Page 54 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

The three of them lifted their glasses, smiling for Lila behind the camera. “Mama, Gia, and I look forward to seeing you at La Dolce Vita this summer,” Eva said. “And remember, the most important ingredient in any meal you make is love.”

She and her mother and sister clinked their glasses together. “To the good life.”

Chapter Sixteen

Lila had expected this afternoon’s bridal shower to be the most stressful part of her day until David had arrived at the beach house with a bouquet of lilacs, a box of pastries, and a bone to pick with her mother.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it,” Lila said, burying her face in the purple flowers. She took a moment to inhale their sweet, heady fragrance while praying for patience. “Thank you, they’re gorgeous.”

David nodded without returning her smile, apparently unwilling to let this go as she’d hoped. “She put your cousin’s business card in my mother’s purse, Lila.”

“From what I heard, they had quite the party at La Dolce Vita Friday night. I’m sure it was just a joke.” Knowing her mother, Lila was 100 percent positive it wasn’t. “Your mom must’ve thought so too, or she wouldn’t have mentioned it to you.” Lila was actually surprised that Jennifer had, but she didn’t plan on admitting that to David.

“She didn’t tell me. The card fell out of her purse at breakfast this morning.”

Admittedly, Lila was on the same page with her mother. There’d been several times over the past few years that she’d been tempted to tell Jennifer that she should divorce Gavin. But there was enough drama between their families without her mother stirring the pot, which she planned to tell her this afternoon. “How did your father react?”

“He was on his phone and didn’t notice, thank goodness.”

Lila’s father came around the corner, jiggling his keys in his hand and whistling a happy tune. “What are you two doing standing in the foyer?” He smiled. “Nice flowers. Pastries smell great. Save me some,” he said.

“Where are you going?” Lila asked, catching a whiff of his cologne as he moved around them to the door. He looked dressed for a date in a pair of chinos and a crisp white button-down with the sleeves rolled up, and that didn’t bode well.

She’d heard all about her father and mother doing yoga on the beach the day before. At first she’d thought they were joking, and then she’d wished that they were. They’d spent the entire time while they prepared the kitchen for Instagram Live laughing and teasing each other. Her grandmother and aunt had noticed too, but unlike Lila, they wouldn’t care if her mother and father had a summer fling. They knew her mother and wouldn’t worry that it would become something more. They didn’t know her father like Lila did. At heart he was a romantic who still believed in happy ever afters, despite losing his wife to cancer.

“I’m heading to La Dolce Vita. Your mother and cousins have a few things they want me to pick up for the shower. Do you have any plans for this afternoon, David? Luke is taking me paddleboarding, and you’re welcome to join us.”

The muscle in David’s smooth jaw bunched. “I appreciate the offer, but I have a meeting to prepare for.”

On one hand, Lila was disappointed that David had turned down the invitation. She liked him spending time with her dad and thought it would be good for him. Her father would be only too happy to share his expertise, and David could unburden himself without worrying that James would judge him.

But on the other hand, the idea of David spending an afternoon with Luke made her as nervous as her parents spending time together. She’d told him about Luke having dinner with her Friday night, and to say he hadn’t been happy about it would be an understatement.

Her father opened his mouth and then shut it. Unlike her mother, he didn’t stick his nose in Lila’s personal life. He trusted that she could and would deal on her own with whatever issues she and David were having. She appreciated his faith in her, but she was beginning to doubt her ability to handle all of her issues with David by herself. It didn’t help that she couldn’t confide in her cousins. They were her go-to sounding boards, and without them she felt alone. Except she hadn’t felt alone Friday night.

“I didn’t realize James liked paddleboarding,” David said after the door closed behind her father.

“It’s his first time, but I’m sure he’ll enjoy it.” She decided a subject change was in order. “Do you have time for coffee and pastries? It’s a beautiful morning. We could sit on the deck.”

“Yeah, there are a few things we need to discuss,” he said, and followed her into the kitchen.

She put the flowers on the counter and reached for the mugs. “That sounds ominous.”

“My dad’s not happy that my mother’s redecorating La Dolce Vita.” He pushed his glasses up his nose with his forefinger. “He thinks your mother is a bad influence.”

She looked up from pouring the coffee into the mug. “You can’t be serious.”

“Lila, the coffee!”

She jerked, and the hot liquid splashed onto her hand holding the mug and onto the counter. “Instead of yelling at me, you could’ve grabbed the coffeepot,” she said, shoving it back on the burner. She snatched a cloth off the counter, and he took it from her hand.

“Let me.” He dampened it with cold water before giving it to her. “Put it on your hand and go sit on the deck. I’ll take care of this.”

She nodded, afraid of what would come out of her mouth if she opened it. She wondered if David knew she was seconds away from having a meltdown, from saying things she couldn’t take back. She was so tired of this. They couldn’t go a day, an hour, without something putting them at odds.

This wasn’t them, she thought as she took a seat on the patio. They’d never fought in London. David had been her best friend, and she’d been his. Maybe they weren’t… She squashed the thought before it sprouted roots so deep that she couldn’t get it out of her head. Best friends married all the time. Their marriages were based on things that really mattered, like respect, loyalty, and honesty.

The over-the-top kind of love that they write about in romance novels doesn’t last. It was the kind of love her parents had once shared, and look how that had turned out. Her dad and Grace had been best friends since grade school. They’d had a wonderful marriage, a happy marriage. They’d never fought.

---