Deep (Pagano Family #4)(89)

“I am. My life is as it should be. I’m thirty-eight years old, but I finally figured it out.” She knocked his beer bottle with hers. “What about you?”

At her question, Nick looked back across the beach to Beverly.

Carmen laughed. “I like her. And everybody else looooooves her. I’m sure I will, too, once I get to know her better. She’s sweet.”

To Carmen, ‘sweet’ wasn’t exactly a compliment. Nick turned and gave her a sharp look, ready to defend his woman.

“Easy, fella. I meant that nicely. She’s obviously not a doormat, or you wouldn’t be so googly-eyed. If she can handle you, then I have no doubt that she has a spine of steel. But the grannies adore her. I’m pretty sure Aunt Betty has names picked out for your first eight children. I’m just saying you might have found the perfect woman if she’s that interesting and has your mother planning a remodel of the upstairs bedrooms into kids’ rooms. Usually she’s staring daggers at the backs of your blondes.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“I am not. Aunt Angie and Aunt Betty were muttering about interior decorators the other night while they were putting together those silly party favors for the kids. They shut up quick when Bev came in the room.” There were a lot of kids at this reception. Each one got a plastic bucket filled with beach toys. Each bucket had been hand-painted with Carmen and Theo’s names. Apparently not Carmen’s idea—which Nick would have guessed. That had Angie and Betty’s fingerprints all over it. They’d probably seen it on Martha Stewart or something.

He didn’t need his mother’s approval—or Carmen’s or anyone else’s, for that matter—but he liked the thought of her preparing her house for grandchildren. She had wanted a large family and had been cruelly thwarted from that dream. He was her only hope for grandchildren, and he was nearly forty-six. She’d all but given up on him, and he’d encouraged her to give up. Until Beverly, he’d been sure he’d never be a father.

He took a drink of his beer. “Teresa is beautiful.”

“Thanks. Found a new level of love when she was born.” She paused. “You know, I’m just gonna ask. Are you thinking about it?”

He was, but Carmen was not the woman he needed to talk to. “You know I’m not gonna tell you something like that. Not your business.”

With a laugh, she said, “You’re right. I’m snooping. Ignore me.” Aunt Angie stepped out of the food tent and waved emphatically at Carmen. “Oh, God. Must be cake time. If Theo shoves it in my face, this is going to be a very short marriage.” She kissed his cheek. “Smile, Nick. The sun is shining.”



oOo



As dusk came on, the tone of the reception changed. People covered up their bathing suits, lights were strung, and a floor was laid out on the beach for a live band and dancing. Nick was surprised that it was a combo playing Big Band Era classics. Not what he would have expected at the beach. But vastly preferable to what he would have expected.

He was sitting in an Adirondack chair with Beverly on his lap, and it was the best time he’d had at the wedding. Luca and Manny were next to them, sitting together in similar fashion, and they’d all been chatting comfortably, but now Luca and Manny were making out.

The band had started playing, and the music soothed him.

Beverly had pulled a long, knit skirt and a zip hoodie over her bathing suit. She’d taken off the bracelet when she’d changed out of her dress—a prudent move, even though he hadn’t told her the cost of the piece, and wouldn’t. The sun pendant, though, she never took off. As she snuggled against his neck, her hand running lightly under his still-open shirt, over his bare chest, he played his fingers around her sun.

“Do you dance? I don’t even know if you dance.” Her voice was low, as if she were sleepy.

“Is that important to know?”

She shrugged. “Seems like something to know.”

“I don’t dance, no. But if you want to, I’ll go up there with you.” He kissed her head. “Or I’ll sit here and watch. I like to watch you dance.”

She sat up. “When—oh. That night at Neon. You watched me?”

“I did. You were beautiful, dancing for the joy of it. That’s when I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That I wanted you.”

“Oh. I wanted you long before that.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“Bella, you weren’t exactly subtle.”

She laughed. “I know. Chris told me I might as well have been wearing a…” She trailed off and put her head back on his shoulder. “Never mind.”

She was doing well overall; strangely, Mills’ death seemed to have restored her, her grief finally breaking through whatever dam she’d built up in her head. She mourned the friend she’d lost. The secret of Chris Mills’ death would die with him. Nick’s part in that death was business, and she didn’t want to know about his business. Knowing that had made him rest easier with his secret. But her loss was no less real and alive.

Holding her close, thinking about the day, the way she’d become a part of his family, the way she made him more a part of his own family, the way she made him more a part of his own life, he decided he couldn’t wait.