Eva waved him off. “Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”
“I insist,” he said, his long-legged stride eating the short distance between them. He leaned in to her as they walked toward the bar. “Whatever you’re planning, forget about it.”
She shivered in reaction to his warm breath caressing her ear. It was annoying how easily she responded to him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He repeated what she’d said to her sister…in Italian.
“I have no idea what you just said. Your accent is atrocious.” It wasn’t. It was perfect.
His lips lifted at the corner. “I have it on good authority that my accent is flawless.”
“How old was she?” The words were out of her mouth before she realized how inappropriate they were, and she briefly closed her eyes. She reached out an apologetic hand and touched his arm. “I’m sorry, James. That was a thoughtless thing to say.”
He shrugged off her apology. “I’m used to your sense of humor, Eva.”
“I know, but I shouldn’t tease you. It hasn’t been that long since you lost Grace.”
His wife had been an elegant blond beauty, the exact antithesis of Eva. She’d had a soft, cultured voice that Lila swore she never raised. There’d been a time when Eva had resented the woman who was a paragon of virtue in her daughter’s eyes, but over the years, her feelings about Grace had changed.
As a mother herself, Grace had been understanding and sympathetic to Eva’s worries about Lila living far from home, unlike James, who’d thought she was overreacting and being neurotic. It wasn’t long before Eva was corresponding with Grace instead of James, and Eva liked to think they’d become friends.
“It’s been over two years,” James said, the clipped tone of his voice clearly indicating that he didn’t want to talk about it.
The sharpness in his voice didn’t hurt or offend her as it had when they were together that long-ago summer. She was older and wiser and understood that his ironclad control over his emotions had more to do with him than with her. James didn’t cope well with messy feelings and drama.
He glanced at her. “I know how you and your family feel about marriage, Eva, and I know you’re just trying to protect Lila from being hurt. But she’s not a little girl anymore. She’s a strong, independent woman who knows what she wants.”
“And you think she wants to marry this man, this David?” Eva looked over her shoulder at her daughter, who was talking to Gia and Willow. The conversation didn’t appear to be a happy one. “She doesn’t look like a blushing bride-to-be to me. Does she to you?”
“She was upset you saw her at Windemere, and of course she was nervous about telling you.” He looked away, shoving his fingers through his hair.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He lowered his hand and took her by the elbow, steering her toward a table for two where they were out of their daughter’s view. “You’ll hear about it soon enough, and maybe it’s better you hear it from me first.” He pulled out the chair for her. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Am I going to need it?” she asked as she lowered herself onto the chair.
He nodded. “Yeah, and I could use one too. I’ll get it,” he said when she started to get up from the chair.
Heather intercepted him as he turned to leave. She had a bottle of wine tucked under her arm and five glasses in her hands. “Sorry, Eva. I got tied up with the frat boys. They wanted Boston sours, and I had to look it up.”
Eva usually worked the bar, but she kept a laminated list of the ingredients for cocktails taped to the counter. One of their servers acted as her backup, and she was on tonight. “Where’s Sam?”
“She, uh, left early.”
Eva had a feeling Sam was one of the servers who’d applied at Windemere. She was one of Eva’s more recent hires. “You should’ve called me.”
“It was fine, really.” Heather glanced from Eva to the family table. “Do you want me to leave this with you or bring—” She broke off when Gia hurried over.
“Thanks, Heather.” Her sister retrieved the bottle and two wineglasses and set them in front of Eva. “When you have a minute… Never mind, I’ll get it myself,” Gia said to Heather, and then looked at James, who’d taken the seat across from Eva. “You’re going to tell her?” It was more an order than a question.
He nodded.
“Good.” Gia gave Eva’s shoulder what she must’ve meant to be a reassuring squeeze but that was anything but, given the expression on her sister’s face.
“What is it?”
Her sister smiled, but the look in her eyes saidyou’re going to lose your mind. “Lila was sharing her wedding plans with us.” Gia glanced at the bottle of wine. “You might need something stronger.”