“A year is a long time, Joel,” she whispered, and he barely heard her over the hum of the busy restaurant. “But I guess you’ll be in Portland a lot of the time, and I’ll be inSan Francisco. So we won’t necessarily see each other frequently.”
He fully planned on seeing her as much as he possibly could.
“In fact, it might even work in our favor. People will see how hard the long distance is, and it will help excuse our inevitable break up.” She was rationalizing, working it out so that what he was presenting made sense, because deep down she wanted that time too. He knew it.
“Okay. We’ll have a wedding. A small one,” she emphasized. “And we’ll stay married a year. But then we divorce. For real this time.”
Nodding, Joel kept a neutral face, always essential in huge, life-changing business deals, but his heart pumped at his victory. She’d given him a second chance. And he’d just bought himself some time to convince Lucy they deserved a forever.
CHAPTER TEN
Aweek had passed since Mariana’s wedding. A week since Joel had blown back into her life like no time had passed between them. A week since she’d gotten engaged, and it had gone like this:
Saturday had been Mariana’s wedding. Sunday Lucy had gone to visit Joel with her proposition. Monday had been their pizza date, and the best night of her week so far. Tuesday and Wednesday had been dedicated to eating leftovers at Zia Ella’s, cleaning out one batch of Barone wedding prep to make room for the next, and catching up on work emails so she didn’t fall too far behind while on holiday. Thursday her parents had descended like Taylor Swift finally making it onto the stage after a very mediocre opening act. The crowd had gone wild, and life had reached a new level of crazy. There was hardly enough room in her aunt’s house for them all, and the sheer volume of the talking had nearly driven Lucy to insanity. If Joel had been there, he would have brought a level of calm to the scenario, but unfortunately, he’d been working most of the day.
That night, when he’d called and she’d filled him in onher parents’ grand arrival, he’d calmed her rising anxiety right down. Even after all these years, it was easy to let the steady thrum of his voice and his calm reasoning lull her into a sense of peace. She’d had her most peaceful sleep that night until she’d woken on Friday morning to the sound of her mother and Ella shouting in the kitchen about which coffee to serve at the bridal shower. Even her father and Zio Gambo had escaped to the hardware store to catch a break from the constant chatter of the maternals.
She’d been seconds away from calling Joel when he’d magically appeared at Ella’s doorstep with an enormous bouquet for her mother, a box of fresh pastries for everyone else, and informed Maria and Ella that he was stealing Lucy away for the morning.
Then he’d taken her for a walk along the river, and she filled him in on how her mother and aunt had hijacked the wedding planning, which was to be expected really, but it did squash any hope of them having a small, understated exchanging of vows.
But it was the worries over her sister that she really needed to get off her chest. After her calls went unanswered, she’d texted Vanessa to inform that she might not make it up to Vancouver after all, given the turn of events. She hadn’t heard back, but since her sister treated her phone like it was another limb, this sudden silence was unnerving, especially since something like the engagement would have made her easily excitable sister’s day. What was worse, no one other than Lucy seemed to notice because everyone else was too busy picking napkin colors and making calls to reception halls for a last-minute booking.
At some point during their walk, Joel had started holding her hand, and she took comfort in the warm, weight of his palm against hers. He absorbed all her worries, withcalm reassurance, validating affirmations, and logical explanations, but mostly, he’d simply listened. And that was something Lucy hadn’t experienced much of in her life.
When he’d pulled the Porsche back up in front of her aunt’s house, he turned off the ignition and stared straight ahead, not making any move to unbuckle his seatbelt or get out of the car. In the silence, it became glaringly obvious that Lucy had monopolized most of their talking time.
“Everything okay?” she ventured.
This new relationship they’d founded was unchartered territory. She wasn’t sure how much of him she was privy to. He hadn’t been much of a sharer at the best of times, but he’d always been forthcoming with her.
“My parents are in town,” he stated as he continued to stare straight ahead.
“Okay.” Unsure of what to make of his blank tone, she proceeded with caution. “Do they know about us? Because if you want to back out, you totally can.” Panic gripped her at the thought, but she didn’t let it show. This was never meant to be a prison sentence for him. “I have a prospect for a big job down in Santa Monica that I think I can get my father excited about. It would be our first job out of San Francisco, but it might get him to see that Barone & Sons is ready to grow, and that I can help us grow?—"
He turned to face her. “I don’t want to call it off, Lucy. They’ve been away and I haven’t told them about the engagement yet.” He tapped his long fingers against the steering wheel.
“Yeah, you might want to get on that, I’m not sure how much longer I can hold my side of the family off. I’ve told everyone that they need to let you tell your parents the news yourself, but—” she let the insinuation hang there. Her family’s penchant for spreading the buzz was well known.
“I appreciate that. I think they’ll be surprised in a good way, but it does need to come from me.” He sighed heavily. “Honestly, I think my family was getting a little worried about me.”
Yeah, she could relate. “So, what is it, then?”
“They want to get together while they’re here.” His tone was hesitant.
Right. ‘Man of few words’was an under exaggeration when it came to describing Joel.
“I’m going to need more clarity. Do you want us to get together with your parents? Dinner at your place? Picnic in the park? Barbecue at Gambo’s?”
“My sister’s baby shower is tomorrow. I’m expected to be there.”
Oh.Everything clicked together then, and sympathy flooded her. “Joel.” She covered his hand with hers as she spoke. “If it’s me you’re worried about, don’t. I’m used to this kind of thing. It’s par for the course in a big family like mine. If we aren’t going to a wedding or a funeral, we’re going to a baby shower or baptism. Hatched, matched, and dispatched on rinse and repeat. I’ve been to more than one since?—”
His eyes flicked to hers, and the uncertainty in them encouraged her share what she’d come to accept over the last few years. “It’s possible to be happy for someone and unhappy for yourself at the same time, and that’s okay, but I believe it’s important to support the people we love, even when it’s hard.” Especially when no one else knew what they’d gone through.
He held her gaze for a beat, then nodded. “It would mean a lot to Hope.”
“Of course it would. Tell them we’ll be there. I’ll grab a present this evening.”
