“I am sorry,” he said sincerely. “I know you looked forward to having her with us there.”
“About that,” she muttered and then took a deep breath and admitted, “Actually, I have been thinking I might like to stay here too.”
Domitian stilled and then pulled back slightly to peer down at her. “Really?”
Sarita nodded.
“What about your job?” he asked uncertainly.
“I wanted to help people, Domitian. That’s why I became a police officer. But . . .” Shaking her head, she said, “I can’t think of anyone who needs help more than the people here do. And I mean, we don’t have to stay here forever. I’d just like to help as many as I can get on their feet. But I know you mentioned it would be nice to be closer to your sister and—”
“Sarita,” he interrupted.
“Yes?” she asked warily.
“I love you. I am happy to stay here. I like your grandmother and we will be close to her while she is with us. I can keep my restaurants running for now while you help here, and we can visit my sister in the summers. And if you later wish to move somewhere else, we can do that too. We have time.”
Sarita snorted. “Yeah, we’ve got time. Like thousands of years apparently.”
“It will pass quickly,” he assured her.
“Yeah, I’m not too sure about that,” she said dubiously.
“Mi Corazon,” Domitian said solemnly, lowering his mouth to just above hers so that his breath brushed across her lips tantalizingly as he spoke. “If there is one thing I have learned in my long life, it is that life passes quickly when you are happy. And you make me very happy. Our life together will fly by in a heartbeat.”
“That’s so sweet, my love,” she said softly and then, grinning, added, “You old guys know just the right thing to say.”
Domitian closed his eyes, shook his head, and then silenced her laughter with a kiss.