Love & Gelato(78)

The man shuffled through his papers, marking Thomas’s name. “Benvenuti.”

“Do you mind if I check your list really quick?” I asked. “I’m wondering if my friend is here.”

“No.” He scowled at me, covering the list with his hand. “It is privato.”

It wasn’t like we were attending a party at the Pentagon or something. “I just need to look for one sec—”

“Come on.” Thomas grabbed my hand and yanked me away from the list and farther into the house. Everyone was sardine-ing themselves into this big, overly frilly room with high ceilings and like five more chandeliers, and we had to push our way in, tripping over all the fancy dresses and guys sweating into their jackets. All the furniture was moved to the outer edges of the room, and a makeshift stage had been set up in one corner. So far there was just a bunch of instruments up there, but music was playing from speakers around the room at a level that could kill small birds. It was so crowded. How was I going to find Ren?

“Lina! Thomas!” Elena emerged from the crowd, grabbing my arm. She was wearing a short gray dress and her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail. “Wow. Lina, you look bella. This is the color for you.”

“Thanks, Elena. Have you seen Ren?”

“Ren? No. I don’t know if he’s even coming. Mimi would probably kill him.”

“Why?”

Thomas cracked up. “Guys, look. There’s Selma.” He pointed to a tall middle-aged woman who had climbed onto the stage and was fumbling around with cords. She was wearing a tiara and a hot-pink minidress that was about ten seconds from giving up on keeping her boobs covered.

“Ugh,” Elena said, shaking her head. “That is Valentina’s mom. She was a supermodel in the nineties, and she displays sexy pictures of herself around the house. I think I would rather die than see my mom’s cleavage on a daily basis.”

“Your mom’s bionic cleavage,” Thomas said. “We should try to get a good spot by the band. Valentina said they start playing at ten.”

Elena shook her head. “I’m waiting for Marco.”

“Marco, huh?”

Elena scowled at him. “Dai. I just told him I would. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Elena, if you see Ren, will you tell him I really need to talk to him?” I asked.

“Sure, no problem.” She glanced at Thomas, then leaned in. “Wow. Thomas looks incredibile.” She pronounced it the Italian way. “Good choice. He is troppo sexy. I’m pretty sure every girl who’s met him has tried for him. I guess you are the lucky one. It sucks that Ren broke up with Mimi for you, but I totally understand why you are here with Thomas.”

Eight hundred exclamation marks went off in my head. “Ren broke up with Mimi? When? Today?”

She frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe yesterday? Mimi said she was glad, though. No offense, but Ren can be very strange. He always says whatever pops into his head.”

“Yeah, but that’s what’s so great about him.”

She slid her eyes at Thomas. “Yeah, I guess so. See you later. I’m going out front.”

“Bye. Just tell Ren where I am if you see him, okay?”

“You okay?” Thomas asked when Elena had left.

“Yeah, sure.” Maybe better than okay. Ren had broken up with Mimi for me? Then what was all that in Rome? The urgency of my Find Ren mission had pretty much hit the roof.

“Let’s get a drink and go over by the stage,” Thomas said.

“Sure.”

The next couple of hours were incredibly slow. The band was Spanish, and after every couple of sets the drummer got carried away and threw his drumsticks into the crowd, where they had to be fished out again before they could start playing the next song.

Thomas kept disappearing for more and more drinks and Ren kept not showing up. Where was he? What if he didn’t show up? Was this whole The Dress thing actually a curse? If so, I would have come in running clothes.

Finally I excused myself. “Thomas, I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a while.”

He gave me an unfocused thumbs-up and I pushed myself through the crowd, doing a quick scan of the party. As far as I could tell, Ren wasn’t in the main room. And he wasn’t on the front steps or in the entryway, either. Where was he? Finally I decided to actually use the bathroom, but there was a long line, and I kept my neck craned to watch for Ren.

When it was my turn I locked the door behind me, then looked in the mirror and sighed. My dress still looked great, but I was sweaty and I could tell my hair was plotting a mutiny. I pulled it back into a ponytail, then checked my phone again. Nothing. Where was he?

Thomas was waiting for me outside the door. “There you are. We have to hurry. Everyone’s supposed to go outside. There’s a big surprise.”

I gave up on my shoes, taking them off and carrying them as we moved with the crowds toward the back doors. When we finally stepped outside I sucked in my breath. The yard was the size of a football field, and dozens of large white blankets checkered the ground, their edges lit with tea lights. It was nauseatingly romantic. Half the people out there were going to get carried away and start professing their undying love to each other.

“Thomas, you didn’t see Ren while I was in the bathroom, did you?”