Love on the Malecon (25 page)

“Thank you, Derek. Thank you for doing this
here. Thank you for thinking of my father.” She was still
crying.

He wiped away her tears and kissed each of
her eyes tenderly.
“
I will work my entire life to only have
tears of joy flow from those eyes. Now, come and pick out a
ring.”

They both stood and she was shaking as she
looked into the case. She had barely noticed the owner before. He
was a little old man with a face that had deep lines from a long
life in the sun. He was short, with a full head of thick black hair
and deep black eyes. He looked very kind.
“
I remember your
father,” he said in a raspy voice,
“
I will pack up your
charm. Please allow it to be a wedding present for you. I will be
back to show you any ring that you would like.”

The tears began to form again.
“
Thank
you,” was all she could get out. Derek stood quietly next to her
while she looked at her options. She had always loved the antique
style of rings. It only took a moment to know which one should be
on her finger and it wasn’t at all what she would have expected.
She was surprised how quickly she knew.

“This is the one,” she pointed down at a
beautiful diamond ring set in rose gold. She wasn’t sure of the
carat weight and couldn’t care less, but guessed about two carats
or so. It was surrounded by little diamonds, the rose gold prongs
showing through each one. There were the same diamonds and rose
gold along the entire band of the ring. The owner came over, opened
the case, and handed Derek the ring. Nicole liked that touch; he
got to slip it on her finger.

It fit perfectly without any sizing needed.
“
Once again, it’s perfect,” he said as he put it on her
finger.

“Shall I wrap up the matching wedding band?”
the owner asked.

“Of course,” Derek said,
“
There’s
definitely going to be a wedding.”

Derek was wiped out from the day in the sun. He
glanced at the clock; they had been asleep for two hours. Nicole
was still fast asleep. She was also naked, with only the ring
sparkling on her finger, and it was the most beautiful sight. She
really had chosen the perfect one. It represented her well,
gorgeous and unique.

He was looking forward to his meeting with
Gael that night. He was also happy that Gael and Nicole would get
to be properly introduced. He remembered that they had only seen
each other from across the room when Silvia was apprehended. He
didn’t want to be the type of husband that kept his wife in the
dark about his business. He wanted Nicole to know as much as she’d
like. He imagined her relaxing in the sun while he met Gael for
poolside meetings. She may not care about any of it, but he was
done hiding his life from everyone. He had found a woman to open up
to. He didn’t think they’d sit down and go through his financials,
but he wanted her to know what she now had. He was ready to share
all he had built.

He showered quickly to wake himself up and
opened his computer to do a little work while Nicole was still
sleeping. He sat on the couch, smiling as he saw the little Puerto
Vallarta frame holding the picture with Old Bill and himself. Who
would have guessed that man he had spent an afternoon with was
actually Nicole’s father?

But now it was time to focus on work. Derek
reviewed some information and got his head together for his
meeting. He made a list of questions he wanted to ask and things
where he’d like further clarification. He had emailed quickly back
and forth with the company heads about the Chicago property and
they were ready for the next step. Gael was doing a great job and
Derek was excited to see his interest in a larger role in the
company. He printed out a few things he had been working on to see
if Gael’s brain thought the same as his. He wasn’t testing him,
more interested to see his thought process on choosing locations.
He’d like to have things in motion when he took Nicole to Venice.
He wanted to be able to leave his phone in the hotel room every day
and not worry about work.

He heard her stirring in the other room and
loved the sound of someone being there. He wondered now how he had
lived all those years alone. She walked into the living room
wearing his robe, her eyes dreamy and her hair a tousled mess. She
looked perfect.
“
How long did I sleep?” she asked with a
yawn,
“
Feels like years.”

“We both slept a couple of hours. I’ve only
been up about an hour now.” He closed his computer and motioned for
her to come sit by him on the couch. Even with such long legs, she
could somehow curl herself up into the tiniest little ball.
“
Are you happy?” he asked her.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” she said
sweetly,
“
Do we need to get ready for you to meet Gael?”

“I’ve been preparing for that. Would you like
to swim in the rooftop pool? He will meet us up there. We can order
some food.”

“Yes and I’m starved,” she smiled,
“
Do
they have those quesadillas here as well?”

“We’ll get some sent over; they’re Gael’s
favorite too.”

“
Yum
. Thank you.” She gave him a quick
kiss.
“
I’m going to run through the shower to wake up.”

And then she was off. He laughed to himself
at her excitement over the quesadillas. It was so nice that she
loved to eat food. He figured that he couldn’t be the only man that
got tired of women pretending they weren’t hungry or that a salad
was enough. He had such a wonderful time with her last night,
devouring everything in front of them.

Nicole came out wearing her little black
bikini with the same little shorts. He remembered that she had
packed pretty light. They were going to do some serious shopping.
He wanted her to have endless options wherever they were staying.
Derek enjoyed clothes. He loved looking casual, but he also didn’t
just grab anything. His clothes were bought or made to fit him
well. Like other times before, their minds were on the same thing.
“
Think I can get Maria to do some shopping for me here? That
woman has great taste,” Nicole joked.

“You make everything look good, love.” He
walked to meet her in the kitchen area.
“
But we will go
shopping tomorrow if you’d like.”

“Thanks. Since I’ll be staying, I am going to
need a few more things.”

Yes, she would.
“
Let’s go upstairs,”
he said,
“
you still haven’t seen it yet.”

He took her hand and they left the apartment.
The sun had set while they slept and the Paraíso was tall enough to
see quite a bit of the Romantic Zone from the rooftop. The streets
were full of people walking and shopping and tables full of diners
spilled out from little restaurants.

The rooftop was beautiful. There was a large
pool that took up a majority of the space, going right up to the
edge of the building, with a wrought iron railing around it. Large
potted plants added to the outdoor feel. Along the side of the pool
was a row of lounge chairs for guests to lounge and sun themselves
during the day. Past those were a few cocktail-style tables and a
small bar. Luckily, they were the only guests up there tonight and
Derek didn’t need to worry about speaking freely.

The bartender came by and Nicole ordered only
water. They had been doing some serious drinking over the past two
weeks. She was technically on vacation before. As of today, she was
now living here. Derek liked that she seemed to change her mindset.
Maybe he was way off, but it felt like she was settling into her
life and most likely she didn’t drink like a fish at home every
day. Derek didn’t either. He’d maybe have a beer or a glass of
wine, but he mostly drank more when he was entertaining a woman on
vacation. He ordered himself and Gael each a beer and a shot of
tequila. He knew that, with the conversation he’d like to have, a
shot would be in order. Just as everything was brought to the
table, Gael arrived.

Derek properly introduced Nicole to Gael as
his fiancé. She was adorable as she held out her finger to show him
the ring, a giddy smile on her face. Gael’s face lit up with a huge
smile in return. He kissed Nicole’s cheek and gave Derek a hug so
big, it practically lifted him off the ground.
“Amigo
, I am
so happy for you. You have been waiting a long time to meet her.”
He shook his hand and sat down.
“
Shall we take a shot?”

“I had those brought out for something else,
but this seems like a time to celebrate.” And they both threw back
the tequila.
“
Sit, let’s talk,” he told Gael.

Derek began by asking his questions about the
current project with the Chicago office. Gael did a great job of
getting him up to speed on the situation. Derek handed him three
folders of information he had just printed out at the apartment.
“
Take a quick look. Which location would you choose?”

Gael looked a bit confused, but picked up the
first folder. Each one held information on options for Derek’s next
land purchase. The information included showed what Derek would use
to make his decision. Although his gut instinct came into play
quite often, the facts were important. He was interested to see if
Gael would make the same decision. Gael rapidly reviewed data for
Isla Mujeres, Todos Santos, and Riviera Nayarit, each of them an
area in Mexico that could turn into a highly sought after vacation
spot.

Quickly, Gael answered,
“
With only a
few minutes to review, I’d choose Todos Santos.” He smiled at
Derek.

“Great job, my friend, very well done,” Derek
laughed,
“
We will move on that next.”

Derek began to explain his ideas for the
company. He asked Gael if he was interested in taking on a
partnership role. He would begin taking on more responsibility in
the selection of land options, first in cities that he and Derek
chose together and then, ultimately, without Derek’s assistance.
When Gael agreed to the idea, they took another shot in
celebration.

Derek enjoyed watching Nicole read by the
pool while he discussed business. He could definitely get used to
this set up. He felt great knowing that he could take a bit of a
step back from business and enjoy life with Nicole. He knew she
wanted to write, which would give him plenty of time to work. He
wanted her to pursue her passion.

He discussed their plan of her writing about
destination weddings on their properties with Gael, who thought it
was an interesting suggestion as well. With Derek’s own wedding
coming up, he offered to contact a few locations and see if they
were receptive to the idea.

When they concluded their conversation and
had enjoyed their food, Gael said his goodbyes. He congratulated
them both again and, though the wedding would be small, Derek knew
that Nicole would want Kate as a maid of honor and he would ask
Gael to be the best man. He still worked closely with Roger, but
their relationship stayed far more on the business side of things.
After working so closely with him, he had become a true friend.
They didn’t always agree, but in those times, he even felt like a
brother. Derek was excited for this next step in their
relationship, as well as his and Nicole’s.

Derek and Nicole went back down to the
apartment. Nicole hadn’t called Kate yet and was dying to tell her
the news.

“When should we have the wedding?” she
asked.

“I would make you my wife right now. But we
can have it as quickly as you like. Would you like to get married
in Chicago?”

“No, I think we should have it on the beach
at Playa Vallarta,” she smiled,
“
Could we send that plane of
yours for a few friends? How many does it hold?”

“Maximum capacity is ten passengers and we
can always send it back for more. Maybe you’d like a few friends to
come out early?”

Derek laughed as she started jumping up and
down. He loved making her happy. He could tell that everything he
had was such a surprise that it really never figured into how she
loved him. That had been his biggest fear and why he had been so
secretive in his past. Deep down, Derek hungered for true love. He
hadn’t gotten it from his mother; he wanted it from a wife.

Nicole was already on the phone with Kate and
he sat on the couch, listening to her tell the story. He closed his
eyes and relived it right along with her. She sounded genuinely
happy and that gave him a sense of peace he had never experienced
before. He could tell she was fighting back tears of joy again as
she told Kate about finding the picture of him with her father.
Then she must have reached the part about his plane, because he
heard her start laughing loudly,
“
A plane, Kate. He has a
plane. You can come whenever you want. You can stay at the resorts
for free as well. We can still see each other all the time.” Her
excitement made him laugh again.

He began to wonder when they would get
married. He meant it when he said he’d do it tonight. Weddings
could get put together at the hotel in no time at all. Since Playa
Vallarta was a smaller hotel, it didn’t usually bring in weddings
and they shouldn’t have to worry about it being booked. They could
have the ceremony on the beach and the reception in the open air
lobby and bar. It would be perfect. Very important things in his
life happened at that bar and now it would be the venue for his
wedding reception. And, even with everything that had happened over
the past few days with Silvia and Andrew, it was still her father’s
favorite place and he knew how much that meant to her.

The next morning, Nicole had just gotten off the
phone with her boss Nathan. He was very happy for her and even told
her that she could write her final column on her very own wedding.
With all of the weddings that she had written about, writing about
hers hadn’t crossed her mind. Now that Nathan had put the idea in
her head, she was extremely excited to write about it.