William insisted. “Enough.”
I knew he had work to do at the inn, but when I looked at him, he reassured me with a nod and a smile. One thing I learned very quickly with William is that he always made me feel like a priority, even if he had a million other responsibilities.
Lilit relaxed back in her chair. “I’ve run through men most of my life. I’m known as the family tart, and I wear that badge with honor.”
We chuckled, and Lilit looked to the horizon with a far-off look in her eye. “One day, I was attending a charity function for an orphanage in Spain. My date was a member of the royal court, and I was a donor myself. I despise children, but it was my yearly dose of humanitarianism. At one point during the evening, I stepped out on the veranda for a breath of fresh air. That’s when I first saw her. My Rebecca.”
Lilit stroked the stem of her martini glass. “She wore a chiffon dress the color of periwinkle. It was absolutely divine. It floated and hugged her body like it was made for her. A wisp of delicate fabric. I thought for sure it was designer, but later, I found out she made it herself. She was a teacher and couldn’t afford clothes like that.”
Lilit smiled fondly and closed her eyes for a brief moment. “She glowed underneath the moonlight. I half thought she was a figment of my imagination. Like anymph from one of those Greek tragedies.”
Lilit’s brown eyes found mine, and she smiled. “She had a kind of quiet elegance like royalty. Graceful movements and delicate features. She was consoling one of the children in attendance. He was crying over something or another, and she used the hem of her dress to wipe his snot and tears.”
Lilit shuddered at the memory. “The most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen being treated like that gave me nightmares. But after the shock wore off, I think that’s exactly what made me fall in love with her.”
I knew the way she loved clothes was akin to an art collector.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said, “positively revolting, but it was tender and selfless. It didn’t take long for us to enter a whirlwind romance. I’d never been with a woman nor she, but we had this undeniable connection. Like our souls knew each other before we did.”
Lilit paused and wiped a stray tear with a swipe of her long, manicured fingernail. I sat on the edge of my seat. I’d never heard her speak about something so reverently. William was also rapt with attention, stroking my hand with the pad of his thumb.
Lilit drank more of her martini and continued. “Rebecca and I were together during a time when same-sex relationships weren’t common in the public eye. So we were often discreet and secretive. It was difficult, but we were happy. One day, she was supposed to meet me at the café for lunch. I waited for hours, and there were no cell phones back then, so it wasn’t until later that evening when her cousin knocked on our door to let me know. He was the one person in her family who knew about our relationship. He told me the police stopped by herparents’ house and told them she was struck dead by a vehicle while crossing the road.”
My heart broke watching her relive the painful memories. “I’m so sorry, Aunt Lilit.”
Lilit waved her hand in a throwaway manner and took in a deep breath to compose herself. “I’m okay. Sometimes I go years without talking about her, so it’s nice to hear her name on my lips. To tell someone how incredible she was and how much we loved each other.”
I squeezed William’s hand, and he reciprocated in kind.
She took a beat. “So when I see young lovers such as yourselves, it reminds me of the good times. And how lucky I was myself. You do realize how lucky you are, right?”
“Every damn day,” William said with conviction.
I smiled at him. “Yes.”
“Well, then.” Lilit clapped her hands. “Don’t take it for granted. And for god’s sake, scream it from the mountaintops.”
I knew my aunt was referring to the fact that I still hadn’t told my parents about William yet. “Do you have any pictures of Rebecca?”
“Yes, somewhere around here. I travel with my photo albums. When you get old, sometimes all you want to do is live in the past.”
We got up to go inside, but William excused himself to answer a phone call.
Lilit followed me back into the house. “Quite the catch, Nairie. Well done.”
“I think I’m in love with him.”
Lilit paused and smiled fondly. “That’s obvious. So what are you waiting for?”
“To tell him?”
“Yes, and your parents.”
We entered the sunken living room, and Lilit riffled through the side table cabinets to find her photo albums.
I looked down in shame. “I don’t know. I don’t want them to ruin it.”
Lilit chuckled and brought out a humongous album the size of an encyclopedia. We sat on the couch side by side as Lilit fingered through the many pages of her incredible life.
