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Subzero temperatures and her son wanted ice cream. Naturally.
‘Of course we’ll have ice cream!’ Noemi said gleefully. She took his hand and led him away. ‘But probably not for breakfast. How about we have some pastries first, then we can go and find Uncle Max and decide what else we want to do today.’
‘Okay.’ Frankie sounded cheerful enough, but Maria was pretty sure he hadn’t heard past ‘pastries’. He loved pastries almost as much as ice cream, and at two years old he didn’t have much of a handle on time just yet.
But he was happy. So she had no reason to stop him spending time with Noemi and Max. And no excuse not to spend time with Sebastian, except for the fact that she was scared of losing all the ground she’d made while she’d been away. She could feel her resistance ebbing away.
‘So...lunch?’ Seb asked, and Maria couldn’t seem to stop herself nodding.
* * *
Ninety minutes later—after giving Noemi and Max comprehensive toddler care instructions, and explaining in great detail to Frankie the behaviour she expected from him, while knowing that despite his nodding and innocent wide eyes he wasn’t going to remember any of it, then changing into something smart enough for going out and being seen around Mont Coeur with Sebastian but warm enough that she wouldn’t freeze the moment she stepped outside the chalet—Seb and Maria went for lunch.
‘Honestly, I’d be fine with just a burger or something,’ Maria protested, as he led her towards the fanciest restaurant in Mont Coeur.
Seb gave her an amused look, as if he could tell just by looking at her that she was trying to find ways to keep this lunch short and, well, just short, really. He probably could, too. He’d always been good at reading her. On the surface, anyway. Just not when it came to the things that really mattered.
‘Do you realise,’ Seb said, holding open the glass door to the restaurant for her, ‘this is our first ever proper date?’
‘This is a date now?’ Maria’s eyes widened. Yeah, she really should have found a way to go snowman building with Frankie and Max.
‘You, me, the best and most romantic restaurant in town... Yes, Maria, this is a date.’ Seb rolled his eyes, as if waiting for her to catch up with the agenda for the day. Which she was suddenly rather afraid she had.
Seb was planning on wooing her. Romancing her. Except she knew for a fact that her husband had no experience or idea of what that should entail.
She’d known Seb since they had both been in nappies, their fathers long-time friends, neighbours and business acquaintances, with Rossi Gems providing many of the precious stones used in the Cattaneo Jewels designs. The families had grown closer as the kids had grown up together, and Maria had watched Seb change from a serious, wide-eyed boy to a gawky teenager, until he’d suddenly come into his height and build around the age of seventeen.
She’d been fifteen at the time, and definitely hadn’t missed the changes in him.
When he’d left for university he’d been handsome, confident and ready to take on the business world. But he’d always been far too caught up in making his father proud to waste time on girls. Oh, she was sure he’d dated a little—and she was certain he must have had some experience before their wedding night, or it couldn’t have been as fantastic as it had been. But women hadn’t mattered to him, not the way the business did, and they’d been married less than a year after he’d finished his MBA, so it wasn’t like he’d had a lot of time to play around. Besides, the idea of him taking time out from his studies to plan a dream date was sort of ridiculous.
Although a romantic restaurant was a pretty good start, she supposed. Clichéd and obvious, but at least not awful. It could have been a lot worse.
‘Right.’ Well, at least she knew what she was up against. Seb on a charm offensive could be quite something to watch, but she was prepared now. She could hold her own.
She frowned. Sure, she’d buy Seb not dating around much before they’d married. But... ‘Wait. We must have gone on a date before. We’ve been married for years, for heaven’s sake.’
‘Name one,’ Seb challenged.
And, of course, she couldn’t. Because romance wasn’t what their marriage had been about. They’d gone out, of course, but for business dinners or corporate trips or what have you. Never just to spend time in the pleasure of each other’s company.
Fortunately, Maria was saved from answering by the arrival of the maître d’, looking horrified that he’d missed their arrival by all of thirty seconds. He led them straight to their table, gushing over having Mr Cattaneo gracing his restaurant—and on a weekday, too!
Seb mostly ignored him, taking the offered menu and sitting down to study it as the maître d’ pulled Maria’s chair out for her. Copying Seb, she reached for her own menu as Seb ordered a carafe of white wine to start.
‘So?’ Seb peered at her over the top of his menu. ‘Thought of one yet? A date, I mean.’
‘What about the night we went to the theatre to see that play you were so keen on?’ Maria asked. ‘Doesn’t that count?’ Admittedly, Seb had only seen the first half because an emergency call from the office in the interval had meant he’d spent the rest of the evening on the phone in the theatre foyer, but still...
Seb put down his menu. ‘I think we need to re-evaluate your criteria for a date,’ he said. ‘I take full responsibility—I clearly haven’t been keeping up my end of the husband bargain when it comes to taking you out.’
‘So, what constitutes a date by your definition?’ Maria asked. Maybe there was wriggle room with one of the corporate trips...
‘You and me alone—no family or business acquaintances along. Somewhere romantic, and only focused on each other.’
Huh. Well, they definitely hadn’t done that—at least not since their honeymoon. And she had to admit that it didn’t sound so bad. Especially if, for the first time she could remember, Seb kept his word and left work at the office. To be fair to him, he hadn’t mentioned the business once since they’d left the chalet. Even now, he was smiling pleasantly at the wine waiter and tasting the white wine he’d brought them. When he nodded, the waiter poured them each a full glass.
‘In that case, I agree—this might actually be our first real date since our honeymoon.’ And they hadn’t had any before because they hadn’t needed to. The engagement had been arranged by their fathers. They’d known each other since they were children. Why would they have needed to date?
Although... Maria’s mind drifted back to when she’d been fifteen, and the memory of a frosty night on a frozen lake, and Seb’s hand in hers. Maybe that was the closest they’d got, and she knew for a fact that Seb wouldn’t count it. He hadn’t thought of her that way, even then.
But maybe now he could.
Maria lifted her glass to Seb, and he followed suit, clinking it gently against hers.
‘To romance,’ he said, and smiled the smile that had always made her heart flutter most.
‘To romance,’ she echoed.
Oh, yeah. She was in for it now.
* * *
The restaurant was everything Noemi had promised it would be when he’d asked for recommendations. The food was exquisite, the staff attentive but unobtrusive, and the atmosphere wonderfully romantic—especially with the still falling snow outside those huge glass windows.
The perfect place for his first date with his wife.
Seb watched her across the table as she delicately finished her chocolate mousse. He still wasn’t used to all the changes in her.
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Her hair, chopped back from halfway down her back to just above her shoulders, looked strangely more grown up somehow, although still as dark and glossy as ever. Her bright blue eyes sparkled as they always had, but there was something wary in them, as if she was holding back. She’d lost a little weight, he thought. It made her more delicate almost, except that there was nothing fragile about the woman sitting across from him.
Her dark red knitted dress clung to her slender curves, reminding him of everything he knew lay underneath it, and he ached to learn her anew that way.
She was stronger now, he was sure. He felt it somewhere inside.
It only made him want her more.
They’d talked all through lunch—mostly about Frankie and his funny toddler ways, or about their families. He’d told her a little about Leo and their growing relationship as brothers—although not about the offer of his shares, not yet. Maria, in turn, had given him a dry account of how her parents had responded to her showing up on their doorstep with Frankie in tow.
Seb knew his in-laws. He didn’t need the details to imagine the scenes.
‘What about you?’ he asked, as Maria put down her cutlery. ‘You’ve told me about everyone else. But what have you been up to over the last twelve months?’
She looked surprised that he’d asked. Had he really been that inattentive before she’d left? Probably. He had just been so used to Maria always being there, being part of his life, he’d taken her for granted. Had skimped on the romance and attention she’d deserved.
He wouldn’t make that mistake again, if she gave him the chance.
‘Mostly looking after Frankie,’ Maria said. ‘Placating my father, that sort of thing.’
Seb waited. That couldn’t be all of it. He knew Maria.
‘And... I’ve been taking a course. A business course.’
‘Really?’ Now, that was interesting. ‘Why?’
He knew the question was a mistake the moment he asked it—the scowl on Maria’s face only confirmed it for him.
