“It’s a twenty-year-old wine from a region of Italy,” Mateo explains. “Emilio’s pride and joy.”
“Si!” Rosa nods her head. “And older than your beautiful woman!” She laughs loudly, winking at me again, then cuffs his shoulder. “Why you no visit me, you bad boy, huh? For weeks, I wait!”
“I’m sorry, Ma. I’ve been busy.” He glances at me sheepishly as if I might yell at him too.
“Busy, busy! Always you are busy! One day, I die, and you are still busy!”
“Cut it out, Ma. You’re not gonna die.”
“How do you know, huh?” She cuffs him again. “You so busy, you don’t know till you came back here and Emilio is the one cooking. Then you’re sorry, huh?”
I stifle a giggle, sensing this is a conversation that’s been had before.
“That would be a crime, Ma. No doubt about it.” Mateo looks suitably shamefaced. “I promise it won’t happen again.”
“Bene! Bene!Now…you eat! Today, I make youlinguine alle vongole. The clams they are…” she raises her fingertips to her lips and kisses them, “perfetto!”
“Sounds good, Ma,” Mateo says. I’m realizing it might be a bad idea to ask for a menu round here. “And did you arrange what I asked?”
She shoots a look at me. “But of course!” She turns to a doorway that’s swinging open. A small, round man ambles through. He’s holding several bottles and looks like he’s enjoyed more than a few glassfuls over the years. “Emilio!” Rosa calls out, clapping her hands twice.
The man hurries to join us and Mateo is quickly on his feet, enveloping the little guy in a bearhug. The couple exchange a string of sentences, with the man aiming curious glances at me. From the looks of it, he’s not comfortable speaking English. Although pretty soon, I’ve been given the warm hug treatment too, and Mateo’s talking to the pair of them in fluent Italian. Which suddenly becomes my new favorite aphrodisiac.
Moments later, there’s an ice bucket and a pair of glasses on our table. Something that looks like a champagne bottle is nestled in ice and Emilio makes a grand show of opening it.
“Prosecco,” Mateo explains. He’s starting to look more and more uncomfortable, and I wonder if it’s because he’s not used to bringing strangers to this place. Emilio fills our glasses with a flourish, then hovers beside us, and Mateo glances at Rosa, who grins broadly.
“Come!” she says to her husband. “Leave them in peace, old man.”
As they bustle away, Mateo passes me a glass, then takes one for himself.
“Wow,” I finally say. “They’re a pair of characters, huh?”
“The best,” he agrees.
“I’m guessing I could ask if you come here often but that would be a silly question, right?”
He gives a smile and I notice that it’s pinched.
“Is everything okay?” I frown.
He reaches for my hand. “Andy…” He clears his throat.
Now what?
“Andrea…” He pronounces it the way Ma Rosa did. “Things have been moving pretty fast. And I’ve realized that this may not have started out…” He shakes his head. “You’re the most incredible woman…”
Crap. Is he ditching me?
“Mateo, just spit it out, okay?” This is freaking killing me. The sound of his chair scraping back sets my teeth on edge as he gets up abruptly. Is he actually going to walk out or something? But suddenly I’m looking into his eyes as he goes down on one knee beside the table.
What the fuck!?
“Andrea…” He’s reached into his jacket pocket at some point, and he has something in his palm. I stare at it in complete confusion. A small blue velvet box. He flips the lid open, and I choke. “Would you…do me the honor…” I feel myself blinking. At some point, I’ve clasped a hand over my mouth. “Will you marry me?” he finally finishes.
I stare down at the ring, up at his face, then back down at the box. A rectangular diamond the size of my thumbnail is resting on a navy velvet bed.
It’s fucking huge!
