“Their friends—”
“Yeah, of course. At their age, friends are the most important thing.” He stroked his thumbs over her cheekbones. “But you’re important too, Danielle. Don’t forget that. You deserve happiness.” He kissed her. “I’d give anything for the chance to make you happy.”
She stroked his cheek. “A wise woman told me only I can do that.”
Three wise women, actually: her book club posse. One divorced like her, one fighting to hold her marriage together through the exhausting toddler years, and one never married, though she raised two bright, beautiful daughters. All agreed that no man could truly make a woman happy—she had to do that on her own, with or without a partner. But could Matteo be part of her happiness?
This wasn’t fair to him, with her living so far away. Once their two weeks were up and she returned to Tacoma, he’d find a more suitable woman, someone not tied down by young kids and a demanding job. Someone creative and flexible, who’d fit into this funky little apartment—who’d fit into his carefree life.
Blinking back tears, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and inhaled his scent—warm skin and fresh sweat, sunshine and promises. “Eleven days, Matteo. And then we’ll talk.”
And then I’ll tell you goodbye.
Chapter Twelve
Friday, June 28th
“Freakin’gorgeous!”Daniellesetdown her hot glue gun and fished in the pocket of the stained coveralls she’d borrowed from Matteo. Her phone was in there somewhere, beneath a crumpled rag and snippets of cloth. She circled the wedding arch and snapped photos from different angles. For the past two days, she’d helped him encase the metal arbor’s uprights in driftwood and top them with a wooden arch salvaged from a defunct chapel. This afternoon, while Matteo scooped gelato, she draped the structure with tulle in sea-foam green and sky blue, the couple’s favorite colors, and wound the uprights in satin ribbon. Tomorrow, the florist would weave in fresh flowers to complete the perfect backdrop for a beach wedding.
She peeled off the coveralls, then sent the photos to Matteo. His reply came back within seconds.
It’s beautiful, bella! You’re so creative.
Grinning, she removed her bandana and fluffed her squashed hair. Who’da thunk it? The mom who flunked Pinterest had actually mastered a craft project. Brimming with pride, she loaded photos into a group text to her book club friends, but she froze with her finger over the Send button. If she told them, she’d have to explain why she built the thing in the first place. She’d have to explain about Matteo.
She wasn’t ready yet. Maybe after the wedding. She sank onto a stool. Maybe not at all.
At first, she’d enjoyed having a secret, something that was hers alone. But over the past week, as her connection with Matteo deepened, she craved the help of her girlfriends to answer the question that followed her all day and woke her in the middle of the night: Could this be something?
She chewed her lip, staring at the phone. It pinged and flashed Olivia’s number.
Mom, call?
Her belly tightened as she pressed Call Back. Today the kids were at Universal Studios. Had one of them fallen off a ride? Been bitten by a mechanical dinosaur? Gotten sick from too many curly fries?
Olivia’s hushed voice was hard to hear over yelling in the background. “Hey, Mom. We’ve got a problem.”
Adrenaline pushed Danielle to her feet. “What’s going on? Where are you?”
“In the parking lot. We got kicked out of the park.”
“What the—why?”
Noah’s gruff voice broke through. Only ten, he sounded more like a teen every day. “Give me the phone.” Sounds of arguing, then, “Jayden and Brayden tried to steal magic wands from the wizard shop. This huge security guy caught them. It was scary.” But kind of cool, his giddy tone suggested.
Her jaws clenched. “Put your father on the phone.”
“But Mom, he—”
“Now, please.”
More background hubbub, and finally, Jason’s tight voice. “It’s under control, Danielle.”
“Is it?” she snapped. “Pretty shitty example those boys are setting for our kids.”
“I said, I’ve got it handled. Sharla will discipline her boys. I’ll talk with Olivia and Noah.”
“And you’ll make it clear this bullshit behavior is in no way acceptable or even remotely cool?”
