Page 71 of The Sweet Life

“You’re lucky it’s how I live, mister. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to say, ‘Go for it, Jake.’ I’ll back you a hundred percent.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded. “I mean, I can’t foot the entire bill by myself. We’ll work out a repayment schedule for your portion, but I’ll be your silent partner.” She placed her hand on his chest. “I know you’re disappointed, but I promise, I’ll be there for you. I’ll be as involved as I can be.” She smiled. “Now show me where we’re going to build Alice’s House.”

He lifted her up and spun her around under the moonlit sky, the wind whispering through the trees, his eyes shiny with emotion. He opened his mouth, and she thought that he might tell her he loved her, and she didn’t want him to mistake his gratitude for love and regret the words later. So she kissed him instead.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Gia didn’t have to worry about Aaron messing with their daughter’s head. Sage was too smart to let any man mistreat her, including her own father. Gia wished she didn’t have to be, wished for Sage’s sake that Aaron really did want a relationship with her. But Aaron wasn’t Flynn. He’d never been kind and thoughtful. He’d been broken promises and broken dreams. She’d been so stupid to fall for his lies. She couldn’t even blame it on being young and foolish.

Cami and her mother were wrong. Gia hadn’t ignored their warnings. They’d just come too late. By then, Gia had been in too deep. She’d been pregnant with Sage when she’d married Aaron. She’d wanted so badly for her daughter to have a father, a so-called normal life, that she’d sacrificed her own happiness for her sweet, innocent child. She wished she could go back in time and have a talk with her younger self.

Since that was impossible, she’d been having words with her current self. She’d tried not to let Aaron get to her, but he had. His words kept playing over in her head.

You’re dating your sister’s ex and your daughter’s father? Holyshit, Gia, what the hell are you thinking? It’s like history repeating itself. You really are a glutton for punishment.

“Gia, where’s your head at today?” her mother yelled, and Gia dropped the wooden spoon, sauce splattering everywhere.

“Madonna santa, Ma! You don’t come up behind someone and yell like that.” She sniffed the air. Crap. She’d burned the sauce.

Her mother elbowed her aside. “Go home or go see Flynn. Your mind has been somewhere else all day.”

Flynn had called several times and left two messages. With Aaron’s words playing over in her head, Gia hadn’t been able to bring herself to call him back. Sage had worried that Aaron would drive a wedge in her family’s relationships, but Gia was worried the relationship he’d driven a wedge between was hers and Flynn’s.

“I’ll be okay, Ma. We’re full tonight, and Eva took it off to stay with Lila.”

“You don’t think it’s anything serious, do you?” her mother asked in Italian, cognizant of the ears in the kitchen.

“Eva would tell us if it was. Lila’s always had a sensitive stomach. It’s probably why she’s having a hard time shaking the flu,” Gia responded in Italian.

They worked in companionable silence in the kitchen, and then Gia worked her section of the restaurant and her sister’s. It was busy and Gia was run off her feet, but she loved nights like this. Their customers were loyal and vocal in their appreciation of their food. A handful of them brought up the food fight with Cami on Instagram Live, poking lighthearted fun at Gia. She supposed it didn’t bother her because they were on her side and not her sister’s.

“I agree,” said a familiar voice behind her, and she turned to see Aaron being seated in her section.

She opened her mouth to ask him to leave but then closed it. If she made a big deal about him being here, he’d assume it was because she still cared enough to have feelings for him, good, bad, or indifferent.

“Aaron.” She nodded, handing him a menu, searching for any sign he was ill. He’d always been a handsome man, and twenty-nine years hadn’t changed that. He had some silver at his temples, but it looked distinguished rather than aging him. Instead of the pallid skin tone of a man at death’s door, he had a healthy golden glow. She supposed it was plausible his golden glow was simply a result of living in Costa Rica. “You look remarkably well for someone who is supposedly dying.”

Gia wanted to slap herself. That was a horrible, vindictive thing to say. She didn’t know what had come over her. It didn’t even matter that Aaron deserved it after how he’d treated her and his daughter. She was better than that.

He grinned. “Our daughter comes by her straight talk honestly.”

“She’s more empathetic than her mother.” Gia couldn’t help it; she laughed. “She isn’t empathetic at all, but still, she wouldn’t have said something like that. I’m sorry, Aaron. I didn’t mean to make light of your illness.”

“I forgot how beautiful you are when you laugh,” he said before waving aside her apology. “I deserved it and then some after the way I treated you.” He looked around the restaurant. “Place looks great. You’re doing well. Big deal your product line going national.”

Gia’s heart began racing as she considered where he mightbe going with this. Sage had mentioned reparation. Was that why he was here? But how could he demand reparation from her? He’d abandoned them, left them high and dry.Cami.If he wanted money, he’d go after her sister.

“I’m happy for you, Gia. I really am.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a faint smile. “Now, what can I get you?”

He opened the menu and ducked behind it. Gia looked over her shoulder. Her mother stood outside the kitchen, slapping her palm with a wooden mallet. Gia rolled her eyes, yelling in Italian, “Get back in the kitchen, you crazy old lady.”

Her mother laughed, and half the restaurant turned to look her way. Aaron said, “That is a scary fricking laugh. Tell me the truth, should I leave? She’s not going to poison me, is she? I don’t have a lot of time left, and I’d like to get to know my daughter.”

“I’ll prepare your order myself, Aaron,” she said, feeling sorry for him despite herself, and for Sage too. She didn’t need to lose someone else so soon after losing Alice. Sometimes life could be unbearably cruel.

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