Page 23 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

Do you really think this is a good idea, honey? Maybe we should put it off for a couple of days.” David cast a hopeful glance at Lila as he pulled the candy apple–red Ferrari convertible into the driveway of her father’s beach house the next afternoon.

It was a terrible idea, the worst idea ever, but she hadn’t had the heart to hurt her mother’s feelings when Eva suggested a meet-the-family tea as Lila and her father were leaving La Dolce Vita the night before. Except, other than her mother, Lila’s family would be a no-show. She wouldn’t have her cousins there for backup. They’d bailed earlier this morning, citing work as an excuse. Lila didn’t believe them.

“And why would we put off your parents meeting my mother, David? Shouldn’t she get a say in the wedding plans? After all, she is the mother of thebride.” No matter how many times David had apologized to her in the last eighteen hours, Lila hadn’t been able to forgive him for blindsiding her and her family.

Her grandmother had taken to her bed, and as far as Lila knew, she was still there. Lila’s mother and aunt were worried about her. So worried they’d yet to share the news about Lila’s upcoming wedding and her connection with Windemere. Which was why her aunt and her nonna wouldn’t be at this afternoon’s meet-the-family tea either.

“Of course my parents are looking forward to meeting your mother. It’s just that, with how your family feels about marriage, I didn’t think she’d have any interest in our wedding plans.”

“Well, she does.” Lila wouldn’t admit it to David, but she’d been shocked that her mother wanted anything to do with the wedding.

She’d been equally surprised by how easily her mother had acquiesced after her initial reaction. Her aunt and cousins had been the same. Lila should be happy that they’d put their feelings aside to support her, but she was more unsettled by it than anything. Even the news that David had agreed to manage Windemere hadn’t shaken her mother’s resolve to put a positive spin on everything. She was of course thrilled that Lila was moving home to Sunshine Bay, and thanks to Lila’s father, her mother believed that at least half of the wedding festivities would be held at La Dolce Vita. Something Lila should probably work out with David now.

But as she opened her mouth to do just that, her father came around the side of the house wearing a pair of navy shorts and white T-shirt, tugging on a garden hose. He lifted his head and smiled. “Do you need a hand with your bags?”

Lila sighed. Her discussion with David about where the wedding festivities were going to be held would have to wait.

“We’re good, thanks,” David said, and then he lowered his voice. “I don’t like this, Lila. I don’t like it at all. You should be staying with me at Windemere. The manager’s suite is beautiful.”

“You’ve made it perfectly clear how you feel about it, David. But lately you seem unwilling or unable to see anything from my perspective.”

They’d spent the majority of the drive back from Boston arguing about her decision. Her father had loaned them his rental car the night before so they could drive to Boston and pack up their things at the condo. Gavin had insisted David start work right away and had scheduled a meeting with the head chef for later today.

“Maybe because it makes no sense to me. We lived together for a year in London, and we’re getting married. We’re not living in the Dark Ages.”

“You mean in a time when women didn’t have any rights and their opinions didn’t matter?”

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the tip of his forefinger. “Fine, do what you want. But I can’t see your mother being any happier than I am that you’re staying with James.”

David had always been a little jealous of how close she was to her father. He had that in common with her mother. “I’ll stay with my dad for two weeks, and then I’ll move in with my mom.”

At David’s dejected expression, she relented. As much as she wanted him to see things from her perspective, it was only fair that she try and see things from his. She knew why taking the job with his father was important to him, just as she knew he needed a job and would do an excellent one managing Windemere. She also knew he wanted their wedding to be special—a big celebration of their love—and even if it was the last thing she wanted, she couldn’t fault him for that. It was actually pretty sweet and romantic.

“It might be fun, you know. We’ve spent every minute of every day together for the past year. We could use a little adventure and romance. We can pretend we’re dating.”

He nodded slowly, clearly not convinced. “I suppose, but it’s not like I can take time off whenever I want.”

He’d always been the first one in at the office and the last one to leave. She admired his work ethic. “I wouldn’t expect you to, but it’s not as if you’ll be working twenty-four/seven.”

“I might be. With my brother waiting in the wings, I have to prove to my father that his faith in me was justified.” He got out of the car and glanced at her father, who was now watering a mass of pink rosebushes that hugged the gray-shingled beach house. “If you’d like, I’m sure I can get you the name of a gardener, James.”

“I’m good, thanks. It’s time I got some new hobbies.”

“You mean hobbies other than work,” Lila said as she got out of the car, happy to see her father looking relaxed as he watered the garden. She lifted her phone and took his picture.

He shook his head with a smile. “Photographic evidence for your sisters that your dad’s turned into an old fart?”

She laughed. Her father couldn’t look like an old fart if he tried. He was in great shape and didn’t look a day over thirty-five. “Evidence that you’re not surfing tsunami-high waves or swimming with sharks.”

“Yet.” He waggled his eyebrows. “They’re on my list.”

Lila wouldn’t share that with her sisters. She’d promised she’d keep their father from doing anything overly adventurous. She slipped her phone into the pocket of her white shorts and went to grab the last two pieces of her luggage as David made his way around the side of the beach house with her other bags.

As she hauled them out of the back seat, a car’s obnoxiously loud rumble drew her attention, and she glanced over her shoulder. At the sight of her grandmother’s mint-green 1967 Ford Mustang coming down the road, she braced herself. Her mother had arrived.

Eva parked alongside the curb and got out of the car. She wore tangerine shorts with a matching short-sleeved shirt tied at her waist. Her brightly colored outfit highlighted her tanned skin and her gold jewelry—big hoop earrings, necklace, and bangles—and showed off her curvy figure.

“Ciao,” Eva said with a bright smile, a wicker hamper swinging in her hand as she walked up the driveway in a pair of wedge sandals that showed off her long, golden-brown legs.

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