Page 88 of Burning Caine

“She said you date a different woman each month, so I was the flavor of the month for August, and she had been July.”

The Calendar Club. That was what she had meant. “We went on three dates and had nothing in common. She was not happy when I told her I was not interested in continuing to see her.”

She was quiet, picking up her container and moving the food around.

I folded the paper gently and slipped it into my shirt pocket. I sighed and gripped the tailgate.“How much time before you have to go?”

“Twenty-three minutes.” She acted calm, but her whole body was tense. “Is it true?”

I couldn’t lie about this, as well. I had to be honest with her. This was important. “Sì, it is.”

She bowed her head and gave a bitter laugh. “Then I think we should look at the pictures you brought. We don’t have more to talk about.”

The sun was blazing. I looked exceptional in black, but it was a poor choice for this meeting. I loosened the tie and undid a few buttons, rolling up the sleeves. The leaves on the corn fluttered in the breeze, and I took a deep breath. She needed to know why I did what I did. And hopefully, she would understand.

“My Nonna always said to me, ‘Antonio,mangia! Eat! You are too skinny!’ and she would stuff me with meatballs and cannoli.”

Samantha picked up a piece of parmigiana but remained silent.

“I was a…big boy. My friends called me Fat Tony. I spent most of my life that way, and the girls had no time for me. I flirted, I had crushes, but only had a couple of girlfriends. When I moved back to Italia for my master’s degree, I lived with one of my cousins, who taught me how to exercise and eat well. After a couple of years…” I flourished my hand, indicating the product of too many hours at the gym.

“Then, the girls were all over you?”

“Sì, exactly.” I nudged the food around in my own container, but ate nothing. “I moved back to America for my doctorate and met a beautiful woman who wanted to spend every moment with me.”

My heart hurt just thinking of her. The greatest heartbreak of my life. “Her name was Faith. We were engaged and planning a family. We had fun together, and I loved her very much. I thought. But all she loved was my wallet and how she looked on my arm. I took a trip to Napoli for my research and was gone for three weeks. I missed her so much I came home early to surprise her.”

I took one of the olives from my container, stalling. The story was difficult, even after all those years. Samantha didn’t hurry me––she simply listened. But my time was running out. I looked at her, hanging on my every word.

“Do you know what I found in our apartment?”

She shook her head.

The lump formed in my throat, making it hard to go on. “I could still smell dinner in the air. Lasagna. Two plates in the sink and two wine glasses on the counter.”

Samantha gasped and put a hand on my arm. “Oh, no.”

“Sì.” I nodded slowly. “I walked in on them in our bed.Ourbed. And I…I left. She tried to make excuses, but I was done with her.”

“I can’t blame you.”

I swallowed hard, needing to finish. “After I got over the surprise, the shock, I spent a lot of time talking it over with my family, especially Sofia. I figured out one critical thing. If I went back in time and looked at our first three dates, without lust, without the marvel such a beautiful woman would want to be with me, I knew Faith was not the right one. I wasted all that time on a shell of a person who was beautiful on the outside only.”

I shook my head slowly. “So, I made a decision: Three dates. If I don’t find what I’m looking for in a woman by the time we have had three dates, then she’s not the right one.”

Samantha withdrew her hand from my arm. “That seems harsh.”

“No, it’s practical.”

“Since when was love ever practical?”

I closed my eyes. How many women had come and gone since then, none of them passing the third date? “For aught that I could ever read, could ever hear by tale or history…”

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

“Sì, exactly.”

“It’s ironic. That caused you to date more women. My divorce caused me to stop dating altogether.”