She smiled at him. “Let’s do this! How do you think it will go over?”
“It can’t be any more of a shock than Mama’s news.”
Carm laughed. “That’s for sure.”
Minutes after walking back into the house, Angelina came over and pulled Carm aside. “I’m going to steal Carmella a moment, Tony.”
Tony had to admit that he welcomed the reprieve before making their announcement. “I’ll pour us some wine for when you get back, Carmella.”
He watched as Angelina led her down the hallway to his sister’s old bedroom and closed the door. What was up with that?
Carm had no clue what Angelina wanted her for. Surely she hadn’t pulled her in here to show her the bedroom she’d grown up in. Her sister-in-law closed the door and turned to face her.
“Is it true?”
That was a loaded question. Carm tilted her head in question, not wanting to say more than she needed to admit.
“What Matt just told me. That he caught you and Tony kissing.”
Unable to deny what soon would be obvious to everyone, Carm smiled. “Well, we have been seeing a lot of each other lately.”
“I knew it! I thought there was something going on at the gala. How exciting!” Angelina wrapped her in a hug, then pulled back taking Carm’s hands in hers. Too late, Carm remembered the ring. But Angelina didn’t miss it, of course. “Wait! You two aren’t…you didn’t…” Angelina gave her an even tighter embrace. “I can’t believe it! We’re going to be double sisters now!”
Carm laughed at her description of their relationship. “I guess so.”
When Angelina pulled away again, she lifted Carm’s hand to stare more closely at the ring. “It’s beautiful! Tony did good!” She met Carm’s gaze. “I’ll admit, I never thought he’d get serious enough to settle down with anyone. How’d you snag him?”
“We did have a rocky start, but as we kept being thrown together, I guess eventually we decided we were meant for each other.”
“When are you going to tell everyone? Marc’s going to die.”
“You think he’ll be upset?”
“No! I just mean he’s going to be floored when he hears. He’s going to be thrilled for you both, though. He and Tony get along a lot better since the wedding. Their working together before the wedding probably helped too.” She shook her head. “So many happy couples with romantic news today! What a surprise this will be for Mama! A taste of her own medicine.” Angelina laughed as she took Carm’s hands again. “I’ve considered you my sister ever since I married your brother, maybe even before. You’re going to be perfect for him, Carmella. Absolutely perfect! And I can’t tell you how excited I am to have you as my sister since the wedding.” The two hugged again. “Now let’s go find that fiancé of yours.”
Chapter Forty-One
While Tony waited in the living room for Carmella to rejoin him, Franco came up to him. “What’s this Matteo told us?” Franco called their second-oldest brother by his formal name for some reason. “You and Carmella are dating?”
Damn it, Matt. Can’t you keep your mouth shut for five minutes?
“Yeah, we’ve been seeing each other since the summer.”
“She seems like a sweet girl.” Franco slapped him on the upper arm. “Lucky you.”
“She is, and I am.”
Just then, Carmella and Angelina entered the room. Carm looked like she wanted to say something, but looked at Franco and merely smiled. Angelina came over to Tony and gave him a peck on the cheek, whispering, “Congratulations.”
Carm mouthed, She saw the ring. This was going to be the worst-kept secret of the century.
“Thanks, Baby. Does Mama know?”
“I don’t think so,” Angelina answered.
“Well, then I think Carmella and I need to remedy that before she hears it through this overactive grapevine. Rafe has probably gotten a call or text from Matt already too. Franco, you might as well join us. Angelina, get Marc.” Might as well do this in one fell swoop.
Tony took Carm’s hand and they went into the kitchen, where Matt stood at the sink washing some of the pots and pans. Mama sat on a bar stool at the island divvying up the leftovers into storage containers that probably would be in the hands of everyone leaving the house tonight.
“Mama, do you have a minute?”
“For my kids? Always!” She pointed to the empty bar stools. “Sit.”
Before Tony could wonder where Paul had gone, the man came back into the kitchen. Matt stopped what he was doing and turned to face them, leaning against the sink with a stupid-ass grin on his face. He thought he knew so much. Well, Tony would show him he wasn’t as observant as he thought.
Angelina and Marc joined them. The gang was all here. “Everybody, Carmella and I have something we want to tell you.”
All eyes were on the two of them. Tony glanced at Carm. Noticing she looked more than a little nervous, he pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her. She kept her ring hidden behind her, but Tony took her hand and pulled it out to where everyone could see.
“On Sunday, I proposed to Carmella, and she said yes.” He smiled at his bride to be as the room erupted into a lot of shouts of disbelief.
“Well, you sneaky Romeo! Here I thought I knew the whole story already,” Matt said. “Congrats, you two.”
Tony placed his focus on Mama who merely smiled as if she’d known all along. She stood and crossed the room to wrap Carmella in her embrace. “I couldn’t be happier for you two. You’re already part of the family, but now you’ll join Angelina in that special place in my heart where daughters belong.”
Carm’s eyes grew bright with unshed tears. “Thank you, Mama G. When Tony proposed, I was as surprised as you are.” Carmella turned to Tony before continuing, “But I promise to take good care of your son.”
“I’ll have to share some of his favorite recipes with you,” Mama G said.
A flash of terror struck Carm’s features before Tony chimed in, “Carmella and I have been enjoying cooking together, and I’m sure we’ll make good use of them, Mama.” He didn’t want Mama to think badly of Carmella if she didn’t enjoy cooking as much as Mama did.
“We would have said something at dinner, but didn’t want to overshadow your own happy announcement,” Carm said.
“How can love overshadow anything? There can never be too much happy news, either.” Mama gave Carmella another hug and a kiss on each cheek. “Your mama and I are going to have to get busy, because my son can be impetuous sometimes.”
Carmella grinned at him. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.” She rolled her eyes at him before growing serious and facing Mama G again. “We plan to tell my parents in person as soon as they return from Italy.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I won’t spoil the surprise for them.”
Marc moved toward Carmella and gave her a big hug. “Be happy, Sis. Tony’s a good guy, and I know he’s going to take good care of you. If he doesn’t, he’s going to get his butt kicked.”
Marc turned toward Tony with a semi-glare on his face. “You do anything to make my sister regret her decision, and you’ll answer to me.”
“Marc, please,” Carm said. “Don’t go all big-brother on him.”
Tony held up his hand to halt her words, remembering how Rafe had treated Marc during their engagement and right up to the rehearsal dinner. “I would never intentionally do anything to hurt her. And I wouldn’t expect either of her big brothers to do anything short of coming after me if I ever did.”
Marc sized him up a moment longer, then held out his hand. “Congratulations. You don’t deserve her, but I guess she sees something in you that I don’t.”
Tony shook his hand. The two worked the same shift at the station and Tony didn’t want to think about how awkward it would be at the station if he and Carmella ever had any problems. Tony vowed to himself to make sure that never happened, but one thing he was learning in therapy was that you can’t control everythin
g.
“I’ll take good care of her.”
Marc asked if Sandro knew, and Carmella told him he’d found out accidentally on Monday. “But I swore him to secrecy.”
“Well,” Marc began, “he hinted that there might be some kind of announcement at dinner today, but I just thought you were going to finally tell us that you’ve been seeing each other.”
Carm’s eyes opened wide. “You knew?”
Marc grinned. “Let’s just say I saw your car parked at Tony’s a while ago. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”
Damn. Tony had no idea. That he’d remained quiet about it at the station must mean he trusted Tony with her enough not to lay down the law to him.
As if she’d gleaned his train of thought, Angelina said, “Oh, he was ready to call you out, Tony,” Angelina said, “but I reminded him how our relationship began, and he didn’t have a leg to stand on.”
Everyone laughed, breaking any tension that might have arisen. Good thing he and Carm planned to move to Wolcott. No prying family eyes to worry about there.
Eight days later, Carm squeezed Tony’s hand as they walked up the stairs to Mama and Papa’s condo. Her parents had returned from Italy earlier today, but Sandro had picked them up at the airport. Carm had avoided them for several hours, afraid she’d give away the news before Tony could arrive from a scheduled dive-team training exercise this afternoon. She’d promised to come to dinner and told them she was bringing a guest. She just hadn’t said who that would be.
Standing in front of the door, she glanced at Tony who wore a suit and tie and looked uncomfortable to the extreme. “Let’s just get it over with before we sit down to dinner,” she suggested.
“Sounds good to me.” He tugged his collar away from his neck to exaggerate his lack of comfort and grinned at her just as the door opened.
“Papa! Welcome home!” She wrapped her arms around him as he greeted her with kisses on both cheeks.
“How is my Carmi?”
“Never better! I’ve missed you, Papa, and I can’t wait to hear all about your trip.”
They pulled apart and Papa noticed Tony as if for the first time. “Tony, nice to see you again.” He stepped back into the foyer. “Come in. Take your coats off and be comfortable.” She couldn’t help but notice that Papa’s Northern Italian accent was stronger than ever after spending almost two weeks in their homeland.
Tony helped her off with her coat and then removed his. Papa stretched out his hand and took them. “Mama will be out in a moment. What would you like to drink?”
“Wine would be good,” Carm answered. “Tony?”
“Wine sounds perfect.”
Papa was pouring their glasses when Mama entered the room. “Carmella! And Tony? What a nice surprise.”
Mama’s gaze went straight to Carmella’s left hand as if she already knew why Tony was here. Her lower lip trembled, and she pressed her fingers to her lips as she met Carm’s gaze.
“Is this what I think it is?”
So much for the big announcement. Carmella smiled. “Yes, it is. Tony proposed to me early into your trip, but I wanted to wait to tell you in person.”
“Oh, Papa! We’re going to have another wedding!” Mama launched herself at Carm and wrapped her in a hug that nearly squeezed the breath from her lungs. Carm laughed and took in Tony’s expression of relief. At least this part was out of the way and they could enjoy a stress-free dinner.
Papa shook Tony’s hand as Mama pulled back and brought Carm’s ring closer. “How beautiful!”
“Mama, you don’t seem at all surprised.”
“Surprised? No, of course not. I saw the way you two looked at each other at the fundraiser. It was just a matter of time before wedding bells would ring. Now, come in and sit down. We have a lot of planning to do!”
Here we go.
Mama started toward the dining room. Judging by the aroma of the food, Mama’s favorite chef from the resort had prepared their meal. He had a soft spot for Mama, who had given him a job more than a decade ago after he’d first arrived in the States.
They were into their first course when Carm decided to confront the elephant in the room. “Mama, we don’t want a big wedding.”
Mama’s spoon stopped in midair. She stared at Carm then at Tony as if the two had each grown another head. “What nonsense is this? Of course you will have a big wedding. Bigger even than Marc’s. You’re our only daughter. It is the only way.”
Carmella sighed. How could she steer the conversation away from Mama’s dream wedding?
“I think an August wedding would be lovely,” Mama decided.
August. Nine months. Carm supposed it could have been a lot worse.
“A year and a three-quarters doesn’t give us much time, but it’s longer than we had to plan Marc’s wedding. First we need to book the venue for the ceremony…”
Two Augusts from now?
Carm held out her hand to her mother. “Mama, please. I mean it. We don’t plan to wait that long. A simple wedding with immediate family would be our preference.”
Mama’s eyes welled with tears. This wasn’t going well. But this also wasn’t Mama’s wedding. Tony squeezed Carm’s thigh under the table, and she smiled at him. He and Papa remained silent, and she couldn’t blame them. She needed to convince her mama of the way things would be.
Turning back to the intimidating woman across the table, Carm took a deep breath and let it out. “Mama, we understand that you have a dream wedding in mind, but it’s just not our dream wedding.”
Mama glanced from one to the other then resumed eating without a word. After a moment, she started telling them about their trip. Carm didn’t think for a minute that this was the end of it. Mama would regroup and come at her again and again, no doubt.
Carm wasn’t sure how she would be able to sway Mama to her vision, but she couldn’t even think about a small family wedding with the resort in full swing. So she decided it would be best to give Mama time to get used to their idea of something much smaller than Mama had dreamed of for her daughter. Perhaps by the spring, they could revisit this.
“So tell me about Lombardy. How was Mrs. Milanesi?”
After a short silence, Mama recounted their visit and let go of wedding talk—for the time being.
Chapter Forty-Two
As they lay in each other’s arms the weekend before Christmas, Tony stroked her bare back, but this time it failed to calm her down.
“Mama’s driving me insane, Tony. She’s already spoken to the priest at St. Mary’s and is running dates by me for July and August more than a year and half away!”
How had Carm thought for a minute Mama would wait until spring to start wedding planning? Retired, she had nothing better to do with her time these days.
“If I wait until ski season is over, she’ll have picked out my dress, hired the photographer, and decided on three menus for me to choose from for the reception.” Carm sighed. “What are we going to do?”
Tony chuckled. “I’m not sure there’s much we can do. My mama’s been asking me if there’s anything she can do to help and has been on the phone with your mama to let her know she’d be happy to collaborate on the planning. What is it with Italian mamas and weddings?”
“I don’t know. If I ever do that to my kids, spank me.”
Tony gave her a hard swat.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“Practicing.”
“I’m serious. I don’t want to intrude on the lives of my own son or daughter when the time comes. Don’t you let me.”
“I’ll do my best.”
She kissed him, and they lay in silence for a while as Carm idly traced her finger over Tony’s chest, thinking about what kind of mother she might be when the time came. Then thoughts turned to something that had happened at the resort this afternoon, bringing her focus back to the wedding. When the buzz among the staff had reached her, she hadn’t been able to think of much else for several hours a
s she mulled over the idea.
“I’m not crazy about the idea of waiting over a year, Tony. I’m ready to start our lives together right now.”
“We are practically living together already.”
“Yeah, but I’m ready to sell this place and start looking for our forever home.”
“Don’t you want to wait until things calm down at the resort?”
“When things get slower for me, they’ll ramp up with training for the rescue squad.” Time to steer this conversation in the direction she wanted.
“Tony, I’ve helped plan more weddings at the resort than I care to remember. Working with Marc and Angelina to fulfill their wedding dreams was wonderful, but while that day was perfect for them, it isn’t my idea of a dream ceremony. I guess I’m not very traditional.”
“What kind of ceremony would you like?” he asked.
“Something meaningful. And by that, I want one that means more to us than to our mamas or anyone else.”
He chuckled. “You like to live dangerously, don’t you?”
She couldn’t even muster a smile. “Mama’s been dreaming of my wedding day since I was a baby. And both of our mamas are going to feel cheated if they don’t get to orchestrate another gigantic wedding. But if I can’t see myself in that fantasy wedding of theirs now, how miserable will I be on the big day?”
Tony pulled back and tucked a finger under her chin to force her to meet his gaze. “I don’t care how much pressure anyone puts on you, including our mamas, this will be our day and we’re going to do it our way. Hear me? I’ll talk to mine, but I’ll talk to yours too if I need to.”
Just the segue I need.
How would he take her suggestion? Might as well find out. “Tony, have you heard of self-solemnized ceremonies?”
“Self what?”
“Wedding ceremonies where you don’t have to have a venue or even an officiant and witnesses, for that matter. Some guests at the resort had one this afternoon up on Ute Trail. I guess it’s a newish law in Colorado from what I could find on the internet. Only two states allow it at the moment, but in this kind of wedding, the couple just gets a license then performs their own ceremony wherever they’d like.”
TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) Page 40