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Molly was watching his face. He didn’t know how much he should say—how much she wanted to know.
“Why did you marry her?”
“Because I still believed that I needed to take a wife and have a family and—”
“Yes, but why her?”
He shrugged. “Her father is an acquaintance of my mother’s family. They move in the same social circles, they’re …” He didn’t know the right words.
“She’s from a good family—old money, right?”
He nodded. “I was trying to follow a tradition—I just didn’t realize that it didn’t matter to anyone else.”
She nodded. “Your mom still sends me a Christmas card, you know.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t know, but I’m glad. She always loved you. I can’t say the same about Caterina.”
Molly smiled. “That makes me feel a little better.” Her smile faded. “Can I ask you something a little more personal?”
“Anything you want to know. I’m an open book for you.”
“You never had children. Why not?”
He turned away for a moment, feeling the sharp pain of regret. “I can’t. I wanted to, but it seems I’m not able.”
“I’m sorry.”
In the typical Molly style that he remembered, she did look sorry. She felt bad for him, even though they were discussing what he’d done that had hurt her so badly. “It was hard. It still is, perhaps even harder now.” He raised an eyebrow at her. If she wanted kids, then knowing that he couldn’t father one might end this for them right now.
She hugged him tight for a moment and spoke next to his ear. “Did you ever consider adoption?”
He had to hope that she meant she’d be open to it—or maybe he was just fooling himself. He chose his words carefully. “Not at the time. Part of that whole deal was about continuing the family legacy. I thought I had to father a son.” He shrugged. “It all seems stupid now that I’ve outgrown it, but it was important to me back then. Now, I’d love to adopt—to give a home and a family to a kid who needs them.”
The way she smiled gave him hope.
“And Caterina didn’t want to adopt?”
Marcos shook his head. “She wasn’t interested; in fact, I think she was relieved that we didn’t have kids. They would have been an inconvenience.”
“Wow! I know I’m biased, but I really don’t like the sound of her.”
He chuckled. “It’s not that you’re biased, you’re just smart.”
“Hey!!!”
They both turned at the sound of someone shouting from the shore. Marcos groaned at the sight of his brother, Antonio. If anyone should have known to leave him and Molly alone, it would be Antonio.
Molly waved at him and shouted. “Hey, yourself, are you coming for a swim?”
Antonio laughed. “No. We were worried about you. You weren’t answering your phone.”
“Well, as you can see, there’s a reason for that.”
Antonio grinned. “I’m very happy to see it. I’ll leave you be.”
“That’s okay.” To Marcos’ disappointment, Molly started making her way to the shore.
She turned back and smiled at him. “I think we’ve done enough for today anyway.”
