The Sparkling One

“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

Mia 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.”

Zach recognized the beginning of the tirade. He braced himself for a lot of bluster.

“You can’t dictate to me,” he told the older man. “I worry about my son as much as you worry about your family. Katie had it right before. You pick a side or an opinion and you expect everyone to embrace it, to put it on, no matter how ill-fitting it may be. You have no respect for personal differences. You want what you want, not what they want. If they agree with you, they’re smart. If they don’t, you badger them. That’s not leading the family, that’s being a bully.”

A collective gasp shot from the family.

Color flared on Grandpa Lorenzo’s cheeks. He muttered something in Italian, then pushed himself to his feet. “You are not welcome here. You’re a snake and we don’t tolerate your kind.”

“Or the truth,” Zach said. “Everyone at this table can see David and Mia are miserable. But you don’t care about that. Having more heirs is more important than your own granddaughter’s happiness.”

“She’s a child. What does she know of what is right?”

“If she’s a child, Pop,” Marco said, “then she’s too young to be getting married.”