Hope should just quit. Can’t I just build her a coffee shop and hire a great manager to oversee what she doesn’t understand yet? It would be way less stressful.
Is she really the reason I’m stressed?
“That doesn’t look like a happy thought,” Nonna’s voice comes from the doorway. She’s gotten a few more wrinkles over the years, but Nonna’s brain is just as sharp as it has always been. Without a doubt, she saw me walk over here and gave me just enough time to stew in my own thoughts before she decided to come over and solve my problems.
“They aren’t unhappy.” I mean, the idea of obliterating anyone who looks at my daughter isn’t a sad thought.
Nonna walks over and sits down next to me, wrapping her arms around me just like she used to do when I was little and had a problem. Only now her arms are frailer and I’m closer to being a giant than I am to being a small child, but it’s no less comforting. “Why haven’t you tried finding me a new wife after all these years?”
She jumps back. “Where did that question come from? I thought you were worrying about Hope or your mom.”
“I am. Sort of. Everett isn’t a threat. And I have a plan to deal with boys flirting with Hope.” A bad plan, but still a plan. “You have played matchmaker for every single marriage-aged person I know, but not for me. No one has. Not even Viola, and you know she can’t stand seeing someone who isn’t blissfully, happily married. Why? Why don’t they think I need to be happy too?”
“Oh my sweet boy.” Nonna grins at me. “You’re finally ready.”
“What? I didn’t say that. I just asked why you three haven’t been hounding me to get married.”
“Luisella and Viola wanted to, but I told them to back off because you were still mourning your wife.” Tears fill Nonna’s eyes.
“What if my perfect woman married someone else during that time? How could you three let her slip away from me?” And that sounded pathetic and whiny, neither of which I have ever been in my life.
Nonna laughs. Then leans forward seriously. “Never would I have let the woman you were meant to be with slip into the arms of another man, but that wasn’t an issue. And we don’t have to pick her for you. You already did that for yourself. Just like your dad, you knew the moment you saw her. It seems to be a family trait.”
She can’t…I mean, she does…but she can’t mean Fiona. “No.” I shake my head. “All of this is because I’m afraid…”
“That’s how you know. When you look at a woman and fear everything and anything, it’s because your heart knows before your head that she’s the one. When I met Ethan…”
I want to turn my head and gag a little at my nonna’s winsome smile, but I’m not a child. Though right now I wouldn’t mind being fifteen again, staring across the classroom at Ivy, dreaming about a different future.
“…that man had me fighting the fear hard. For a while, I thought we could have a lurid affair and then walk away. Don’t you give me that shocked face, young man. I’m a woman like any other, capable of making foolish decisions in life.”
“Do I have to go punch Ethan?” It doesn’t matter that all of this happened over a decade ago. I’m still going to punch him. Then try not to cry when he knocks me on my butt.
“What am I going to do with all the overprotective men in my life?” Nonna shakes her head. “You’re trying to change the topic.”
That’s what we do when we want to hide from the topic at hand. “Love us.”
Nonna grins. “You’re going to see her tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“It can’t be her.”
“You know she’s never dated anyone.”
WHAT? “Impossible. The men on Willow Street have to be fools.”
Nonna’s smile gets larger. “A fool is a man who has a chance at a woman like Fiona and walks away because he’s afraid.” Nonna stands up, stops, and leans down to kiss my forehead. “None of my boys are fools.” As she walks away, she whispers, “He’s finally ready.”
I want to shout back that I’m neither a fool nor ready, but she’s already gone before I can even open my mouth to speak. Instead, I take a sip from the snifter and stare at the flames.
Not Today
Fiona
Silk would have been a better choice today, but there was no way with as cold as it is I could have walked around in that thin of a material. Who would have thought cashmere would feel this rough? But the turtleneck dress goes from throat to ankle, covering all my red skin, which avoids any uncomfortable questions. At least the dress is white, so it won’t show any clouds of flour on it.
My therapist is going to have a field day this afternoon.
I slide my feet into cocoa ankle boots and give my outfit one last look. The woman in the mirror looks calm and confident, like nothing in the world could faze her. With a smile, that look turns friendly and strong.
