“Some of the kabobs will be precooked,” she told him, “but others will require guest preparation. Also, we’re going to have a station of exotic meats, and vegetarian stations for those who prefer that sort of thing.”
“Tofu on a stick?” he teased.
She laughed. “I hope it’s more interesting than that, but yes.”
She showed him computer-generated designs for the various carnival booths, then returned her papers to her briefcase and took some food for herself.
They discussed various ingredients, ranked their favorites, and narrowed the menu down to something close to its final form. Katie finished making notes while Zach prepared coffee.
“If only I could get you to care this much about the napkin selections,” she joked as he collected two mugs from a cupboard.
“Never gonna happen.”
“I suspected as much.”
She pulled a flat plastic box from her briefcase. Before she could open it, Zach moved to the table and set her coffee in front of her. He then took the box and opened it.
In that second she realized she hadn’t been thinking. Beading lace in the presence of the one person determined to stop the wedding was bound to get a reaction.
Zach lifted the half-beaded lace flower from its container and turned it over in his hands.
“You do beautiful work,” he said, his voice not giving away his feelings. But then she already knew what was on his mind.
“I’m not doing a good job of convincing you to see my side of things,” he told her.
“Not for lack of trying. You’ve threatened me, tried reason and seduction. What’s next? Money?”
He set the lace back in the box. “Katie, it was one kiss. If I’d been trying to seduce you, things wouldn’t have stopped there.”
She snapped the case shut. Talk about arrogant. “You’re assuming a lot.”
His dark eyes locked on hers. “I know.”
Heat boiled between them. Katie didn’t want to be the one to blink first, but she could feel herself slipping under his spell. Better to retreat and live to fight another day than give in with a pitiful “Take me, I’m yours.”
“So why can’t you consider the possibility of being wrong about David and Mia?” she asked in a feeble attempt to crank down the temperature in the room.
“Because I’m not. The only thing I feel more strongly about than keeping David from marrying Mia in July is keeping him from running off with her. He’s stubborn enough to do it. I’m still building my case. When I have it together, I’ll take it to him.”
“I know you love your son. But Mia is so sure about David, and she rarely makes a bad decision. Can’t you trust her?”
“No.”
Not a surprise. Maybe a nice change of subject was due. “I spoke with my mom this morning. Everyone in the family is really impressed with how you’re handling Brenna’s divorce.”
“Just doing my job,” he said with a shrug.
“They’re also furious with Jeff. I can’t believe he had the balls to come after the winery. I’m half expecting Grandma Tessa to put some ancient Italian curse on him.”
Zach chuckled. “Interesting plan. I prefer to take the legal approach, making him bleed every month as he writes Brenna a big, fat check.”
“Is this where I hum the
“If it makes you happy.”
She glanced at him. “So me thinking you’re a shark doesn’t bother you?”
“I am what I am. What I think isn’t going to change your opinion.”
“True, but my grandmothers adore you.”
“They’re fine women with excellent taste.”
“What about the cheek pinching?”
He winced. “That’s not my favorite trait.”
“I’m used to the family, but I would guess you find us all a little overwhelming.” She put the lace flower back in the box. “The last dress I worked on was Brenna’s. Well, Brenna’s and Francesca’s. They had a double wedding. Francesca’s husband died a few years later, which left Brenna as the only married sister. Grandpa Lorenzo was constantly on her to have children. And now she’s getting a divorce.” She sipped her coffee.
“There are worse things,” Zach pointed out.
“Not in our family. She’s feeling a lot of guilt about all this.”
“The divorce isn’t her fault. Jeff is the one who left. From what I can tell, Brenna was willing to tough it out, even if things weren’t perfect at home.”
That surprised her. “She admitted there was a problem?”
“No, but she didn’t have to. Happy marriages don’t end in divorce.”
“I suppose, but whatever the problem was, we never knew. Everyone liked Jeff, which made his leaving such a shock.” She sighed. “Poor Brenna. She’d dealing with her own pain and knowing that this is the first Marcelli divorce ever.”
“She’ll recover.”
“I guess people don’t have a choice. It must be really hard on the kids. Didn’t you mention that your parents were divorced? Or is that too personal to ask?”
Zach leaned back in his chair. “Katie, a few days ago I had my tongue in your mouth. It’s not too personal.”
She swallowed. She’d been doing so well, feeling normal around Zach, and with one sentence he’d made her
“My parents split up,” he said. “Like most couples, they were in trouble years before that. I guess I was ten when I figured out something was wrong. I saw my dad kissing a woman who wasn’t my mother. When I mentioned it to him, he said it was time I learned the facts of life and proceeded to tell me that every man who knew what was good for him kept a little something on the side.”
Katie felt her mouth drop open. She closed it quickly, but knew she looked as surprised as she felt. “He said that?”
Zach nodded. “He thought he was hip. I told him he was a bastard. He only laughed. By the time I was twelve, he started introducing me to his flavor of the month. He never kept them around long, but there was always one waiting in the wings.”
She shivered. “Did your mother know?”
“I never said anything. I was a kid and scared. She probably figured it out on her own.” He hesitated. “Not that it mattered. My dad came from money and she didn’t, so he had the power.”
She heard the bitterness in his voice.
Zach picked up his coffee, but didn’t drink. “He never worked a day in his life. Maybe that was the problem-too much time on his hands. I guess the cheating was the price my mother had to pay for the good life. But eventually the price got too high. They split when I was fourteen.”
“Who did you live with?”
“My mother. After my father left, his money disappeared, too. She went to work, first one job, then two. She wouldn’t touch the trust fund my father set up for me. She kept saying that was for my future. Ironically, despite his millions, my father never paid child support and my mother wouldn’t take him to court to make him. So we went from rich to poor in short order.”
“Why wouldn’t she want him to pay child support? That was for you.”
“I don’t know. Pride? Shame? She was a hell of a woman-always there for me. Once I had David, she was a rock. She died my first year of law school.” He paused, then glanced around the kitchen. “I wish she could have lived long enough to see all of this, and so I could have made her life easier.”
“I’m sorry,” Katie whispered, not sure what else to say. His childhood was light-years from her own. “Is your dad still alive?”
“No. He died a few years back. Turns out he left David a nice trust fund and the rest of the money to me.” He laughed, but the sound had no humor. “Isn’t that a bitch? Every stinking penny to me. But in the end I walked away
