Surprised by Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

authorities had done the cremation,
and I let her believe that.” 
    Connie
sighed.  “One thing I can tell you—when I realized that Bob had been
systematically unfaithful to me with Violet, I ceased mourning him in a
hurry.  Did Tom tell you that?”
    Alessandro
nodded.  “Only that something had happened that made you stop mourning
your husband right then and there.  Forgive me if telling me all this has
upset you all over again.  I wouldn’t want that for anything—”
    Connie
gave him a brilliant smile.  “It doesn’t bother me, telling you about
this.  As you have no doubt guessed by now, the marriage was not very
happy, at least from my point of view.  I felt deceived, because if Bob
had told me before the wedding that he would want me to stop working, I would
not have married him.  Our life was one ostentatious occasion after
another.  You’ve seen the outside of the house?”  When Alessandro
nodded, she said, “The inside matches, believe me.  He tried to get me to
wear pretentious gowns and too much jewelry…”  A corner of her mouth lifted
for a moment.  “Not that he succeeded.  But as you can understand, I
was unhappy—and he must’ve been too, to marry Violet bigamously.”
    Quietly,
Alessandro asked, “What happened to her?”
    Connie
smiled.  “I told her I would put her up in the Hilton overnight, and take
her the next day to Bob’s lawyer, Marcella Mellis.  Actually, she is my
lawyer, not Bob’s.  But I spoke to Marcella later that day and she agreed
to make sure that Violet got the inheritance Bob had left me—several million
dollars.”  She made a little moue.  “He was reasonably well off, but
he wasn’t as rich as he wanted people to believe.  Anyway, from what
Violet told me, it was obvious that Bob had made no provisions for her at
all—maybe he thought there was lots of time to do that—and then there was that
terrible accident.”
    Connie
smiled.  “In any case, having the money made Violet’s mourning a bit
easier.  Fortunately she decided to move back to Nebraska, where her
parents and other relatives lived—in modest circumstances, it seemed to me from
some things she said.  I was glad she was leaving Florida—less chance of
her finding out that her marriage had been bigamous.”
    Alessandro
picked up Connie’s hand and brought it to his lips.  “That was a very kind
and generous thing you did for Violet,” he said.  “Having got to know you
a bit, may I say that it doesn’t surprise me in the least?  Even when I
first met you, I sensed your generous nature.”
    Connie
smiled.  “Help me polish my halo?”
    Alessandro
laughed.  “I’ll buy you a self-polishing halo,” he promised, and got to
his feet to pour more Krug.   
     
     ****

 
    Their
dinner at the Café de Paris was delicious.  Somewhat to Connie’s
surprise, she discovered that Alessandro had asked Lucien, the maître d’, and Henri, the sommelier, to devise a dinner for them.  Alessandro
said calmly, “I don’t want my dinner guest hunting through the menu trying to
find something to eat.”
    “You’re
right, I much prefer to sit down to a dinner that has been planned for me—for
us.  Thank you.”
    Their
dessert platter was brought, and there were six different desserts to choose
from.  By this time, they had become friends, it seemed to
Alessandro,  and he was amused when Connie offered him a taste of her
dessert.  Declaring hers delicious, he quickly reciprocated—letting her
taste his.  Neither of them seemed to notice that they were feeding each
other desserts by the spoonful, and having an amazingly good time doing
this.     
    Both
refused refills of the espresso, and Alessandro asked, “Would you like to walk
on the beach for a while before I take you home?”
    Connie
glanced at him, surprised.  “I’d love it, Alessandro.  How did that
occur to you?”
    He
shrugged one shoulder negligently.  “I didn’t want our evening to