Max walked up and gave him a brief hug.
Sawyer watched him disappear, the words frozen in his throat. Fear and want mingled in a flood that drowned him.
Max had thrown him a lifeline.
Now he just had to decide whether or not to use it.
…
Julietta waited while her sister hung on to Mama with the fierceness the baby in the family always experienced. Carina blinked away tears when she finally separated herself. “I don’t want to let you go yet,” she whispered, clinging to her hand.
Mama Conte squeezed her in one last tight hug. “I know, sweet girl. But your life is back in New york, and it’s time to return. Will you send me one of your latest paintings? one with no nakedness in it?”
Carina sniffed. “yes. Promise. Michael’s working on getting you to the States for another visit soon.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
Julietta watched as Maggie and Alexa got their hugs and headed out toward the car. “Are you coming to the airport with us?” Maggie asked.
“yes, I’m not ready to say good-bye yet. I’ll follow you and leave from there.”
“I’ll go with you.”
She turned toward Wolfe and smiled. “Thanks. I know Dante will want to give you a last purr before he leaves.”
She watched as the boy petted the cat through the carrier.
Carina hooked her arm through Julietta’s and pulled her away. “Tell Sawyer we said good-bye. I’m sorry he couldn’t come.”
Grief sprang up and choked her. “I know Max tried to talk to him. I’m not giving up. I’ve spent my whole life waiting for a man like him. I’m going to fight as hard as I did when Luigi’s Bakery tried to steal our recipes and put us out of business.”
Carina laughed. “They never had a shot against you.
Neither does Sawyer. Make sure you keep me up to date, okay?”
“As long as you don’t bother me with any more love spells.”
Carina sighed. “I don’t know what happened; it’s the oddest thing. Worked with all three of us.”
“Just goes to show I’m always the fluke.”
Her sister punched her lightly in the arm. “Not true.
your road to true love just took a few hard turns. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Let’s get you guys to the airport.”
They climbed into the car and took off.
…
Sawyer stared at the door. They were probably gone. Still, he’d tried. Max’s words had beaten in his head like a mantra all day. He’d struggled about taking the step to come here today, but he still didn’t feel as if he should belong to such a group.
Sawyer turned and decided to go home. Stay with his first instinct to remove himself. It would be easier.
Mama Conte opened the door. “you missed them. They left for the airport.”
He dragged his feet like a child in trouble. “Sorry, Mama Conte. I’ll catch Julietta later at home.”
She opened the door wider. “Not yet. Come in for a moment.”
“Umm, I—”
“Now.”
He walked in. The house was still and perfectly clean.
She led him into the kitchen, and he took his usual seat.
She brewed him a cup of espresso in silence, set it in front of him, and slid into a chair. Sawyer sipped the steaming brew and hoped to God she wasn’t going to give him a hard time.
He couldn’t take any more.
“Do you know why I made you marry my daughter?”
He looked up. “For La Dolce Famiglia.”
She waved a hand through the air. “I couldn’t care less about the bakery. yes, it’s important, but not as important as my children’s happiness. No, Sawyer Wells, I did it because I knew you were meant to be the one she loves. I also knew neither of you would have entertained the idea unless I forced it. Both stubborn. Both workaholics. Both convinced love is an illusion and marriage an impossibility.”
All the doubts reared up. His words came out clipped and hard. “you were wrong. I told you before when you first hatched this crazy plan. I’ve done things. Failed people. I’m not who you believe I am, and Julietta and Wolfe deserve better.”
She spat in disgust. “Crazy talk. We all have a past, some harder than others. We all have scars, either physical or emotional or both. Do you remember when I met you at the bar and I told you about karma? you had a choice to make that night. your life could have gone in either direc-tion. you could have argued you were forced to take the wrong path because of your past—because of what you thought you deserved. But in that moment, you reached for more. Nothing held you from that except your own be-lief. Not others. Today, you face the same decision. you can fight for my daughter, the woman you love. you can fight for Wolfe and watch as he grows. or you can take the other path and talk about what you are destined for, because of this past that you say owns you.”
Her words hammered home and splintered the crum-bled wall behind his heart. Halfway torn down by Julietta, chipped away by his friend’s words, the final blow smashed the last obstacle. All that remained was a mess of rioting emotions, raw and vulnerable and pulsing with scars.
His voice broke. Sawyer bowed his head. “I don’t know if I can.”
She rose and came to him. Strong arms held him with no apology, no hesitation. She stroked his hair like a mother would, soothing him with her warmth and safety and be-liefs. “My sweet boy, yes, you can. your life is your own.
you were a child and could not protect the ones you loved.
None of us can. So instead, we choose to love as much as possible, and that needs to be enough.”
She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Tears stung his eyes as he hugged her back. “My daughter does not choose wrong. you are who she wants, and she will not let you go easily. Let her choose you, and know you are enough.”
The seconds ticked by. The wounds scabbed over, and a strange peace radiated from his gut. once again, he was in front of that door in the hotel, a video camera gripped in his hands. A choice. His choice.