She points to the bag Dom’s carrying, hand over her mouth to stifle the fit of giggles she’s broken into. I suspect she’d be jumping up and down if not for the fact that she looks kinda like a Weeble right now. Whatever’s gotten into her, my sister is on the verge of a manic episode.
“What, babe?” Andrew asks, oblivious to cause of her hysteria. I look down and it hits me.
“When? How? And why in the hell did you not tell me? I thought you were going to wait and do something amazing for him?” Cara rapid-fires questions in my direction, punctuating each one with a smack to my arm.
“I would have told you, but I just did it at the airport before we left to come here and figured I’d tell you in person.” I take the bag from Dom’s hand, allowing Cara to fawn over the ring as only a woman can.
“Someone want to clue me in?” Andrew asks as we try to shuffle suitcases around so there’s room for ours.
“I proposed to Dom.” Wow, there’s something I thought I’d never say, especially not so casually.
“And he said yes?” Andrew scratches his head, seeming confused. “I thought he was smarter than to rope himself into married life.”
Now he’s the victim of Cara’s playful abuse. I’m not sure if it’s marriage or pregnancy, but she’s much more violent than I remember. She’s also much more laid-back, so the cause doesn’t much matter if this is the result.
Andrew places his hands on his wife’s shoulders, holding her at arms’ length. “Wait, you knew about this and didn’t tell me? I thought we weren’t going to keep things from one another.”
I cringe, hoping this isn’t the start of a fight between them. Had I considered the fact that she’d technically be keeping a secret from her husband, I wouldn’t have begged her to not tell him. “Andrew, that’s my fault,” I apologize. “I didn’t want her blabbing to you and you accidentally saying something to Dom before the time was right.”
“And you thought that sitting in an airport was the right time?” Andrew laughs. He opens the passenger’s side door for Cara, reaching across to buckle her in before closing the door. It’s sweet enough it gives me a bit of a stomach ache, but I’m happy that she has such a loving man to share her life with. “And I thought I sucked in the romance department. How long did it take you to come up with that epic proposal?”
“About two minutes. I’ve been carrying the ring around since the beginning of February, trying to wait long enough that he wouldn’t flip out,” I respond as I take the seat behind Cara. Once everyone’s in the car, conversation dies. That’s a good thing because now I feel like shit for not giving Dom a decent proposal. It’s not the type of thing I think he’ll care about, but it matters to me.
Once we’re out of the city, Dom and Andrew start talking about tomorrow’s site visit. It turns out that Andrew’s already talked to the current owner, an older gentleman who thought it would be easy to get a team-building business up and running in New York. He’s right in that the start-up isn’t so bad, but it also requires a lot of forward thinking and long hours. The guy doesn’t have the former and doesn’t seem to understand the latter. His methods may have worked ten or twenty years ago, but today’s execs are looking for something more.
They try pulling me into the conversation a few times since I was the one who pushed for Dom to do this in the first place. While I appreciate the acknowledgment, I’d rather leave this to the two of them. Much like my sister, I’m just looking forward to a weekend away with the people who mean the most to me.
Chapter Twenty-One
Tony
I’ve heardCara talk about the vacation home outside of Rochester that Andrew bought as a wedding gift, but this is the first time I’ve seen more than pictures. Even though it looked impressive in the emails she sent me the first time she was up here, I’m in awe of the spacious home. You’d think that would have worn off quickly after the grand tour yesterday, but nope, it’s still just as awesome this morning.
Even better, it sits on acres of land that Andrew’s eager to show Dom and me later this morning. It turns out my brother-in-law isn’t nearly as stuffy as I once imagined he’d have to be to get along with my family. They welcomed him just fine thanks to the size of his bank account and reputation, but I’m pretty sure he only tolerated them for Cara’s sake.
Behind the house, he has a garage with four ATVs and a boat that he’s dying to pull out and use. Dom bristled at that idea, saying he’d prefer not going out on the water. Andrew quickly realized the error in his ways and said we’d just have to make up for by it playing on the four-wheelers.
Spending time with the people I love more than anything was incentive enough for me to take a bit of time off work, but knowing that we’d get to play around makes this the perfect weekend. I’m not a pro on an ATV, but knowing how much fun we have on them in the park during festivals, I can only imagine what it’ll be like to get out on the trails and fields just to open up the throttle a bit.
By the time I shower and get dressed, Dom and Andrew are already out on the deck discussing the site visit they have planned. Dom asked if I was going to join them, reminding me that it’s because of me that they’re even considering this. He does that frequently and it makes me a bit uncomfortable. Yes, I am the one who suggested he expand rather than sell, but that’s as far as I want my involvement in the venture to go.
“I’m happy for you,” Cara says as she joins me at the window overlooking the wooded backyard. “Dom’s a great guy. I’m just glad you got your head out of your ass before it was too late.”
I wrap my arm around Cara’s shoulder, tucking her close to my side. It’s hard to believe that this is where my life is today, when not even a year ago I was certain I’d never get to the point where I could even consider thinking about seriously dating. Now, I can’t even imagine a life without Dom in it and can’t wait to become Mr. Anthony Tricoli. I haven’t told Dom about that little detail, but given how my family feels about me at this point, I can’t wait to rid myself of anything that ties me to them.
“Everyone has to grow up sometime,” I respond, kissing the top of her head. “And in case I haven’t said it, thank you.”
Cara looks up at me, her brow knit in confusion. “You’re welcome?” she says, more a question than a statement. “But just so I can mark it properly in the favors book, what did I do this time? Have to know how many you owe me.”
As if he could sense our presence, Dom turns his head slowly, blowing me a kiss before turning back to Andrew. “I’m not sure you can count that high,” I say wistfully. “If you hadn’t said yes to Andrew, I would have never met Dom. And even though we had a few rough starts, I don’t even want to think about what my life was like before him. Sure, I had my job and the guys at the firehouse, but compared to now, I feel like I wasn’t living back then. Now, I can’t wait to get home after my shift because I want to be with him, even if we just veg out on the couch all night.”
Cara doubles over laughing. Well, that may be a relative terms since she can’t bend at the waist because of that belly, but she’s laughing hard enough that she’s crying. “Tony, I love you, but that has got to be the gayest thing I’ve ever heard you say. What happened to the badass romance reject I used to know and love?”
I swat her on the butt as I pass, needing more coffee if I have to deal with perky Cara this morning. But she’s right. I’m not the man I used to be, and that just proves my point. “I went and fell in love,” I inform her on my way to the double French doors.
“I’m happy for you, Bobo,” she calls out. I wave in acknowledgment, needing to get around testosterone before I allow my sister to tie me down with bon bons and chick flicks for the day.
“Hey, baby,” Dom greets me. He holds out his hand, guiding me to the seat next to him. I lean over for a quick kiss, ignoring Andrew’s mock protest from Dom’s other side. “We’re just about done here and then we’ll get headed out.”
