Page 199 of Cara & Gian: The Guzzi Duet

She wouldn’t seek Cara out, right?

After all, Cara was the whore, the mistress, the piece of ass on the side. She wasn’t worthy of the family name, she couldn’t sit beside her man in church, and her very presence was a dirty word for some.

Surely that woman, would not come to Cara.

Surely not.

“Celeste Guzzi, Gian’s mother,” the woman said, smiling softly again. “It’s nice to finally meet the woman I’d heard all those rumors about nearly a year ago. Gian wouldn’t budge an inch, when I asked. Your aunt is an old friend, from way, way back.”

“Oh,” Cara said dumbly.

“She thought I might like to meet you.” Celeste’s gaze dropped to Cara’s stomach again. “For obvious reasons, sweetheart. And she was right.”

“Not that you’ve given me a reason to think this, but to what, tell me to crawl in a hole somewhere?”

Celeste frowned. “Not at all, dear.”

“Sorry, knee-jerk reaction.”

“I can understand why.”

Cara stepped back, widening the apartment door a bit more. “Would you like to come in, and maybe have a tea or something?”

Celeste nodded once. “Oui, I think I would.”

“Does Gian know you’re here?”

“Oh, no.” Celeste laughed as she walked into the apartment. “I get to wait until tomorrow for breakfast to see him. We’re going to have so much to talk about now.”

Cara shot Celeste a look from across the way. “I’m not sure if you mean that to be a good or bad thing.”

“Well, it’s both. I understand the predicament my son found himself in, and not just with you. Between his grandfather, all the rules and expectations they shoveled onto him over the years, and then his wife …”

“I’m not sure I want to know anything about her,” Cara said, trying not to sound trite.

Celeste shrugged, as if to say, do what you will. “Perhaps you should learn about Elena, or at least, learn why she is where she is with my son. I wish more people had looked beyond the surface when they married years ago, or for that matter, paid attention to it all. No one thought to, and it’s no wonder he’s found himself—” She looked over to Cara, then said, “It’s no wonder he’s found himself in this situation. A man or woman can only be so unhappy in every aspect of their life, before they eventually start looking for something—or someone—to fill that void.”

Cara turned the electric kettle on. “I never thought about it in that way.”

“You don’t know her. Elena, I mean,” Celeste said, her assumption spot on. “But that is not my place to say, either.”

“Is it your place to be here?”

The older woman didn’t even hesitate. “No.”

“Yet here you are.”

“Here I am, Cara.” Celeste smiled wider. “Now, tell me about my first grandbaby.”

Cara stared at the tubs of ice cream in the store’s freezer, trying to decide which flavor—or rather, favors—she wanted to buy. Shrugging, she pulled several mini tubs out and dropped them into her cart. If she couldn’t decide on just one flavor, then she would try them all.

Winning, Cara thought.

Pregnancy was no fucking joke.

Neither were the late-night cravings.

“Is that one any good, do you know?”