Rafael glanced up and saw David’s fiancee watching Mia. Amber noticed his observation and quickly looked away.
A few minutes later, everyone had been seated. Open bottles of Marcelli wine were passed around, and when the glasses were full, Joe stood.
“Before we begin our dinner, I would like to propose a toast to those who are no longer with us. To my grandfather, who is still missed every day.”
“Grandpa Lorenzo died about five years ago,” Mia whispered. “He was such a great man. Difficult and gruff, yet so loving. I wish Danny could have known him.”
Before Rafael could say anything, Joe continued. “And to Gabriel Reese. You were a blessing to this family.”
Mia raised her glass as she whispered, “That’s Sam’s grandfather. He and Grammy M fell in love. He died a couple of years ago. It’s been hard on the Grands, but at least they have each other to grow old with. Like I’ll have my sisters.”
“Your sisters are married.”
Mia shrugged. “Marcelli women live a really, really long time. We’ve already talked about it. When the men are dead, we’re getting a house together by the vineyard. It will be great.”
“I’m sure their husbands are delighted to know how you anticipate their demise.”
She grinned. “They’re used to it.”
The toasts concluded with everyone drinking. Then the plates of food arrived, and Rafael was overwhelmed by delicious choices.
Katie leaned across the table and smiled at him. “This must all seem very different to you.”
“I’m enjoying my time here. I am beginning to see where Mia inherited her charm.”
Katie looked at her sister. “She wasn’t always charming.”
“That’s true,” Brenna added. “She was kinda bratty.”
Mia hung her head. “Please, no. I beg you. Not the stories about what I was like when I was young.”
“I would like to hear those stories,” he told Katie.
“I’ll just bet,” Mia muttered. “I was very intelligent and precocious. I knew five different languages by the time I was eighteen.”
“She was a good girl,” Grandma Tessa said. “Very bright. She got all A’s.”
Rafael caught Amber rolling her eyes.
“But her fashion sense,” Francesca said with a grin. “The constant streaking in her hair.”
“It wasn’t subtle,” Brenna told him. “We’re talking big chunks of bright blond. And the eye shadow. Katie was forever after her to blend, blend.”
“I was finding myself,” Mia said primly.
“I don’t think so,” Joe added. “You knew exactly what you were doing. Making trouble.”
“Engaged at eighteen,” Grammy M said. “That was exciting.”
“Maybe we could avoid that story.” David shrugged. “I don’t do so well in that one.”
“I’d like to hear all about that,” Amber said. “David’s never told me what really happened.”
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, followed by all the Marcelli sisters speaking at once. Rafael glanced from Mia to David and wondered what had caused the young couple to break their engagement. Even as he reminded himself that Mia’s past had no value, save that with him, he was still curious.
Just then the dining room door opened and a tall, slender woman staggered inside.
“Am I late?” she asked as she leaned heavily against the door frame.
She was casually dressed, with long, curly red hair and pale skin that only emphasized the shadows under her eyes.
Francesca stood. “Kelly? What’s wrong?”
“Wrong? Nothing. I’m here. Hooray.” She took a step and almost lost her balance. An even taller, thinner man appeared behind her. He grabbed her around the waist and kept her on her feet.
“Hello,” the man said, his voice faintly accented.
French, Rafael thought. Working class.
Francesca’s husband stood. “Kelly, what the hell is going on?”
“I’m here for the party.” Kelly looked at Rafael. “So you’re the new guy. Cool. Mia, he’s really, really cute. Is he rich, because rich is always such a plus.”
“You’re drunk,” Francesca said, sounding stunned. “Kelly, tell me you’re not drunk.”
“I’m not drunk.” Kelly took a step and found herself contained by the man’s arm. “Oh, yeah. This is Etienne. We’re lovers. But he’s not rich. He’s just a dancer, like me.”
She turned in a slow, graceful move, then sank to the floor and passed out.
The dinner broke up early. Mia got Danny down for the night and then went looking for Rafael. She found him outside, leaning against the fence by the vegetable garden. Umberto and Oliver weren’t around, but she saw lights in the guest house and figured they’d settled in for the night.
She paused at the bottom of the steps and stared at the large silhouette of the man who had once been her lover. She couldn’t see his face, only the rough outline of his body, but it was enough to help her remember what she had felt when they had been together.
Between mourning his death, finding out she was pregnant, then dealing with a baby and law school, she hadn’t been in a relationship since she’d been with him. For the past couple of years she’d wondered if that part of her was dead. But now, in the darkness, her body stirred back to life. Wanting filled her and she ached to feel his touch on her skin.
But it was more than that. She wanted to talk as well as touch. They had different worldviews and had frequently argued. He’d never been intimidated by her intelligence.
He turned and saw her. “Mia.”
There was pleasure in his voice, as if she were the one person he’d been waiting for.
“Daniel is asleep?” he asked.
“In theory. I read him two stories and then turned out the lights. After all the excitement at dinner, it may take him a while to zonk out.”
“Ah, yes. The unexpected arrival. Very dramatic.”
She moved toward him and stopped next to the fence. “I don’t understand what’s happening with Kelly. She’s always been so together and mature. I’m not horrified that she drinks-she’s on her own and most of her friends in the ballet company are a few years older-but that she would show up here drunk. She had to know everyone would be here.”
“Perhaps she wasn’t prepared to face the entire family. Responsibility can be daunting.”
Mia rested her forearms on the fence railing. “Kelly’s been a part of the family since she was a kid. No one scares her. She loves being here. She would come and spend long weekends here several times a year. I’ve never seen her like that. I wonder if it’s the guy.”
“Etienne?”
“Yeah. He’s new.”
“Would you like me to have Umberto, how do you say, check him out?”
She smiled. “That’s really nice, but Joe’s already on it. No one messes with his family.” She thought about Kelly’s boyfriend and shuddered. “He’s too old, too dirty, too yuck. What does she see in him?”
“Few can see into the secrets of a woman’s heart,” he told her.
Kelly a woman? Was it possible? Mia still remembered her as the mouthy twelve-year-old who had been determined not to let everyone know how much she was hurting inside. Still, she was twenty and making her own way in the world.
“Sometimes I forget how complicated our family is,” she said. “It’s not usually this crazy.”
“I suspect it is; however, that is part of the charm.”
She laughed. “We’re many things, but I’m not sure
“You are wrong. I am enchanted by the Grands, as you call them.”
“Even Grandma Tessa?”
“Especially her.” He smiled. “I like that she wants me to earn her respect. I prefer my women difficult. There is much love and concern, each of you for the other.”
