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I nodded.
“You must be an excellent driver. From what I know, it’s a very busy city.”
“That it is. And if it wasn’t for GPS, I’d be just as lost there as I am here. Have you ever been to Boston?” I asked.
“I did when I was younger. I served four years in the Navy. Got to see quite a bit of the world back then. I loved being on the ocean, stopping at ports all over the country, but my heart was back here with Lilly. As soon as I was discharged, I flew back home, and we got married. Can’t say it didn’t come without its challenges, but I don’t regret one minute of our life together,” he said.
I handed him a mug of coffee and said, “My parents have been together for a long time, too. It’s people like you guys who give me hope for my own future.”
He looked up at me and said, “Then you’d better get going, young lady, because if you want to be married over fifty years, you got to start now.”
At least it’s not the grandchildren talk my mom would be giving me.
“I see your point.” I wasn’t opposed to marriage. Under the right circumstances, it was a beautiful thing. But two people needed to be on the same page, otherwise it was going to be a life of arguments. Finding the right person was far from easy.Dated a lot of assholes and haven’t found my prince yet.
“Guess I shouldn’t be lecturing you. I have a son who is ten years your senior and hasn’t even come close to getting hitched. Maybe it’s the way young people do things now. You save all this money for a big wedding instead of using it for something practical, like we did. Heck, we had a backyard barbeque to celebrate. Everyone from town came and brought a dish. We had music and danced most of the night away,” he said. Once again, he was smiling as he stared off recalling memories. Then he added, “We celebrated the same way when we brought Colton home.”
“The birth of a baby is always something to celebrate,” I said.
He looked down at his coffee and mumbled, “And so is an adoption.”
Had I heard him correctly? Colton wasn’t his biological son? I knew I didn’t see much of a resemblance. Mr. Marzoni had gray hair, but it was more than that. Colton was tall with dark eyes. His parents both had light brown eyes. I didn’t know how that all worked, but now it made sense.
“I didn’t know Colton was adopted,” I said. Then I had a horrible thought. I had sent a sympathy bouquet of flowers to his sister Rhonda. She wasn’t here. For all I knew, they weren’t really siblings and I had just totally embarrassed myself. At least I had only signed the card, ‘Thinking of you all during this time, Annabella’ instead of ‘Sorry for your loss.’
“I feel as though I’m putting you in an awkward situation, but Annabella, we never told Colton.”
I’m glad you told me that.
It would be just like me to spill something like that when I shouldn’t.
“I won’t say anything to him,” I stated.
“We had planned to tell him, but never got the chance to,” he said.
Colton entered the kitchen and asked, “Tell me what?”
I held my breath, not sure what to say. Thankfully his dad handled answering.
“That we were looking at putting up a large wind turbine. Or maybe a couple of solar panels. Really hadn’t decided on which yet.”
Colton looked surprised. “Never knew you were interested in either of those.”
“It was just a thought. Haven’t even done any research on them yet,” he replied.
“I’d be happy to help you if you want,” Colton said. “After breakfast, that is.” He turned to me and said, “It smells amazing in here.”
He was all sweaty from his jog, and I asked, “Want coffee now or after a shower?”
Colton chuckled. “Subtle. How about I take a cup up with me?” he suggested. I poured him a cup and put in cream and sugar. He took a sip and said, “You remembered how I like it.”
When he left the kitchen, his dad asked, “How long have the two of you known each other?”
“Not long,” I replied. I wanted to be vague, because I had no idea what he’d told anyone. And it was odd that I’d only met him a week ago and here I was staying at the family home cooking them breakfast.
“I know my son. I’ve never seen him look at anyone like he does you. I’m glad you’re here. He might not admit it, but he needs you right now.”
“We’re…just friends, Mr. Marzoni.”
