“Marco, I know what you’re going to say. I’m so very sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. Can you forgive me?”
He suddenly looked confused. “Nonsense. You haven’t done anything.”
“I should have told you sooner, is what I meant.”
“But Shannon, we never spoke about it before today.”
“I know, Marco. And that is all my fault.”
“That’s impossible. You could never do anything I wouldn’t love. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m in love with you, Shannon.”
I couldn’t speak. He slowly stood, came over to the couch, and in front of me, knelt down and held out a huge diamond ring. “I think I knew about this the first time I saw you. Everything fit into place so perfectly. Like we were long lost friends, soulmates from another time and place.”
“But…”
“Shannon, marry me. I waited too long before. She didn’t want to wait. This doesn’t have anything to do with her, but she taught me something. And I felt her come to me this afternoon, and it was like she was telling me I should stop waiting to join her, that I should find someone just like her, and do what I should have done before.”
“But…”
“Don’t you see? I never believe in these kinds of things. But it was like we were predestined for each other. You’re the girl I’ve been looking for, waiting for my whole life.”
I was in shock. I let him lift my left hand and slide the beautiful ring on my fourth finger. It was so heavy, I felt like I’d fallen into the ocean, and that ring pulled me right down to the bottom of the sea, where I’d be forever.
Chapter 19
Marco
Shannon didn’t react like how I expected. I knew she didn’t suspect that I would impulsively propose, but I didn’t plan on her shivering, her coldness and the look of pain on her face.
“What is this, Shannon? What’s happened?”
“Nothing happened, but it’s—”
I got to my feet, then sat next to her, my arm around her shoulder. She’d been playing with the ring, which was a little too loose. She was twisting it around and around her finger, staring down at her lap, gently rocking back and forth.
“I’m sorry about the size. I guessed. It will be easy to adjust.” Was that the real problem going on with her?
She stopped rocking.
“Are you ill?” I persisted.
She carefully shook her head from side to side, her eyes still focused downward.
I decided to just wait for her to tell me. Maybe she couldn’t get the days off she said she could and was somehow upset about that. Maybe Rebecca paid her a visit. But something was definitely different and I was worried, getting more so by the minute.
Then she turned toward me, our knees touching. She wrapped her arms around my neck, brushed her cheek against mine. I felt her whole body shaking. When we parted, I could see she’d been crying.
Had I missed something? If she was averse to getting married, I’d try not to pressure her, but this wasn’t the Shannon I had gotten to know. At last she wiped her tears off her cheeks, removed the ring, and placed it in my palm, curling her fingers over mine and began to sob.
Through her tears, she said, “I can’t accept this until you know the truth, Marco. I’ve been lying to you and I feel horrible. I’m not the woman you think I am.”
“I don’t understand. What big dark secret do you have? I swear to you it won’t matter.”
“You don’t know that,” she mumbled, again wiping the tears from her cheeks. “I’ve been so dishonest with you.”
Anger was beginning to boil in my belly. I’d been certain she would be thrilled at the prospect of spending the rest of her life with me. I felt punched in the gut. I was beginning to wonder if I knew anything about women because obviously something had happened and she was locking me out. I wanted answers and I wanted them fast.
I got up, shoved the ring in my pants pocket and started to pace. “This is complete bullshit, Shannon. I expect the truth from you. You better tell me the score or I’m walking right out of here and I’m not ever coming back.”
Even that didn’t make her spring to action. I felt a twinge of regret that I’d spoken to her harshly. Whatever it was, it was serious. I’d never seen her this way before.
I started guessing. “You’re married.”
She shook her head.
“You have five kids.”
“God no.”
“You have an incurable disease?”
“No, not that either.”
“Does this have to do with Rebecca?”
“No.” She inhaled deeply and then stared into my eyes. “The reason you thought everything was so familiar between us was that we have met before. We met over fifteen years ago.”
She was waiting, searching my face to see if that helped me figure it out, but I still didn’t have a clue.
“How did we meet? Fifteen years ago, you were what? Ten?” I asked.
“Emily was my older sister. I’m Melanie Shannon Mabry. When I moved to Florida and began at TMBC I picked a stage name. I used my middle name, Shannon. But—”
“Em always called you Shan,” I said from memory, pictures of those days flooding my mind. The horrible pain and loss came back and I felt like a dastardly trick had been played on me by God.
“Marco, I was a preteen. Braces. Bushy eyebrows and skinny. I wore glasses in those days and they were thick and huge. I got Lasix. I grew up, and when I shed all those things, I was a different person. Like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon.”
“So, you planned all this?” I demanded. I couldn’t help but tighten my fingers into fists, trying to destress, but it wasn’t helping.
“I didn’t plan for all this, no. But I came to Boston to see you, to meet you, because I’d dreamed about you all those years. I just wanted to see—”
She began to tear
