“Don’t insult us,” she chided. “The sexual tension between the two of you is thicker than this forest.”
Luca’s cough became a choke.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I repeated.
“At least go and get changed,” she said. “The taxi driver put our luggage to the side. We can find a room. Any room at this point. I don’t care if we end up in the honeymoon suite.”
“I’ll change in the toilet,” I said, and thought about the chaos of my clothes in my suitcase.
Since I was most definitely no longer going on a two-day retreat with Zolt, I could wear anything inside.
I saw her before she saw me.
Nagyi.
She was standing beside the terrace, talking to the elder women who had glared at me earlier for good reason.
For how small she was — shorter than Everly — she seemed much taller than I remembered. Her light shawl around her shoulders was patterned in reds and oranges, matching her burgundy dress.
My stomach twisted. I didn’t know how to approach. If Ishould.
When she turned, her eyes locked with mine as if she knew exactly where I stood.
Her eyes softened — not in pity or shock but in recognition.
And she moved fast.
Lifting the length of her dress, champagne glass in hand, she rushed over in her sandals, and I didn’t realise it, but I was as hurried.
“Zsófia?”
My name in her voice — my full name with all of that Hungarian warmth — nearly undid me.
She wasn’t the same as before, but she was wholly her, and when she wrapped her arms around my middle, I breathed in her honey scent and had to breathe through my mouth to stop the tears.
After all of today’s betrayals, my faith in my mascara was minimal.
“Nagyi,” I said and held her back.
“How are you?” she asked, holding my arms so gently, as if she wanted me to have the room to pull away. I wanted her to keep me here.
“I’m… I’m okay,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “I didn’t know—I didn’t know it was their wedding. I didn’t even know he was in a relationship.”
She nodded and sighed, looking behind me. “He so desperately wanted you here. He’s not always made the best decisions regarding you, but… he wanted today to be perfect. It isn’t without you.”
My body jerked with the sob I had to contain.
Imre was her only son. I was his only daughter. We were a family ofthree.
“His wife is so lovely, Zsófia,”she said and reached up as high as she could to brush my cheek. “You will love her and—and working together means you might be able to see him for who he is.”
I nodded and hugged her again.
A loud voice boomed, “Family members, gather over here, please!”
Nagyi sniffed and then smiled brightly, her voice brimming with pride, “That means you, too.”
And, for today, I wouldn’t fight it.
