Page 39 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

David didn’t return her smile. He simply stared at her. “You what?”

“Hurry up, you two!” his father shouted out the open driver-side window. “We’re already late thanks to your mother.”

“You heard me, David. And while you don’t seem happy for me, I am.”

“You should’ve talked to me about this, Lila.”

“Like you talked to me about our wedding and managing Windemere?” She shook her head. She had to let that go, or their marriage was doomed before it began. “I talked about going out on my own when we decided to move back to the States. You know that.”

“But I took the job at Windemere for us. I’m thinking about our future.”

“So am I.”

“You and I are a team. I assumed you’d be working for…with me at Windemere. My father does too. He thinks of us as a package deal.”

“This is the first time you’ve said anything to me.” Probably because he knew she wouldn’t take the job. “But you had to know I—”

The passenger-side window lowered, and Jennifer called out, “Is everything okay?”

“Fine, Mom,” David said, and then he whispered to Lila, “We’ll talk about this later.”

Lila supposed she could tell her mother and father not to say anything, but they’d want to know why. After their conversation this afternoon, they wouldn’t believe she was having second thoughts about going into business on her own, so she’d have to tell them the truth, which wouldn’t win David any brownie points with either of her parents, especially her mother. Plus, Sage and Willow would be there, and asking them to keep quiet about it would trigger controlling-fiancé red flags in her cousins’ minds.

“I was just telling David the good news,” Lila said as she slid into the back seat, and she shared with them about her business, ignoring David staring at her as if he didn’t know who she was.

Jennifer reached back and gave her hand a congratulatory squeeze. “Lila, that’s wonderful.”

“Thank you. I’m excited about it.”

“David and I assumed you’d be working for us at Windemere, Lila,” Gavin said as he backed out of the driveway.

“Neither of you mentioned that to me, Gavin. But to be honest, I wouldn’t have accepted if you had.”

“And why’s that?” Gavin asked.

“I’d think that would be obvious.” She glanced at David, expecting him to come to her defense, but he sat beside her in stony silence.

“Of course it is, dear,” Jennifer said. “I told you it would be unfair to ask Lila to work on Windemere’s marketing campaign, Gavin. She has her family to think about.”

Lila offered Jennifer a grateful smile. She really did love David’s mother.

“David’s her family. He deserves her loyalty.” Gavin glanced in the rearview mirror and held Lila’s gaze. “Something you should consider. Yours and David’s future depends on Windemere’s success.”

“David’s extremely good at his job. I have complete faith that Windemere will be a success under his management,” Lila said.

David linked his fingers with hers. “And I know if I ask Lila for her feedback on my marketing and branding plans, she’ll give it to me, Dad. The same as I’d offer my advice on her consultancy business if she asks for it.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, whispering, “I’m sorry for how I reacted. I was just surprised. I’m happy for you.”

Her shoulders relaxed, and she returned his smile. “Thank you.”

“Looks like we’ll have the restaurant to ourselves,” David’s father said as he pulled into La Dolce Vita’s parking lot.

And just like that, Lila’s tension was back. “The restaurant’s usually closed Sundays and Mondays. It will take a while for customers to be aware of the new hours,” she said defensively.

“You can’t judge whether a restaurant is busy or not based on the number of cars in the parking lot here, Dad. Pretty much everyone walks everywhere in Sunshine Bay.”

Lila appreciated David coming to La Dolce Vita’s defense. She just hoped he was right because it would be embarrassing if they were the only ones there. But as they walked into the dimly lit restaurant, it wasn’t the lack of customers that bothered her, it was seeing the restaurant through the Westfields’ eyes.

It fit perfectly with people’s preconceived notions of what an Italian restaurant looked like: red-and-white checkerboard tablecloths, plastic grapevines decorating the shelves on the gold-veined mirrored wall behind the dark wood bar, a statue of Venus to the right of the hostess stand sitting in a small gurgling fountain filled with coins tossed in by people making wishes.

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