The Sparkling One

by Susan Mallery

  “I’m leaving,” he said, walking toward the dining room. “You’ll have to have this conversation behind my back.”

  “Chicken,” Brenna called after him.

  Katie watched him go, then looked at her sister. “You doing okay?”

  “Yeah. I hesitate to actually admit this, but you were right about taping Jeff. Francesca got what we needed, but I feel weird about it.”

  “I didn’t want that to happen.”

  “I know. You were trying to protect me, but would I listen?”

  “See. If only you’d let me run your life, things would go much smoother.”

  Brenna raised her eyebrows. “Because your life is so perfect?”

  Katie was surprised by the question. “Things are going really well.”

  “You don’t say? So what’s up with Zach?”

  “I just—” She cleared her throat. “We’re—” Deep breath, try again. “Things are fine.”

  “Uh-huh. So you have no idea where your relationship stands.”

  “Not one.”

  “And you’re too afraid to ask.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Ha! And you want to run my life. I think not.” Brenna linked arms with her and steered her toward the kitchen. “So he’s the one?”

  Katie wasn’t ready to admit that. “Maybe.”

  “Bells?”

  “A faint ringing sound.”

  Brenna squeezed her arm. “So long as it’s not an alarm.”

  Lunch with the Marcelli family was a casual, intimate affair. There was less wine than at dinner, more pasta, and enough salad to make an entire colony of herbivores vibrate with ecstasy.

  Zach found himself seated on Grandma Tessa’s left and Colleen’s right, with Katie across from him. While he wanted lunch to end so he could corner Mia and David, he couldn’t complain about the view.

  After the food had been passed around the table and the Grands determined that everyone had more than enough, conversation turned to the recent fund-raiser.

  “We’re very proud of you, Katie,” Marco told his daughter.

  Katie smiled. “Thanks. Weeks of hard work and preparation laid low by a single fish. It’s a little scary to think about. But the family came through for me.”

  Grandma Tessa dismissed her statement with a wave of her hand. “We cooked a little, talked a little, you did the hard work.” A sharp elbow jabbed his ribs. “A smart, successful young woman.” Grandma Tessa nodded knowingly. “Surprising that no one has snapped her up.”

  Katie briefly closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath. Zach didn’t doubt that the exact words would have Grandma Tessa reaching for her rosary. He held back a smile.

  “It is surprising,” he agreed.

  Katie opened her eyes and glared at him. He could read her thoughts—she wanted to know what the hell he was doing, playing along with her grandmother.

  He winked.

  “A man shouldn’t be alone forever,” Grandma Tessa told him. “David is already in college. Your big house gets empty.”

  Zach raised his eyebrows. “You’ve told them about my house?” he asked Katie.

  She opened her mouth, then closed it. The glare became lethal. “Not a single word.”

  “But you’ve been spending so much time there.”

  “I have not!”

  He glanced around the table—everyone was watching with interest. “Oh,” he said, sounding as if he’d just figured it all out. “They weren’t supposed to know.”

  “Zach, what are you doing?”

  He grinned. “Making you squirm.”

  He enjoyed teasing her, ruffling her usually perfect self-control. He liked that he could push her buttons. He liked the direction the conversation was going. Hell. He liked her.

  Something brushed against his leg. “Are you trying to put your foot on my lap?” he asked.

  Katie jumped. “I was trying to kick you.”

  “Katie, darlin’, if you’re tryin’ to get Zach’s attention, you should work on your aim,” Grammy M said with a wink.

  Katie nodded. “My grandmother thinks I should kick you.”

  “What is with you two?” Mia asked.

  Brenna leaned toward her. “You’ve been so busy with your own happily-ever-after that you’ve not been paying attention. Your future father-in-law has been making the moves on your sister.”

  Mia’s eyes widened. “Zach? Is that true?”

  “I wouldn’t say moves.”

  “What would you say?” she asked.

  Zach picked up his wine. “Great lunch.”

  The Grands grinned, Katie obviously still wanted to kill him, Grandpa Lorenzo was giving him the once-over, and David looked stunned. Apparently Mia wasn’t the only one who hadn’t noticed the sparks between Katie and himself.

  Colleen took pity on them and asked Brenna about a particular vineyard. Grandpa Lorenzo announced his opinion on the subject. Marco spoke with his youngest. Zach watched Katie and realized that sometime when he hadn’t been looking, he’d started to care.

  Not just about her, he thought as he glanced around the table. All of them. They weren’t perfect, but they were good people. He relished the sense of belonging. They accepted him and welcomed him. It felt…good.

  A faint knocking interrupted the conversation. Colleen excused herself and went to answer the door. She came back holding a large box.

  “That was Milly from up at the office. These were delivered and she knew we’d all been waiting.” She smiled with delight. “The invitations. Marco, pass me a knife.”

  She set the box on a spare chair, then took the knife her husband offered and cut through the tape.

  Zach glanced at Katie, who shook her head. He knew what she was trying to tell him—not now. Not in front of the family.

  “Oh, they’re beautiful,” Colleen said as she pulled out a stack of embossed heavy card stock. “So lovely and elegant.”

  She handed an invitation to her husband, who passed it on to Grandma Tessa. Marco walked another one around to Mia. Rather than study the writing or the graphic, Zach watched Mia and David.

  His son glanced at the invitation, then at Mia. His eyes darkened and his mouth pulled into a straight line. Mia’s identical expression of suffering made Zach’s gut clench.

  Holy hell. He didn’t have to break them up. They’d already done it themselves.

  Apparently he wasn’t the only one watching them. Grammy M picked up an invitation.

  “Is there something wrong, darlin’?” she asked. “You don’t seem happy.”

  “They’re lovely,” Mia said, shifting in her seat.

  “Why not tell them the truth,” Zach said.

  Mia looked at him. Her eyes widened. “I d-don’t know what you mean.”

  “I think you do. It’s time, Mia. The situation is only going to get more complicated. You want to have this conversation after three hundred of these have been mailed?”

  “Zach,” Katie warned. “Please.”

  He knew she was right; he knew he should wait. But he couldn’t. Not with both David and Mia looking miserable and trapped.

  “If you’re old enough to get married, you’re old enough to admit you’ve changed your mind about getting married,” he told them. “Go ahead and tell the family you’re not engaged anymore.”

  21

  Mia ducked her head. David looked as if he wanted to crawl under the table. Grandpa Lorenzo’s fist crashed down next to his plate.

  “What are you doing?” the old man demanded, his voice rising with every word.

  “Making sure this is what David and Mia really want,” Zach said.

  Grandpa Lorenzo’s thick eyebrows drew together. “You’re trying to break them up?”

  “I didn’t have to. They made the decision on their own.”

  “You what?” Colleen asked, staring at him incredulously.

  Katie shook her head. “I warned you,” she murmured just before conversation exploded at the
table.

  “What the hell is going on?” Lorenzo demanded.

  “Mia, what is this about?” Marco asked at the same second.

  “We should all calm down,” Grandma Tessa urged.

  “Calm?” Colleen echoed. “The invitations are here.”

  “When did this happen?” Brenna asked.

  “This is no time for shoutin’,” Grammy M warned.

  Katie reached for her wine, while Zach watched the show.

  “You didn’t want them to marry?” Colleen asked him, then rose to her feet. “Zach, I don’t understand.”

  Zach stood as well. “I thought the engagement was a mistake from the beginning. Mia is David’s first girlfriend. They’re both too young to be settling down. David still has two years of college left. Mia wants to go to Georgetown.”

  He glanced at the kids, who both looked miserable. Grandpa Lorenzo roared for everyone to be silent.

  He stared at Zach. “You come into our family. We welcome you with open arms, but you’re not what you seem. You’re a traitor and a thief.”

  Zach recognized the beginning of the tirade. He braced himself for a lot of bluster.

  “You can’t dictate to me,” he told the older man. “I worry about my son as much as you worry about your family. Katie had it right before. You pick a side or an opinion and you expect everyone to embrace it, to put it on, no matter how ill-fitting it may be. You have no respect for personal differences. You want what you want, not what they want. If they agree with you, they’re smart. If they don’t, you badger them. That’s not leading the family, that’s being a bully.”

  A collective gasp shot from the family.

  Color flared on Grandpa Lorenzo’s cheeks. He muttered something in Italian, then pushed himself to his feet. “You are not welcome here. You’re a snake and we don’t tolerate your kind.”

  “Or the truth,” Zach said. “Everyone at this table can see David and Mia are miserable. But you don’t care about that. Having more heirs is more important than your own granddaughter’s happiness.”

  “She’s a child. What does she know of what is right?”

  “If she’s a child, Pop,” Marco said, “then she’s too young to be getting married.”

  Zach was surprised by the unexpected support.

  “Get out!” Lorenzo roared. “Both of you!”

  Marco shook his head. “That’s always your solution, isn’t it? Get rid of the dissenters. Soon you’ll be living here all by yourself.”

  Colleen gripped her husband’s hand. “That’s right.”

  “Yeah. You can’t talk to my dad that way,” David said, coming to his feet. “He’s right. You tell Mia and her sisters what to do, but you don’t listen to what they want.”

  Mia clutched his arm. “David’s telling the truth, Grandpa. Why can’t you see it?”

  Lorenzo ignored her and turned his attention to David and frowned. “If you defend your father, then you can go with him.”

  “Fine. I will.” David looked across the table. He shrugged. “Because you’re right, Dad. I’m not ready to get married. Neither is Mia. We’re not engaged anymore. We broke up yesterday. We just didn’t want to tell anyone yet.”

  There was a second explosion of conversation. Zach ignored all of it. He looked at his son and nodded, proud that David had made a stand.

  “You okay with that?” Zach asked.

  “Breaking up or making everybody mad?”

  “They’re mad at me, not you.”

  David smiled ruefully. “I think that just changed.”

  Zach didn’t care about that. What was important to him was keeping David safe. That’s all he’d ever wanted. Now his son had a chance to grow up and find out what he wanted to do with his life, without the added responsibility of a family.

  Katie looked at Mia. “That’s why you didn’t show up for your fitting. You were having second thoughts about the engagement. I figured you were mad at me about the house.”

  Mia moved close and hugged her. “No way. I knew you just wanted me to be happy.”

  “Happy?” her grandfather asked. “When you’re not getting married?”

  Mia rolled her eyes. “Grandpa, you’re going to have to get over it.”

  The older man glared at her.

  Zach looked at them all. “I’m sorry,” he said loudly, to be heard over the cacophony. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

  “What do you care for us?” Lorenzo asked. “You care only for yourself.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “Get out.”

  “No, don’t,” Katie said. “No one’s going anywhere and no one is being thrown out of this family ever again.”

  Zach shook his head. “You’re wasting your time. He’s not going to change.”

  Lorenzo pointed to her. “You’re to have nothing to do with this man. Ever. He’s not welcome here.”

  “Grandpa—” she began.

  Zach cut her off. “Don’t bother. It’s not worth it.”

  “You can’t just leave,” she said.

  “Sure I can. It will end the fight sooner.”

  He headed for the door.

  Katie watched him go. Her heart tightened as he walked down the hall, then turned and was lost from view. She couldn’t blame him for not wanting to be a part of this right now. He’d never been one for families, and hers could try the patience of a saint. Walking away made sense. He—

  She caught her breath. He’d left. That’s what Zach did in his relationships, and he’d just walked out on her.

  He was gone. The thought repeated itself over and over again. She wanted to run after him, but shock rooted her in place.

  She loved him and she’d never told him. How could she blame him for treating her like any other woman when she’d never told him how she felt?

  Her grandfather turned on Mia. “What is wrong with you? Once again, like your sisters, you disappoint me. I have no granddaughters.”

  That was the final straw for Katie. She threw her napkin on the table and stood. “Dammit, that’s enough.”

  The Grands gasped and her grandfather nearly swelled with rage. But her parents moved next to her and nodded at her to continue.

  She sucked in a breath and braced herself to face the storm. “Leave Mia alone,” she told her grandfather.

  “You will not speak to me this way. I am in charge of this family.”

  “Yeah, maybe. And you know what, Grandpa? You’ve done a lousy job. You’re trying to get what you want, without considering what will make us happy. Can you honestly tell me that Mia marrying someone she doesn’t love is your dream for her?”

  “One of my granddaughters should marry and produce babies.”

  “Why? Why should we do that? Because it will make us fulfilled? No. Because it’s what you want. If you want babies in this house so badly, go adopt them.”

  “Yeah,” Brenna said, coming to stand next to her sister.

  He turned his attention on her. “Be careful. Your place here isn’t secure.”

  “Why?” Brenna asked. “You rule by fear, Grandpa, not by love. Is that what you want?”

  Katie took her sister’s hand and squeezed it, then turned back to her grandfather.

  “You should be proud of Mia. She’s only eighteen years old, yet she’s together enough to know what she does and doesn’t want. She’s also brave enough to stand up to everyone she loves and say no. Even though it will disappoint her family. I can’t believe you would push her into something that is obviously wrong for her. You should celebrate her honesty, because she’s telling the truth. And that’s the one thing I could never do.”

  Katie hadn’t meant to say that. Somehow the words had slipped out, and suddenly they took on a life of their own. The room went silent as everyone stared at her.

  So here it was…after all these years. Her chance to come clean. How many times had she wondered if she would? One thing was sure—she’d never pictured it taking exactly this format.
>
  She turned her attention to her parents. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, trying not to think how much she was about to disappoint them with her confession. “I didn’t mean to lie, but I didn’t have the strength to tell you the truth.” She sucked in a breath. “Greg didn’t break off our engagement all those years ago. I did.”

  Her mother gasped. Her father looked as if she’d hit him. But Katie didn’t retreat. This was her one chance to get it all said.

  “The closer it got to the wedding, the more scared I got. I couldn’t sleep or eat, I was having panic attacks, and I knew deep down inside that I didn’t want to marry Greg. I couldn’t imagine spending an entire week in his company, let alone a lifetime. But so many things had already been set in motion. The wedding was planned, the invitations had been sent out. I knew if I told you, you’d try to convince me that it was just pre-wedding jitters.”

  She paused to brush her cheeks. It was only when she touched moisture that she realized she was crying. She didn’t take her gaze from her parents.

  “So I broke up with Greg without telling anyone. When he said he wanted to go into the military and left the next day, I used that to my advantage. I lied.”

  Her mother began to cry as well. “Katie, we never wanted you to marry someone you didn’t love. You could have told us the truth.”

  “I wasn’t strong enough, and I was afraid you wouldn’t love me if you knew what really happened. I didn’t go to work in the winery. I didn’t get married and have children. I felt like a failure. Mia’s not like that. She’s brave.”

  Suddenly Mia was hugging her. Their parents joined them. Katie felt drained, but also strangely light. As if a burden she’d been carrying around for years had suddenly fallen away.

  “We love you,” her father whispered. “No matter what, Katie. You have to know that.”

  She nodded because it was too difficult to speak.

  He touched Mia’s hair. “If you’re sure about David, that’s okay with me.”

  “It’s not all right with me,” her grandfather said. “You’re all crazy.”

  Marco straightened. “You know what, Pop? Get over it. You’ve been ruling this family with an iron fist ever since your father died. I remember when I was little, I would hear you talking to Mama about him. How he controlled things. How he was a bully. You hated him as much as you loved him, yet you turned out exactly like him.”