Page 64 of Three Little Wishes

“Gia, enough. It’s done,” Willow heard her aunt Eva whisper fiercely.

“Ma. I wasn’t that bad!” Cami laughed, oblivious to her sisters quarreling behind her. But then she spun around. “Wait. I haven’t said hi to Gia yet.” She flashed her sister a movie-star smile and ran over, giving her a hug.

“This won’t be good,” Sage murmured.

Their mother sat stiffly while her sister embraced her. Cami obviously hadn’t noticed Gia’s less-than-welcoming expression or the fact that she didn’t hug her back. “I missed you so much! Don’t leave me here by myself again.” She looked around. “Where’s Eva? Didn’t she come home with you?”

Willow’s aunt leaned forward, bringing her nose to the screen. “I’m here, Cami. I’m, uh, in London.”

Cami moved to the laptop on the table. “When are you coming home?”

“Soon. We’ll be home soon.”

“Good.” Cami gave her sister a teary-eyed smile. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Eva said on a hoarse whisper, leaning against Lila, who put her arm around her mother.

Carmen called to Cami, saying something in Italian. Cami grinned, waving. “I’ve gotta go. Don’t want to piss off Mussolini.”

Eva laughed. “You haven’t changed. Only you could get away with saying that to Ma.”

Cami grinned and ran to Carmen, who was shaking her head with a smile. Hooking her arms through her mother’s and Riley’s, Cami skipped to the kitchen.

Her tanned face darkening, her green eyes narrowing at her sister on the screen, Gia began yelling at Eva in Italian. Eva fired back in Italian, and then the two of them went at it.

“We have to learn to speak Italian. We’re missing all the good stuff,” Sage said, and then got up, rounding the table to calm their mother down. She put an arm around Gia’s shoulders. “Take a breath.”

Willow’s uncle appeared behind her aunt, wrapped an arm around her neck, and then lowered his mouth to her ear. He was talking to her in Italian, and whatever he said had her aunt nodding and smiling up at him.

Willow glanced from her aunt, uncle, and cousin to her mom and her sister, and for some reason, she felt very much alone sitting by herself on the other side of the table. A warm hand curved around the back of her neck, and she looked up to see Noah looking down at her, concern darkening his indigo eyes. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head, and he raised his gaze, looking from her mother to her aunt on the screen. Her aunt’s eyes went wide, no doubt at the stone-cold expression on Noah’s face.

“It’s not what you think,” Willow told him, realizing how it must look to him, especially with her obviously trying not to cry.

“Maybe you should tell me what’s going on, then.”

“I will.” She pushed back from the table and stood.

Sage got up and came around the table. Taking Willow by the shoulders, she searched her face. “You told me you were okay. You said you were good.”

“I am. It’s just…” She glanced at Noah and then returned her gaze to her sister.

Sage nodded. “Right. Go talk to him.”

“I’m Gia. Willow’s mother. I apologize for what you walked into. We’re not usually like this. It’s been an emotional day.”

“Your daughter and I are taking a walk, and I’d appreciate it if you don’t upset Cami while we’re gone. She’s had a rough day.” His voice was as cold as the winter winds off the bay. “Sage?”

“I’ve got her covered, Noah. You don’t have to worry about Cami or Riley. I promise.”

He nodded, his gaze moving around the table as if daring anyone to say a word. They didn’t. Her mother, aunt, and cousin stared at him in stunned silence. She thought her uncle might’ve laughed. Probably because the Rosetti women were rarely stunned speechless. He might not have found it funny if he’d heard the part of their conversation where her family learned Willow was falling for a man who was quite possibly her first cousin. Her grandmother hadn’t been fazed by the news. According to her, half the marriages in Southern Italy were between first cousins. Lila had quipped, “In what century?”

But it wasn’t as if that were something Willow, or Noah, she was sure, would even consider. They’d have to settle for being friends. She supposed that was why, when he guided her onto the back deck and then down the stairs, she was holding back tears.

“You should’ve called me, Willow. Or at the very least waited until Sage was here to tell your family about Cami.” He stood in the sand at the bottom of the stairs, scowling at the window as if he was contemplating strangling her entirefamily. Then he looked at her, and his expression softened, and he put his arms around her, drawing her close.

“That’s not why I’m crying. My mom wasn’t happy about Cami, but my zia, nonna, and cousin were okay with it. I think they might actually be happy she’s here. At least seventeen-year-old Cami.”

---