“It’s a lovely venue. So romantic and relaxing.” Joy stared at her wine glass, summoning the courage to tell Tony how she felt.

“You okay?” He leaned his elbows on the table. “You look like you have something on your mind.”

“Yes. I just need to tell you something that I’ve been thinking about.” After a sip of wine, she had the courage to begin.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“You remember my stepdad, Weston, right?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah. I sure do.” He grimaced.

“Well, after he and Mom got married, I asked her if she loved him, and she told me that when a woman is older and has teenaged children, she doesn’t marry for romance.”

Tony crinkled his brow. “Wow. She said that?”

“Yeah. She explained that she married Weston for security and not romantic love.” Joy exhaled.

“How did that make you feel?”

“At the time, a little sad. But now that I’m older and have been through a divorce . . .”

Tony leaned back.

“I sort of see what she was doing. She was putting our needs over her heart. She was thinking about us and making sure we had what we needed. She made sure we’d be set for life, you know? Mom felt that was more important.” Joy sighed. “Tony, when we first married, it was about romantic love, wasn’t it?”

He smiled and reached for her hand. “Yes, it was.”

“All I wanted was to be a wife and create a home for you, my husband. And then when Jaime came along,” Joy continued, “my life goals became all about her and meeting her needs.”

Tony nodded.

“But I think in doing that, I somehow lost myself along the way.” Joy looked up at him. “I forgot what I wanted from life. I forgot what my goals in life were. And I think that made me boring.”

He squinted.

“I became a bore to you. I mean—”

“Joy, hang on.” He raised his hand to stop her.

“Let me finish, please.” Right as Joy spoke, the appetizers came.

“Buon appetito,” the waitress said with another smile at Tony.

“We will, grazie.” He returned her smile with his own, then fluffed his napkin and placed it on his lap. “Let’s enjoy the food and then discuss what you said, all right?”

“All right.” Joy picked at her salad. The fact that she said what she needed to say eased her mind, and her shoulders relaxed.

After eating in silence for a few minutes, Joy set down her fork. “Tony, I don’t want to be that woman again.”

“Joy, what woman are you talking about? You’ve always been loving and kind. You made us a beautiful home. I was the one who messed it all up,” he said as he ate.

“I just need you to know that my time in Rome changed me.” Flashbacks of her conversations with Millie came to her mind. “I realized that life is too short to not do the things that are important to me.”

“I understand. I really do, and I think that’s great.” Tony smiled between bites of his salad.

She rested her folded hands on the table. “So when I return to New York, I’m going to look into making my dreams come true.”

“That’s great, Joy.” He continued eating his salad.

She watched him for a moment. “Don’t you want to know what those dreams are?”

“Sure.” He cleared his throat and nodded.

“Well, ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to own my own flower shop in town.” She smiled thinking about it. “I didn’t tell you that when we were first married. I sort of kept it to myself.”

“I remember you mentioned that before.”

“It feels good to not only say it out loud, but to begin planning it. That’s why it was so interesting how my first day in Venice, I ended up working for a flower shop, you know?”

He grinned. “A flower shop. I still think that sounds like a great idea.”

“When I get back, after Jaime and Michael are off on their honeymoon, I’m going to look into buying a shop and see where it takes me.” Joy scooted her salad plate out of the way and ran her hands along the table, smoothing out the linen tablecloth and feeling satisfied with herself. “And so, Tony, I need you to know what I want. I need you to know what my hopes and dreams are. I have goals of my own that I gave up long ago for you and Jaime. I can’t give them up anymore. It’s important to me to be interesting and not boring.”

The waitress approached again. “Hello. Are you enjoying the first course?” she asked Tony.

“Yes, we are,” Joy replied. “In fact, I think we’re ready to order some soup.”

But the young woman ignored her and picked up the salad plates. “I will be right back to take your order,” she said to Tony.

Joy watched her walk off. “It’s like I don’t exist at this table.” She chortled. “Anyway, what do you think of my plans?”

“It’s definitely doable.” He raised an eyebrow. “How much money have you saved? Or will you take out a loan? Government regulations are rather tight right now for small businesses. Taxes are high, too, especially in New York. It may not be the best time to start a business. If I were you, and take my advice or leave it, I’d make sure the existing shop’s customers will remain when you take over the shop. Which place in New Rochelle are you looking at? We could go talk to the owners together, if you’d like.” Tony poured himself more wine. “I could loan you the money or invest in the shop with you.”

Joy listened to him talk about the practicalities as he ate his appetizers, wondering if anything she said about her hopes and dreams had entered his brain. On and on he talked about government regulations, qualifying for a loan, a business plan, and more. He talked for so long, her head throbbed.

He’s so pragmatic. Everything he said made sense from a business point of view, but it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She smirked, because she wanted him to talk from his heart and not his head.

“I believe in you and your dreams, Joy.” Why couldn’t he just say that? Or, “I’ll support you in anything you do.”

She rubbed her temple.

“And another thing—”

“Yes, we could talk to the owner at the shop where I worked before,” she interrupted him. “The last time I went there, I learned that they do want to sell.” She leaned back in her chair and vented air between her lips, glancing around the room at all the couples eating and laughing together. They looked so happy and into each other.

“The first year will be tough, Joy. In fact, you won’t make a profit probably for the first four years. That’s something to consider, you know? But I’d be willing to invest and help you get started.”

“Thanks, Tony. I’d appreciate that.” Joy sank lower into her chair as Tony kept droning on about the woes of running a business and rising interest rates, pouring ice cold water on her hot idea. Yet he said nothing about her hopes and dreams for her life.