Proposing Bliss (Bliss Series Book 2) Sample Chapters only

Bague de Fiançailles

If You Like it, You should Put a What on it?

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"a diamond is a chunk of coal

that did well

under pressure" ~~ Henry Kissinger

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"But will she say yes?"

Martina regarded me with her scrupulous grey eyes when she asked the question. Her silver hair was pulled back into a chignon. Wrinkles lined where they should on a sixty-eight-year old woman's face. There wasn't a hint of that ever-present playful smile, not that our conversation was anything to laugh at.

What we were talking about was a life-altering decision after all.

"You don't trust that I know the answer to that?" I said in a steady voice.

Martina lifted the small, square box and studied it, as though it hadn't been in her possession for decades.

"I'm surprised that of all people, it was you who'd asked for this." She raised a thin eyebrow at me. "I didn't think you had it in you."

I wasn't uncomfortable with her statement. It was common knowledge that I'd been the first one to run from any semblance of commitment in the past. Martina had witnessed it year after year, relationship after relationship.

"Will you at least let me meet her?" There was a hint of hope in her voice, though she would never admit to it.

I scoffed. "I don't know if I can trust you with her." I was met with a good dose of seething. "What if you turn her against me?"

"If I could do that, then she isn't the right one for you," she challenged me, with an eyebrow raised and her chin lifted.

Taking my eyes away from Martina, I observed the men and women working in the vineyards through the terrace doors. The sun peeked behind cumulus clouds, and the heat wasn't bothersome: a perfect day for a green harvest. Martina predicted that it would be a successful year for the entire region. For a vintner, Martina was rarely wrong when it came to these things. Only a handful of people had her skills. She loved to pretend that it was all guesswork, but I had seen her work. It wasn't an exact science, but with a bit of luck and years of unparalleled experience, she had created a working formula.

She had also been right about a lot of my past romantic interludes. Though I knew that she would never interfere with my current relationship, she would scrutinize it to pieces. I couldn't let her do that. Not that I was afraid that she would find something amiss.

I must agree to the notion that there is no such thing as a perfect relationship, but what I have with Veronica was damn near perfect. And it could only get better from here.

Martina replaced the box on the painted table, and slid it my way. I caught it before it dropped on the floor. "Make sure you get it back if it doesn't work out. We can't forget what happened to Alexandre."

A laugh escaped my mouth. "You just had to, didn't you?" I opened the box, took the content out and examined it in the light. "I'm surprised he was able to make her return it."

Martina stood and walked over to me. Her left foot dragged slightly on the floor, and it took her longer to get anywhere with the pain she'd experience. She cradled my head between her hands, and made me angle my face up. Much like what she had done when I was a little boy. "Remember, Olivier: l'amour fait les plus grandes douceurs et les plus sensibles infortunes de la vie."

"Wise old saying, Onna, is that from experience?"

She tutted and shook a dainty finger at me."I told you not to call me that!" Then kissed the top of my head. "I worry about you some times."