Page 73 of My Big Fat Italian Break-Up

‘Thank you, love.’

‘You’re welcome,’ I conceded. I’ll tell you what. We’ll hire even more help. Hell, you make enough to afford it, right?’

‘We make enough,’ he corrected me.

‘OK, then. We. So you continue doing your thing, and I continue doing mine. And the farm, we’ll play it by ear. Deal?’

‘Deal,’ he said. ‘Kiss and make up now?’

I looked up into his eyes. My Julian. My rock. ‘Kiss and make up…’

And the next day he flew to Sienna’s side. I spent most of my time doing some light cleaning and cooking. And some very heavy fuming, scrubbing furiously until I was spent. This wedding wasn’t going to happen anywhere in the near future, I had to face it.

So when Alberto called to ask me what kind of desserts I wanted to offer our guests after the cake, I almost answered,Forget the cake. It’s too much trouble. Let’s have… cupcakes. Break-up cupcakes.

Break-ups were to relationships what cupcakes were to cakes. The easier way out. They didn’t take as long to make, were pretty and easier to deal with. They represented lack of commitment. With a sigh, I decided to drive down there and give Alberto the news of the indefinite postponing of the wedding. Once and for all.

‘Hey, welcome back to the living,’ he said, embracing me and giving me the two customary kisses. ‘Did you get my cookies?’

‘I did, thank you. I’m so sorry about all your hard work for nothing, Alberto.’

‘No problem, Erica. Things happen. When have you rescheduled for?’

Oyoy. ‘Uhm… we have to postpone the wedding again, I’m afraid.’

He threw me a glance as he sliced a bit of pecorino cheese onto a plate. ‘Why?’

I sighed. ‘I don’t know, Alberto. Julian’s work keeps getting in the way. He’s probably not in a hurry to marry me, after all, who knows?’

‘Ridiculous. Who wouldn’t want a woman like you?’

‘Aww, that’s really very sweet.’

He grinned and reached for a pot of honey. ‘You want sweet – taste this combination…’

Food? I could see Mr. Clean’s face, his eyebrows knitting as he shook his finger at me, and I backed away while I still could. ‘Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly—’

‘Assaggia,’ he coaxed as usual.

It looked and smelled delicious. Oh, hell – what was one little bite? So I surrendered and tasted the honey-cheese mixture, looking up into his eyes as the flavor-fest enveloped me instantly.

‘Oh my God, Alberto, you’re a genius,’ I murmured.

He smiled. ‘You have such beautiful eyes, Erica,’ he said softly.

‘Oh, stop,’ I said, dismissing his compliment with a smile.

I never thought I’d stick around while another man womanized me, but here I was, eating his food, drinking his wine, sucking in all the compliments and even believing some of them. He was right – I did have nice eyes. I was a good mother and I was nobody’s fool. Except maybe for Julian.

Yes, I must certainly be a fool, standing around waiting while Julian went on with his own life, treating our home like a hotel and me as (and I would know) the hotel manager.

As I munched away, my cell beeped. Julian, maybe… A sign that he was thinking of me, even if we were miles apart, as usual? Asif– it was another message from Julian’s credit card company. I was getting sick and tired of them. Every time he bought something, I got a message. I could technically (now that was a thought) track him across the globe. Many a surprise had been ruined because I’d already known what was under the wrapping paper. There was no fun in it at all. Tomorrow, I’d phone the company and get the alerts transferred to Julian’s number.

I pulled my phone out and stared at the screen. A payment had been made to Hotel Villa Etrusca. Hotel? What the heck did Julian need a hotel for only two hours from home? How tired would he have to be not to make it home for the night? Unless… he didn’t intend to?

The only reason I could think of not wanting to make it home was that he had other plans. With someone else. As much as I hated even to think of the possibility, I hadn’t exactly shown him my best side lately. So say that he was sick and tired of living with me and say that he’d found someone else without kids who had no demands on his time… Say also that he didn’t know how to tell me and was stalling until he found the courage to do so…

And then I wondered. Was he seeing Sienna? Was he cheating on me with her? Had I had my head so deep in my business that I couldn’t see what was happening under my nose? Would this be the second time in my life that a cellphone revealed to me that my man had a lover?

---