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“What’s that saying about catching more flies with honey than vinegar?”
“I hate that saying. Why would you want to catch flies? If you see a fly, you should swat it.”
Amy groaned. “You’re not helping, Mike.”
“If I’m giving you perspective on this, I am helping,” he said. “You need to put some distance between the two of you. I mean that.”
“I’ll think about it,” Amy said, knowing she wouldn’t. The last thing she and Adriano needed right now wasmoredistance.
She would see how he reacted to the news she had to give him today. Maybe knowing that his disease was cured would be the rejuvenating factor their relationship needed.
At the same time, she knew it would be hard for her to put her trust in him again, too. If Adriano decided today that he was sorry and that he wanted things to go back to normal, she would be glad, but it would take time for her to trust him again.
She wanted so badly to trust him again. If only she could find a way to get them past all this. If only she could understand why he had acted the way he had over the past few months. She’d really believed that everything was going well, and then he had been, abruptly, gone from her life.
That wasn’t something she could tolerate once the babies arrived, and he needed to know that. If he couldn’t commit to being actively involved in their lives, he couldn’t be in their lives at all. She could live with the fact that he had done this to her, but he couldn’t be allowed to do it to her children. If he wasn’t committed—if he wasn’t all in with them—she wanted to know that now, so she could end whatever this thing was.
It would be hard. Not just because it would be painful to walk away from him, but also because she wasn’t sure how she would manage this on her own. She had gotten used to the idea of Adriano’s resources supporting her. If he really wasn’t going to be a part of the babies’ lives, she would have to find another way to provide for them. She had money, of course, but nothing like what he had, and she probably wouldn’t be able to work for a while after giving birth. And four children would be so expensive…
Amy closed her eyes. It was frightening to think of what the future held, and she wouldn’t permit herself to do it. Not now, before she knew exactly what she was facing. The best thing to do would be to go out with him today, eat this picnic, and just have a conversation. Once that had been done, they would both know where they stood.
She went out to the car. She had arranged with Luca to take her out to the place Adriano had shown her by the river—she could think of no better location for an important conversation like this one. In addition to picnic supplies and sandwiches, her basket contained the medical chart she had gotten from Tony yesterday.
If nothing else, she would have the pleasure of giving him the news that he had been cured. That would enable them to get things started on a positive note. After that—well, they would just have to see.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay out here with you?” Luca asked as he helped her from the car to the rock—she had gotten too big to trust herself walking alone over uneven terrain.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “You need to go back and get Adriano. Remember?”
“I just hate to leave you on your own,” Luca said. “I can call the house and have someone else bring him out here. It doesn’t have to be me.”
“No, there’s no point in that,” Amy said. “We’ll be riding home together.” The only reason they hadn’t ridden out here together had been to give her a chance to set things up, so that he would walk in on a picturesque scene. She wanted to surprise him, to get his defenses down so that they could finally have a productive conversation. She needed to understand what he was thinking.
She spread her picnic blanket over the rock, then carefully set out the sandwiches and the cans of soda she had packed. She had to wonder if someone like Adriano had ever had a picnic before in his life. It had been surprising just to see him sitting beside the lake. The idea of him choosing to eat a meal outside actually blew her mind a little bit—but he would have this one, and maybe she would open his mind to a kind of fun he hadn’t experienced before.
Maybe this, finally, would be the day things changed between the two of them.
Maybe.
Half an hour later, Amy was beginning to feel like a fool.
She turned her head toward the road at every sound, hoping that it would be Luca returning with Adriano in the car. Every time, she was disappointed. And now she was beginning to wonder whether he was coming at all.
He wouldn’t really stand her up, surely? Not when she had gone to all this trouble to arrange a meeting? He must still be on his way. Something must just be holding him up.
She waited another ten minutes, shifting on the rock. It really was uncomfortable, sitting out here as heavily pregnant as she was. It wasn’t a hot day, but the sun felt scorching. Her back ached, and she longed for the comfort of her couch back in the guest cottage, but she couldn’t go back until this had been handled.
But what if he wasn’t coming? What if he meant to stand her up, leave her waiting out here with no end in sight? Would she just sit here until night fell, or until her back finally gave out?
There was no phone service here. She couldn’t call Luca to come and take her home. She would just have to hope that he would come back eventually.
Amy’s eyes filled with tears.
How could he have done this? Even if he didn’t want to spend time with her, even if he knew he wasn’t going to take part in raising these babies, how could he strand her out here while she was pregnant with his children? He had known she was expecting him here today! Even if he wasn’t going to come, he should atleastbe sending Luca back for her. What excuse could there possibly be?
She got to her feet and started to pack away the picnic—the warm sandwiches, the tepid sodas, the blanket. Her hand lingered on the medical folder. She had been so excited about the prospect of giving him this good news today. She had wanted to tell him. And he’d blown her off.
Fine. She’d send an email. And she would go back to Denver just as soon as she was fit to travel. If nothing else, today had given her the answers she’d been searching for—Adriano wasn’t fit to be a father. No man who could treat the woman who was pregnant with his children this way deserved to be a father. She was only sorry that she’d allowed it to go on as long as she had.
