Strong arms wrap around me from behind as I stand at the prep table in the kitchen. He doesn’t speak as he holds me and burrows his face in my neck. I close my eyes, missing the comfort of being in someone’s arms without having to say a word.

He links his fingers near my stomach as his warm breath skids across my neck. “I’m sorry, Tilly,” he whispers as he tightens his hold, pressing his front flush against my back. “I can’t take your hurt away. I can’t bring him back. The only thing I can do is be here for you, knowing everything you’re feeling.”

Emotion bubbles up inside me as tears start to form in my eyes. “Do you feel lucky to have been able to say goodbye?”

He inhales and presses his face harder against my skin. “Sometimes,” he admits. “Sometimes, I’m haunted by the memories of her trying to cling to life.”

“I never got to say goodbye.” I exhale as the tears fall down my face, wishing I could’ve touched Mitchell’s warm skin one more time before he took his final breath. I cover Angelo’s hands with mine and rest my head back against his chest. “The day he left, our goodbye was short and quick. I never thought he wouldn’t come back.”

“The letter was his goodbye, Tilly. He knows how much you love him. A man knows these things deep in his bones. We don’t need to hear them in our final moments to know what we’re leaving behind.”

I close my eyes, sliding my hands up his arms to grip his biceps as I turn around. “There’s so much left unsaid, Angelo. I never got to say them to his face. I lay across his flag-covered coffin, telling him everything I wanted him to know before they laid him to rest.”

Angelo rocks gently, trying to calm me as I start to hyperventilate. “He heard you. There’s no doubt in my mind he heard every word you spoke to him that day. He just couldn’t talk back. He left you a letter as his final words, trying to tell you that he knew what you had was special.”

“It was the greatest love,” I whisper. “He was my everything. My protector, my best friend, my love, my world.”

“I know, baby. I know.” There’s nothing sexual in his tone. He’s comforting me in a moment and a way no one else has been able to since Mitchell was alive. “Marissa was like the brightest star in the night’s sky. She was everything I ever wanted. Even though I loved her and did everything in my power to protect her, I failed.”

I turn in his arms, peering up at his tear-filled eyes, and hold his cheeks in my hands. “You loved her fiercely, Angelo. You did everything you could to protect and save her. This I know. But sometimes, the world has other plans, and no matter how hard we try to change things, there’s no changing what’s meant to be.”

He rests his forehead against mine, hiding his eyes and his tears. “Marissa begged me to move on after she died. She couldn’t leave until she made me promise not to be alone for the rest of my life. In her final moments, she thought of me and the kids more than herself.”

“How were we so lucky to have them in our lives?”

He flattens his palms against the small of my back, and I crave his warmth. “I don’t know, Tilly. I ask myself that question every day.”

“You know why I haven’t dated?”

Angelo tilts his head up just enough to see my eyes. “Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to have to stop talking about Mitchell. He’s not an ex-anything, you know? I don’t want another man to feel he’s competing with him.”

“I understand completely.”

“But with you—” I wrap my arms around his waist, holding him tight “—I feel like I can say anything about Mitchell, and you won’t judge or feel jealous.”

“We were blessed with great love and cursed with even greater loss. If we can’t share those feelings with someone, it’ll never work. We’ll never be able to move forward and continue living.”

“Mitchell would’ve liked you, Angelo.” I stare up into his crystal-blue eyes. “He’d like your quiet strength, your kind heart, and your ability to love completely.”

“Marissa would’ve adored you too, Tilly. Your spirit is infectious, and you’re sweeter than any cupcake you could ever bake.”

I laugh softly, loving how he found a way to throw my cupcakes into the conversation. “Do you believe in fate?”

“I never did. I couldn’t believe fate gave me Marissa and then snatched her away.”

“It’s hard to believe in anything when you lose someone so important.”

“But if there’s such a thing, I feel like you and I were destined to meet. We were meant to be here, in this time, helping each other heal.”

I could easily fall for this man. His heart has an infinite capacity for love.

“Are we too broken to be together?” I whisper with my eyes locked with his.

He shakes his head and brushes his lips against my forehead. “I think we’re too broken for other people, but together, we’re whole.”

I close my eyes and tighten my arms around his waist. “I haven’t felt a moment’s peace before being with you.”

“I feel the same, Tilly.”

We stand like that, embracing and just being for so long, I lose track of time. I’m lulled into a sense of peacefulness listening to the steady beat of his heart thumping in his chest underneath my ear.

“Do you still want to go out tonight?” he asks when the tears have finally stopped falling.

“I do,” I say without opening my eyes or looking up. I’m so comfortable, I don’t want to leave the serenity of his arms.

“Hello!” Betty calls from the front of the shop. “Anyone here?”

“Christ,” Angelo mutters against my hair.

I laugh, loving the way his family is all up in each other’s shit. It’s something I never had but always wished I did.

“Back here.” I release my hold on him and put some distance between us.

Betty comes stalking through the swinging door, dressed to the nines like she’s about to head out for a swanky lunch date. “There you two are.” She eyes us both like she knows something’s going on.

She looks luminous in her bright green sweater and skinny jeans. For an older woman, she has a smoking hot body, looking at least ten years younger than her actual age.

“Hey, Ma.” Angelo rubs the back of his neck.

“Hi, Betty.”

“Hey, doll.” She grabs my arms and pulls me toward her to kiss my cheek. “I know you two are busy, but I wanted to let you know we’re having a family dinner tonight.”

“But it’s not Sunday, Ma.”

Her red-painted lips flatten. “I know, but Vinnie’s home for another day, and I want to do something special for him before he leaves.”

“We have plans,” he tells her.

She smiles. “You do. Dinner at my place at seven.”

“But what about the bar?”

“I got it covered. That includes you, Tilly. I’m sure you could use a good home-cooked meal.”

Angelo leans over, placing his mouth next to my ear. “Don’t let her fool you. Her cooking is horrible,” he whispers.

I stare at Betty with wide eyes as she glares at him. “I heard that, smartass. Daphne and Delilah are cooking.”

“It’ll be halfway edible, then.” He laughs.

“It doesn’t matter how good the food is. The most important thing is that we’re together as a family,” his mother tells us.

“I know, Ma.”

“Maybe we should just reschedule,” I say.

Betty shakes her head. “No, dear. You’re a part of us now.”

“I am?” My mouth hangs open.

Betty grabs my shoulders. “You are, and Tate insisted I come over here and invite you.”

“Oh,” I whisper, caught off guard. “Can I bring anything?”

“Just yourself.”

Angelo’s behind me and silent.

“Seven o’clock. Got it?” she reminds us like we’d actually forget.

“We’ll be there, Ma,” he tells her.

She stares at us for a moment. “You two would make beautiful children,” she says out of left field.

I practically choke on my own spit and start to cough uncontrollably.

Angelo places his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “Ma, bring it down a notch.”

“I’m just stating the obvious.” She shrugs. “Do with it as you will. Now, I’m off. I’m meeting Mrs. Onorato for lunch at Piatto.”

“‘Dish’?” I ask, wondering who the hell would name their restaurant “Dish.”

“Yes, dear. You know Italian?”

“I spent a year in Italy with Mitchell. He was stationed there. I picked up a thing or two.”

“Oh. I like her.” His mother winks.

“Aren’t you late?”

“Seven,” she says again as she pushes the swinging door and disappears into the front of the shop. Neither of us speaks until the sound of her high heels fades.

“She’s intense.” I can’t stop myself from laughing as I turn around to face him.

“The entire family is crazy as fuck.”

“I’ve met them.”

“You haven’t seen them all in action.” He pulls me back into an embrace.

“I always wanted a big family. I’m excited to have dinner with them.”

“You sure? I can cancel, and we can go out alone.”

I shake my head, wanting nothing more than to spend a quiet evening with his family. “I’m sure, Angelo. They’re a part of you.”

“The crazy part.” He pulls me closer, holding me so tightly, I never want him to let me go.

“Being normal is never fun.”

“Be careful what you ask for. I worry they may be a little too much to handle all at once. At least so soon.”

“It’s always better to rip the Band-Aid off quickly.”

At least, that’s what I tell myself. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little nervous about tonight. I’ve met them all, and from what I can tell, they’re everything a family should be.