“You’ll see.”
Alegria gasped when Tom wheeled her through a door near the cafeteria entrance. “What’s all this?”
The private dining room was set up with a single table for two. The rest of the surrounding tables were laden with candles and vases filled with roses.
“Would you like to take it from here?” Tom asked Mantis.
“Sure would.” He wheeled her to the table, and a man came through a different door, carrying two plates that he set in front of each of them.
“I’d like to tell you that we prepared this in the hospital kitchen, but sadly, we did not,” the man said before going back through the same door.
“Wow,” Alegria gasped, looking over the assortment of cheese, fruit, and artisan breads. “Do you think my father arranged for this?”
Mantis smiled. “Do you?”
She shrugged. “It seems a bit overkill.”
Three more courses were served before the mystery was solved.
Alegria smiled when the man set individual Pavlovas in front of them. “This was not arranged by my father.”
Mantis rested his chin in his palm. “No?”
“You did this.”
“What makes you think so?”
“The details.”
“Go on.”
“Don’t play coy. You know very well that raspberries, kiwi, and blueberries are my three favorite fruits. You also know I am a stickler for a perfectly toasted, crispy meringue.”
“A stickler, huh?”
“Shut up,” she said with one of her sweet smiles.
“I know it was difficult to find out you couldn’t leave the hospital tonight.”
Alegria reached across the table for his hand. “Thank you.”
Mantis stood, moved his chair closer to her wheelchair, and took her hands in his. “I love you, and I want to spend my life with you. I hope you know that. No matter what happens.”
“I want that too, Mantis.”
“You and Dutch…”
“We’re more friends than lovers.”
Mantis closed his eyes. “I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to talk about the lover part—or listen to you talk about it.”
“We don’t have to talk about it. I just want you to know that my relationship with him wasn’t…the same.”
“As what?”
Alegria
looked into his eyes. “I could never love another man the way I love you.”