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Kostas led her down the street and into a green building with gold lettering, Polito Jewelers.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Polito.”
Kostas shook hands with the old man who stood behind the long glass counter. Rings, necklaces, bracelets, and watches shone and sparkled inside the cases. Mr. Polito nodded at Kostas, his impassive expression cool as the slightly dim interior of the store.
“This is my girlfriend, Giovanna Sabatini. We’d like a promise ring.”
Mr. Polito smiled, his white mustache bobbing up. He put out a wrinkled hand and shook Anna’s hand. “Wonderful.” He studied her.
She blushed and glanced at Kostas. He eased his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. She smiled. That was what he wanted to see. Some of the tension and pain of their talk dissipated in her touch, in holding her, in remembering her words.
“I have just the ring.” Mr. Polito probably remembered the times Kostas had come in, perusing the jewelry. Every time, he examined the engagement rings, but would only buy something that wouldn’t raise suspicions, like that pearl bracelet he’d bought Anna last year, or a charm to add to the bracelet he’d started for her as a gift for her sixteenth birthday. Mr. Polito moved a hand over a flat display of rings and selected a vintage ring with an oval light pink tourmaline in the center surrounded by rounded diamonds set in a simple, thin platinum band.
Her smile grew. Kostas held out his hand and took the ring. He turned to her, grasping her hand. He couldn’t get words out, and he didn’t want to say the ones he meant in front of anyone but Anna.
She studied the ring then nodded. It sparkled, beautiful in its simplicity and elegance. Not anywhere near her beauty, especially the way her dark eyes glimmered when she gazed at him.
Mr. Polito smiled at them. “Congratulations. You must be a special young woman indeed.” Mr. Polito spoke with a mixture of admiration and reserve. Like most, he was probably skeptical about this new “girlfriend” situation. Maybe, just maybe, it would be fun, countering what everyone expected of him. Kostas Bianchi Andimo, devoted husband. And father? Something opened in him, like he’d felt with Anna in his arms as she’d slept. A feeling of rightness.
Everything had changed now. Yet they were still the same people. Just together. And that made everything different.
“Thank you.” Her voice came out in a hushed whisper.
“Give my best to your family, Kostas.” Mr. Polito waved as they turned to walk out.
“You too.” Kostas held the door for her, gripping the ring box in hand.
Anna stepped out into the bright light of the afternoon, the sun dancing off the lighter strands of her brown hair. He grasped her hand and they walked to the car. Once they’d both sat, he took her hand again and slid the ring onto her finger.
“I promise to take care of you, Anna.” He kissed her forehead. “I promise to love you forever.” He caressed his lips over her cheek. Her breathing quickened. “I promise to be faithful.” He brushed his lips over hers.
She gripped her hands closer around his neck, her fingers tickling in his hair, and deepened their kiss. She pressed herself closer to his chest, and he enfolded her in his arms, closing the space between them.
A horn honked. She loosened her hold and they parted slightly. Anna bit her bottom lip. He caressed her cheek.
“I love you, Anna.”
Her lips quirked up. “Kostas, I love you. I’m so happy.”
They sat for a minute, the sounds of their breathing, the traffic and talking flowing around them, the rhythmic beat of waves on rocks. He tried to let this moment sink into him, how she looked with the sun shafting onto her heart-shaped face, sparkling in her eyes, touching on her hair, and the happiness that glowed from her in her smile, her movement, her words.
He caressed her cheek again. “No one’s going to keep us apart.”
“I want everyone to be happy for us.”
He started the car. “I don’t know if that will happen.”
She twisted her ring. “Do you... I feel like you don’t believe in us.”
His jaw tightened. He wished they could’ve had their relationship develop in private. And he was angry at his family for hurting Anna’s joy.
“I’m completely committed to you, to us. I don’t know if anyone else will ever accept that fully.” Did that bother him? Yeah. But mostly for Anna’s sake.
“Oh.” She let out a long breath. “I guess we can’t know that. It’s in God’s control.”
“It’s in their control.”
“Are we going to debate free will versus grace?” Her tone held laughter, lightness. “Can we both be right? I just mean that we think we’re in control, and to an extent, we are, but for me, it comes down to the divine. It helps me to surrender what I can’t change.”
“I’m not big on surrender.”
“What do you believe?”
“Is it important to you?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know.” He disliked saying it, but it was true. She didn’t say anything, but he could tell it was a pause, not a silent judgment. She was good about waiting to see if someone had anything else to say. “I grew up in the Church, and I think it let Mom, me, so many others, down.”
“The Church is a human institution. It will disappoint. What about God?”
“I don’t know. I pray when I’m... When it seems like there’s nowhere else to turn. We should get back for dinner.”
“Okay. It’s not a problem, that I go to church Sundays, and might volunteer and things?”
“Not a problem. I love you for it. Are you okay if I don’t go with you?” He almost wanted to offer to go with her, but he couldn’t.
“Yes.” She leaned over, her vanilla scent swirling in the warm car. She kissed his cheek. “Let’s face the family. I believe in miracles.”
He nodded. Let her believe for the both of them. He drove back to Grandpa’s. The kitchen was still crowded with his family, Marco, Paolo—who winked at him with a huge smile—and Lee, who frowned. Anna smiled, showing off the ring Kostas had bought her. They mingled, the prelude to dinner, and he and Paolo’s fiancé talked art—Marco was a collector—over mineral waters.
“We need to talk,” Lee whispered in Kostas’s ear.
Kostas nodded. He’d known this was coming. He went to Anna—she, Celeste, and Aunt Sophia laughed and talked.
“We have some business to discuss,” he said. “Do you want to have the conversation with everyone?” he asked, glancing between her and Lee.
Anna nodded and grasped his hand. Lee agreed. Kostas turned to Celeste.
“Do we have time before dinner to talk, as a family? I think it’ll be best to get everything out in the open. I want Anna to be happy,” Kostas said.
“So do we.” Celeste touched his fingers, covering his and Anna’s entwined grip with her hand.
Aunt Sophia nodded. Celeste walked to Grandpa, seated at the table with Grandpop, and whispered to him. He and Grandpop spoke in low tones for a moment.
Grandpop cleared his throat. “Everyone, we’re going to have a family meeting, eh? So settle in and then we’ll eat. Everyone in here?”
“Yes,” Vincente said from where he stood with Gina and their cousins.
“Lee, as the guest, would you like to start?” Grandpa asked.
“Anna’s only twenty-two. She should be starting a career. First, she devotes herself to her father, and now you? She’s wasting her life.” Lee crossed his arms, standing in a defensive pose. “And we all know you. You’ve never even had a relationship. It’s just been one woman after another. I don’t judge that, but how do you go from that to what Anna thinks she wants? And that’s without bringing up your father, which, as far as I can tell, you haven’t dealt with the baggage.”
“If she wants to find a job, that’s fine by me.” He knew she didn’t, though—she’d talked to him about it last year. They’d had lunch alone one day with her father, and she’d talked about devoting herself to helping others in her community by volunteering and supporting small businesses. With her father’s inheritance, she was independent. She lived fairly simply, so she could do what was important to her. “Anna’s life could never be a waste.” Lee wasn’t usually judgmental, but his friend was angry, angrier than Kostas had ever seen him, except when Anna had been assaulted.
“Right. Do you even want to get married? You haven’t mentioned it for years.”
“I want to marry Anna. I’d do anything for her.” Anna leaned into him. Lee was bringing up topics they hadn’t discussed, which wasn’t ideal, but they’d get there when Anna was ready.
“You barely know her.” Lee shook his head.
“I’ve known her fourteen years. You want Anna to be happy.”
“And you’re the only one who will make her happy? Come on.” Lee rolled his eyes.
“No, she was already happy. But she’s part of my happiness, and I’m part of hers. And she wants everyone to be happy for us. I know you all will need proof. It’ll come. Until then, can you just accept us, let us be together without trying to dampen Anna’s joy?”
“I want what’s best for her.”
Anna squeezed his hand. He glanced down at her, but she looked at her brother.
“I’m an adult. I make my own choices,” Anna said. “Kostas is right. I do want you all to be happy for us. But if you’re not, it won’t change our commitment to each other. Please, Lee. You were like my father. You mean so much to me, and to Kostas. Won’t you try?”
“You’ve always been stubborn.” Lee’s eyes stared past them, as if he were seeing a different reality. “Janetta and I are starting an architecture firm. She suggested you as a business partner.” Lee’s gaze focused on Kostas. There was no friendship there, only an icy cast in Lee’s light blue eyes.
Kostas’s mind spun. Lee was possibly playing an angle, taking a page from Kostas’s book: Enemies had to be watched. He supposed, for now, Lee might consider him an enemy.
Kostas’s shoulders edged up, his neck tense. He shrugged. “Yeah. We can talk about it tomorrow. Anyone else have any concerns Lee didn’t address?” He held Anna closer and she leaned her head on his chest. He just wanted to be alone with her. But her happiness was more important than that want.
“Are you engaged now? This seems to be happening fast,” Aunt Sophia said.
“We haven’t talked about that, and it’s a decision Anna and I need to make. Alone. It might seem fast, but...” He didn’t know how much Anna was comfortable sharing. He gazed at her.
“It’s not fast,” Anna continued for him, for them. “We’ve been friends for years, and we’ve both loved each other for years. We just didn’t say it until today. We’re committed to each other, and we love all of you. Please, won’t you all try to accept us together?”
Grandpa Enzo rose and, hand in hand with Celeste, walked to them. Grandpa put his hand on Kostas’s shoulder. “Celeste and I have been talking, and so has my brother. I’ve seen how you and Anna look at each other, how you speak to each other. I’m willing to accept that you love each other, and we all love you.” He glanced at Anna before turning back to Kostas. “Your grandma... Angela would want me to support you both. I see you trying to change. You are your own man, and I’m proud of you. Your mother would be too.” Grandpa’s tone graveled and he hugged them both.
Kostas’s shoulders lowered, the tension ebbing to a manageable level. He nodded and kissed the top of Anna’s head.
“Now, we eat!” Grandpop said and the room erupted in claps and shouts of affirmation.
Kostas couldn’t keep track of the hugs and slaps on the back. They had more support than not. He hadn’t thought support was needed, but it was good to have. And Anna beamed. That was everything.
They lined up together for the buffet. Maybe there was hope after all.