I sat next to Danica on the light-tan microfiber couch, our thighs touching as we made room for Naomi on the other side.
Raina and Jagger took up the loveseat, and Gabrielle and Maverick claimed the chairs.One by one they all grabbed plates and napkins to sample my bread, humming in delight after the first bite.
Then came the awkward silence that I always dreaded when meeting new people for the first time.It was probably one of the reasons why I was drawn to Danica the way I was.There was no awkward silence between us—ever.Yes, there was silence.But it wasn’t awkward.It was companionable.It was easy.
Jagger cleared his throat, then took a sip of his beer from the bottle.“So, you were this mystery fifth interested party in Bonn Remmen’s land.I’ve gotta know the ‘why’ of it all.Why were you a mystery?And why did you want, ordoyou want his land?”
All eyes were on me, and if it weren’t for Danica linking her fingers through mine, I would have let the spots on the periphery of my vision close in and block out the world.“I, ah …” I exhaled, took a sip of my wine and squeezed her fingers.“My late wife’s cousin thinks he is entitled to the land.I was looking at other options so I could stay on the island.”
Brows furrowed.Well, every brow except Gabrielle’s because she knew the story.
“Why does he think he’s entitled to the land?”Maverick asked.
“Because my son is the owner.It is his land.It went to my wife when her parents passed, but because she died before they did, it went to my son, Guiseppe.But he lives in Milan.So I came here to fulfill his mother’s dream of rescuing animals on her parents’ property.”
“And this …cousinthinks he should get the land?”Raina asked, confusion in her green eyes.“How does that make sense?”
“Because Guiseppe isn’t living here.Vincent thinks that it should go to the next of kin who actuallywantsthe land,” Danica clarified.“Erin—Tom’s wife—her father’s sister wants the land, and her son is fighting for it for her.Has brought lawyers into it and is threatening Tom with legal action.They don’t think anon-McIsaacshould be here.”
Everyone looked confused and, as they processed what Danica had said, horrified.
“You’re kidding?”Jagger said, leaning forward in his seat, his angry blue eyes on me and Danica.“This fucker wants to take your son’s legacy land away from him just because right now he’s not living there?What if he changes his mind?How old is your kid?”
“He is twenty-three.And I don’t think he will.He is in fashion in Milan, and his boyfriend is a photographer.They have a very luxurious life.It is what he wants.”
“Okay, but it’s still legally his land,” Raina said.“Half the land on the island is owned by a legacy family that doesn’t want to live here, so they rent it out.They can sell it if nobody else in the family wants it—”
“Which is how my brothers and I got our property,” Jagger added.
“But just because your son isn’t living on the property doesn’t mean it’s not his,” Raina finished.“That’s bullshit.”She flicked her dark-red ponytail behind her, subsequently swatting Jagger in the face with it.He took it in stride, merely smiling.
Everyone nodded, their anger on my behalf a comfort I didn’t even know I was seeking.
“We’ve got lawyers on it,” Gabrielle said, taking a bite of the bread and moaning a little.“Vincent Corcan really doesn’t have a leg to stand on, but that won’t stop him from trying and making your life a living hell in the process.”
“Do you think he and his mom want to live on the land?”Naomi asked.“Or is he going to try to sell it?If his entire argument is that a McIsaac isn’t living on the property, he can’t rent it.”
“Lawyers will hire a PI to do some digging.See if Vincent or his mother have some debt they need dealt with,” Gabrielle said.
Maverick’s brows were pinched deep in thought.He tipped his beer bottle to his lips and took a sip, swallowing before he chose to speak.“I’m curious what the islanders have to say about the McIsaac family—particularly Vincent’s mother.If there’s anything I’ve learned in my short time here, getting to know people, is that those who’ve been here a while have all the goss, and memories better than elephants.Talk to Keturah Katz.She knows everyone and everything, and unlike Jolene Dandy, she doesn’t go blabbing it around.”
“You think she would speak to me then?”I asked.“If she is not a blabber, why should I expect her to blab to me?”
“Win her over with your charm,” Naomi teased.“Or if that doesn’t work, take her some bread.She’d probably tell you all her secrets for a loaf of this magic.”She closed her eyes and smiled as she chewed, humming softly.“I love bread.God, I love bread.Who needs sex when you have bread?”Everybody snorted and rolled their eyes just as Naomi opened hers.“What?I’m the only single person here now.You’re all partnered up and having happy little orgasms.Me?I have bread.And I’m perfectly happy with bread.I’m just going to get fat on bread and wine, and you can roll me down through the grapevines.”
“You’re being melodramatic again, Nay,” Gabrielle said with a bored tone.
At the mention of being “partnered up” and “happy little orgasms,” Danica tensed up beside me.I wasn’t sure whether I should find relief that she was also as unsure of our status as I was, or nervous that she wasn’t there yet.Was I?It was all so confusing.
The bread was done, and the conversation organically drifted to other topics, among them, Piñata and how he helped us discover the connection between the Devil’s child, Clyde, and the Devil’s father, Otto Pickford.Then, of course, Danica had to tell the story of Piñata and the duck pond, and soon, our beverages were empty and Gabrielle was calling us all to the table for dinner.
I sat next to Danica, our knees touching under the table as we passed the dishes around, until everybody had a bowl full of couscous and tagine with batbout, a Moroccan pita bread that Gabrielle made herself.
“We might need to have a bread off,” Jagger said, using his batbout to mop up the sauce in his bowl.“Gabrielle makes her bread and Tom makes his, then we vote.I’ll cast mine right now.You both get gold medals.”
Raina snorted.“They’re too different to be compared.Both are delicious in their own way.And best of all, I didn’t have to make either of them.I just get to eat them.”She shimmied playfully in her seat and sipped her wine.
“How are you doing?”Danica whispered to me, tilting her head my way so that nobody else could hear us.“I know this is probably a lot.”
