Page 48 of A Very Italian Wedding
‘Nonna, we’re so sorry,’ Marco said, stepping closer to her. ‘It was an accident.’
‘The magic won’t work now,’ Isabella repeated, her voice shaking. ‘There is no time to get a replacement. I will not be at your wedding,’ she added stiffly. ‘This is a sign.’
‘It’s not a sign of anything, it was an accident,’ Marco insisted. ‘We’ll fix this,Nonna, it’ll be all right.’
‘I’m not sure we want to fix this,’ Luna muttered under her breath as she helped pick up the remaining pieces, shooing away Coco who’d come to investigate the mess. The dog let out a whine before scampering under the table.
‘It will take too long to fix,’ the older woman repeated, shaking her head.
‘It’s all just superstition,’ Cesare said under his breath.
‘It is so much more than that,’ Isabella snapped. ‘There is no reason for you to marry now and no reason for me to be at the wedding if it goes ahead.’
‘Nonna,’ Marco cried.
‘Isabella!’ Cesare said sharply. But the older woman just shook her head and slowly wandered away from the table in the direction of the two cottages, before getting swallowed into the night.
‘What just happened?’ Luna asked her voice wavering, as she rose and gaped at Marco while the rest of the family huddled together and began to chatter to each other, their tones low and fretful. ‘Your grandmother isn’t coming to our wedding?’
‘It’s a temporary problem,Nonnawill come around,’ Marco soothed.
‘We have two days,’ Luna sounded hysterical. Her mobile beeped suddenly, and she pulled it from the pocket of her dress, striding away from everyone before reading the screen. Rose knew something was wrong as soon as Luna’s mouth dropped open and she paled.
‘What is it?’ she asked, going to stand beside her. ‘What’s happened?’
Her friend gulped. ‘Mum’s delayed again – she can’t find a flight and doesn’t think she’s going to get here in time for the wedding.’ She swallowed shaking her head and turning to Rose, her eyes full of tears. ‘We’re going to have to postpone.’
17
BEN
‘We have to delay,’ Luna repeated earnestly to Marco. ‘Everything’s going wrong. Your grandmother won’t come to the wedding.’ She shot a devastated look in the direction Isabella had gone, before shaking her head. ‘Now my mum might not get here in time. Perhaps this is a sign that we’re marrying too quickly?’
Ben saw Marco’s forehead furrow as his whole body stiffened. He knew his friend was stubborn and was unlikely to listen to reason, especially after his experience with his previous fiancée. Marco wanted the wedding to go ahead, which meant he’d see Luna’s demands as either a challenge or an indication that she was getting cold feet.
‘Of course we need to go ahead,’ Marco insisted, taking a step towards Luna and stroking a hand down her cheek. ‘Tesoro, you know why the date is important. We agreed. Do we really need other people to celebrate our love? Surely all that matters is the promises we’re making to each other?’ His gaze momentarily fell on Rose. ‘Don’t you agree?’ he asked.
Rose pulled a face. ‘I don’t know what to think,’ she started. ‘Would it really be that awful to wait for a few days?’
Ben winced, wishing for once that Rose could be on his friend’s side.
Marco shook his head vehemently. ‘It’s an important date for my family. You know that. If we can’t marry now, it’ll have to wait until next year. If you think mynonnais being difficult, you’ve no idea how upset she’ll be if we choose to wed on a different day.’
‘She doesn’t even believe we should get married!’ Luna shot back, sounding even more frantic. ‘All everyone seems to care about is whether we have babies and we haven’t even discussed that properly ourselves.’
‘You’re getting over-emotional,’ Marco said, and Ben knew despite his harsh words, he was trying to put things right. ‘Think rationally,cara. I love you and you love me. We want to marry and everything’s almost ready.’ He pointed to the table filled with the materials for the wedding favours before waving a hand. ‘My family has been working around the clock to make sure of it. Do you really want to let them all down?’
Luna looked stricken. ‘I don’t know what I want now,’ she whispered.
‘You need to listen to each other,’ Rose said, taking a step forward until she was standing between them. ‘Listening is the bedrock of every successful relationship.’
Luna nodded and Marco opened his mouth, but he didn’t get a chance to say more because suddenly dozens of fireworks whizzed into the sky, lighting everything in a blaze of pinks, yellows and oranges before exploding in a series of deafening bangs.
‘What the hell is that?’ Luna wailed, looking around.
‘Your surprise!’ Marco said as another blast reverberated in the sky. But no one got the chance to admire the fireworks for long, because Coco let out a sudden pitiful yelp before galloping out from under the table and charging into the darkness.
‘Dogs hate fireworks!’ Luna squealed, spinning around. ‘Surely you knew that. Where did she go?’ She searched the inky blackness just as another dozen fireworks shot above them. Ben heard Coco yelp again and tried to see where she’d gone, but the dog had been swallowed by the night.
