It Had To Be You

by Janice Thompson

  “Well, here’s what we’ve decided,” Pop interjected. “There’s just one wall separating Rosa’s room from Laz’s. It’s not a support wall. I know, because D.J. already checked it out for me.”

  I turned to him, stunned. “You did? When?”

  “I have my ways.” He gave my hand another squeeze. So he did have inside information! Not that I minded. This was fabulous news!

  “Anyway, that wall is coming down,” Pop said. “Once and for all.” He gave Rosa a wink.

  “We see it as a symbolic move, anyway,” Laz threw in. “After years of the walls Rosa and I had put up …” He reached to take her hand. “The walls have all crumbled to the ground. No more barriers between us.”

  She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And with so much space, we can turn the room into a suite with a nice living area and a bath. I’ve always wanted my own bath.” She giggled, clearly as tickled as if she’d won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. “Laz says I can have a garden tub.”

  Her cheeks flushed pink, and Laz nodded. “Nothing is too much for my girl.”

  “Fabulous!” Bianca and Bertina said in tandem.

  I felt compelled to throw in something. Turning to Rosa, I smiled. “Rosa, if anyone deserves a nice space to kick back in, you do. You work harder than anyone I know.”

  “Thank you, Bella.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m so thrilled.”

  “Oh, I can hardly wait to get started!” Mama said. “When should we begin?”

  “I’ve already got the building permits,” D.J. said. “So I can have a crew at your place as soon as you say the word.”

  “Just need to get past the wedding first,” Pop said. “Much of the work can be done while Rosa and Laz are on their monthlong honeymoon to Italy.”

  Now it all made perfect sense. No wonder my aunt and uncle wanted an extended honeymoon on the opposite side of the globe—so they could be away from the mess.

  Hmm. One major problem with this plan. D.J. and I were still planning a wedding too. If this construction went on too long …

  No, I wouldn’t think about it. I forced a smile and rose to make a toast. “To Laz and Rosa! And to many more family dinners together in the Rossi home!”

  “To many more dinners together!” Mama echoed, lifting her glass.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I happened to catch a glimpse of Sal Lucci. His expression seemed tight. Maybe he was put off by our family’s boisterous behavior in public. Or maybe … I watched his gaze shift to Rosa and wondered what he might be thinking. Hmm. Might be worth keeping an eye on him.

  Everyone began to talk at once, and I turned to D.J. with a grin. “You’re full of surprises.”

  “I am.” He winked. “I hope that’s a good thing.”

  “A very good thing.” I leaned in to whisper, “Why don’t you surprise me with a night out when this is all over with? I miss you.”

  “I miss you too.” He kissed the top of my head and drew me close.

  “Rosa’s planning a picnic for Wednesday afternoon at Galveston State Park. Can you take a long lunch and meet us there?” I gave him a little pout, hoping it would help convince him.

  “What time?”

  “Noon.”

  He nodded. “For you, anything. Just promise me we’ll have a few minutes alone to take a walk on the beach. I want to talk to you about something.”

  “O-oh?” For whatever reason, my fear antennae shot straight up in the air. “Everything okay?”

  “More than okay.” He leaned over and kissed me. “Don’t fret, Bella Bambina. All is well.”

  “Okay.” I did my best to relax. Didn’t need any extra stress right now, anyway. Surely whatever he had to talk with me about would be good. It was probably about the honeymoon. Maybe D.J. was finally going to come clean and tell me where we were going. The suspense was killing me, though I’d nearly figured it out. Someplace with the prettiest water in the world. I’d already narrowed the list of possibilities to Cancun or Grand Cayman. Either way, I could hardly wait!

  After we finished our pizzas, the cappuccino and espresso flowed freely from the coffee bar. My family—though loud and crazy at times—eventually grew quiet as stomachs and hearts were filled. I even saw a couple of them yawn and realized the ladies would soon be heading home to nap. Oh, if only I had that luxury! But no. I had work to do—work that would not wait.

  “Men, are you ready to leave for the tuxedo shop?” Laz asked, rising.

  “Mm-hmm.” Emilio stretched and rose, giving his wife a peck on the top of the head. “Come on, Cosmo. We’ve got to look dashing for our ladies.”

  My father stood up and gave my mother a kiss. My heart flip-flopped as I watched them. How wonderful to be so in love after thirty-plus years together. And how fabulous it was going to be to see them walking arm in arm down the aisle as groomsman and bridesmaid on Laz and Rosa’s big day.

  Thinking about Rosa and Laz reminded me of all the work I still had to do. Thinking of my workload got me to thinking of Jenna. My gaze instinctively went to the register where she usually stood, and I felt my pulse begin to quicken as I gazed at the empty spot.

  Lord, where is my friend?

  I had a feeling in my gut the answer would be a long time in coming.

  9

  Sentimental Journey

  As soon as the meal ended, the men headed off to the tuxedo shop and Mama drove the women home in her car. Deanna opted to stay with me, though she knew I had work to do. With everyone else out of the picture, she turned to me. “What do we do first?”

  “You sure you want to hang out with the wedding planner?” I asked. “It’s going to be all work and no play. I’ve got to go to the florist shop, then make a few calls. I’m double-checking a couple of things with Joey before we leave the restaurant, though. He’s our photographer.”

  “I want to hang out with you. Of course.” She gave me a funny look. Suspicious, even.

  “What?”

  “Well, actually …” Deanna smiled. “Mama and Bianca and I have been thinking of opening a wedding facility in Napoli, so they’ve sent me on a mission to learn all I can from you. Good, bad, and otherwise.”

  “W-what?” I couldn’t believe it. “Really?”

  “Yes. And Emilio heard us talking about it on the plane and wants to help fund it. Even Francesca liked the idea. There are no wedding facilities in our area. Most people get married at church and then celebrate after in their homes or restaurants. But we think it would be wonderful to have another Club Wed in Italy. What do you think?”

  “Deanna, this is fabulous!” I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m happy to share what I know about the business. And Club Wed in Italy! Oh, how wonderful that sounds!”

  “I have a lot to learn, though,” she said. “So, one step at a time. I especially want to hear about these themed weddings you’ve been doing.” She laughed. “I’ve been trying to imagine how a Texas-themed wedding would go over in Napoli.”

  “Pretty well, I’d imagine.” I giggled. “You have Italian cowboys too, right? Oh, but there’s so much more to it than just the Texas theme. Think of the possibilities! Medieval. Tropical. Garden party. Victorian. You name it, brides want it. You’ll be surprised at the response, I promise.”

  “Only one problem.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  “What is it, honey?”

  “My boyfriend and I …” She shook her head and brushed away the tears. “From the moment Mama and I started talking about this wedding facility idea, we both imagined that I would be the first client. That Rocco and I would get married there and use the photos to help market the facility. But now …” She sighed. “Well, anyway, that’s not going to happen. Rocco has cold feet and is clearly not interested in marriage.”

  “Ah.” I could see the dilemma she now faced. Must be tough thinking of weddings when the one person you wanted more than anything else in the world seemed allergic to the process.

  Deanna’s conversation
shifted to Italian, where she began to share her passionate feelings about men. I did my best not to add fuel to her fire. I was, after all, happily in love. Not all men were reluctant to commit. Take D.J., for instance. He’d made it plain from the start that he wanted a wife and family.

  I made a move toward the counter where Joey stood talking to a customer. When he finished, he looked my way.

  “Ready to get to work?”

  “Yes.” We shifted to the office in back, where we spent the next half hour talking through every phase of the wedding and reception.

  “I still think it’s odd that they’re not getting married at St. Patrick’s,” Joey said. “Did you ever figure out why they changed their minds on that?”

  “Yeah. The church idea was kaput the minute Father Michael found out there was a swing band involved. Rosa wants the band to play during the ceremony, and Father Michael didn’t think there would be enough room for them in the church. Plus he wasn’t sure it would go over very well with the bishop.”

  Joey laughed. “Funny, considering Father Michael’s the best trumpet player on the island.”

  “True. But on top of everything else, St. Patrick’s is having a Christmas party that same night in the fellowship hall, so that would’ve been tricky, juggling things—and people— around.”

  “I see.”

  I shrugged. “Besides, with it being so close to Christmas, Rosa wants to do full-out Christmas decor, and the wedding facility is perfect for that. We’re going to have lots of Christmas trees and twinkling white lights—that sort of thing. So during both the ceremony and the reception, we’ll turn down the overhead chandeliers, and the tiny lights from the trees will really stand out.”

  “This is going to be a tough one, Bella,” Joey said. “Having the lights down, I mean. Makes it rough on the photographer.” “I know, but they want it to look and feel like an old swing band hall. We’ll have plenty of ambient lighting from candles and Christmas lights to make up for the big lights overhead. Is that going to be a problem?”

  “I just need everything set the night before, if possible. That way I can get the right settings on my camera. Don’t want to be guessing on the night of the wedding.”

  “Hmm.” I paused a moment. “I guess I could have everything done the night of the rehearsal.” I sighed, and Joey smiled.

  “It’s okay, Bella. Look at all of the people you have to help. You won’t be working alone, I’m sure.” He gestured to Deanna, who grinned in response.

  “Yes, please.” She nodded. “I want to learn everything I can, so use me as much as you like.”

  “You don’t hear that every day.” Joey grinned.

  We wrapped up our conversation and then said our goodbyes. As we climbed into the car, I noticed that Deanna looked a little melancholy once again. This was getting to be quite the routine.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yes. No.” She shrugged. “All this talk of weddings is just making me …” She paused. “Making me miss Rocco.”

  Yikes. Better change the direction of our conversation. No point in dredging up any more tears. Instead, I pointed my car toward the center of town, ready to deal with the flowers for Rosa and Laz’s big day.

  We pulled up to Patti-Lou’s Petals, the flower shop Marcella managed. Patti-Lou, the original owner, had recently moved to Montana, where she’d finally found the man of her dreams. I knew the sign above the store would change names as soon as Nick and Marcella could afford to buy the business. In the meantime, my sister-in-law did a fine job keeping the island in flowers. And flowers we needed, especially in the wedding biz!

  I stepped inside and breathed deeply of the fragrant aromas. Marcella saw me and grinned. “Bella!”

  “Marcella, you look beautiful!” Why, she was beaming! I’d never seen anything quite like the glow on her face at this very moment. Of course, she had a lot to beam about, didn’t she? Her blossoming midsection spoke of exciting things to come. Hopefully exciting things with pink tutus and ballet slippers.

  “Thank you.” She took my hand and gave an impish smile. “I have something to tell you, but it’s top secret.”

  “Oh?”

  “First I need you to promise that what I tell you will be kept between us.” She looked back and forth between Deanna and me. “Promise?”

  “Of course!”

  “Nick and I found out the sex of the baby this morning.”

  “Really?” My heart began to thump wildly. “Is it a—”

  “A girl!” She clasped her hands at her chest and grinned. “Isn’t that glorious? She’s a girl!”

  At last, the evil spell was broken! “Oh, this is wonderful!” I began to gush over her, and soon Deanna joined the celebration.

  “Oh, I’m going to pay for dance lessons!” I said. “Let me know when she’s ready to start ballet. And you know Mama will want to give her singing lessons so she can stand on the stage at the opera house one day and melt the crowds. And Pop will teach her to play basketball with the boys. He won’t have a clue.” On and on I went, talking about how we Rossis would sweep in around this little girl and share our love with her.

  Marcella laughed. “One thing at a time, Bella! First we have to move into our new place, and then I have to decorate the nursery in pink. I’ve never done that before, especially not while taking care of a shop and raising two rowdy boys.”

  Two rowdy boys was right. I wondered how Frankie and Deany-boy would take this news. Likely not very well. They were probably counting on a little brother, not a frilly girl.

  We lowered our voices when a couple of customers came in and started browsing the flowers in the case. I did my best to keep things hush-hush. “So, do the boys know?”

  Marcella shook her head. “No. No one knows but Nick and me. And now you two.” She put her finger to her lips. “And I know you would never tell.”

  “Never!” Deanna and I spoke in unison.

  “We’re trying to figure out when and where to tell everyone,” Marcella said. “We want it to be really special, but we don’t want to interfere with Rosa and Laz’s big day.”

  “Understandable.”

  “I’m open to suggestions,” she said. “Let me know if anything comes to you.”

  “Hmm. Okay.” I paused a moment. “Hey, how’s the house hunt going? Did you and Nick find a place yet?”

  “Actually, we’re looking at a Victorian just a few blocks from your place.” She nodded. “And speaking of houses, have you and D.J. decided where you’re going to live after you get married?”

  I shook my head. “He’s renting a condo on the seawall, but that’s not long-term. We’ve given some thought to getting a place on Jamaica Beach, but that’s so far away.”

  Marcella laughed. “You’re funny, Bella. My family lives in Houston, and I think that’s far away. The opposite side of the island doesn’t seem far at all.”

  “We’re still praying about it,” I said. “God will show us what to do.”

  “He always does.” She paused as the other customers approached the counter, ready to place an order. Deanna and I turned to the roses in the case while Marcella shifted gears. “Those are gorgeous.” Deanna pointed to a multicolored rose, and I nodded.

  “Yeah, I agree. Those are Double Delights. That’s what Rosa has chosen for her wedding. Do you like the red and white mixed together?”

  “Beautiful.”

  “And picture this,” I said, growing more excited by the minute. “Once we get all of the greenery mixed in and topped off with gold ribbon, the whole place will have a Christmas feel to it. That’s what Rosa wants, anyway.”

  Deanna nodded. “It’s going to be gorgeous. And I think I heard her say something about having miniature Christmas trees on all of the tables?”

  “Yes, I bought those a couple of weeks ago on the Web,” I said. “They’re pre-lit and work off of batteries, so we don’t have to worry about plugs or anything. We’ll do red bows on top of half of them and gold
on the rest.”

  “Perfect. Are you decorating the trees?”

  “I thought about putting some red and gold bows on them. Nothing too elaborate. The lights will really look pretty, even if the trees aren’t too dolled up.”

  “I know Rosa’s going to love that. She’s always been crazy about Christmas, so I think it’s perfect that her wedding falls during the Christmas season.”

  Deanna was just a few sentences into her explanation when the door to the flower shop opened and Tony DeLuca walked in.

  “Tony?” I stared at my ex, curious to find him here.

  “Oh, hey, Bella …” His words trailed off, and his gaze shifted to the flowers in the case. “What are you doing here?”

  “Same thing I’m always doing here,” I responded with a shrug.

  He walked to the glass case and stared at the roses. “So, roses are the best, right?”

  “Of course.”

  He began to speak in Italian, and Deanna responded.

  “Do you need help, Tony?” Marcella asked, coming out of the back room.

  “Well, I, uh …” He shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “Roses for Sophia?”

  He looked my way, a hard-to-read expression on his face. “Yeah. Is that weird for you, Bella? I mean—”

  “Say no more. It’s not weird for me. I think it’s wonderful. And I happen to know Sophia loves yellow roses.”

  “Yellow, huh?” He stared at them.

  “It’s that ‘Yellow Rose of Texas’ song,” I explained. “She always used to say that she wanted to find a true-blue Texan who would give her yellow roses.”

  “What about a true-blue Italian who happens to live in Texas giving her yellow roses?” He quirked a brow, and we all laughed.

  “That’ll do.” I nodded. “The point is, the roses are coming from someone who cares about her.”

  “I do. Very much.” His eyes filled with tears, and my heart quickened. The last time I’d seen that look on his face, he’d been fighting for my attentions. Now it looked like everything had come full circle.

  “I’m so glad.” I reached out and touched his arm. “She’s a great girl, Tony. And I think you two are a wonderful couple.”