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A surge of relief came over me as my feet hit the marble floor at the bottom of the staircase. He kept walking me for a little more, then stopped.
‘Open,’ he said with a smile.
My face lit up as I looked at the bouquet of sunflowers arranged in a red vase on the kitchen counter. It was the biggest bouquet I’d ever seen – there were at least fifty flowers in there. You could tell they were chosen with such precision because not one petal was wilted or marked.
‘Oh, my goodness, Patrick. They’re beautiful.’ I reached out and stroked one of the petals. It felt silky under my fingers.
‘Not quite as soft as your skin, but close, hey?’ He winked and shoved his hand into his pocket. ‘I was going to wait to give you this tomorrow morning, but today seemed more fitting.’
He slipped out a green velvet box and snapped it open, revealing a golden sunflower pendant on a delicate chain.
I grabbed the box and stared at it in awe. ‘This is so gorgeous. Thank you, Patrick.’ On closer examination, I noticed the split in the middle of the sunflower and curiously parted it with myfingers, and as I did, a round silver pendant appeared inside with the words‘Mio Luce Del Sole’etched into it. My heart melted as I admired the unique, heartfelt gift. It was so beautiful the way the sunflower opened like wings – I’d never seen anything like it.
‘You discovered that quickly.’ He flashed an impressed smile my way. ‘Turn around.’ His pointer finger motioned the ‘turn around’ signal. ‘I’ll put it on for you.’
I turned around so that I was facing the wall and passed him the box so that he could place the necklace around my neck.
Once it was on, he said, ‘That’s not all. Put on your sunglasses and meet me on my dock.’
‘Oh, you’re so full of surprises this morning.’ I nodded with a grin. ‘See you in a second.’How fun.
Once I had my sunglasses on, I ran outside onto the dock and lifted my cat-eyed sunnies to look for Patrick, but I couldn’t see him.Where was he?
‘Patrick?’ I called out as I searched for him on the water while one hand shielded my face from the sun. ‘Patrick, where are you?’ For a moment, I thought he was the tanned man in the canoe wearing black speedos, but surely that wasn’t him, was it? He wasn’t the type to wear speedos, and gosh, that man had one hell of a hairy chest. Definitely not Patrick.
To my shock, my eyes suddenly found him. He was sitting on a gondola, while a man dressed in a shirt the colours of the Italian flag stood at the back steering. The man wore a traditional straw boater hat, the kind I’d seen in travel pamphlets. My heart thrilled with excitement; I’d never been on a gondola before. The driver parked the boat at the jetty and lifted the hatch of the roof so I could climb in. Patrick stood up and reached for my hand as he pulled me safely onboard, and I sat against the padded leather seat. The seat was black with red cushions.
On the table in front of us lay an antipasto platter just like the one I had the first night I visited his house. And of course, a bottle of Vitello champagne, a bowl of chocolate-coated strawberries, and macadamia nuts. I truly didn’t think my life could get any better than it was, but Patrick always seemed to outdo himself.
‘Merry Christmas Eve,’ he said while he draped his arm across the top of the seat and his other passed me a champagne glass.
‘Merry Christmas Eve, Patrick.’ I smiled back, and we clinked our champagne glasses together.
As I sipped the delicious champagne, I was glad to reflect that the occasional glass of wine no longer carried such negative connotations.
The boat began moving, and splashes of water flicked up and left droplets on our arms and legs. The wind whipped our hair to the point I wished I’d tied my hair back, but the smell of sea salt and refreshing summer breezes were too good not to enjoy. God, Noosa was heavenly.
We travelled through the canals and watched the ducks swimming behind us, quacking and playfully ducking their heads in the water. There were also a few pelicans to our left floating along the river, soaking up the sunshine and dipping their heads in the water, hunting for fish.
Along the waterside were mansions like Patrick’s, all with glorious glass doors that led out to the river. I craned my neck so I was looking at Patrick’s stunning profile. ‘Thanks for taking me on this. I really didn’t expect it.’
‘That’s the thing with you, Naomi. You don’t expect anything, and it’s the most refreshing thing I’ve ever experienced.’
‘I guess you give me all the things I require, and I don’t need anything else.’ I flashed him a smile.
‘And what are those things?’ His brow raised with curiosity.
‘Security, dedication, honesty, and love.’
‘You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. Just your mind and heart are everything a person could want.’ He reached out to stroke his thumb across my cheek.
I blushed and tried not to feel overwhelmed by his comment, but I couldn’t help it. It was so hard to accept those nice remarks and believe them to be true. But I guess that’s what self-love is, knowing your value and believing you’re worth it, and I was getting better at it every day as my self-doubt began to slip away.
‘Thanks, Patrick.’ I grabbed his hand and admired the rippling water views.
He moved my hand to his lips and kissed it gently while staring into my eyes.
‘You make me so happy. You make me the happiest I could ever be.’ He gave me a look that only someone very much in love could.
