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Mary Ellen squeezed his hand. He wasn’t going along with things for a quiet life this time. She was thrilled that he was willing to stand by her on this.
Her mom glowered at them, and then sniffed. Uh-oh. Mary Ellen knew what was coming next—martyrdom and guilt trips. “I don’t know why you both treat me like this. I’m doing my very best to see you settled and happy.”
Mary Ellen got to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I know, but you’re not listening to me. I’ve told you and told you that I don’t want to get back with David. That I’m worth more than that.”
Her mom sniffed again and looked up into her eyes. “He has a good job, he’s responsible. He comes from a good family.”
“And he’s not a good person. He’s out for himself. He never cared about me, only about how I could help his career. The only reason he’s interested in me now is because he thinks I could be useful to him again. See, what you don’t understand, Mom, is that I have a much better job than he does. I know you think I’m just Cameron’s secretary, but being his assistant isn’t like being a secretary. I’m second in command of one of the biggest wine growers and distributors in the country. I have a lot of clout.” She winked at her dad who was smiling proudly. He understood.
“That’s all very well,” said her mom. “But you’re not getting any younger. You should be getting married and settling down—starting a family. David comes from a good family.”
Mary Ellen smiled. “That’s why I want you to listen to me about Antonio.”
“Some Italian?” she asked indignantly. “You can’t seriously think …”
Mary Ellen blew out a sigh and stepped away from her. She wasn’t going to lose her temper with her, but she didn’t want to hug her while she was talking like that.
“Don’t. Don’t go down that road. Listen. It’s important to you that I should marry into a good family? The Di Giovannis fit the bill, okay? They’re an old Sicilian family who own wineries here and in Italy. They own vast estates, private planes, and a very large business.”
Her mom’s eyes widened. “And why didn’t you tell us this before?”
“Because you weren’t interested in hearing about him. I wanted you to care about who he is, not what he has. I wanted you to meet him and like him just for himself.”
“So, why haven’t you brought him here?”
She didn’t want to admit just how little time she and Antonio had been seeing each other. “Because we’ve both been so busy with work.”
“And why didn’t he come with you this weekend?”
“Because he had to go to Sicily to help out with the business there.”
Her phone rang, and her dad picked it up and looked at the display. “It’s Antonio,” he said with a smile.
“Aren’t you going to answer?” asked her mom.
Mary Ellen took the phone from her dad. She’d rather not have to catch Antonio up on everything with the two of them here watching her, but she couldn’t wait to hear his voice.
“Hey.”
“Hey, bella. How are you? Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry we kept missing each other. Are you okay? How are things there?”
He chuckled. “Things here are just fine. At least they will be as soon as I can figure out how to work this GPS.”
“GPS? Where are you?”
“Sitting in a rental car in the Cincinnati airport.”
“What?” Her heart started to race, and her hand flew up to cover her mouth. “What are you doing here?”
“Don’t be mad at me, but I got a little jealous. I didn’t like you running off to Ohio to see David once I was out of the country.”
She laughed. “You know that’s not what happened.”
“I do. I’m only joking … well, mostly. There’s a little bit of truth to the jealousy part. I can’t help it.”
“That’s okay. I kind of like it. At least I know you care.”
