Page 43 of The Sweet Life

“Me, sympathetic? I think you’re confusing me with my sister. But I’m curious. Just how big a crush did you have on me?” she asked, not only because she wanted to know but because she thought lightening the mood before Jake had to face her family might be a good idea.

Jake opened the restaurant door, but just as it looked like he’d respond, a handsome older man with silver hair rushed over, greeting Sage as if she’d just returned from war.

“Bella!” Bruno wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet. He’d been her surrogate grandfather long before Carmen had let him put a ring on her finger. “It feels like you haven’t been home in forever. We’ve missed you.” He set her on her feet and patted her cheek. Then his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, no doubt in response to her black eye. His gaze slid to Jake.

“Sir, I had nothing to do with her black eye.”

“Were you with her when she got popped?”

“Bruno,” Sage said. “He wasn’t there. You remember Jake, don’t you? He lives in San Diego now. He’s Alice’s… son.” She ignored the look Jake gave her. She knew it was exactly how both he and Alice had felt, and she thought it was about time he heard the words out loud, especially after today. “He left Sunshine Bay to join the military when he was eighteen. He was special forces,” she added for Jake’s benefit. Bruno had a deep regard for those who served in the military.

He nodded, looking at Jake with new respect. “Thank you for your service, and my condolences on Alice’s passing. She was a good woman.”

“Thank you, sir. She was one of the best.”

“Who gave you the shiner?” he asked Jake.

“I did.” She didn’t want Jake to have to admit his mother punched him. But noting Bruno’s lowered brow, she realized she might have made matters worse. Bruno had probably thought of several reasons why she’d punch Jake, none of them good. “It was an accident. I hit him with a buck—hammer,” she corrected, thinking a bucket probably wouldn’t have given him a black eye.

Jake bowed his head.

“A hammer! You’re lucky you didn’t take his eye out or break his skull.” Bruno frowned. “But what were you doing swinging a hammer? You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

Several people sitting at the tables toward the front of the restaurant called out their greetings to Sage, reminding Bruno they had an audience and customers waiting, and no doubt saving Jake from a lecture.

“We’ll talk about this later. Everyone’s waiting for you at the family table,” Bruno said.

“I’m winning over your family left and right, aren’t I?” Jake said, then reached for her hand. “Hold up a sec. What did he mean byeveryoneis waiting? I thought we were having dinner with your mother and grandmother.”

“Shake a leg, babe,” Willow called out. “We’re all starved, and Nonna won’t serve the food until you’re seated.”

Jake’s gaze shot to where her sister sat with nearly their entire extended family at the back table.

“It’ll be fine. You’ve met Flynn.” Sage nodded to where Flynn sat beside his father at the end of the table. “His dad, Amos, is great, and so is my uncle James. He’s seated across from Willow and her fiancé, Noah, who is super nice too,” she said.

“So it’s just the Rosetti women I have to watch out for. And Bruno.”

She held back a laugh. “Pretty much.”

Introductions were made, and everyone said their hellos as she and Jake sat at the table, commenting on her shiner and his. Jake must have wanted to avoid another repeat of what happened with Bruno, because he told the group he’d been fixing one of the doorknobs when Max pushed the door open, and the knob hit him in the eye. It would have been believable if she hadn’t decided to give her new, improved version of her previous story at the same time and said she’d accidentally hit him with a bucket. Since their stories basically ran over each other, she had no idea what her family heard, but they were looking at them as if something fishy was going on. Jake must have thought the same thing and opened his mouth.

She was positive he was going to tell the truth, and there was no way she wanted him to have to say his mother punched him. “Crazy, isn’t it? The poor guy got hit in the eye twice in one day. Okay, so where’s the food? We’re starving, and we only have an hour.”

“What do you mean, an hour? This is a celebration,” her grandmother said, setting down a beautifully arranged antipasto platter of smoked meats, hard cheeses, marinated peppers, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes. Sage’s motherfollowed behind, depositing a bowl of bruschetta and a basket of toasted bread on the table, while her aunt Eva placed a platter piled high with cherry tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, and mozzarella balls threaded on skewers.

“We have to—” Sage began.

Jake cut her off. “We’re here for however long dinner lasts, Ms. Rosetti.” He lowered his hand onto Sage’s knee and gave it a warning squeeze.

“There’s no way you’d tell her I’m going back to work tomorrow,” she said under her breath.

“Try me,” he said out of the side of his mouth.

Carmen’s eyes narrowed at them, and they both smiled. They must not have been very convincing, though, because several more pairs of eyes narrowed at them.

“So, what are we celebrating?” Sage asked in the hope of distracting their audience.

“You being back in Sunshine Bay, for one.” Carmen looked at Jake, her full lips flattening before she continued. “And now that all my family is finally home where they belong, we can go back to our tradition of Sunday family dinners.”

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