“Really, really unlucky,” Luke said with a rumble of amusement in his voice. They shared another smile, and then they both looked away.
“And if it’s not bad enough that I’m getting married—in their eyes, I mean—the wedding and reception are being held here.”
“Why not hold them at La Dolce Vita? You’re the bride. Isn’t that up to you?”
“You’d think so, but apparently I don’t get a say.” Feeling disloyal to David, she added, “My fiancé’s father owns controlling interest in Windemere, and he’s asked David to manage it for him. They’re basically using our wedding as a marketing ploy.”
“They know your family owns La Dolce Vita, don’t they?”
She nodded and told him what David had said about competition.
Luke scoffed, “Easy for him to say.”
“I know, right? I don’t understand why he can’t see it.”
“Come on, he has to see it, Lila.”
Luke totally understood where she was coming from. She wished David were half as sensitive to her feelings as Luke was. She winced. She wasn’t being fair to David. Luke had grown up in Sunshine Bay and knew her family really well. Except David had met her mother and her aunt when they’d come to visit Lila in London late the previous fall, and it wasn’t as if she hadn’t shared everything there was to know about them with him.
But she hadn’t shared her feelings for David with her mother. It would’ve been easier if she’d told her mother and aunt that he was more than a good friend and colleague, but she hadn’t wanted to ruin their visit.
“Apparently he doesn’t. But the one thing I do know is I can’t put off telling my family any longer.”
Luke glanced at the watch on his tanned, muscular forearm. He wore a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up. “Yeah, I better get back to the party.”
As they walked to the door, Lila said, “We’re waiting until I’m twelve weeks to tell anyone about the baby, so please don’t—” She broke off when the door began opening.
Luke reached over and held it shut, gesturing for her to hide behind him. The last thing she wanted was to get caught in the men’s room, so she did as he directed.
He glanced at her over his shoulder and then opened the door wide. She slipped behind it. “What the hell, Luke? Why were you holding the door shut?”
“Wasn’t me. It must’ve been stuck.”
When the other man disappeared into the restroom and out of view, Luke tugged Lila out from behind the door and gently shoved her into the hall.
As the door closed behind her, Lila heard the man say, “Did you see Lila Rosetti? My sister thought she saw her heading for the restrooms earlier.”
“Nope. She must’ve mistaken someone else for her.”
“Didn’t you have a thing for Lila back in the day?”
Chapter Four
Stop dawdling, Eva! We have a ten-foot wall to climb, and the tide will be coming in soon,” her mother called over her shoulder.
“I’m not dawdling, but unlike you and Gia, my feet aren’t as tough as sharkskin.” Her mother and sister were jogging down the beach in the hot sand while Eva was “jogging” in the wet sand along the water’s edge. Every few minutes, a rogue wave would nearly take her out or she’d step on a seashell.
Eva didn’t mind a nice leisurely stroll on the beach, but jogging held as much appeal as a root canal without novocaine.
“We’re trying not to be seen, remember? Get over here with us,” her mother yelled, waving for Eva to join them.
“If you don’t want anyone to notice us, maybe you should stop yelling, Ma!”
Close-set businesses and homes with cedar-shake siding lined the beach all the way to the harbor. Windemere was a short distance from the pier, which at that moment looked about as close as Boston.
Eva picked up her pace, sucking in a pained gasp moments later. It felt as if someone had grabbed hold of the ligaments in her left side and twisted. She stopped jogging and bent over.
“Eva, are you all right?” her sister called.