“You aren’t going to tell me why they’re coming over, are you?”
My little girl would lose her mind, and enlist my mother and nonna to her side. “No.”
“I could ask Sasha.” Hope might be curious, but she won’t take advantage and try to get the information out of Alex.
Which impresses me even more. “He won’t tell you.”
Her shoulders sag. “He doesn’t tell me any of the good stuff.”
I’m counting on that. “It’s for your own good.”
“Everything is. One of these days, I’m going to go on a wild adventure.”
“As long as you take your dear old dad. Tell me when and where, and I’ll call the pilot.”
She bumps my arm with her head. “You know I can’t do that. I have to work. Isn’t it exciting?”
So exciting. Though my day got better with every smile on Fiona’s face.
“I love my boss. Fiona is so smart. Do you know that not only does she know every recipe off the top of her head, but also the costs per item, per ingredient, and all the things? It’s like she’s a fountain of knowledge. People probably underestimate her because she’s so pretty. Isn’t she pretty? I love her style. That dress she wore today was the perfect dress for a winter engagement party. I wonder if she has a boyfriend…She isn’t married. I checked for a ring.”
The little meddler takes after her great-grandma. Impressive and also irritating.
“I wonder if she likes football players? She’d be perfect for Uncle Gabe.”
What? “Gabe? Why Gabe?”
“Because they’d look so cute together. Wouldn’t they? She’s tall enough to dance with him without them looking silly together. They’d make the cutest babies ever. Oh, that would make me a great-aunt.”
Gabe and Fiona certainly wouldn’t make the cutest babies. Why would Hope even say that? “More like a second cousin,” I correct absentmindedly. This is absolutely ludicrous.
“I should talk about this with Bisnonna. She’s the best at getting couples together.”
Nonna better set you straight…Except knowing Hope, then she would think it was a free-for-all-meddle-a-thon to try to get Fiona and me together.
Which it isn’t. We need the time to truly get to know each other. To fall in love on our own terms.
Absolutely not because of one meddling old woman and a meddling child.
I should be glad that Hope isn’t trying to play matchmaker again, like she did with Dahlia. Though Dahlia was a good pick. Beautiful, smart, and good with my kid…what more could a man ask for?
Fiona has all those things and more. I wish Gabe hadn’t gotten into my head with that whole letting the nonnas pick. “Do you really want to develop your bisnonna’s habit of meddling?”
Hope stops at our wrought-iron gate and turns to me. “It’s not a habit. It’s a calling. And why not? You’re always telling me it’s important to continue the traditions of our family. Matchmaking is a time-honored tradition. And I think I’d be good at it.”
With the exception of Gabe and Fiona, “You’re good at whatever you set your mind to. Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer to go into computers?”
“That’s your thing, Dad. You know I don’t really have an interest in them, except to game a little.”
I’m not really crazy about the gaming—which is only a little bit hypocritical because I play a MMORPG now and again—but as long as she does it with her cousins, I don’t worry too much. “It could be your thing if you gave it a chance.”
“You just want someone to take over your empire one day.” She opens the gate and heads to the door.
“A father can dream, can’t he?” I mutter to myself.
Hope laughs as she reaches for the front door, which opens before her hand touches the knob.
My dad stands there, glaring down at us.
