I held my hands up, then grabbed for a platter of food.
Scarlett shrugged. “Rocco should’ve warned you that Eva would have tons of food.”
My wife eyed all the things Scarlett made and then looked her in the eye. “You brought a ton too!”
Scarlett exploded with laughter. “Yeah, but…I have issues.”
My brother laughed, all raspy and low, and pulling his wife in, kissed her cheek. “Only with teeth brushing, baby.”
I grinned. “My wife could not be stopped.”
She squeezed my arm, a look passing between the two of us. She had stopped cooking once I entered the kitchen, andwe made love until it was time for her to get dressed for this occasion.
Lourdes slapped at her arm. “Hand over that spray, girl!” She held her palm out to Amora. “They love my blood and are about to carry me off already.”
The air smelled of repellent as we walked through the humid heat to the back of the house. The entire lawn was filled with people. Music, laughter, and conversation all mixed, along with the scents of spices floating in the air. Greetings were done, and once I delivered the last platter of my wife’s food, I took a slice of her famous focaccia bread and watched as a few of the women enveloped her in welcome.
It hit me repeatedly, as strong as fate’s punch…she is mine. No matter how many times my eyes found her, the feeling of her would not ever grow old. When she walked into a room, my breath would catch forevermore. She was created for me, and for the first time in my entire life, I understood how it felt to be the luckiest man in the world. I was finally fulfilling my surname’s meanings.
Luck. Auspicious. Favorable.
My wife turned to face me, and only a few steps existed between her body and mine. Our eyes held, and she ran her hands up and down her arms, although summer lingered in the air and she was standing in a pool of bright sunlight. Perhaps my eyes beckoned her to me, because without a word, she began taking steps in my direction.
My eyes devoured her—so full of life; so full of light.
She wore a sleeveless purple top, cutoff shorts, and gold thongs on her feet. Her long, thick, wavy brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail that fell to her lower back. Her eyes were covered in sunglasses, but behind their dark exterior, I knew all the secrets her hazel eyes kept.
All of mine.
This woman, this woman made a ruler out of a king.
She was my secret keeper.
My heart keeper.
I no longer carried the entire weight of being the next in line to rule the Fausti family. With her beside me, I was made whole.
“Hi, my love,” she whispered when she was close enough. “Enjoying the food?”
“Yours will be the only food I eat.” I leaned down and kissed her slowly, softly, reverently, returning all the love I tasted in her manna.
Her eyes closed, and after she composed herself, a slight smile spread across her face. “Is that why you didn’t stop me from cooking?”
I touched her chin and grinned. “This, and all the flavors tasted even better on your skin.”
She said nothing as I took her hand, leading her toward a few wooden boats anchored close to the bank. I had learned that “pirogues” was the proper term for them. Eva waved us off after I helped my wife out of her thongs and into a pair of purple boots with her name on them. She sat a wide hat on her head as I pushed away from shore and toward the deeper parts of Bayou Teche.
She smiled at me, as bright as the sun. “Eva thought of everything.” She tapped the boots and the hat.
“You admire her.”
She nodded. “When I was younger…she guided me. She noticed that I was…different, like her, I mean. Her gift, as she calls it, is similar to mine. It was nice to have someone who understood.”
“The same as the sister of my heart.”
“Yeah, it seems like this gift is not so uncommon.” She fiddled with the fishing poles resting against the wood.“Or...maybe it’s that we’re all drawn to each other. I never thought about it that way before.”
“Perhaps it is the same as my family, but also different. What I mean by this is that we all belong to the family, were designed to be a part of it. Instead of us having to find each other, we were born to each other. Whereas your gift attracts one to another.”
