Page 9 of The Sweet Life

“Why don’t I walk you to your car?” Flynn offered, obviously picking up on how close Gia’s emotions were to the surface.

“Thanks.”

He reached for her hand. “It was easier when they were little and you could kiss their hurts better, wasn’t it?”

“So much easier,” she said, trying not to read too much into his holding her hand or how much she enjoyed the feel of his warm, strong fingers wrapped around hers. “I feel like I have no place in their lives anymore. They don’t need me, and asyou just saw, they don’t want me around.” She made a face, glancing at him from under her lashes. “That sounded melodramatic, didn’t it? Just ignore me. According to my sister Eva and my mother, I’m having a midlife crisis.” She nodded at her car and let go of his hand. “This is me.”

“Sweet ride,” he said, trying and failing to hide a grin.

“If you tell me you dreamed of having a red Camaro when you were sixteen, I’m not talking to you ever again.” She was almost positive her recent car purchase was the reason her family thought she was going through a midlife crisis. Apparently, they forgot she was fifty-five and not forty.

“Lucky for me then that I didn’t dream of having a red Camaro at sixteen. I owned one.” He tilted his head to the side, holding her gaze. “Because I really like talking to you, Gia Rosetti.”

“Really?” She shook her head, flustered. “I mean, I’m glad you like talking to me. I like talking to you too. But did you really own a red Camaro?”

“I did.” He bent to look inside. “And if I’m not mistaken, this is my old car.” He gestured to an initial carved on the console and then straightened. “Who did you buy it from? They did a great job refurbishing it.”

“Ted Harris. He was our neighbor. He died recently. His wife hated to part with the car, but she needed the money.” She shrugged. “I thought she’d feel better knowing it was me who bought it, and she can see the car all the time. I park it in her garage.”

“So you’re not having a midlife crisis. You’re just a sweet woman who did a kind thing for a neighbor.”

She was pretty sure she was having a crisis of some sort, justnot a midlife one. “I don’t know about that, but I really do like driving this car, even though I feel like I’m contributing to the climate crisis every time I do.”

He laughed, opening the car door for her. “From what Willow tells me, you more than make up for it.”

“I try,” she said as she slid behind the wheel. “Thanks for being there when I needed someone to talk to, Flynn.”

“Anytime. I—”

Cami, who was walking down the other side of the road with Willow, waved. “Flynn, do you have a minute?”

He nodded and then looked down at Gia. “It’s probably not my place to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway. You’re an incredible mother, and you’ve done an amazing job raising Willow and Sage. No one can take your place with your daughters, Gia.”

She grabbed her sunglasses off the console and shoved them on before he saw the tears in her eyes. She cleared the emotion from her throat. “That’s sweet of you to say, Flynn. Thank you.”

“I’m not being sweet. I’m telling you the truth. And trust me, Cami loves you and would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll have to agree to disagree.” When he opened his mouth as though to defend her baby sister, she said, “She’s written a book that’s as much about my life as it is hers. Yours too, Flynn. But did she ask how any of us felt about it? Of course not, because everything revolves around Cami and what’s best for her.” At her sister calling out for Flynn again, Gia raised an eyebrow and reached for the door. “Have a good visit with your dad.”

As she drove off, she caught a glimpse of Flynn, Cami, and Willow in the rearview mirror. The three of them were tall, blond, and head-turningly gorgeous. Anyone who saw them together would guess they were a family. Gia wondered how long it would take before they officially became one.

She felt bad for Cami’s boyfriend. Hugh was head over heels in love with her sister. Six months ago, Gia would have said Cami was head over heels in love with him too. But lately she’d sensed a distance growing between the couple. At least on her sister’s part.

Gia still hadn’t gotten over her mood when she arrived at La Dolce Vita half an hour before dinner service. She wore her usual uniform of a white shirt, black pencil skirt, and black heels, her long dark hair pulled up in a ponytail. She’d added a pair of locally made dangly earrings. They were purple and silver and made of jasper stone, which purportedly helped the wearer relax.

She joined Eva and their mother at the bar for a glass of wine before dinner service, a tradition spanning more than twenty-five years. The thought didn’t bring Gia comfort. It just made her feel old. She really was in a mood.

“So, you and Flynn?” her sister asked the moment Gia’s butt landed on the barstool.

“What do you mean, me and Flynn? I can’t talk to my daughter’s father without raising eyebrows?” She slid the fishbowl-size glass of red wine toward herself. She caught her mother and sister exchange a wide-eyed glance and raised her glass. “To Alice, may she rest in peace.”

They lifted their glasses, joining her in the toast.

“I thought the girls would come for dinner, but Sage is staying with Jake at the farmhouse, and Willow had plans with Cami and Hugh.” She narrowed her eyes at her mother and sister. “You two knew, didn’t you? You knew that Cami was going to ask Willow to appear in the movie, and you didn’t give me a heads-up?”

“You’re overreacting, Gia. Willow might not even get the part. Hugh won’t give her the role just because she’s Cami’s daughter.” Her sister winced. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”

“You shouldn’t what, Eva? Remind me that Willow isn’t my daughter, that she’s Cami’s, and all Cami has to do is snap her fingers to get her to come running. Don’t worry, I’ve seen that with my own eyes.”

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