Page 79 of The Sweet Life

He didn’t remind her that it wasn’t him going anywhere; it was her leaving him for the city. They made out for all of five minutes before Sage’s phone started ringing, and Willow’s began vibrating on the other bedside table. “This can’t be good,” Sage murmured before accepting the call. “Hey, Mom. We’ll be at the restaurant at two.”

Then Gia must have started talking because Sage bowed her head, greeting whatever Gia said with severaluhmmms,I sees,okays, and then a reassuringit’ll be fine. Sage started swearing as soon as she disconnected from her mother.

Willow walked in wearing a robe and a towel wrapped turban-style around her head. “What’s—” She slapped a hand over her eyes. “I’ll meet you two in the living room, and do me a favor and put some clothes on.”

“We have clothes on,” Sage said.

“Not enough of them,” her sister called back.

Jake decided to stay quiet about the phone call until Sage could tell both her sister and him, instead of having to repeat it. He walked into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee while Sage told them Aaron had figured out his next move.

“Because Aaron abandoned us, my mother assumed it wasn’t necessary for her to file for divorce. She didn’t worry about him seeking custody, and she knew she didn’t have a hope in hell of getting support payments from him. And then there was the small fact that he couldn’t be found.”

“Because he didn’t want to be found,” Jake said, unzipping his carry-on. He handed the evidence against Aaron over to Sage. “You should have enough here to have him think twice about going after your mom for his share of their marital assets.”

“He couldn’t do that, could he?” Willow asked, looking from him to Sage.

“Depends how he spins it. He could make a case for it, but I don’t think Mom had much in assets when he left, other than from the sale of the house.”

Jake thought about the man and the situation. “Unless he claims he didn’t abandon his family. He’d simply gone to do a job in Costa Rica, had an accident, and didn’t remember he had a family until he was contacted by the reporter.”

“And as soon as he found out about his family, he rushed to see them and make amends,” Sage said, nodding. “He might even claim that he and Mom had talked about going into partnership with Nonna and Zia Eva. It would be a case of he said, she said.”

“You’re not saying he could try to go after part of the restaurant, are you?” Willow asked, sounding panicked.

Jake felt a touch of that same panic at the thought of what this could mean for Sage’s family, but she seemed completely unfazed by it, even when she nodded and said, “And their new product line.”

“How can you be so calm!” Willow yelled.

“Because I’m very good at my job,” she said, looking through the evidence Jake had given her. She smiled up at him. “Jake is too, and so was Alice.”

“What has Alice got to do…” He slowly nodded as the final puzzle piece clicked into place. “Your mom would have gone to her seeking advice about divorcing Aaron, and as thorough as Alice was, she would have opened a file whether your mom went through with the divorce or not.”

“Yes, she did. After I talked to you, I got to thinking about some of the things that Mom said to Aaron and her expression when he backhanded the bag of groceries off the counter. He scared her, and I’m sure that wasn’t the first time he had. It wasn’t a big leap to think that the one person Mom would seek out would be Alice, so I spent yesterday and most of the night going through her old case files. I found this in the last box I went through.”

Sage handed him a file folder, a shimmer of tears in her beautiful, tired eyes. “This was why she was coming to the farm that night. She was trying to protect my family.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ma, I think we should cancel tonight’s family dinner. Everyone will understand,” Gia said, looking at her sisters for support. They were in the restaurant’s kitchen, prepping for Sunday night dinner service. Sage and Willow were on their way over. Sage had arranged a meeting with Aaron at La Dolce Vita for four o’clock. The restaurant opened at five.

“No, Ma’s right,” Eva said. “We go into the talks with Aaron knowing that Sage has everything under control and there’s nothing to worry about, and then we’ll celebrate getting rid of that odious man once and for all with the rest of the family.”

“I know how to get rid of him once and for all,” their mother said, slapping the meat mallet against her palm.

Cami, who was sitting on the counter instead of preparing the main entrée for the family dinner, beef braciole, said, “Too messy, Ma.” She closed her eyes and then opened them, smiling. “Did you guys seePractical Magic? Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock starred in it,” she added when they didn’t respond right away.

“We loved it. They were sisters, and the woman Nicole played was dating an abusive man. Remember now?” Eva asked Gia.

“Uh, yeah, they poisoned him and then did some kind of spell on him and turned him into a zombie.” Gia shuddered and then looked at Cami. “You’re joking, right?”

Her sister shrugged. “He said he’s dying. We’d just be helping him along.” Then she laughed. “I’m just messing with you.”

“I think Ma missed that part,” Gia said, nodding at their mother, who appeared to be seriously considering poison as a means of getting rid of Aaron permanently. Honestly, Gia didn’t blame her. She just prayed that Sage could work her own special brand of magic and get rid of him for good.

But the thought of her daughter facing the reality that Aaron only cared about the money he could bleed from their family—the same type of man Sage fought against every day instead of the loving father every little girl deserved—made Gia want to throw her mother’s meat mallet at Aaron’s head. The anger, the shame, the guilt, all of it was getting to her, and she felt sick to her stomach.

“What’s with your face?” Eva asked her. “Do not tell me you’re feeling guilty about this.”

---