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“But you proved your point. Every time you left me behind in the past, it felt like some nebulous, unimportant jaunt to me, and I never understood how you could justleave me. You won’t have to explain again, but if it is necessary, I will go. I will be beside you if I feel I am needed to protect you or my sons. I pray it won’t happen again, but it might.”
“My God! To think you or Antonio could have been harmed today.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Roman. I knew my uncle had his delusions, I just never believed he would harm us. It was a harsh lesson, but well learned.” She glanced up at him. “Come to bed. We can relive today over and over during the next six months and never find exactly where we went wrong.”
He cupped her face. He pressed his lips to hers. “I love you. I love Antonio. Just as I fought for England, I will fight for Spain. This is my home. You are my home.”
The next morning and for the following week, there was an air of jubilance around the house. Of course because Antonio and Durra were safe and in their rightful place, but dare she say, also because Uncle Francisco was gone?
Shelene had begged Roman to continue with plans for the party. Had he said no, she was going to anyway. At breakfast one morning, Commodore Hightower said, “After the grand party, I insist that you and Antonio move to your husband’s home on the hill. There’s no reason to continue all of this confusion and co-mingled households.”
“What? Papa, how could you say such a thing?”
Roman stuffed his mouth with potatoes and eggs so he couldn’t immediately add to the conversation.
“It’s simple. I want some peace and quiet.”
“Hmm,” she said, examining her father’s face for a tell. “What is the real reason for this change of heart? I thought you enjoyed spending time with your grandson.”
“I do.”
“Are you the king of the valley now? Issuing decrees that must be obeyed by all?”
“It’s not a bad idea,” her father said with a smile.
“Or is it because Roman made you say it?”
“Don’t blame me,” Roman said. “This is the first I’ve heard of it, though I can’t say I disagree.”
Tía Ana-María entered the room, carrying a pot of coffee and poured for her father. Her hand slid across Papa’s back in a rather forward motion. Her father glanced up at her adoringly.
“Oh my God! You can’t be serious? You two?” Shelene said.
Her father hmpfed. “And why not. I am not so old. And frankly, there is no reason the two of us should be alone. This is Ana-María’s home as much as it is yours or mine. Roman went to all the trouble to find a place for you that was near me and your mother, spent extravagantly to build you the most fashionable home in Andalucía and now the time is ripe when you can spend your lives together.”
Tears streamed down her face in a sudden downpour. It wasn’t that she was unhappy.
“Be glad for us, Shelene. I am home to stay. You don’t want your dear old Papa interfering in your life now that you are the matriarch of your own family. I too want a life with your aunt.”
She pressed her linen napkin to her face and wiped at her tears. “It feels like I am losing you all over again.”
When she was able to breathe again, she smiled at her aunt and her father and wished them well. Roman stayed at the table after they departed, placing his hand over hers. “Antonio will inherit Las Colinas one of these days,” he said. “We only need to keep providing heirs and we can fill the valley.”
“No, one of our daughters will. Antonio can inherit the new home. And I promise that if something happens to you, I won’t start batting my eyelashes at one of your brothers,” she said.
He laughed. “I hope none of my brothers are so stupid to think I would conveniently die so they could have you. Oliver doesn’t seem to think there is another woman in the world aside from Mrs. Spencer.”
“Oh, do you think so? You’ve spent more time with them. I wondered if you noticed. I want him to be happy though.”
“Then be happy for your father as well.”
“Everyone is so logical, while I am so emotional. I thought I could see reason in every situation.”
He brushed his hand up her thigh. “I want you to be wildly jealous, overprotective and unreasonably in love with me for the rest of your life. Be emotional; I don’t mind.”
“Roman, how did we find each other? And how did we not lose each other for all these years? I knew you loved me once—”
He put a finger to her lips. “And when I love once, I love for all eternity.”
