With her approval, he ordered the lobster salad, a creamy porcini mushroom soup, and the salmon in sorrel sauce, accompanied by a crisp French Chardonnay.
In between courses of the delicious, beautifully prepared food, he subtly tried to engage her in conversation, and to open up a little more about herself.
“Were you born in Tucson?”
Tessa took a small sip of her wine, then shook her head. “No. According to my birth certificate I was actually born in Savannah, Georgia. But I have no memories of the place and my mother never talked about it. Mostly I grew up in the Southwest.”
“Do your parents still live in that area?”
There was another pause before she replied, and he sensed she was choosing her words carefully. “I don’t know where my father is. I’ve never actually met him or even know his name. And my mother is dead.”
Ian frowned, not sure what disturbed him more – the information that Tessa had just shared or the sad, almost matter-of-fact way in which she had done so.
“I’m so sorry, love,” he told her sincerely. “Was your mother’s death recent?”
“No, it was several years ago.”
A very young age to find herself without parents, he thought grimly. Ian guessed there was more – a great deal more – that she wasn’t telling him, but this was certainly not an evening where he intended to make her talk about sad things. There would be time enough to learn her life’s story on another occasion. But there was one question that he desperately wanted an answer to.
“Was Peter your first boyfriend?”
Tessa seemed startled at his question. “Um – yes, actually. Why do you ask?”
Ian ran a finger around the rim of his wineglass. “You seem extraordinarily shy, especially around men. I’m just assuming that you don’t have much experience with other men besides your husband.”
She gave a slight nod. “Peter is the only man I’ve ever been with. He – we’ve know each other since high school. He was the only family I had, but now he’s left me, too.”
“What?” He was dumbfounded. “Peter was the one to leave? I thought – I just assumed you had initiated the divorce.”
“No. Peter left last September for Bahrain to start his new job. It was his idea to split up, especially since I wouldn’t have been able to move with him.”
Ian could only shake his head in disbelief. “How in the world could he – could any man – just walk away from you? It’s inconceivable, Tessa.”
“It’s not what you think,” she told him quietly. “Peter and I – well, it’s a very long, involved story. The reasons we married and stayed together – it’s complicated.”
“Then let’s not discuss it tonight,” he declared firmly. “Tonight is about getting to know each other better, but not sharing stories that make you sad. I don’t ever want to make you sad, Tessa.”
She gave him a smile that went right to his groin, and what she said next made him stifle a groan.
“You don’t,” she assured him. “Being with you here this evening – it’s the happiest I’ve felt in a very long time.”
Ian leaned over and kissed her tenderly. “My darling girl, you have no idea how happy that makes me to hear. And I intend to work very hard on making any sad thoughts or memories you’ve ever had disappear as though they never existed. In other words, I’m planning to devote myself to making you happier than you’ve ever been before.”
The rest of the meal passed by without any additional references to Tessa’s past. Instead, he focused on learning any number of little things about her – likes and dislikes – such as her favorite color (blue), favorite flavor of ice cream (cookie dough), and favorite movie (the hopelessly romantic Sleepless In Seattle). He also discovered that she exercised every day, liked to cook but admittedly wasn’t terribly skilled at it, and that of all the places in the world she’d ever dreamed of visiting, Italy and Spain were at the top of her list.
“I suppose you’ve been to both places,” she said wistfully.
“Yes, many times. My family owns a villa in Tuscany, so we’ve vacationed there for decades. Perhaps you’ll let me take you there sometime,” he offered.
Tessa’s face lit up with delight. “Really? You’d really want to take me to Italy with you?”
Ian smiled at her obvious pleasure at the idea. “Of course, love. If you’ll allow me, Tessa, I’d happily show you the world.”
She sighed. “God, could you be any more romantic? You’re starting to make my head spin with all of this – this splendor.”