And with that, he lifted his hand and I carefully placed my left-hand palm down on his. I had slipped on the ring just before we headed to the veranda and had been careful to shy my left hand away from any eyes that may have wandered in that direction. But it was out now. And for the first time, I could take a closer look at the ring.
It had not been easy to hide, what with the bright green emerald eye at the center and the glitter of tiny white diamonds circling it, all poised on a delicate golden band. The ring was the type to take your breath away. Not only because of the price tag (which I could tell had been hefty), but it was the kind that you struggled to take your eyes off. It was that beautiful.
It was the only real thing in this whole setup, I thought just then. A tear rallied in the corner of my right eye. I brushed it away quickly. Why was I getting so emotional over this?
After Sebastian’s announcement, what followed was a long, dead silence. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Besides my heart. Besides the noise of the beating of my heart. And the tweeting of birds in a couple of the trees nearby. But still, nobody spoke.
They can probably hear me. Hear my heart. Why isn’t anyone speaking? Why isn’t anyone…
Not a moment too soon, the whole room erupted in cheers.
“Sebastiano!” was echoed around the room.
“Elly!”
“Congratulations!”
“Well done, my son.”
Sebastian’s mother cried, then began shouting out all the recipes she wanted to make for the wedding, which were all of Sebastian’s favorites. She threw her arms around me and hugged me close.
Mr. Rojas, who asked me to call him Emanuel, shook my hand. His handshake was firm but much gentler than I expected it to be. He placed a hand on his son’s shoulder and nodded at him. Then brought him in for an embrace.
Finally, Elonzo came up to his brother and slapped him on the back. “Sebastian, you rascal. And there I thought you had no idea what love was when all this time you were hiding yours back in America.”
The two brothers laughed. Elonzo approached me and offered his hand. He was grinning from ear to ear. He didn’t look like a man about to lose a company, the way Sebastian had presented him, but like someone who was genuinely pleased for his younger brother. It brought a lump to my throat.
“Thank you, Elly. Thank you for teaching my brother how to love,” he whispered to me.
I couldn’t help it. I began to cry.
CHAPTER20
SEBASTIAN
It was better than I had anticipated.
It was also worse than I ever could have predicted.
Better, because my parents completely accepted Elly as their own within a matter of hours. She fit right in, especially with my mom. Not that Mom is a difficult person, but she has her peculiarities.
And then there was the rest of the family. I’d thought Uncle Luis and everybody from that side wouldn’t be showing their face that day due to some feud over a card game they’d played with Father a couple of weeks earlier. But Uncle Luis brought his wife’s secret recipe for Ajiaco and Mom wouldn’t have it that he leave. And if Mom insists on something, she gets it.
Worse because…for the first time, Father looked pleased with me. The gall of it! Not because I had achieved an outstanding percentage growth in our company, brought in revenue from international clients that surpassed my initial estimates, and even opened eight other offices across Colombia. No! Because I told him that I was engaged.Marriage. That’s all he thinks about. My father’s romanticism makes him completely blind to cold hard facts.
I needed a break from him, so I asked if Elly wanted to see the back gardens. The gardens are Mom’s territory and she immediately sprung up to give us a tour. Which meant I wouldn’t even have to speak, just stew in the injustice of my father. Perfect.
The back gardens of my parents’ place were where Elonzo and I spent most of our childhood. I say “back garden” and most people envision a couple of bushes, flower beds here and there, and some big tree in the center that the kids have climbed and fallen off from. But not the Rojas back garden. We had a tree, yes. In fact, we had a small forest of trees that began at the back of the garden and made their way around the edges of the security fence. The Colombian oak, Colombian mahogany, and the palm trees at the front of the house. Each tree had been planted by a family member, accompanied by Matteo of course. It used to be a tradition to plant a tree whenever the family got together; as we kids grew up, though, the tradition dissolved. But the forest still grew.
We walked along the path heading east. We passed another fountain that my mother was very proud of.
“Emanuel built me this fountain for our silver wedding anniversary,” she said. “It took him a week, after he sent me to my sister’s on the pretense of some parasitic infestation in the gardens. I returned on the day of our anniversary and here it was.” Mom smiled, gently stroking the dancing couple at the center.
“It’s beautiful. Do the dancers represent a specific couple?” Elly asked.
I turned away. All these romantic conversations were boring me, especially since I already knew the answer.
“It represents me and Emanuel. One special night, we were dancing in the Old Town and declaring our love for each other. Now every morning I have something to remind me of that magical night,” Mom said.