Page 16 of Honeymoon for Seven

“They’re just being kids,” she said softly enough that only Nick could hear.

With every childlike behavior, Nick would repeat the same apology, and she would reassure him. Apparently, he had no idea the ruckus her big Italian family could make over the littlest of things.

When dinner was over, the score was one for the kids and zero for Uncle Nick. They were all, except Phoebe, going to watchDespicable Me 3on deck with the rest of the Kids Club. The four pretty much skipped down the hall again, giddy with anticipation. She couldn’t blame them. She’d be giddy too if she were going to watch a movie under the stars with a certain sweet and good-looking uncle. Wouldn’t that be something?

Once again, his mother was comfortably settled in with an ice pack and her book. Only this time, in bed instead of on the sofa, and Phoebe was tucked snug as a bug in the proverbial rug, or in this case, crib. And once again, his mom had convinced them to go find something fun to do while the kids enjoyed the movie. Bless her.

For years, she’d been teasing and prodding for him to find a nice girl. She’d even tried to set him up a few times under some ridiculous guise. But this time, he could have hugged her if Ginnie hadn’t been there watching.

“You’re smiling.”

“I am?”

Ginnie nodded. “You are. Want to share?”

“I was just remembering the time my mom invited a friend from work over for dinner.”

“My mom loves having a full dinner table too.”

“Except this one came with her single daughter, who my mother just knew I was going to fall madly in love with at first sight.”

Ginnie spit out a laugh. “Ah, one of those dinners.”

“You too?”

“It’s gotten worse since my younger sister beat me to the altar.” Shaking her head slightly and still smiling, she sighed. “I gather it was not love at first sight.”

“Not even close. She was pretty enough, and smart enough, but all she could talk about was her work.”

“Oh. What did she do?”

“An actuary.”

Ginnie frowned. “As in, insurance algorithms?”

He bobbed his head. “Made for riveting dinner conversation.”

“I can imagine,” she giggled.

Oh, he was really liking the sound of her laughter. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What kind of men did your mother try and set you up with?”

“Italian.”

“And?”

“No and. Just Italian. Tall ones, short ones, fat ones, skinny ones, smart ones, not so smart ones.”

“Wow. Sounds like your mother is a little more ambitious than mine.”

“Ambitious is one word for Mom. Stubborn, determined, and one of my favorite people in the world rounds her out.”

“That’s nice.”

“What? That my mother is stubborn and ambitious?”

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