Page 44 of The Sweet Life

Sage’s phone pinged, and she looked at the screen. Jake had texted her. I don’t think now would be a good time to tell them you’re going back to Boston in the morning.

She rolled her eyes.

“Lila sends her apologies, Ma. She’s got a bug but promises they’ll be here next Sunday. She’s excited you’re starting the tradition up again.”

“Me too,” Willow said, looking at Sage and nudging her head at their grandmother.

Sage mouthed,What?

“Sage, you’re not getting texts from work, are you?” her mother asked, taking a seat across from her.

“No, just a friend texting me,” she said, and saw her family exchanging glances. “I do have friends other than my family, you know.”

“Of course you do, honey.”

“I do,” she reiterated firmly at her mother’s obvious attempt to pacify her. “And, Nonna, I promise, I’m turning over a new leaf. I’ll make sure I’m here every Sunday for family dinner. Well, mostly every Sunday.”

“You’re here for at least the next six weeks, just like the doctor ordered. We’ll talk in August about what happens when you go back to work in the fall. But tonight, we’re talking about your new leaf. Yours and your mother’s.”

“I’m not the one who’s burned out,” Gia said.

“No, you’re just—” her grandmother began, but Cami cut her off.

“Let’s raise a glass to Sage being home for the next six weeks.”

“Home until the fall,” her grandmother muttered, but she followed suit when everyone passed the wine and filled their glasses and then lifted them in Sage’s direction.

“Thanks. It’s nice to be home, and I’ve missed our Sunday dinners, but—” she began, a part of her wishing she could put it off, but if she was going back to work tomorrow…

Her phone pinged with another text from Jake. You regretted the time you lost with Alice, don’t make the same mistake with your grandmother.

Her gaze shot to Carmen. “Are you sick? Is this what reinstating Sunday dinners is really about?”

“What are you talking about?” Her grandmother made agimmegesture with her fingers. “Give me your phone. I want to know who’s putting these foolish ideas into your head.”

“It wasn’t a person. Just one of those alerts telling me my screentime was up this week.” She looked at her grandmother. “You’d tell us if anything was wrong, wouldn’t you? You’d tell us if you were sick, right?”

“Honey, what’s this about?” her mother asked.

“Nothing. I was—”

Jake nudged her. “Tell them.”

“Make up your mind. One minute you want me to tell them, and the next you—”

“We got the coroner’s report back,” Jake said, and told them everything they’d learned. “Sage was upset that Alice hadn’t shared her diagnosis with us. We would have spent more time with her had we known.”

Her grandmother waved her skewer at them. “You both learned a hard lesson. There’s nothing more important in life than spending time with those you love. None of us knows how long we have. But we’ll have these six weeks together. They will be a gift to you, me, and your mother. You’ll remember how to live your life the Rossetti way, and knowing you both have the tools to live la dolce vita, the sweet life, will allow me to die happy…” She paused for effect. “… twenty years from now.” She held Sage’s gaze. “Si?”

If Alice’s death had taught her anything, it was that Jake and her grandmother were right. “Si, Nonna. I’ll be here long enough to learn how to live la dolce vita.”

But knowing they were right didn’t make it any easier for Sage to actually take six weeks off work. It was as if her heart thought she was running the hundred-yard dash, the way it was galloping in her chest. She took a couple of deep, calming breaths, reminding herself that Brenda and Renata were more than qualified to take care of her clients, and they’d have her notes. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t reach her if they needed her. They could talk every day. A couple of times a day if need be.

Under the table, Jake took her fisted hand in his. She turned her head, and he gave her one of his heart-stopping smiles. It helped slow her racing heart, and she couldn’t help but think there was another benefit to sticking around.

“I didn’t think this would be so hard,” Sage said to Jake as they did a final walk-through of Alice’s house, checking on the cleaning crew’s job. She reached for his hand. “It must be worse for you.”

He nodded at the door of his old bedroom. “I remember my first night here. Alice had told me I could stay with her if I wanted to, and I went to bed feeling like I’d won the lottery. At the same time, I was terrified that I’d screw it up or that my mother would ruin it for me. It took almost a year of me waiting for the shoe to drop to finally realize that even if I messed up, Alice wasn’t giving up on me. My mom’s threats and bullshit didn’t scare her off either.” He gave Sage’s hand a squeeze. “Some of my best memories were here in this house, and some of them even included you.” He grinned as theywalked through the living room to the front door. “At least the you in my fantasies.”

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