"Did she have a good time?" Ellie asked her mother over the phone on Saturday of the following week.
"Yes. She misses her family there terribly, but—and that's the positive take—she was happy to return."
"Was she? Oh, Mom, that's great."
"It's huge. She's beginning to see America as her home, and she knows she'll get to see her grandparents plenty."
"Terrific. You have no idea how happy it makes me, to know that she's adjusting here so well. I sometimes feel so sorry for her."
"You and I both, baby," Alice sighed. "But I'll make sure she doesn't suffer another day in her life. I love her so much, as much as I love any of you. God, I missed her."
"It's incredible, isn't it, Mom? How she's become such an integral part of our family in so little time."
"I can't imagine this family without her now. I'm seriously considering taking her away from Oliver and to legally adopt her as my own. That way,
I'll
get the final say on everything Michela."
Ellie laughed. "Why would you want to do that, Mom? Isn't it better letting him raise her and for you to take the backseat for a change? Enjoy the scenery?"
"Oh, dear, I won't lie, I miss the times when you were all little, living at home... I miss that."
"You do?" Ellie said, surprised.
"Very much," Alice crooned, a wave of nostalgia sweeping over her. "And to be honest, I don't trust Oliver. I don't trust him at all."
"What do you mean? I think he's done a fantastic job with her, single dad at his age and all."
"Oh no, I'm not questioning his parenting skills, god forbid. He's absolutely outstanding as both a father and a mother to her."
"But...?"
"But I have this fear in me..." Alice released an audible sigh that reeked of helplessness.
"What fear, Mom?" Ellie said, fearful herself of her mother's tone of voice.
"I can't help worrying—with everything that's happened up to this point—that he might someday take her away from me, from us."
"What?!" Ellie said, appalled. "Why would you think that?!"
"I don't trust him, Ellie. After what he did... I sometimes lose sleep, fearing he'd take her back to Italy."
"He won't do that. He said so himself: as long as Michela is adjusting, they're staying."
"I sure hope so," Alice sighed. "Though soon, I'll have more grandchildren to keep myself busy with, if you know what I mean."
"Slow down. I'm not even married mind you."
"You're as good as. What's a month, right, baby?"
"Plenty, Mom. Plenty."
Alice laughed. "That's what you th—wait a second, baby." Alice said hello to her guests, keeping Ellie waiting on the line for a full minute. "I'm back. Where were we?"
"Who was that, Mom?"
"Your cousins. So, are you excited you're—"
"What cousins?"
"Melanie and Julie. Has Jason had his—"
"What are they doing here?"
"Visiting Oliver and Michela."
"Really? They drove all the way to here just to see them?"
"It's not even a thirty-minute drive, and I know Melanie was anxious to see him after all this time."
"Yeah, I bet..."
"Ellie, did Jaso—"
"Mom, maybe I'll come by now, say hello to everyone. I've missed Michela."
"Oh, sure! I'd love for you to come, but I thought you—"
"He has something with his friends, so we canceled. I'll be there in a bit."
*
"Hey, what's up, babe? Still at the gym? Listen, my cousins are here visiting, and I really hate to cancel our plans, but they want to see me. I know I promised we'd have the day to ourselves, but it was unexpected. Anyway, call me when you get this."
Ellie was a two-minute walk away from her parents' when she sent that voice message to Jason. It was Saturday, and they had made plans to revive the romance by going out on a date. Naturally, since Ellie was so keen on seeing her cousins, whom she couldn't care less about, she
had
to cancel their date.
After Thanksgiving, and contrary to her Thanksgiving's resolution, Ellie had decided to give her and Jason one last chance before breaking it off. She wasn't about to call off the wedding and throw away everything she'd been building with him without making sure she'd done absolutely everything she could possibly think of to avoid it. Deep down, she still wanted to believe that her feelings for her brother was the equivalent of temporary insanity, or perhaps just an unfortunate side effect to her cold feet.
She had questioned herself more than once this week whether she was simply not ready for marriage, and, therefore, had created this drama with Oliver as a coping mechanism. Maybe she didn't have any feelings for him at all, and all of it was simply a figment of her stressful imagination.
"It will blow over. It has to," she told herself, brisk-walking, "and when it does, maybe I will love Jason again." She sighted her parents' house, and her heart started pounding in response. "I didn't cancel our plans to see him. I miss Michela, and I really want to see her. Besides, what kind of a person I'd be if I didn't come say hello to Julie and Melanie... that bitch."
She entered the house and hung her raincoat. She checked herself in the mirror they had next to the front door, making sure the wind and light drizzle hadn't damaged her makeup. She brushed her hair using the comb she'd been carrying in her purse and applied a second layer of pink chapstick onto her pouty lips. Once satisfied, she sashayed in and saw her mother, Michela, her cousins, and Oliver sitting in the living room.
"Hi, everyone."
"Zia Ellie!" Michela dashed into her arms. "I've missed you."
Ellie was so moved by this and tightened her embrace. She realized she missed her niece much more than she'd suspected. "I've missed you, too, sunshine. I came here specially to see you." She picked her up and said hello to her cousins before she looked into Oliver's brown eyes for the first time. "Hey," she said timidly, her heart aching beyond belief.
He gave her a nod coupled with a halfhearted smile.
Oliver was hurt by Ellie, but he was resolved not to let it show. Alice had given them a heads up, so he had sufficient time to get himself mentally ready for her arrival, and he was more than glad he did. Her presence had an immediate impact on him; impact he was praying he was concealing as well as he would have liked to believe.
His sister's sinuous figure was wreaking havoc in him. Her black leggings and black jersey were so tight on her that it was impossible for him to ignore her prominent bosom and shapely ass, even if a minute ago he was delusional enough to believe he might have been able to. Her blond hair flowed down her back so sensually, and her makeup was incredibly arousing to his dismay.
He never lusted after a woman as desperately as he was after Ellie, but that was old news to him; he had known that for some time now. What truly bothered him was that he was never so hopelessly in love with another woman. The reactions Ellie was extracting from him were both severe and painful.
Aside from his daughter, his sister was all he could think of. Eight days in Italy, in a different continent, had done very little to alter that. Her wedding day was drawing nigh, agonizing him a bit more with each passing day, and there was nothing he could do but to suffer in silence. In just over a month, he would be in her wedding and would see her binding her life to another.
"... and then Nonno Antonio and I had gelato, and Nonna Francesca yelled at Papi again. I don't like it when she's angry with you, Papi."
Michela was perched in Alice's lap, recounting meaningful events of their visit to Italy to a riveted crowd.
"Why was her grandmother angry with you?" Alice asked.
"She wasn't angry," Oliver was quick to dismiss. "Michela is just very sensitive, that's all."
"She was too! She was angry with you all the time!" Michela shed a few tears. "I don't like it, Papi... I don't like it when she yells at you."
"Oh, sweetheart, don't cry," Alice softly said, calming her down with loving kisses. She turned to her son, a dubious look on her face. "Children are notoriously known for being poor liars unlike adults. Now, why did she yell at you?"
"It's not important, Mom."
"You're not going to tell me?"
"There is nothing
to
tell."
"We'll just see about that," she said, her stomach braiding into knots. "Sweetie pie, why was your grandmother angry with your father?"
Michela wiped off her tears and sniffled. "Because she wants him... to take me back."
Alice's horrified gaze was shot at her son at the speed of sound. "Tell me it's not true."
"Let's not talk about it now."
"Oliver, let me make myself clear: you're not taking her anywhere. I won't let you."
"I didn't say I was, Mom."
"Then why being so secretive? Why trying to discredit her?"
"What's disredit?"
