“Hell, no, I loved watching you, and I cannot wait to see what you plan to make.You make all your own clothes, don’t you?”he asked.
She nodded.“Yeah, my parents weren’t thrilled.So, some of my wardrobe does have brands they found acceptable.”
He wrinkled his nose.“If you don’t want them, bag them up and we’ll donate them.”
“You’re being serious?”
“Yeah, you’re my wife, and if you don’t want to wear any branded products and just the clothes you make, do so.”
“But, aren’t you worried what other people might say?”
“Do I look like the kind of guy who gives a fuck what other people will say?”
She opened her mouth and closed it.“I don’t know.”
“You were the prettiest bride, Clarissa, and we both know you made that dress.”He winked at her.“Come on, live dangerously.How long has it been since you went shopping like you did today?”he asked.
“Five years ago.My grandma took me on my sixteenth birthday before she passed away.”
Shit, fuck, he was not expecting that as an answer.
“You’ve not been since?”
She shook her head.
He didn’t want to lose their momentum.“Your grandmother was a good woman.Feisty, and she was so used to having her own way.”
Clarissa started to laugh and nodded her head.“Oh my, yes, she did.I can’t believe, yeah, wow.All the time.I’m sure everyone was afraid of her, because she would get this look in her eye that just ...yeah, you either did as you were told, or you were in trouble.She was a fiery one.”
He smiled toward her.“You miss her?”
“So much.”
He reached across the table, holding her hand.“I’m glad I was able to get to know her, and that she refused to let me just wing it with your sewing room.”
Clarissa laughed.“I still can’t believe she came to you with that and told you what to do.”She chuckled.“That must have been a request you were not expecting.”
“It wasn’t.There was no way I was going to deny her, though.You meant a great deal to her.”
Clarissa nodded.
Silence fell between them, but it was interrupted quite quickly with the waiter bringing their food.There was candlelight, and it cast a soft glow between them.
“They’re the only ones who were willing to be patient with me after it happened,” she said, looking up.“My parents wanted to send me to some kind of hospital, and it was my grandma who said I didn’t need a hospital.I just needed some patience.”
“Did you ever talk to them about what happened?”Lorenzo asked.
“No.I’ve not talked to anyone, just mentioned it to the girls,” Clarissa said.
He reached across the table, and part of him expected her to pull away, but she didn’t, she held onto him.It wasn’t much, but it was a start.