In a Broken Dream (The Broken Series Book 4) (7 page)

I
nodded.

Rafael
sighed. “Your entire family would probably prefer you marry Kadyn.”

“Kadyn
hangs the moon in their eyes,” I reluctantly agreed. “But they know you love me,
Rafael. It won’t be an easy transition for them, but once they’ve spent a
couple of days with you, they’ll see that while Kadyn hangs the moon, you hang
the sun and the stars.”

“You
think I hang the sun and the stars?” he asked, suddenly perking up.

“Pretty
much,” I confessed. “I know you’d move heaven and earth to see me smile.”

He
tilted my face toward his. “And you know how much I love you…”

I
searched his eyes questioningly. “I do.”

“And
you love me…” he prompted, the full force of his attention on me.

Butterflies
danced inside my stomach. I felt skittish but stilled when he cupped my face in
the palm of his hand. “Yes, I love you, Rafael… very much.”

He
wove his fingers through my hair. The rest of the room faded to black when he
pulled my face toward his. “I’m not asking you here. This isn’t the right time
or the right place, but you will agree to marry me when I propose?”

My
heart ground to a stop. If I said “yes” now, I was sealing our fate. I’d be
forfeiting any right to say “no.” Clearly, he was looking for a promise… a
promise he’d consider binding once it was made. Still, there wasn’t a single
part of me that wanted to say “no.” Rafael was the thin thread holding me
together. As thin as that thread was, our experiences had woven us together so
tightly there was no room for anyone else. Rafael understood me, bore my pain,
and shared my losses like no one else. The answer seemed easy enough, but it
was frightening all the same. I knew that if I committed to this dream, it
would disintegrate right in front of me, robbing me of any remaining desire to
live or breathe. This was no small leap of faith.

Rafael’s
cedar and clove scented cologne soothed me as he leaned forward and kissed me
on the lips. He trailed kisses all along my jawline before pressing his lips
against my ear. “Neither of us is meant to be without the other, Kristine. Say
‘yes,’” he murmured in a low, seductive tone.

My
heart thudded once… twice… three times as he pulled back and peered into my
eyes. Time hung suspended while he awaited my response. A familiar sense of
peace fell over me… the same peace that had found me on the beach in
Saint-Tropez found me here under this makeshift tree and moonlit sky. I
marveled at how something could seem so frightening and so undeniably right.
“Yes,” I finally breathed.

Rafael’s
face lit with a triumphant smile. His lips captured mine in a caramel and
coffee laced kiss as he gathered me into his arms. His tongue swept through my
mouth, coaxing, possessive, and strong. My anxieties flared, then faded as he reclaimed
every last piece of my broken heart.

*
* * * *

I
kissed Rafael’s cheek before ringing Cenia’s doorbell. “You okay?” I asked. The
poor guy was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that one of Kadyn’s
friends had invited him over for dinner.

He
eyed the bottle of wine he’d selected as a gift for the hundredth time. “I’m
good. Are you sure she likes Chianti? Maybe I should have purchased the Riesling.”

Cenia
pulled me in for a hug as soon as she opened the door. “Hi, Kri. Thanks so much
for coming to help.” She stood on her tiptoes as she gave Rafael a hug. “It’s
good to see you again, Rafael.” She pulled the door open a little wider and
ushered the two of us inside her condo.

Rafael
handed Cenia the bottle of wine. “Thank you for inviting us to dinner.”

Cenia
read the label before setting the bottle on the dining room table. “Thanks! This
will be perfect with dinner. How’s your handwriting, Rafael?”

He
glanced at me uncertainly. “My handwriting?”

Cenia
laughed. “I’m afraid I’m going to need a writing sample from you. I’m not
letting you near those wedding invitations without a writing sample.”

“What?”
Rafael asked, thoroughly confused.

“All
you have to do is scribble something on a piece of paper, make it look really
messy, and you’re off the hook,” Roger said as he joined us in the living room.

Cenia
threw her hands on her hips. “Surely you don’t expect me to address all two
hundred and twenty-three wedding invitations by myself?”

Roger
offered her a quick peck on the cheek before shaking Rafael’s hand. “Certainly
not. That’s what Kri’s here for. Rafael’s going to help me grill the kabobs.”

Rafael
laughed. “Nice to see you again, Roger.” He met Cenia’s gaze as he confessed, “My
handwriting leaves a lot to be desired. I’m much better equipped for the
grill.”

I
nabbed one of the wedding invitations from the coffee table so I could see what
Cenia had ordered. The invitation was written in an elegant script, the heavy
linen paper embellished in all four corners with scrolling leaves and delicate
blue flowers. “Rafael’s a really great cook, Roger. You’re missing out if you
don’t task him with something a bit more complicated.”

Roger’s
eyes brightened. “Do you know how to cook rice?”

Rafael
nodded. “Do you have fresh garlic, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, and parsley on
hand?”

Cenia
reached for an invitation. “I have everything but fresh parsley. Why?”

“I’ll
run to the store and get fresh parsley so I can make Portuguese rice. Kabobs are
quite popular in Portugal, but we typically serve them with Portuguese rice,”
Rafael explained.

“I’d
love to try Portuguese rice,” Cenia said, dropping the invitation back inside
the box.

“Did
you drive the Enzo?” Roger inquired.

Rafael
smiled. “Yes.”

“Then
I’m going to the grocery store with you,” Roger announced.

“Would
you like to drive?” Rafael asked as the two men turned toward the door.

Roger
grinned. “I’d love to.”

“Just
great!” Cenia exclaimed. “If he lets Roger drive that Ferrari, they’ll be gone
for hours.”

“Grab
another bottle of wine for dinner,” I called after Rafael, “because Cenia and I
are opening this one now.”

Cenia
flopped onto the couch. “These invitations are way more complicated than I
thought.”

I
grabbed the bottle of wine off the dining room table and ducked inside the
kitchen. “We’ll get a lot more done with the two of them gone. They’ll just
distract us if they’re hanging around.” I dug through Cenia’s kitchen drawers
until I found her foil cutter and corkscrew. I popped open the bottle of wine,
poured two glasses, and returned to the living room. “Let’s put some music on,”
I suggested after handing her the wine.

Cenia
reached for her cell phone. “Thanks,” she murmured, taking a sip of wine. She
set her iPhone to play Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” before setting it back
on top of the coffee table.

“Have
you generated a list of wedding guests?” I asked, settling in next to her.

She
pulled an Excel spreadsheet out from underneath the box of invitations and handed
it to me. “I figured I might as well develop a spreadsheet, so I can keep track
of the RSVPs.”

I
handed her the top four sheets and kept the rest. “You work on that half of the
list, I’ll work on this half. Did the stationary shop include instructions for
assembling the wedding invitations?”

Cenia
dug through the box. “Here’s a diagram and some directions for addressing the
envelopes.”

I
reviewed the instructions. “The only thing I’m not sure about is how to address
invitations to military members. I assume you need to note their rank.”

Cenia
nodded. “Yes. I have some guidelines pulled up on my iPad. I’ll go get it.” She
took another sip of wine before walking away from the couch.

I
arranged all the different inserts into piles; accommodation card, map card,
response card, response envelope, reception card, tissue, invitation, inner
envelope, and outer envelope; so it would be easier to assemble everything in
the proper order. “We need to choose a date for the bridal shower, and I need contact
information for the friends you’d like me to invite.”

Cenia
set the iPad on the end table next to the couch. “I’ll e-mail you a list of
names, addresses, and some possible dates tomorrow.”

I
began addressing my first invitation. “What kind of bridal shower would you
like?”

Cenia
gathered up the envelopes, invitation, and other inserts for her first
invitation. She paused briefly before addressing the inner envelope. “My mom is
throwing a kitchen and bath shower while Roger and I are in McAllen sampling
cakes and food for the reception. I’d like to change things up a bit with my
Virginia friends… maybe a lingerie party?”

I
secretly smiled inside. I had the perfect gift in mind. “A lingerie party. That’s
what I was thinking! Do you want to have a bachelorette party afterwards?”

Cenia
shook her head. “No bachelorette party. Roger and I loathe the idea of bachelor
and bachelorette parties. We’re hosting a dinner and dance at my parent’s house
instead.”

“I’ve
never really been a fan of bachelorette parties either,” I confessed. I
assembled another invitation. “I see you’ve already put stamps on the response
envelopes. Do you have stamps for the outer envelopes?”

Cenia
shook her head. “Roger ordered some custom-made wedding stamps, but they
haven’t arrived yet.” She topped off our wine glasses before assembling another
invitation. “Rafael sure knows his wine. Has he forgiven me for asking you to
dance with Kadyn?”

I
crossed another name off the excel spreadsheet. “Rafael’s fine. He knows how
much I love him.”

“Does
he?” Cenia inquired softly.

I
glanced at her in surprise. “I suppose I’ve given him enough reasons to feel
insecure with everything that’s happened.”

Cenia
nodded. “I’m still secretly rooting for Kadyn, but I understand why you’re in
love with Rafael. You’ve been through a lot together, he’s a really good guy,
and he is crazy about you.”

“I
don’t deserve either of them,” I mused. I crossed another name off the list
before assembling another invitation.

Cenia
scowled. “That’s where you’re wrong. Your ex-husband stole your self-worth, Kri.
What I wouldn’t give to see you get it back. If only you could see what the
rest of us see when we look at you. Maybe then you’d find some peace and
happiness.”

I
was uncomfortable with the direction our conversation was heading so I steered
the conversation back toward their wedding plans. “Has Roger picked out a tux
yet?”

Cenia
let me off the hook. “Yes. Roger and Kadyn picked their tuxes out last weekend.
That reminds me... we still need to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses.” She
tucked all the bits and pieces of the wedding invitation into the outer
envelope.

I
took another sip of wine. “I’m afraid that’s going to have to wait until I get
back from Montana.”

Cenia’s
pen stalled just above the envelope. “I didn’t know you were planning a trip
back to Montana.”

I
smiled. “I wasn’t. Rafael surprised me with plane tickets last night. We’re
leaving tomorrow morning so we can squeeze the trip in before school and my job
at Seeds for Peace start up again.”

“Tell
Lexie, Kimme, and Dan I say ‘hey,’” she said as the front door swung open.

“We’re
cancelling the reception so we can buy an Enzo F70,” Roger announced.

Cenia
laughed. “Cancelling the wedding reception wouldn’t free up enough money to buy
the tires for that car.”

“A
man can dream,” Roger quipped. He perched on the arm of the couch and swiped at
the screen on his cell phone. “I can’t even find a photograph of the Enzo F70
on the Internet. In fact, the only thing I’ve found is speculation about an
Enzo successor.”

Rafael
pocketed his keys. “The Enzo F70 hasn’t been released yet.”

Roger
looked thoroughly confused. “But you referred to your Ferrari as an Enzo F70.”

Rafael
glanced at me a bit sheepishly. “Technically it’s not. I’m driving one of the
prototypes for the Enzo F70. This prototype has a V-12 eight hundred horsepower
engine. They’re planning to pair this engine with a KERS hybrid system which
should bump the engine capacity up to nine hundred and fifty horsepower. They
still need to work through a few design kinks, so I don’t think you’ll see the Enzo
F70 released for at least another year.”

Roger’s
mouth fell open. “How did you get your hands on that car?”

“I
was in Maranello when they were track testing the prototype.” Rafael leaned
over and kissed the top of my head. “Let’s just say I made Amedeo Felisa an
offer he couldn’t refuse.”

“I
can’t believe you settled for an eight hundred horse power engine,” I murmured mockingly.
I grasped the back of his neck and pulled him down for a more thorough kiss.

Roger
grabbed Rafael’s arm and dragged him toward the kitchen. “We’ve got to get the
rice and kabobs started,” he insisted. “Then you’re going to give me the full
story on that Enzo.”