“Well,” Luca said, smiling at Dawn, “I know it’s too soon in our relationship to ask her to marry me, but things are going well. I would like to ask her to come with us to Puerto Rico. I could live with Mom and Dad, but I’d rather get a place nearby—with Dawn.”
Dawn’s jaw dropped. He was asking her to live with him? In Puerto Rico?
Her grandmother clapped her hands over her heart. “Oh, that’s wonderful! I always hoped she’d find a special young man like your Luca.”
Luca gazed at Dawn expectantly. “She hasn’t said yes yet…but I’ll bet I know why.” He rubbed her back. “Of course we want your grandma to come too.”
Dawn laughed. “Oh yeah. The answer is yes. I’d love to go with all of you—as long as my grandmother comes too.”
“Of course,” Luca said.
“We expected nothing less,” Gabriella added.
Annette’s brows shot up in surprise. “Really? You talked about it?”
Please don’t be stubborn, Gran. Please, please, please…
“I—I’d love to go. No more snowy winters!”
“Amen to that!” Antonio said.
“Um, can anyone else come?” Dante asked. He exchanged a quick smile with Mallory.
“Well, we won’t have room in our place, because we want to downsize,” Antonio said, “but I’m sure you and Mallory would want your own place anyway.”
“If they haven’t all been destroyed by Hurricane Maria,” Jayce interjected.
“That’s just it. Mallory’s dad is a builder, and he was talking about possibly going down there and helping to rebuild the island. I was telling them I kind of wished I could go too. I enjoyed my shop classes and don’t get much chance to build anything since we live in a brand-new condo.”
“And I can work from anywhere,” Mallory said. “All my design work is done online. Maybe I can get inspiration for some tropical prints and donate part of the profits for building materials.”
Noah and Kizzy exchanged some kind of silent communication with their eyes. “If you go, maybe we can too,” Kizzy said. She reached for Mallory’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “We’d miss our best friends if we stayed here. I’m sure the island can use doctors and firefighters down there.”
“And nurses,” Sandra added. She looked hopeful as she gazed at Miguel.
“We should discuss it in private, but I’m not opposed to it.”
She grinned and kissed his cheek. “In Miguel-speak, that means yes.”
Everyone laughed, knowing the cautious nature of the third eldest brother.
“Oh my goodness!” Gabriella squealed. “If I could bring all my kids with me, the Caribbean would be my heaven on earth.” Then her face fell, and she said in a somber voice, “Oh, but my grandchildren will grow up so fast, and I’ll miss so many milestones.”
Gabe shook his head, looking at Misty.
“I guess that headshake means you’re not coming,” Gabriella said with a tear in her eye.
Misty chuckled. “That’s not Gabe’s ‘no way’ headshake. That’s his ‘I know when I’m beat’ resignation headshake.”
“Gabe?” Gabriella waited, seemingly holding her breath.
“Misty’s right. If the whole family is heading to the Caribbean, we may as well go too. I’ll bet there’s a job for a marine firefighter with experience working in Boston Harbor. If not, I have a strong builder’s back. Besides, Tony would miss his Gammy and Gampy too much.”
As if on cue, Tony wriggled off Gabe’s lap and ran over to Gabriella. “Gammy!”
Gabriella swept him up into a hug. “Oh, my darling. You’ve just made me so happy.”
“Oh, but…” Annette looked over at Dawn. “But my daughter…”
