“Mind if I come out?” Suzy asks from the front door, holding two glasses of wine. “You can totally say no.”
“Come out.” I pat the space next to me on the swing. “Sit, please.”
She walks slowly, letting the screen door close softly behind her. Not like anyone inside would hear it. I’m pretty sure they can’t actually hear what anyone is saying with the volume at which they’re all speaking and the fact that they’re all doing it at once.
She hands me a glass before sitting down next to me. “Needed a break from everyone?” she asks, turning toward me and tucking her leg under her body.
“Not really. I just needed a moment to wrap my head around the ways my life has changed.”
“Well.” She takes a quick sip before resting the wineglass against her knee. “I remember how overwhelmed I was when I met Joe and then his entire family. No one was married yet, so the group was smaller, but still a lot to take in.”
“I had Mitchell and Roger for so long, and it was just the three of us—and then the two of us. I’ve never been around a large family. Even when my parents were alive, we didn’t have anyone but the three of us.”
Suzy grabs my hand. “It was the same for me. I mean, my parents are alive, but we aren’t close. And I have a sister, but she’s a bitch. So even though I had them, I didn’t have them. When I met the Gallos, it was shocking how loving and close they all were. It took me a while to feel like I belonged and was one of them.”
“It did?” I ask, happy to know I’m not a complete weirdo.
“They’re all so close. It’s hard not to feel like an outsider, but it’s even harder to stay one. They suck you up, and, girl, they never let go.” She pats my hand softly before placing her arm across the back of the swing. “The Gallos are the best kind of people.”
“They really are. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
Suzy smiles. “On paper, Joe and I didn’t fit. God, at first, I really didn’t want to date the guy, but he was persistent.”
“You didn’t?”
Hell, I remember the first time I saw Angelo. I wanted him, but I figured he was married and off-limits. I wasn’t sure I could even open my heart again, but the big guy had a way of working himself into my soul.
Suzy shakes her head and laughs. “We did sleep together the night we met, but I figured we’d never see each other again.”
“Why?”
“Why did I sleep with him, or why did I think we’d never see together?”
“I can see why you slept with him.” I laugh softly. “But why did you think you’d never see him again?”
“I was a little naïve and way too innocent for the badass biker that was City.”
“City?” I ask.
“That’s what his biker buddies call him because he grew up in the big city. The night I met him, my car had broken down on a dark country road, and he pulled over to help me. When he couldn’t get the car to start, he offered me a ride to the bar to call for a tow.”
“And that turned into you two…”
“Yeah,” she says, looking into the distance with a sinful smirk on her face. “I didn’t plan on sleeping with him. Hell, he even scared me a bit.” She takes another sip of wine as I study her, trying to picture her younger and naïve. “I didn’t drink, didn’t swear… I was like a nun without the getup. But there I was in this badass biker bar, surrounded by dirty-talkin’ rough men, and then I was on the back of his bike. I kind of let myself live a little that night. I’d never had a one-night stand before him, and I assumed we’d sleep together and be done.”
“Why?”
“I figured he was a player and the night meant nothing to him. I mean, you’ve seen him. He’s handsome as hell, and the ladies are always eyeing him. I see the way they look at my husband. Even the young ones and I want to punch them in their pretty little faces or their perky, perfect tits.”
I let out a howl of laughter. “Somehow, I can’t picture that. So, was he a player?”
“He’d only had one long-term relationship before me. He was engaged, but she died tragically before they were married.”
My heart aches for him. I know the deep sadness that comes from losing someone you love so completely.
“I could see why he didn’t want to settle down for a while after that. When I lost Mitchell, I never thought I’d love again. I figured I’d be an old lady, surrounded by cats, and watching reality television for the rest of my life.”
Suzy giggles. “I think City liked the chase. I may have been easy the first night. Don’t ever repeat that.” She points her finger at me. “But afterward, I tried to put distance between us when other women were throwing themselves at his feet.”
