“Finally, here’s the groom. I wondered where you were.” She stopped the flow of traffic and smiled at him, obliging him to step off the stairs for a hug.
Max heard her whisper, “Couldn’t ask for anyone better to be dad to my little twinnies.”
Her gracious acceptance smoothed over a tough moment, and the effect was visible. Scott gave her a hug that practically lifted her off the ground. “Welcome home, Lily Susan. Thanks for making the trip.”
“Wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world.” When she was on her feet again, she winked at him. “Even if I didn’t need to plan the whole thing.”
With a laugh he moved to let traffic pass, and Max caught sight of Riley and her suspiciously misty gaze.
Bravo for Lily Susan. She might have been away from the family for a while, but distance didn’t mean she couldn’t come through for the people who loved her when it counted.
And that was a very Angelica trait.
CHAPTER FOUR
MAX CAUGHT UP with his daughter again, and they made their way through the kitchen to the adjoining dining room, where so many chairs had been jammed around the table people would be practically sitting on top of each other. Sturdy card tables had been added on both ends to eliminate the need to separate adults and kids. This made Madeleine happy, but there were so many place settings another fork couldn’t be set between them. He wondered where Rosie intended to put the food.
“Come on, come on. Find a seat.” Joe herded everyone into the dining room impatiently. “Lily Susan, you sit there.”
Max watched Lily Susan head to her honorary place at the center of the table, knowing he didn’t stand a chance at getting close. The best he could do was grab a spot across from her, where he had a decent view.
He was surprised by how much he wanted a view. Lily Susan had changed into casual sportswear, the fabric clinging to her every lean curve.
Thankfully the chaos distracted him from thoughts that were traveling in unexpected directions. Everyone knew the drill and was soon crammed elbow-to-elbow. Joey and his wife Sarah and their three kids. Caroline and her husband Alex and their three kids. Riley and Scott and the twins. Only Joe didn’t sit. He was the pulse of the family, with his bald head and hearty laughter—the one who roused everyone into action, the one they all went to for advice or opinions.
And if Joe was the pulse, then Rosie was the heart. She set the tone with her hugs. When she was happy, her nicknames for everyone were happy. Her husband was Joe and her son Joey. When she wasn’t, though, those nicknames were warnings. Joe and Joey became Old Man and Little Boy or Fat Joe and Healthy Joe when she was on a tear about someone’s eating habits.
Still, Rosie managed to keep everyone close with her nurturing kindnesses. A thousand kindnesses.
Max didn’t know what he would have done without her through Madeleine’s recovery during the long months after the accident. And he didn’t understand how Lily Susan could have spent so much time away from this warm and gregarious group.
“Close your eyes, honey-bunch,” Joe commanded Lily Susan in his booming voice. “Jake, make sure she doesn’t peek.”
Jake, who had claimed the spot to his aunt’s right, crawled to his knees in the chair, stretching his hands over her face. She laughed good-naturedly, and Joe made a production of going to the refrigerator then returning to the table. He plunked down a glass jar in the middle of her plate.
“Good job, kiddo. Let her look.”
Jake sprang back, and Lily Susan glanced down. Her lush lips parted then broke into a smile. A real smile. Not the kind she’d been giving Max. Instead of warm and happy, she gave him cool and professional. He wondered why he noticed that she seemed to save her warmth for children and preserved vegetables.
“Aunt Nellie’s pickled beets?” She laughed. “Daddy, you remembered.”
“Of course I remembered. They’re your favorite.” Joe handed her a fork. “You don’t even have to share.”
There was no missing how his expression blurred around the edges when he dropped a kiss onto the top of his youngest daughter’s head. Lily Susan’s eyes fluttered shut for the briefest moment, a rare sign of emotion for a woman so skilled at keeping up appearances.
Taking his seat at the head of the table, Joe said, “Let’s eat.”
The meal began with a blessing then conversations erupted randomly as kids vied with adults to steal Lily Susan’s attention with stories of what was happening in Pleasant Valley. There was a lot to relate. Phone calls could never take the place of Sunday dinners for filling in the details.
Lily Susan fostered the conversations with her questions, asking far more than she shared. But there was one subject that was noticeably avoided by everyone: her broken engagement.
No one asked, and she didn’t offer. Not a word about how she was doing although every adult asked leading questions. Lily Susan skillfully deflected them all. So he wasn’t the only one who got the professional treatment. She was closed with the people who cared so much about her.
And why did that thought make him feel better?
Why was he so aware of her?
She was a beautiful woman, no question. Photos of her crossed his desk all the time, but Max had to admit that no photo came close to doing justice to the real woman. She was a media darling for good reason with a sweet, heart-shaped face. Her Italian heritage lent her an interesting blend of earthiness and wholesomeness with her light olive skin, whiskey-gold hair and caramel-colored eyes.
And that mouth of hers played so well to the camera, whether she was talking, laughing, smiling, kissing…
He remembered one photo in particular. The paparazzi had snapped the shot after she’d announced her engagement. She and her fiancé had been celebrating with friends on a yacht in the French Riviera, their heads close as they kissed.
Max wasn’t sure why he remembered. Maybe because they had seemed so different from the Angelica family he knew. They seemed matched to each other. Both ambitious. Both part of the jet set. Both tanned in their Mediterranean near-nudity, sipping champagne on a yacht, creating the illusion of fantasy romance.
The picture had looked perfect. Apparently the perfection had been an illusion since the ex-fiancé had proven himself a world-class deadbeat. The man hadn’t troubled himself to come here to meet his fiancée’s family—Joe and Rosie had been forced to travel into the city. That said something. As far as Max was concerned that something wasn’t good breeding.
To this day, Joey had never met him.
“A matter of principle,” he’d told Max. “If the guy wants the family seal of approval, he’ll have to make an effort. Not that family seems important to my sister anymore.”
Max understood how Joey felt. But now, watching Lily Susan, he had to wonder why she hadn’t brought the man home.
“How will Raymond’s wedding impact your plans?” Joey asked her. “Are you going to stay in town or commute from the city?”
Lily Susan shot Max a look that seared a path across the table, but she answered her brother diplomatically. “We haven’t quite gotten there yet. Max’s inquiry arrived in my office yesterday and I haven’t had a chance to figure things out.”
“What’s to figure?” Joe asked. “You’re in town.”
“Daddy, my calendar’s booked. We schedule a year to eighteen months in advance.”
“You’ve got a lot of offices, honey-bunch. You can’t rearrange a few things and make some room? Max needs your help.”
That was that as far as Joe was