I almost turn back to defend myself, but a frustrated grunt comes out instead, and I decide it’s better to leave all this before I start something I really don’t want to finish. I tug my sunglasses over my eyes, then climb onto my bike and toss a glare back toward the store since I know every one of them is still standing at the door, watching me pull away.
And curiously enough, so is Chloe.
2
CHLOE
I watchthe most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen kick a thick leg over his bike and ride off into the sunset.
I realize the entire crowd of women is chattering and arguing with one another, while I’m standing here gaping after Lucia’s son like a starving puppy.
It’s been ages since I had a date, and I don’t think any of the guys I’ve been out with since I broke it off with David compare to the heavily tattooed, muscular man I just met. Not in the looks department—or in the attitude either.
Franco Bianchi.
My skin pebbles just thinking his name, and I nervously bite on my lower lip. There are words for guys like Franco: sexy, powerful, and totally out of my league.
Much as I’m sure Lucia would have been thrilled if her son had taken me out, it would have been nothing more than a pity date. An awkward dinner to appease his mother, and nothing at all to do with me.
I’m as forgettable as yesterday’s lunch to a guy like that, and much as Lucia might have good intentions, even thinking about it hurts a little.
I wonder if my thoughts are showing all over my face because Lucia looks like she feels terrible.
“Chloe, I feel like I have to apologize for my son.” She’s standing in front of me, clutching her necklace. Her face is tight, her lips pressed thin. “Franco is such a good boy. He’s not normally so rude and so…”
“Do you blame him, Lucia?” The one called Sassy has a hand on her hip and one perfectly drawn-on eyebrow cocked almost to her hairline. “Franco’s a grown man. He doesn’t want his mother meddling in his love life.”
“Whose side are you on, Sas?” Bev hisses.
My aunt had a very special relationship with Bev, the lady who runs the local animal shelter.
I am only just learning how many amazing relationships my aunt Ann had here in Star Falls. I can now understand why she spent so many years here, running this small bookstore and café, despite the fact that she was losing money hand over fist.
“Why do you need this expensive TV, anyway?”
The sudden silence in the store lets me know I drifted off into my own thoughts again. “I’m sorry.” I blink and look from Lucia to Bev, then from Sassy to Carol, before flushing so hard I can feel my cheeks go pink. “I missed the question?”
The ladies all start talking over one another about the television and Franco, but I notice a customer standing near the front door, looking like the crew of women is blocking her way in. I tug open the glass door, and a gorgeous woman with long, glossy black hair and sunglasses over her eyes clomps into the store.
“Ma. What the eff?” She tears the sunglasses away from her face and stares at each woman in turn.
I have no idea which one is her mother, but once I see her eyes, I have a pretty good guess.
She points a heavily tattooed hand at Lucia. “Where you been with the car all morning? You were supposed to drive me to work.”
Lucia gasps and looks horrified. “I’m sorry, Gracie. I met the girls down here for an emergency.”
“I had to wake up Vito for a ride. Dad drove out to Cleveland just after you left.”
“Why on earth did he go to Cleveland without me?” Lucia starts fumbling for her phone, which is encased in a glittery pink protective sleeve. “That man shouldn’t be driving until he gets a pair of real glasses. I don’t know how he’s going to see the signs on the highway.”
Gracie grabs the device from her mom and flips a little button. “See, Ma? Your phone was on silent. The entire family could have been calling for help, and you wouldn’t have known. Dad must’ve called five times before he left.”
Lucia shakes her head and holds the phone in her hands like it’s an explosive device and Grace is the detonation expert who just neutralized the threat. “Oh, son of a gun. I was wondering why I wasn’t getting any calls after I texted your brother.”
Grace lifts a brow and strikes a dramatic pose.
I’m captivated by her larger-than-life attitude and colorful tattoos.
