I’m joking, but only partially. I can’t picture Enzo holding a baby, let alone being responsible for one.
She laughs as I raise my arm to hail a cab. I know Darrin is near, but the café we’re going to is only a couple of blocks away.
“I’m not going to argue with that statement, but I am also going to deny it continuously if you ever bring it up to my husband.”
Fair enough.
“What are we talking about?” Cecilia asks as she joins us again, just as a cab pulls up.
Vinnie slides into the cab. “How you two are sharing godmother duties.”
I scoot in next. “She’s lying. We’re actually talking about how you’re the godmother and I’m the godfather. Enzo doesn’t need to be a part of this.”
“We’d do a much better job together,” Cecilia agrees while securing her seatbelt.
I give the driver the name of the restaurant as he pulls back into traffic.
“You two are too much.” Vinnie shifts, bumping into me as she tries to get comfortable on the worn leather seat.
“Hey Cecilia, since we’re godparents, want to get married and live happily ever after together?” I tease, nudging her arm with my elbow.
She slaps her hand to her chest. “Are you proposing?”
Reaching between my breasts, I pull out the engagement ring from Luciano and hold it as though I’m presenting it to her.
Both hers and Vinnie’s eyes bulge.
“Holy shit,” Vinnie whispers in surprise. “My brother gave you that?”
“Yeah. He did.” I look down and admire it. Then reality settles in again. “But it wasn’t a real proposal.”
“Maybe not at the time, but he wouldn’t have bought that ring without intending for things between you to become more. I know him, Raina. That ring speaks more than words ever could.”
“He bought it before he realized he had feelings for me,” I argue, although I’m not sure why. The point is moot when he and I aren’t even speaking.
“I can say with one hundred percent certainty he knew how he felt about you when he was picking it out.”
My heart leaps at the thought.
And with just a few simple words, something blooms in my heart again that makes my anger toward him thaw just a little.
Hope.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Walk with me?” Vinnie loops her arm in mine once we’ve deposited our mother into her town car, following our obligatory lunch at Blankenship House. Not so long ago, we had a family tradition of meeting for church every Sunday, followed by brunch, but some traditions are better off broken. “Sly won’t be here to pick me up for another ten minutes or so.”
When my father and my brother passed, so did our family ritual. However, the only reason I attended each Sunday without fail was to make sure my sister was protected from our brother, who made it his life’s mission to threaten and terrorize her until, quite literally, his dying breath.
Now, Vinnie and I meet our mother for lunch, brunch, or sometimes for just a quick cup of coffee, as time allows.
“Sure.” I let my sister guide us further into Central Park. It’s chilly today, overcast and bleak, and I suspect this conversation won’t last long. She’s quiet for the first few minutes, but I know her. “Say what’s on your mind. I know you’ve been bursting at the seams to yell at me.”
“Not yell, but definitely talk some sense into.” She sighs, as if my problems weigh heavily on her. And they probably do,considering the woman I can’t stop thinking about is her best friend. “Why haven’t you called her?”
“Ihavecalled her. Twice, actually. She hasn’t picked up.”
And every time I get her voicemail, it’s like a knife slicing into my heart. She doesn’t want to speak to me—not that I blame her.
