said. “I said yes to you, even in my dreams.”

The End

Book II of the City Lights Series coming, Valentine’s Day, 2015

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