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“Well, it got time to put down some real money – the deposit for the reception venue.” She stopped, going to take a sip of tea then changing her mind, putting it on the coffee table. “I’ve never told anyone this next part. Not even Zara.”
I braced myself.
“He said he wanted his friends to meet us at the venue, to get their opinion. Fair, right? So they were all there when we arrived, and we all went inside. Christ, I remember it like it was yesterday.” She stopped, rubbing her hand over her face. “Yeah, so we went inside, the wedding coordinator came to greet us. I was so excited, I could barely catch my breath.”
Her hands started shaking and when I took them in mine, she held on tight.
“Anyway, I started talking to the coordinator again and Josh interrupted, telling her he needed a few minutes. His friends were already snickering. At least he sent the coordinator away, I guess. That was something.” She stopped again and I waited, not wanting to push her to continue if she didn’t want to. “Then he starts laughing, and says he doesn’t really love me, he never did, it was just a bet with his friends to see how far I’d go. Because I’m not the kind of girl a guy like him gets married to. Someone of his station needs someone who knows when to shut the fuck up, not some show off who makes everything about herself. He says no one is ever gonna marry a girl like me because I’m too loud, too bossy, too showy. And, he says, maybe this has taught me a lesson about staying in my lane. Maybe if I learned a bit of class, I could hook a guy like him one day, but not yet.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Allegra.”
“Then he just left me there. They all walked out, slapping him on the back for pulling such a great prank and he never even glanced back at me.” She looked down at her left hand. “I went to pawn the ring, just for a bit of vengeance, rather than give it back to him. It was a fake, of course. Worth less than a fucking hundred bucks.”
I felt white hot anger surge through me, coupled with the overwhelming urge to find this guy and choke the motherfucking life out of him. Drawing in a few deep breaths, I forced myself to calm down. Me going off like a Fourth of July firecracker wouldn’t help Ally at all. “You know that whole situation says way more about him than it does about you. He’s an absolute ass.”
“Oh, sure.” She pulled her hands away and I let her. “Anyway, I’m good at being just the good time girl and that’s fine by me.”
I could see her drawing in on herself and knew there was nothing I could say that would make it better. It was a very big deal that she’d told me this whole story at all and I didn’t want to make it worse. Even though it sounded completely lame, I just said, “Fair enough.” When her shoulders dropped in relief, I knew I’d made the right call. “I think it’s time for bed. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow.” I got up, pulling her with me.
She frowned in confusion. “Oh, have you? It’s Sunday.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna see if I can find a local witch who can put a curse on a whiny, pasty jerk who may or may not be a stockbroker. It could take a while.”
She giggled and I smiled. “Maybe I’ll give you a hand.”
“Sounds good.”
Lying in bed, with Ally cuddled into my side, I couldn’t sleep. Her story filled in a lot of the missing pieces of the wonderful puzzle that was Allegra D’Angelo and I was grateful for that. The question was, what was I going to do about it? What could I, with an eight-year-old son to worry about?
CHAPTER33
Ally
“Ijust think it’s weird.”
“It’s weirder if you don’t come, to be honest. Your car’s been parked in my drive for three days, which, trust me, Bruce and Ellen will have noticed.”
I let out a sigh. Dammit, he was right. He glanced through the living room window, to see Jesse playing out front, before stepping closer and putting his hands square on my shoulders. “You can do whatever you want. If you feel like you need some alone time, then stay here and we’ll be back later. If you can’t face family dinner, but also don’t want to be by yourself, I can walk Jesse down there and come back. If you feel up to seeing everyone, just come. You know Bruce and Ellen would love to have you there.”
I dropped my forehead to his chest, drawing in a deep, soothing breath. The truth was, I wasn’t sure exactly what I needed. Staying here by myself? Definitely not. Making Gabe miss family dinner to hang out with my sad, sorry self? Double definitely not. Finally, I lifted my eyes to his. “Okay. I’d love to come to family dinner. If you’re sure they won’t mind.”
Pushing the hair gently back from my forehead, he smiled. “I’m sure.”
“Have I got time to make a cake?”
“If that cake is cannoli-shaped, you sure do.”
“Okay.” My hands on his chest, I got up on my tiptoes to brush a light kiss across his lips. “Thanks. And I’m sorry I’m being such a basket case.”
“You’re fine.”
I stepped back as I heard the sliding door opening. “Hey, kiddo. Just in time. I’m gonna make some cannoli, if you want to help me?”
“Yeah!”
* * *
Okay, Gabe was wrong. It was definitely weird. As we stepped out onto the back deck, I held onto the container of cannoli like it was a security blanket. Literally, the whole group went quiet for a moment and turned to look at us.
