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Evie finally looks up and then back at the boat.
Splashed across the bow of the new DeLuca family yacht is the name of Evie’s mother,Arline, in big navy-blue letters. It’s a beautiful vessel, more than a little bit of an upgrade from our parents’ ski boat. I can see the dining area from here, which includes a large-screen TV and gas BBQ. Of all the evidence of my brother’s wealth, from his apartment in New York to the Switzerland house, this might just be the most over-the-top one of all.
It’s still hard to soak in the fact that the same kid who cried in my arms when he twisted an ankle running away from Gian in the yard is now someone who can purchase a yacht. In three hours.
“Chari and I have been talking about this already, and I’ve looked at a few of them,” he told me on the phone earlier. “The one we had our eye on in Avalon is still available. Or was still available,” he’d corrected himself. “I bought it for all of us to use. The DeLuca family yacht. And before you go yelling at me, I’ll remind you that this time youasked meto do it.”
I would have pointed out that I didn’t exactly ask him to go buy a yacht, but since Evie was sitting next to me, I made some noncommittal sound instead.
“It’ll be at the pier when you get there, staffed and ready to roll. I told them two nights, but you can extend it. Chari helped with a special surprise too.”
The name of the boat.Arline. How the hell they got it on there so quickly, I have no friggin’ idea. I guess with enough money pretty much anything is possible.
“I don’t understand how you did this,” Evie says finally, pulling away and wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. She turns to look at her mother’s name again.
“I asked Enzo for a favor,” I say, not surprised when Evie’s head snaps back to me.
“You what?”
I put my arm around her shoulders. As it should be.
“I know. Crazy, right? But I wanted to do something special. Something that would show you how ‘in’ I am. I’d have run out and bought a ring and proposed if I’d been convinced you would say yes.”
She stares at me, but I don’t back down from my words. They’re true.
I don’t want any other woman but Evie.
“You’re serious?”
“I am.”
The air electrifies between us. But after that drive, we need a bit less levity for the rest of the day, so I wink and look back to the boat.
“But how? I mean, just a few hours ago we didn’t know we were even coming here.”
Reluctantly, I drop my arm and take Evie by the hand, moving toward the yacht.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I put complete faith in Enzo to pull off something special, and he did. Though I’m sure my sister-in-law had something to do with this.” I nod to her mother’s name.
“I’m sure of it,” Evie says, staring at the boat’s bow. “She always loved my mom’s name, asked once if she ever had kids if she could use it. I was surprised, honestly. It’s kind of old school.”
Just as she mentions the possibility of Enzo and Chari having kids, we step onto the yacht. We’ve talked about this before, the night of the water park, in fact. I know she wants them, as do I.
With her.
Although I didn’t clarify that fact before. She didn’t comment about me buying a ring, but I was actually pretty serious about that too.
“Arcusia,” she says, standing on the main deck. “That’s my mother’s name in Italian. It was her grandmother’s name.”
“That is old school,” I say as we begin to explore.
“Holy shit,” she says, “this thing actually has a kitchen.”
“A galley,” I correct her. “The only other time I’ve been on one of these was on a trip to Lugano. Hayden’s parents have a house there, and a yacht. And a private jet.”
“I’ve met his wife, Ada. We hung out a bit while I was in New York. But I only met Enzo’s partner once.”
I take advantage of the fact that we’re belowdecks, away from prying eyes.
