The Sparkling One
“I could probably get you more.”
“Thanks, but I’ve been tacky enough for one divorce. Plus, if I’m out for blood, that means I’m still putting energy into our relationship. The whole situation makes me sad and angry and frustrated, but I want to move on. He doesn’t matter anymore. I want to act like that’s actually true.”
“It’s your call,” he told her. “I’ll do exactly what you say.”
She smiled. “Now see? If Jeff had acted more like that, our marriage might have worked.”
“Don’t go wishing for miracles. I’m only agreeable because I work for you.”
Her smile broadened. “So the secret is to pay someone to be my husband and then he’ll do exactly what I say?”
“Something like that.”
After his meeting with Brenna, Zach stepped out of the library and found Katie waiting for him. They’d agreed to try and corner Mia and David before lunch.
“The Grands have already announced lunch is ready,” she said. “We’ll have to do this after.”
“I don’t want to wait.”
“Because you want what you want when you want it?”
“Something like that.” He wanted to get the conversation over. He wanted to know that the engagement was off.
“It’s lunch,” she reminded him. “How long could it take? Besides, they’re already engaged. What’s the worst that could happen?”
He didn’t have an answer for that, but something in his gut told him time was important. If he waited too long, the situation might be unrecoverable.
She grabbed him by the arm. “Listen to me, Zach. Look into my eyes and listen very carefully. You have to wait. You can’t take this on during lunch. Not with my family there. For one thing, the loud shrieks will be a distraction. For another, it will get very ugly. Remember what happened when I pissed them off? This is way more important and serious.”
“You’re right,” he said.
She didn’t look convinced. “Somehow I don’t believe you. Do you promise you’ll wait to talk to them privately?”
He bent down and brushed her mouth with his. Brenna walked out of the library just in time to see.
“Get a room,” she told them with a grin.
Katie leaned against Zach. “You only need a room if there’s tongue.”
“Yuck. Don’t be talking about that sort of thing with me.” Brenna shuddered. “At least not with Zach standing right there. How can I ask any really good questions?”
“I’m leaving,” he said, walking toward the dining room. “You’ll have to have this conversation behind my back.”
“Chicken,” Brenna called after him.
Katie watched him go, then looked at her sister. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah. I hesitate to actually admit this, but you were right about taping Jeff. Francesca got what we needed, but I feel weird about it.”
“I didn’t want that to happen.”
“I know. You were trying to protect me, but would I listen?”
“See. If only you’d let me run your life, things would go much smoother.”
Brenna raised her eyebrows. “Because your life is so perfect?”
Katie was surprised by the question. “Things are going really well.”
“You don’t say? So what’s up with Zach?”
“I just—” She cleared her throat. “We’re—” Deep breath, try again. “Things are fine.”
“Uh-huh. So you have no idea where your relationship stands.”
“Not one.”
“And you’re too afraid to ask.”
“Exactly.”
“Ha! And you want to run my life. I think not.” Brenna linked arms with her and steered her toward the kitchen. “So he’s the one?”
Katie wasn’t ready to admit that. “Maybe.”
“Bells?”
“A faint ringing sound.”
Brenna squeezed her arm. “So long as it’s not an alarm.”
Lunch with the Marcelli family was a casual, intimate affair. There was less wine than at dinner, more pasta, and enough salad to make an entire colony of herbivores vibrate with ecstasy.
Zach found himself seated on Grandma Tessa’s left and Colleen’s right, with Katie across from him. While he wanted lunch to end so he could corner Mia and David, he couldn’t complain about the view.
After the food had been passed around the table and the Grands determined that everyone had more than enough, conversation turned to the recent fund-raiser.
“We’re very proud of you, Katie,” Marco told his daughter.
Katie smiled. “Thanks. Weeks of hard work and preparation laid low by a single fish. It’s a little scary to think about. But the family came through for me.”
Grandma Tessa dismissed her statement with a wave of her hand. “We cooked a little, talked a little, you did the hard work.” A sharp elbow jabbed his ribs. “A smart, successful young woman.” Grandma Tessa nodded knowingly. “Surprising that no one has snapped her up.”
Katie briefly closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath. Zach didn’t doubt that the exact words would have Grandma Tessa reaching for her rosary. He held back a smile.
“It is surprising,” he agreed.
Katie opened her eyes and glared at him. He could read her thoughts—she wanted to know what the hell he was doing, playing along with her grandmother.
He winked.
“A man shouldn’t be alone forever,” Grandma Tessa told him. “David is already in college. Your big house gets empty.”
Zach raised his eyebrows. “You’ve told them about my house?” he asked Katie.
She opened her mouth, then closed it. The glare became lethal. “Not a single word.”
“But you’ve been spending so much time there.”
“I have not!”
He glanced around the table—everyone was watching with interest. “Oh,” he said, sounding as if he’d just figured it all out. “They weren’t supposed to know.”
“Zach, what are you doing?”
He grinned. “Making you squirm.”
He enjoyed teasing her, ruffling her usually perfect self-control. He liked that he could push her buttons. He liked the direction the conversation was going. Hell. He liked her.
Something brushed against his leg. “Are you trying to put your foot on my lap?” he asked.
Katie jumped. “I was trying to kick you.”
“Katie, darlin’, if you’re tryin’ to get Zach’s attention, you should work on your aim,” Grammy M said with a wink.
Katie nodded. “My grandmother thinks I should kick you.”
“What is with you two?” Mia asked.
Brenna leaned toward her. “You’ve been so busy with your own happily-ever-after that you’ve not been paying attention. Your future father-in-law has been making the moves on your sister.”
Mia’s eyes widened. “Zach? Is that true?”
“I wouldn’t say moves.”
“What would you say?” she asked.
Zach picked up his wine. “Great lunch.”
The Grands grinned, Katie obviously still wanted to kill him, Grandpa Lorenzo was giving him the once-over, and David looked stunned. Apparently Mia wasn’t the only one who hadn’t noticed the sparks between Katie and himself.
Colleen took pity on them and asked Brenna about a particular vineyard. Grandpa Lorenzo announced his opinion on the subject. Marco spoke with his youngest. Zach watched Katie and realized that sometime when he hadn’t been looking, he’d started to care.
Not just about her, he thought as he glanced around the table. All of them. They weren’t perfect, but they were good people. He relished the sense of belonging. They accepted him and welcomed him. It felt…good.
A faint knocking interrupted the conversation. Colleen excused herself and went to answer the door. She came back holding a large box.
“That was Milly from up at the office. These were delivered and she knew we’d all been waiting.” She smiled with delight. “The invitations. Marco, pass me a knife.”
She set the box on a spare chair, then took the knife her husband offered and cut through the tape.
Zach glanced at Katie, who shook her head. He knew what she was trying to tell him—not now. Not in front of the family.
“Oh, they’re beautiful,” Colleen said as she pulled out a stack of embossed heavy card stock. “So lovely and elegant.”
She handed an invitation to her husband, who passed it on to Grandma Tessa. Marco walked another one around to Mia. Rather than study the writing or the graphic, Zach watched Mia and David.
His son glanced at the invitation, then at Mia. His eyes darkened and his mouth pulled into a straight line. Mia’s identical expression of suffering made Zach’s gut clench.
Holy hell. He didn’t have to break them up. They’d already done it themselves.
Apparently he wasn’t the only one watching them. Grammy M picked up an invitation.
“Is there something wrong, darlin’?” she asked. “You don’t seem happy.”
“They’re lovely,” Mia said, shifting in her seat.
“Why not tell them the truth,” Zach said.
Mia looked at him. Her eyes widened. “I d-don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do. It’s time, Mia. The situation is only going to get more complicated. You want to have this conversation after three hundred of these have been mailed?”
“Zach,” Katie warned. “Please.”
He knew she was right; he knew he should wait. But he couldn’t. Not with both David and Mia looking miserable and trapped.
“If you’re old enough to get married, you’re old enough to admit you’ve changed your mind about getting married,” he told them. “Go ahead and tell the family you’re not engaged anymore.”
21
M ia ducked her head. David looked as if he wanted to crawl under the table. Grandpa Lorenzo’s fist crashed down next to his plate.
“What are you doing?” the old man demanded, his voice rising with every word.
“Making sure this is what David and Mia really want,” Zach said.
Grandpa Lorenzo’s thick eyebrows drew together. “You’re trying to break them up?”
“I didn’t have to. They made the decision on their own.”
“You what?” Colleen asked, staring at him incredulously.
Katie shook her head. “I warned you,” she murmured just before conversation exploded at the table.
“What the hell is going on?” Lorenzo demanded.
“Mia, what is this about?” Marco asked at the same second.
“We should all calm down,” Grandma Tessa urged.
“Calm?” Colleen echoed. “The invitations are here.”
“When did this happen?” Brenna asked.
“This is no time for shoutin’,” Grammy M warned.
Katie reached for her wine, while Zach watched the show.
“You didn’t want them to marry?” Colleen asked him, then rose to her feet. “Zach, I don’t understand.”
Zach stood as well. “I thought the engagement was a mistake from the beginning. Mia is David’s first girlfriend. They’re both too young to be settling down. David still has two years of college left. Mia wants to go to Georgetown.”
He glanced at the kids, who both looked miserable. Grandpa Lorenzo roared for everyone to be silent.
He stared at Zach. “You come into our family. We welcome you with open arms, but you’re not what you seem. You’re a traitor and a thief.”