Page 55 of The Sweet Life

“Yeah, I did.” He gave his head a slight shake. “His church needed money, and he thought I’d want to write them a big fat check because they’d helped him see the light.”

She rubbed his arm. “I’m sorry.”

He lifted a shoulder like it didn’t matter. “In a way, I’m glad I went. My last memories of him aren’t from when I was a kid. He was a lot less scary than I remembered.”

“Do you still have nightmares?” She’d stayed over one weekend at Alice’s and had woken up to Jake yelling, battling an invisible foe.

“No. I’ve dealt with my demons a long time ago.”

“What are you going to do about your mother? You can’t have her showing up here and scaring off your clients.”

“I told her I’d pay for her to go into treatment, but that was the only money she’d get from me. I also told her that next time she shows up and threatens you or me, I’m calling the police.” His eyes crinkled at the corners with amusement. “What are you going to do about your demons?”

“I don’t have—” she began, only to be cut off by her grandmother banging on the front door. “Sage, I need to talk to you!”

“So much for me collecting on my bet,” Jake said, and got out of the bed.

Chapter Eighteen

Sage sat on the porch swing drinking her third cup of coffee of the day. It was only nine in the morning. She’d said goodbye to her grandmother two hours before. Carmen had been unusually mellow by the time she left. Sage had been about to take credit for defusing another Rosetti family feud but her grandmother disabused her of the idea, attributing the beauty of the sun rising over the lavender fields and the sweet, musky fragrance in the air for her relaxed demeanor.

Sage had wondered if Carmen might be drunk on the perfumed air when, before she drove away, she told Sage she’d find her sweet life on the farm and to let it work its magic. Sage thought her grandmother must have mixed her up with Willow. Her sister would thrive on a farm, whereas Sage would shrivel up and die.

Other than the traffic, she loved city life—the sights, the sounds, the fast pace, her job. The job she wouldn’t be back to for six weeks. Unless she proved to her family that she’d wholeheartedly embraced living la dolce vita. She drummedher fingers on the arm of the swing, working up a game plan in her mind.

She texted her grandmother. I need a sweet life list. Like a list of activities I can check off as I complete them.

Bahahaha, Carmen texted back.

Sage rolled her eyes. Someone needed to show Carmen where the emoji were on her phone.

Dots came and went on her screen, and then another text from her grandmother appeared. A checklist is the antithesis of living la dolce vita. You must feel it, breathe it, embrace it to truly live the sweet life.

Great, just great, I’m stuck here for six weeks.She’d have to figure out something more than keeping the peace in her family to keep her busy since she’d semi-solved that problem. She should call her mother, though, because, despite what her grandmother said, Sage believed she’d contributed to her mellow mood, and no doubt her mother could use some of Sage’s mediation magic.

But Gia was either on the phone with someone else or not answering it. Sage did manage to get through to Brenda and Renata, but they were too busy to talk for more than five minutes. Lucky them. Sage was bored out of her mind, the entire day stretching out before her.

She didn’t think her night would get much better. Jake was on the hunt for creepy car guy or gal and hanging out at the Sunshine Bay Police Department. She considered letting him know how much she wanted him to collect on his bet but didn’t want to come across as needy… or easy.

The screen door opened, and Kendra joined her on the frontporch. “I hate to bother you, Sage, but I have a problem. Two problems, actually.”

Sage inwardly cheered. “Tell me what you need. The bigger the problem, the better. I love problems.” To Kendra’s credit, she kept a straight face.

“The funeral home called. They want to know if you and Jake have decided what you want to do with Alice.”

Bring her back to life. Ask for a second chance to make things right. See her for one last time. Tell her I loved her.Sage cleared her throat. “Tell them Jake will get back to them… next week.”

Kendra gave her a sympathetic smile. “They sounded like they expected an answer today.”

“Okay. He’ll call them by the end of the day. I’ll just let him know,” she said, and sent him a text. Her phone rang right away. She wondered if he could somehow sense her desperation.

Or maybe he was just as messed up about this as she was, she thought, when instead of sayinghey, he swore under his breath. “Sorry. They called Saturday, and I put them off. I didn’t think you’d be up to it.”

And he thought she was up to it now? “Jake, we can’t have the funeral yet. It’s too fast. I’m not ready. I mean, I’m not ready to host something, and the planning—”

“Alice wanted to be cremated, so we can take some time to figure out what we’re going to do. You don’t have to come with me, but I want to say goodbye before she’s cremated.”

Sage closed her eyes. She didn’t know if she could do it, but she wouldn’t let Jake go on his own. “Of course I’ll go with you.”

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