“No, bringing them up is fine. There was no card in it and we’re trying to track down who sent them to her,” Amedeo said.
“Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t there when they were delivered. Fanny at the front desk called me to bring them up.”
“You didn’t see any card?”
“I didn’t really look other than wonder what kind of flowers they were. I like to surprise my wife and I know she’d like that kind,” said Bob.
Amedeo nodded. “Okay, thanks Bob. You can go back to work.”
The man couldn’t have gotten out of the office fast enough. Poor guy. He probably had a stroke when he got the call.
“He was so scared,” Violet said.
“People have strange ideas about how I am. I treat everyone the same.”
She nodded. “What’s next?”
He already had the phone in his hand. “I call Fanny.”
He made the same order as before and Fanny was in his office looking at nervous as Bob had. Amedeo didn’t bite. Fanny told the same story except that she didn’t know what florist delivered it.
Amedeo sighed when she left. “Well, I’ll have Madge call around to see if anyone delivered them.”
Violet looked at her phone. She’d received a message. “Hope you enjoy the flowers.”
She couldn’t trace the email.
“Has to be Juliano warning you again. Shit.”
***
It took a few months, but Amedeo finally convinced Violet to marry him. He drove her to his lawyer’s office to sign the prenuptial agreement, then they were going to the courthouse. Salvatore was his witness. Violet’s friend Kalia was hers.
He wanted to take Violet home afterwards, but she insisted they should at least take their witnesses out to lunch. He’d agreed.
She wore a pale pink maternity dress as her stomach was showing even more. The baby moved now and he loved to feel him or her. Next week she’d have the ultrasound that could tell him if he was having a son or daughter. He couldn’t wait.
He parked the car then helped Violet out. “You ready?”
She smiled. “As I’ll ever be. You don’t want to reconsider?”
“No. Take as long as you want to read the contract. You can still have your own lawyer look at it. I don’t mind. We can postpone the wedding.”
She looked up at him as he held his hand. “I’ll read it thoroughly. Don’t worry. I trust you.”
“Thanks.”
He settled her on the nicer chair in his lawyer’s office. She set her purse on the floor. She looked nervous so he squeezed her hand. “It’ll be okay.”
She nodded. His lawyer pulled the sheaves of paper out of a folder. “I need you to read these then initial on the side of each page. Then sign the last page.”
Violet took the pages and read them. She asked his lawyer a few questions.
“You understand it all?” Amedeo said.
“Yes. I do. It’s what we talked about. No surprises,” she said.
She put a hand out. Amedeo handed her a pen. She initialed and signed the papers. Handing them back to the lawyer, she smiled. “Let’s do this.”
Amedeo drove her to the court house. Kalia and Salvatore met them on the steps. Salvatore must have been there for a while because he was chatting with Kalia. Of course he was charming her. He was a Killiano.
Amedeo hugged his brother. Then Salvatore kissed Violet. His brother patted her tummy. “You look beautiful, Violet.”
Amedeo gave her a look as if to say, “See?” He wasn’t the only one who thought that pregnancy agreed with her. She rolled her eyes.
“You do look pretty, Violet,” Kalia said.
“Oh, Amedeo, this is Kalia. She’s my best friend.”
Amedeo kissed Kalia’s cheek.
“Nice to meet you, Kalia.”
They walked into the courthouse. Fifteen minutes later, Amedeo was a husband. He took Violet’s hand. “Hello Mrs. Killiano.”
“Right. That would take some getting used to, but I’m not taking your name.”
He nodded. “I get it. It’s fine.”
They found a restaurant down the street. Violet headed for the bathroom after they were seated. That gave Amedeo a chance to talk to Kalia.
“I never pegged Violet as someone overly worried about her appearance, but she really is having trouble with gaining weight,” Kalia said.
Amedeo knew that Violet was unhappy about it, but he hadn’t realized that it was that bad. “She’s said some things to me about it, but I do hate to see her so unhappy. She won’t take my word for it that she’s beautiful.”
Salvatore piped in. “I told her today.”
“I appreciate that,” Amedeo said.