The Sweetest Heart

by Catherine Lanigan

  Maddie smiled. “Thank heaven. The cavalry.” She rose from her knees and dusted off her gloves. “Please tell me you made lemonade.”

  “Goodness, no, dearie. I don’t even have the begonias in yet.” She leaned over to Sarah and whispered, “Lester is coming over to help me.”

  “That’s great to hear, Mrs. Beabots. I should invite him for dinner tonight.”

  Mrs. Beabots shook her head. “He won’t come. Not with Luke’s family here and all. But we should make him a plate.”

  “Good idea,” Maddie said, bounding up and placing her hand on Mrs. Beabots’s shoulder and planting an impromptu kiss on her cheek. “After I help Sarah, I’ll be over to plant your marigolds and black-eyed Susans in the backyard.”

  “No rush, dear,” Mrs. Beabots said.

  Maddie’s mouth fell open. “Are you kidding? The garden police will be roaming the boulevard by six this evening. We’re on a tight schedule here.”

  “It’s just fine,” Mrs. Beabots assured her.

  Maddie eyed the elderly woman suspiciously. “What’s gotten in to you? This is opening Sunday of the garden wars. Half this town is checking your progress. Okay,” she acquiesced. “Yours and Sarah’s.”

  Sarah checked her watch. “I better get back to it. Luke will be here before I know it and I’ll need to shower before I meet his parents. I wonder if I should wash my hair again?” Sarah looked at Maddie for reassurance.

  Mrs. Beabots narrowed her eyes. “Are you all right?”

  “She’s fine,” Maddie said before Sarah could get in a word. “Just nervous about meeting the parents.”

  “Oh, good Lord. I thought it was something important. Like forgetting another flat of impatiens, which is what that bed is going to need to win the trophy,” she said, pointing at Maddie’s handiwork.

  Sarah and Maddie surveyed the flower bed.

  Mrs. Beabots started walking back to her own yard.

  “Do you think so? Is that what it really needs?” Sarah asked, digging her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and dialing the nursery. “I hope they have some left,” she said to Maddie.

  Maddie swatted the air between them dismissively as she returned to her flower bed.

  Just then, she heard the roar of a very familiar car engine.

  Maddie whirled. “It can’t be...”

  Nate parked his Hummer close to the curb and got out. “Maddie, can I talk to you?”

  He was wearing a dark blue sport jacket, white shirt and navy slacks. His stride was confident as he approached her.

  “Sure, Nate,” Maddie said, projecting an ease she didn’t feel. The truth was, her heart was in her throat and her knees were definitely on the wobbly side.

  She hadn’t heard from him since their encounter two days ago at the café. She hadn’t called him because she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to lose him, but at the same time, she couldn’t make any promises. And he hadn’t told her that he loved her. He’d implied a great deal, but he hadn’t come right out and said it.

  Maddie’s guess was that they both needed time to get to know each other all over again.

  “How did you know I would be here?” she asked.

  “When we were in high school, you always spent Mother’s Day here with Sarah and Mrs. Jensen. You said you liked planting the flowers, and because your mother beat it out of town to some bar in Michigan, this was your home for the day.”

  “You remember that?”

  “I remember a lot of things, Maddie,” he said, brushing a lock of hair off her forehead.

  Impossible as it was, Maddie couldn’t tear her eyes from his. A long time ago, she’d told him she could spend her life just gazing into his eyes. She’d been young and naive. But now she had no excuse, and she still felt the same way.

  “I remember that your mother has a huge family dinner on Mother’s Day, and if I’m not mistaken, you’ll get a tongue-lashing if you aren’t there.”

  “That’s why I need your help, Maddie. It’s for my mom.”

  “What is it?”

  He looked over her shoulder at Sarah. “Can I steal you for about an hour? I need you to help me pick out flowers for my mother’s gift.”

  She stared at him for a long moment. “You don’t need my help for that.”

  “I don’t,” he confessed. “I just wanted to see you.”

  A soft smile creased her mouth. “I thought so. I wanted to see you, too. But I can’t leave. I promised Sarah I’d help her with the planting. Once I’ve got these flats in the ground, I can break away for a bit, if you really want me to.”

  He grinned. “I do. Tell you what. I’ll help you out here. We can finish up twice as fast.”

  She beamed at him. “Thanks, Nate.”

  “I’m glad you’re not mad at me. For the other day, I mean,” he said.

  “If I was really mad at you, Nate, you’d know it. Besides, I missed you.”

  Relief flooded Nate’s face. “I missed you so much. I—” Without another word, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  Sarah caught them out of the corner of her eye and instantly finished her call. She shoved the cell phone in her jeans pocket. “Guys?”

  Maddie and Nate didn’t pay attention. They were oblivious to everything except each other.

  Suddenly, Maddie heard Beau barking and Miss Milse shouting commands in German. Then Beau came bounding around from the back of the house. He raced across the wide lawn toward Maddie and Nate, gold fur flying.

  Beau jumped up on Nate. Maddie jumped aside, realizing Beau thought Nate was an attacker. An intruder. The enemy.

  “No! Beau! No!” Sarah yelled, lunging forward.

  Beau had grabbed Nate’s lapel between his teeth and was trying to pull him down. Nate lost his balance and stumbled backward. “Whoa. Whoa!” he yelled.

  He crashed to the ground, bringing Maddie down on top of him.

  Sarah rushed toward Beau, trying to grab his collar before he did any more damage, but she tripped over an open bag of potting soil. When she raised herself up on her palms, her entire front was covered in dirt. She spit out a mouthful. “Beau. Stop. Now!”

  Maddie was laughing so hard, her voice rang across the street. “Oh, my gosh! Just look at us. Dirt, grass stains and doggie slobber!”

  “I love it,” Nate said, joining in the laughter.

  Maddie squeezed her eyes shut and pursed her lips to avoid Beau’s tongue.

  “Beauregard Jensen. You leave them alone this instant and come over here,” Sarah commanded, anger rising in her voice.

  Beau lifted his head, and with a huge doggie smile on his face, bounded across the small distance and jumped on Sarah.

  Sarah tried to push him away. “Oh, Beau. For goodness’ sake, stop!”

  At this precise moment, with the three of them on the ground, Beau now trying to lick Sarah, and Maddie laughing her head off, Luke pulled into the driveway in his pickup truck with Annie, Timmy and his parents.

  Maddie watched Luke take in the scene, and stared from his parents’ shocked faces to the devilish delight in his children’s eyes.

  Luke tore his eyes from the scene and turned to his family. “It’s not what it looks like.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  IN THE BARZONNI HOUSE, the family tradition for Mother’s Day had nothing to do with planting gardens and everything to do with honoring Gina Barzonni. As with most holidays in the Barzonni household, the boys’ attendance on this day was mandatory if they wanted to maintain the peace within the family. The only time there had been a vacancy at the large, formal dining room table had occurred when Nate was in the navy.

  Fortunately, Nate was home again.

  This Mother’s Day, Gina had two pots of tomato sauce cooking on her six-burner gas range. In a third pot were Italian sausages and peppers
. Painted Italian casserole dishes containing cheese ravioli with pesto sauce and penne with vodka sauce and mushrooms filled the oven. The distressed black-walnut kitchen island was crowded with freshly washed salad greens and all the makings for an enormous Caesar salad.

  Earlier, Gina had pulled three loaves of Italian bread from the oven and put them aside.

  In the middle of the kitchen was a huge trestle table made of olive wood that had been in her family since the early 1920s. She had the table and several other old pieces of furniture that she had always loved shipped from Italy. A second large dark wood table stood in the dining room, beneath a Venetian-crystal chandelier that had belonged to Gina’s grandmother.

  Gina was proud of her family heritage, and she pulled out all the stops for Mother’s Day.

  Today she had a surprise for Nate. While shopping at Judee’s dress shop earlier in the week, she’d run into Sophie, Nate’s scrub nurse. Her conversation with Sophie was friendly and comfortable as they exchanged stories about Italian family traditions, and Gina was so taken with the pretty woman that she asked Sophie to join them today. Sophie was just the type of Italian girl she would like as a daughter-in-law. The fact that Sophie and Nate shared a love for medicine was the icing on the cake.

  Gina just knew Nate would be pleased.

  Gina could hear the male laughter of her husband and sons as they worked together to fill the swimming pool, backwash the sand filter and test the water. Gabe was checking the pumps and equipment. Mica was planting the Italian pots with red geraniums that marched around the edges of the flagstone patio and pool deck. Rafe was dragging bags of potting soil for his brother, and Angelo had just finished setting up the new fake-wicker chaise longues with flamboyant yellow-and-white-striped cushions that Gina had ordered over the winter.

  Gina had made a large pitcher of sangria and had chilled a bottle of Soave, which was from the Veneto region in Italy. It was Mother’s Day after all.

  She walked out to the patio and placed the drinks on a table nearest the longues. “So, what do you think, Angelo?”

  Angelo put his hands on his hips and smiled at her. “It looks like Napoli.”

  “Excellent,” she said. “Then I have succeeded. Come and have some wine with me.”

  She poured a glass of the Soave for herself and a glass of sangria for Angelo.

  They sat on their new chaises, and Gina gazed lovingly at her sons. Then she sat upright. “Where’s Nate?”

  Angelo took a gulp of his sangria. “I don’t know. He said he had something to get in town.”

  “In town? There’s nothing open on Mother’s Day.”

  Angelo avoided her icy expression. “I doubt that.”

  “What could be open on Mother’s Day?” she demanded.

  Gabe and Rafe wiped off their hands and bounded across the flagstones toward her.

  Gabe flopped down on a chaise next to Gina. He reached out his hand, grabbed hers and kissed it. “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.”

  “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  Rafe sat on the end of Gina’s chaise. “I love you, Mom. You sure look beautiful today.”

  Mica walked up and peeled off his garden gloves. “I think you look great, too.”

  She looked from one face to the other. They were good boys. Honest. Trustworthy. Loyal and dependable. And they were all lying to her about something. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Gabe said, just as they heard Nate’s Hummer coming up the driveway.

  Nearly in unison, the boys sighed in relief, jumped from their seats and took off.

  “Nate’s here!” Mica said, pushing Gabe out of the way.

  Gina caught Angelo’s eye. “What’s going on?”

  “They’re boys. How should I know?”

  * * *

  NATE STEPPED OUT of his Hummer and saw his brothers racing toward him.

  “You’re late!” Rafe growled. “Do you have any idea how close you came this time?”

  “Did you see her?” Mica asked.

  “Yes.” Nate punched Mica’s shoulder. “And it was good. She was happy to see me.”

  “Well, that’s a win, isn’t it?” Gabe asked.

  “I’ll take it,” Nate replied.

  “That’s right,” Rafe chimed in. “No city-slicker moneybags is going to take my brother’s girl from him! We’re in this together, man.” Rafe slapped Nate’s back. “You gotta fight back, I always say.”

  Mica peered inside the Hummer. “So did you get it?”

  “When I got to the nursery, they had two rose trees set aside for me to decide. I couldn’t choose. So I bought both. Then I got four yellow hibiscus because I knew Mom just got those new chairs for the pool. These will match.”

  Gabe grabbed Nate’s shoulder. “Good thinking. Bribery works with this woman. That’s been established.”

  “I don’t know, guys. I owe Mom and Dad for leaving the way I did. You guys, too.”

  Gabe frowned. “Listen. What happened back in high school is ancient history. Nobody holds a grudge forever. The Maddie issue is another story.”

  “You’re telling me. I want her to figure out what she wants and experience some of the successes I’ve had already, but honestly, this thing with Alex makes me very nervous.”

  “You love her, don’t you?” Mica asked.

  Nate stared at his brother. In that millisecond, he realized he’d never stopped loving Maddie. He loved her as the young girl he’d known in high school and he loved her as the accomplished beautiful woman she’d grown into. “I do.”

  “Well, then I say go for it. Ask Maddie to marry you.”

  “What if she says no?”

  Mica rubbed his chin. “She wouldn’t do that, would she?”

  “Sure she would,” Nate said. “She turned me down once...”

  “That wasn’t a real proposal, man!” Rafe guffawed. “That was so lame anybody would have turned you down.”

  “I was sincere,” he said defensively.

  “Of course,” Gabe said, “Maddie’s really smart. And she knows all of us.”

  “You’re right, Gabe. What woman in their right mind would want this family?” Rafe laughed again and the other brothers joined in.

  Nate opened the Hummer’s backdoor. “Come on, let’s get this stuff unloaded.”

  The four brothers tromped around to the pool.

  “Happy Mother’s Day!” they shouted.

  “What’s all this?” Gina sat up and put her wineglass aside. “How beautiful! And it’s just what the patio needed. So elegant!”

  Gina rose and kissed each of her sons and thanked them.

  “I almost have dinner ready,” she said. “Do you boys want to help me bring it to the table?”

  Nate swallowed hard, trying to find courage. “We could have a glass of wine first,” he offered.

  “Certainly,” Angelo said, and happily poured the sangria for his sons.

  They toasted their mother and drank.

  “Lovely,” Gina said, rising from the chaise. “Now I need to get to my dinner. I really could use some help. We have a guest coming today.”

  “Guest?” Angelo asked. “Anyone we know?”

  “Yes. It’s Nate’s friend from the hospital. She’s been here before. When you boys were in high school, I think she said. She’s such a special girl.” Gina leaned close to Nate. “I like her a great deal, Nate.” She winked at her son.

  “Who?” Nate asked, wondering if Maddie and Gina had planned a surprise for him.

  “Sophie Mattuchi. Such a lovely girl.” Gina swished into the house.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  MADDIE OPENED THE café at six o’clock on Monday morning as always and greeted Chloe, who was standing under the new awning over the front door.

  “Mornin’, Maddie. I like th
e new awning. When do the ones for over the front windows get installed?”

  “Today. Along with the window boxes. And the new chairs will be here in a few weeks.”

  “Gosh. It’s going to look so...Italian,” Chloe gushed. She stopped as she reached the counter.

  Next to the register was a ruby crystal vase filled with multicolored roses and white orchids. Chloe pointed to the vase, whirled and shot an accusatory look at Maddie. “Alex sent more flowers.”

  “I see that,” Maddie said, coming over to join Chloe. “But look over there.” She pointed to the corner by the windows.

  Sitting on top of one of the tables was a two-foot-tall cylinder that held purple orchids and purple roses clustered in a tight nosegay at the top. “Those are from him as well,” Maddie said. “He’s in London on business, so he can’t call or text like he usually does. I think he sends the flowers so I won’t forget him.”

  “I like this guy,” Chloe said.

  “So do I,” Maddie replied with a pensive smile.

  Chloe went around to the sink and filled a pitcher with water to start the coffee machines. “Let’s see. Last week he sent you three bouquets when he was in Santa Barbara.”

  “Those flowers I gave to Mrs. Beabots and to Sarah.”

  “Hmm.” Chloe rolled her eyes, but Maddie could see her braiding motives, actions and intentions like colorful ribbons in her mind as she assessed Alex more critically. She shot Maddie a suspicious look. “I thought you had to go to Chicago soon for some kind of final deal or something. You’d be seeing him then. He’s moving in for the kill, if you ask me.”

  Maddie tilted her chin up as she polished the copper-and-brass espresso machine. “Alex wants a date. But not in Chicago. He wants to come here.”

  “And the problem is?”

  Maddie walked behind the counter and busied herself filling a pastry bag with a new batch of Italian crème icing. Her fingers fumbled with the tip and the bag. The icing fell off the spatula into a big plop on the counter. Maddie’s mind was a battlefield of confusion, indecision and fear. For most of her adult life, she’d avoided relationships, buried herself in her work and kept her fear of rejection caged and padlocked.