One Small Chance: a novella (a Love Story from Portugal) (19 page)

The English-style garden was quiet. A tourist couple stood by the ledge, taking pictures, and a group of three retired men sat on a bench facing the street, leaning over their canes and talking animatedly. Isabel walked in, descended the stairs, and chose a bench at the far end. The day had dawned cold and the sun shone high in a blue, cloudless sky. She’d dressed in layers but more than her coat, gloves, and scarf, the nervous energy inside flushed her cheeks and warmed her.

Elliot had chosen one of the city’s belvederes to meet, one of her favorites, this one overlooking the eastern hills of Lisbon. It was a well-known spot in the city, sometimes crowded in the summer but today they would have privacy if they wished. And if it got too cold, there was a small café across the street. That the belvedere was located not too far from the academy and her apartment was only a coincidence, wasn’t it?

Her phone chimed.

Are you there yet?

It was a text from Simon.

Yes, I just got here,
she replied.

She’d told Simon, of course. Not everything, but she’d told him about Elliot and how they’d been writing each other for years, how he was in Lisbon to meet her. For a moment, he hadn’t said anything, just looked at her with an expression she hadn’t been able to read. But then he’d asked her if she really wanted to meet this man, and when she replied yes, he’d nodded with a small smile.

Isabel took Elliot’s card out again and read it. She’d memorized the words he’d written by now, but the sight of his slanted handwriting filled her heart with a warmth she didn’t want to let go.

“You’re going to wear out that postcard, you know,” a man’s voice said.

Simon sat down beside her and grinned. She slipped the postcard back in her pocket. “Simon, what are you doing here?” It was hard to hide the surprise from her tone.

“I changed my mind about this place. It’s colder up here than I thought.” He came closer and reached for her hand. “Are you cold?”

“It’s always a little breezy in this garden.” She stared at him. “I’m all right.” Her pulse sped up, the questions mounting and tripping to come out, her mouth unable to voice them.

“It does have a nice view of the city, doesn’t it? And I bet the garden is beautiful when the wisteria is in bloom. Have you been here in the summer?”

Simon’s hand was warm, even through her knit gloves. Upside down feelings tumbled in her chest but his contact was firm and familiar, grounding her to the moment. The implications were too many to consider.

“Simon?” she asked again, her forehead wrinkling in a frown.

He shifted on the bench, turning to face her more fully, her hand still in his. A veil of resolution passed through his expression, his eyes softening. So much meaning in his gaze, so much tenderness.

Isabel blinked and a tear rolled down her cheek. No, no tears to blur her vision, not when she needed to keep all her wits about her. She wiped it with a finger.

“What if I ask you to call me Elliot?” The gentleness in his voice completely undid her.

Her eyes spilled with tears now, flowing freely as her mind struggled with the knowledge her heart took willingly. “Elliot?” she whispered, touching a hand to her trembling mouth, searching his eyes for the truth.

“It’s me, Amélie,” he said. “It’s me, at last.” He brushed away her tears, the warm skin of his fingers sending tingles through her cold cheeks.

Isabel stared at him.

He drew both her hands into his. “Please say something, Isabel. Please tell me I haven’t ruined everything.”

She took a shaky breath. “When did you know? How did you find me?”

“That day when I crashed into you. I saw the letter I had sent as Elliot a few days before. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to do, and I put it back in your pocket.”

“What kept you from saying anything?”

“I wanted to make sure it was the right time. We didn’t exactly start off on the right foot.”

Isabel looked down, embarrassed by her behavior toward him.

“But here,” he touched his chest, “I never had any doubt, and I knew that first day when we met at the academy.”

“I remember.” Isabel nodded. She’d seen it in his eyes then, unable to recognize it for what it was, what it really meant.

“I’ve been trying to tell you.” Simon bent his head to catch her eyes.

“Yes, I can see it now. The little hints you’ve been dropping. I thought I was going crazy at times.” She shook her head, trying to hide a smile and failing.

Simon had the good sense to look abashed. “I had to make sure we were both ready for this.” He lifted an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to his side. “I didn’t want to lose your friendship. Not yours and not Amélie’s.”

Isabel closed her eyes and hugged him back. His scent, the solidity of him, his arms anchored her to this moment, in the embrace of the man she’d loved for so long.

For she loved him, didn’t she? Even if she’d never before admitted it to herself, she loved him.

He passed a hand through her hair. “I almost bungled things, didn’t I? When I asked you for that kiss.”

Isabel drew back a little and tilted her head to look him in the eyes. “Simon, do you know you talk too much when you’re nervous?”

His mouth curved into a lazy line. “Less talk more action?”

She nodded, and his eyes darkened as he tipped his head in her direction. He raised a hand to her neck and settled the other on her waist. Their lips met. The kiss was sweet at first, almost tentative. As the emotions they’d been holding in bloomed between them, it grew and it deepened, and Isabel finally understood the meaning of coming home to her best friend, the dearest friend of her heart.

Simon smiled against her lips, then trailed little kisses on her cheek and jaw. He leaned over her shoulder and drew her hair aside, kissing her gently at the nape of her neck. “I’ve been dying to kiss this line of stars for a long time.”

Isabel closed her eyes and held on to his arms, giving herself away to the sensations on her skin and in her heart.

Simon buried his face in her neck. He held her tightly against him and whispered in her ear. “Isabel, is it too soon to tell you how I truly feel about you?”

Was it? She drew back and touched the side of his face. Considering they’d just rolled their first kiss into Elliot and Amélie’s first meeting, she was ready to move forward.

“We’ve been writing each other for almost fifteen years, Simon. It’s definitely not too soon.”

He stood, clasping her hand, and she rose with him. The bracket dimple appeared in the lopsided smile she knew so well by now. “Come on, let’s go somewhere warmer and with more people around or I might be tempted to keep kissing you.”

Isabel squeezed his hand. That was something she was beginning to understand only too well.

* * *

They ate lunch in a nearby restaurant, then took to the streets of Lisbon until the late afternoon. With Christmas only a few days away, the lights shimmered and the decorated windows in the downtown stores added to the festive atmosphere everywhere.

When darkness fell suddenly, they ended in a grocery store to buy ingredients to cook a meal together at Isabel’s apartment. At home, Isabel drew two aprons from the pantry and slipped one around Simon’s neck, then handed him a paring knife to start peeling potatoes while she chopped onions beside him.

“I forgot to ask you how things went at the Tivoli.” He glanced at her.

Isabel paused the chopping and turned to him. “I signed the contract. I’m starting the internship on January third.” She smiled unable to contain the excitement. “I still can’t believe it.”

Simon put the knife down and pulled her in to brush a kiss on her forehead. “I’m so happy for you. I truly am.”

Isabel leaned into him, amazed that it felt so right and so natural.

He placed the peeled potatoes in a bowl of water. “What about your position at the academy? Did you tell Dr. Varela yet?”

“I did, right after I was done at the Tivoli.” She paused. “I asked for all the vacation time I have left and gave him my notice. He didn’t like it, but I told him the internship is starting soon and I can’t miss that.”

Simon leaned against the counter. “Well, that would explain his frantic call just before lunch.”

Isabel wiped her hands on the apron and stepped closer to him. “Just exactly how frantic was he?”

“Enough to beg me to stay and finish the school year.”

Her eyes widened. “Truly?”

Simon stepped forward and rested a comfortable hand on her waist. “It turns out the academy is in need of an interim director until he can find a new, permanent one, and he thinks I am the man for the job. Imagine that.”

She matched his tone. “Imagine that indeed. But truth be told, you were trained very well for that job.”

He pulled her closer. “Trained by the very best.”

She placed her hands on his chest and her heart skipped a beat at the closeness between them. “So you’ll be staying until June?”

“Until July. Dr. Varela wants me to post the marks and train the new director. That means I’ll have over six months to look for a new job in Lisbon. Or even somewhere else.” He raised an eyebrow. “What are your plans after the internship?”

“My contract with the Tivoli resort ends in July,” she said. “And you’ll be here until then,” she repeated, happy with the news that Simon was staying in Lisbon through the beginning of summer.

He nodded, smiling. “You’ll be an acclaimed chef with job offers pouring in from everywhere.”

She chuckled. “Not likely.” Then she sobered. “But I’m not really interested in taking any offers or going anywhere permanently until I find out where you’re going.” It was true, and she didn’t want to hold it back from him.

“What if we don’t have to be apart, Isabel?”

She held her breath. Did he mean what she thought he meant?

Simon tucked her loose hair behind her ear. “Don’t freak out on me, please. It’s just an idea. What month were you baptized?”

“In April.”

“You do know that new members have to wait a year before they go to the temple, don’t you?”

She nodded. “I think I remember something about it.”

“Which means you can go to the temple any time after April.” He brushed a kiss against her lips. “Just keep that in mind, okay?”

“Okay.” Isabel stepped into his embrace, the sound of his heart fast and loud against her ear, beating as wildly as her own. Here she was, in the arms of this incredible man who wanted to make plans for the future with her, and he was afraid she might not want the same. But she did, with everything in her power.

The confirmation came clearly to her mind, and the truth of that knowledge warmed her heart, freeing her of any doubts.

She brought him closer and kissed him. What was meant to be a quick kiss soon grew deeper as he responded with the same fervor she had. “I love you, Simon Ackerley.”

His eyes widened and he swallowed hard, the Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. Then a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, deepening the lines on either side of his mouth. “I love you, Isabel Antunes.”

Her mind flew back to those first interactions between them when he’d arrived at the academy. Isabel had been rude to him, doubting his motives and his friendship. But Simon had been patient with her, and he’d been willing to wait for the right moment. After such a rocky beginning, the future held the promises she couldn’t begin to dream, a future made stronger because they would spend it together.

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for reading Simon and Isabel’s story,
One Small Chance
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Other Books by Lucinda Whitney in the

a Love Story from Portugal
series