Page 42 of A Valentine's Day Gift
Epilogue
Two months later…
Allie couldn’t help her beaming smile as Vinny waltzed with her during their pre-wedding ballroom dance lessons. It was only their first lesson, but he’d picked up the box step quickly.
He pulled her in close, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “Tell me again why the boys are taking dance lessons with us.”
She smiled serenely. “So they can bond.”
“They’re making faces at each other.”
She glanced over at Vince, dancing with a woman with curly gray hair in her fifties. Vince’s eyes were crossed. Gabe and Luke were snickering. Then Luke made a snarly face back.
Their class had three other couples and a group of five middle-aged women from a divorce support group. Allie felt a little bad about the numbers here. Surely, the divorced women had hoped to meet single men, just not men quite so young. So far, the boys had refused to dance with each other.
She looked up at Vinny. “They’re bonded in their dislike of waltzing. And look at how well Gabe’s doing with his partner.”
Gabe looked a little stiff, but he was definitely doing the correct box step with his divorcée, a blond woman who kept looking around, maybe hoping for another man to magically appear instead of a teenaged boy.
“Yeah, well,” Vinny said, looking a little guilty.
“What?”
He lowered his voice. “I paid Gabe to set an example for the other boys.”
“What!”
“They were plotting to revolt. I had to do something.”
She bit back a smile. That was just wrong. On the other hand, Vinny knew how much this meant to her and had smoothed the way. “What if the others find out?”
He arched a brow. “Payment is contingent on keeping his mouth shut. Besides, he’s the oldest. He should set an example.” He gave Gabe a thumbs-up, and Gabe acknowledged it with a subtle head nod.
Vinny gazed down at her tenderly, his hand leaving her waist to slide up her back and stroke her hair. “They’re good kids, but ya can’t blame boys for not being into ballroom dance. And six weeks of lessons is alotat that age.”
She laughed. “Their wives will thank me one day.”
He smiled, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. “Maybe so.”
Luke passed by with his divorcée.
“Nice footwork,” Vinny commented to Luke. “How do we look?”
Luke took in her and Vinny before finally saying coolly, “Fine.”
Vinny inclined his head. “I’ll take fine.” He moved them a distance away, a little more subdued.
“He’ll warm up,” Allie said. “Just give him time.”
“No rush,” Vinny said.
“He’s stubborn is all,” Allie said. “It’s not personal.”
Luke had stewed after they’d announced their engagement, keeping his concerns to himself until just last week before Sunday dinner when he’d surprised her by confronting Vinny, who was preparing ravioli in the kitchen. She’d been making the salad.
Luke, all of ten years old, had crossed his arms and informed Vinny in a belligerent tone, “You’re not my real dad and you never will be.”
“Luke!” she’d exclaimed, shocked he’d speak like that to Vinny, who’d just been innocently cooking dinner.
