The venom in the woman’s words rang inside Meg’s head. It was her turn to watch in silence as Mrs. Masini moved about the kitchen. She found a cupboard and removed two glasses. She poured wine for the both of them and took a big sip. “Know the man you marry, Margaret. Know his family.”
“Marriage isn’t in my plans.”
“Why is that?”
Meg had been giving that some thought since she went to work for Alliance. “I find myself smiling and happiest when I’m beside an artistic type.”
“Like Jim?”
Meg nodded. “Albeit a few decades younger,” she said with a laugh. “But guys like Jim don’t stick around and can’t manage rent, let alone a power bill.”
Mrs. Masini weighed her words, sipped her wine. “Then you find someone with more stability.”
Meg knew a lot of suits. She’d been hooking them up for a couple of years. They might be stable, but the inability to laugh and enjoy life was a serious killjoy. “I decided some time ago that I didn’t want to settle for half the package . . . I also learned that the perfect man doesn’t exist, and Lord knows I’m nowhere near perfect.”
“None of us are, dear.”
“It would be easier if my expectations weren’t so high. My parents are happy being dirt-poor together. If either of them wanted something different, one of them would be miserable.” She’d rather be single and happy than married and miserable.
“So you’re looking for the stable artistic man.”
“I’m not looking for anyone.”
“What about your friends with benefits?” Mrs. Masini delivered a snarky grin, one that told Meg that there had been a time when Mrs. Masini was in her twenties.
“Friends for fun aren’t the same as friends forever.”
Something told Meg that she would hear Mrs. Masini’s grunt well into the future. “Every woman marries eventually.”
Meg opened her mouth to deny the claim only to have Mrs. Masini talk over her. “Eventually you’ll want children.”
“I’m a—”
“When you hold your baby for the first time. All the pain in your life disappears. You’ll sacrifice many things for your children, your family. It’s hard to watch them make the wrong decisions.”
“Like marrying the wrong person.”
Mrs. Masini tilted her wineglass in Meg’s direction. “Like marrying the wrong person.”
“What worries you the most about Mr. Picano? Do you think he’ll be cruel?” They’d switched to the subject of Gabi in a nanosecond and Mrs. Masini didn’t miss a beat.
“I’ve seen very little emotion from the man. How can an Italian man have so little emotion?” Mrs. Masini was waving her hand in the air now, her voice up at least an octave. “Mr. Masini, rest his soul, lived life with passion. He loved with his whole heart. He would want nothing less for his baby girl. A man who can’t voice his anger bottles it up inside until it bursts. Then I fear for my daughter.”
“Some men don’t get all that excited about life’s stresses.”
Mrs. Masini shook her head. “Alonzo Picano holds it in. I see it in his eyes.”
Wow, she really didn’t like this guy.
“Maybe you just don’t know him very well.”
She growled. “Now you sound like my son. I know him well enough. He’s not good enough for Gabriella. He will be back on island tomorrow. You’ll see what I see if you look.”
Mrs. Masini moved from her perch and stirred the marinara sauce before replacing the lid and turning the temperature down.
“I thought Gabi said he wasn’t coming back for a week.”
“He changed his mind. Like a woman. A man of business doesn’t have the luxury of changing his mind.”
Meg couldn’t argue with that. “Something came up?”
Mrs. Masini groaned.
Michael reached the peak of the cliff before Ryder. They’d started the day off with wakeboarding and then decided on a hike and picnic lunch on the northern point of the small island. Seemed most of Sapore di Amore’s guests enjoyed the pool or the beach, because they hadn’t passed one person since they set out.
The breeze was stronger a few hundred feet above sea level, the view breathtaking.
Ryder reached the top and turned to take it in. “Wow.”
“Views like this never get old,” Michael told him.
“Makes me wonder why I’m living in Utah.”
“It’s where we grew up. It’s safe.” At least that’s how Michael thought of things when he’d lived there. He enjoyed going back now that things with his parents, or more importantly, his father, were on better terms. Not that he would ever return to live there. In the past few years, he had revealed his sexuality to his older sister and brother, and just recently one of his younger sisters. It was only a matter of time before he had a conversation with his parents. Distance helped keep his secrets. Still, revealing his sexuality to his father was a pinnacle in his life he had yet to cross.
Ryder leaned back on his forearms, drawing Michael’s attention. The two of them had shared more together than anyone else in Michael’s life. When they stole time together, it was as if they were kids again, or at least a decade younger. Life felt full and packed with the promise of a bright future. “You know, they have high schools everywhere. You don’t have to stay in Hilton.”