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Sam had thrown a major monkey wrench into Gianna’s perfect life list.
Dream job at twenty-four, engaged at twenty-six, married at twenty-eight, first baby at thirty.
Sure, she didn’t exactly have her dream job, but at least she was employed. Now, here she was at twenty-six, and she sure wasn’t admiring the engagement ring she’d hoped Sam would give her on her last birthday. Instead, he’d given her a new Roomba vacuum cleaner, which probably should have shown her the handwriting on the wall.
And maybe it would have if she wasn’t such a clean freak and if her previous Roomba hadn’t gone on the fritz. At the time, she’d thought it was a great present, thoughtful, perfect.
She was an idiot.
“All this tells me,” Liza said, placing her hand on Gianna’s forearm, “is it’s time.”
Gianna shook her head, perfectly aware of what Liza was referring to. “No. My life is just fine the way it is.”
Liza had been trying to drag Gianna out ever since Sam had dumped her. Of course, she knew that was only because Keeley had fallen madly in love with Gio and Rafe around the same time, leaving Liza without a wingman at the nightclubs and bars.
Liza scoffed. “Gianna, dammit. What you’re currently doing doesn’t classify as a life. You go to work. You go home. You clean. You sleep. Then the next day is just rinse and repeat.”
Penny, who was the quietest—as well as the newest—in their group of girlfriends, uncharacteristically chimed in. “I’ve been where you are, Gianna, and trust me, while it might feel easier to avoid the dating game, in the end, it’s just lonely as hell. I spent a decade of my life living on my own with only my cats because I was too afraid to take a chance on something more.” Penny leaned toward her, her voice lower. “Take the chance. It will be the best thing you’ll ever do.”
Gianna didn’t know how to respond to that. Because it sounded like very good advice. “That’s easier said than done.”
Penny gave her an understanding smile. “Tell me about it.”
“You’re going to have to kiss a lot of frogs, none of us is denying that,” Keeley added. “And there are going to be a lot of disastrous dates, but when you find the one or ones,” she amended, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, “you forget all the pain in an instant.”
“You thought Sam was the one,” Liza said. “He wasn’t. But that doesn’t mean there’s not another—better—guy who will be absolutely perfect for you.”
Keeley nodded. “Exactly. But you’re not going to find your Prince Charming by hiding inside all the time. You’re going to have to put yourself out there and look.”
“I know it’s not easy.” Liza, at twenty-nine, was the single-woman record holder in their girlfriend group. “And there are going to be times when you’re going to want to pack it in and adopt a cat.”
“Or four,” Penny said with a laugh.
Liza chuckled. “Your self-confidence will most likely take a beating, but just consider it paying your dues.”
“I…I’m not ready,” Gianna repeated, though even she could hear her weakening resolve. She’d been on her own since September, hating every minute of it, and part of her wondered if she hadn’t run into Sam, would tonight have been the night she’d given in to Liza’s demands that she set up Tinder and Bumble accounts?
Maybe.
Actually probably.
But then she’d seen Sam, and any healing—she could admit there’d been minimal—vanished in an instant, and once more, she was left nursing the big gaping wound in her heart.
“Okay. But just so you know…I’m gonna keep inviting you out with me. Maybe you’re not ready to date, but dammit, you can still have some fun. What are you doing for Christmas?” Liza asked.
Gianna had managed to keep at bay the tears she’d been fighting since leaving the mall, but Liza’s question struck hard. She blinked rapidly, hoping her friends wouldn’t see them.
Of course they did, all three women instinctively shifting closer.
“Gianna,” Keeley said softly. “You didn’t think we were going to let you spend it alone, did you?”
Gianna hadn’t really considered spending it with her friends, though she wasn’t sure why not. She had the greatest friends on earth, and they never failed to include her.
“You’re spending Christmas Eve with the Morettis,” Liza said, as if it had all been prearranged for months. “Ordinarily, I wouldn’t throw someone into a Moretti Christmas Eve unprepared, but you’ve been to more than enough of our parties over the years to know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. Just understand that we only give it about fifty percent of effort during those other celebrations. We really turn it up at Christmas.”
Gianna just barely managed to hide her horror. She’d grown up an only child in a house that contained her and her grandma. She remembered being shell-shocked the first time she’d attended a Moretti family summer picnic, stunned by the sheer number of people and the volume, everyone seemingly talking at once. There was no way that was only fifty percent.
It belatedly occurred to Gianna that it was no wonder Gio’s hearing was crappy. It had probably been impaired by a lifetime of Moretti parties.
