Every cell of her body wanted to go to him, comfort him. This wasn’t the time. “Teresa asked me to talk to you about your birthday.”
“I asked your Lucy if she would convince you to come home for your birthday.”His Lucy…“Come for supper.” Teresa’s olive skin paled as she spoke.
He moved beside Lucy and grabbed her hand. “Who will be there?” he asked.
Lucy blinked hard. He hadn’t said no.
“Your father and I. Whoever you’d like to invite.” Tears pooled in Teresa’s eyes, but they didn’t spill. “Lucy could come?”
“I’m sorry. We have plans.” Will was actually talking to his stepmother. This could be good. He could find some peace with his family. Or this could be very, very bad. It could backfire. He could end up with deeper scars. He shifted his briefcase to the other hand. “How are you?”
“Well enough. Are you certain you cannot come?”
“Yeah.” He glanced down at the marble tile.
“I see,” Teresa said, very obviously not seeing. “Perhaps you two could talk about it? Then make your decision?”
“Sure.”
He hadn’t said no.
“Grazie, William.” Teresa stepped tentatively toward him. She raised a hand to his cheek but stopped short of touching him.
He squeezed Lucy’s hand so hard it hurt. “C’mon Luce. I’ll walk you out.”
Teresa locked her gaze on Will. “Addio mio cucciolo.”
“Teresa.” He gave a polite nod and tugged Lucy behind him to the exit.
He never let go of Lucy’s hand as they hurried to her car.
“Do you want to spend your birthday with your family?” Lucy asked.
“No.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with the effort of forcing the air into his lungs.
“Then let’s have dinner. Just us.” She reached to brush a lock of hair from his forehead. “I can bake you a cake. I’m a decent baker.”
It was really hit or miss, but he didn’t need to know that. She’d figure something out if her cake was a bust.
He opened the door for her.
“It’ll probably be from a box. The cake, I mean.” She climbed inside.
“I can live with that.” His dimples flashed.
She buckled her seat belt. “It’ll still be good.”
Probably.
“I have no doubt.” He leaned down to kiss her a quick goodbye.
“Do you think I should just order you one from a bakery?” she asked when he broke the kiss.
He grinned. “No.”
“Okay, but you’ve been warned.”
He chuckled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. She could sense him detaching. The exchange with Teresa had done damage, and there was nothing Lucy could do about it.
