Chapter 12
G ina changed the flavor of their date without telling Zack.
By some miracle, Seya was off this evening and agreed to stay with Luca. To get ahead of her task list, Gina rose an hour earlier for prep work on the food she couldn’t do overnight. She’d also scheduled a meeting with the team to discuss the day’s functions.
By ten o’clock, she sliced and boxed the fruit cake for the first event of the day, and every team member was busy at the counters and stoves. In between assisting and supervising, Gina’s mind couldn’t stay off Zack. Was she doing the right thing by going out with him?
She’d surprised herself when she accepted his offer and realized later, when she was alone, that although Boyd and Nichelle betrayed her, she wasn’t heartbroken.
That admission forced her to be honest with herself. She’d used the hectic pace of the season to avoid dealing with her emotions. The reason she refused to slow down was that if she did, she’d have to accept what she’d known in her heart.
It was bad enough to part ways with her business partner, but the threat of forfeiting the business name made her face and neck blaze even now.
She couldn’t hide from the fact that she’d lost more when her friendship with Nichelle ended, compared to what she had with Boyd. Their comfortable relationship made Gina feel safe, but she wasn’t in love with him and didn’t want to be. Not when Zack was making her rethink everything she knew about men and relationships.
“Good riddance, Boyd,” she whispered while deftly slicing fruitcake squares.
She couldn’t understand the logic behind Nichelle’s further actions. Since the split, she’d been hinting to Gina’s customers that she was going out of business. Gina found out about that bit of duplicity when a long-standing client called to get the details.
“Were you going to ditch us without a note or warning?” the woman asked, which left Gina floundering. Eventually, she said, “You know me better than that.”
Giving an explanation without painting Nichelle in a bad light was challenging, but Gina left her client satisfied that she’d provide catering service for her upcoming dinner party.
How Gina could have misread two people who were so close to her said something about her discernment, which brought her back to the current situation.
If she let herself fall for Zack and he hurt her, or vice versa, the devastation would be too much to bear after losing Chase. She didn’t want to experience that kind of upheaval again. Ever.
But you could go all-in with Zack Winters, if you let yourself go.
The knife in her hand clattered to the floor, and Tara looked up from the puff pastry she was sealing. “Are you all right?”
“Sure.” Gina smiled to reassure her. “Why?”
After sprinkling flour on the metal surface and the rolling pin, Tara said, “You look like you had a come-to-Jesus moment just now.”
“Don’t worry. I’m good.” She glanced at the clock. If she didn’t stay on track, she’d still run late after her attempts to get ahead. “I’ll be back this evening to check on things.”
Tara’s eyes twinkled behind cat woman glasses as she gave Gina a knowing grin. “We can manage. Do what you have to do.”
With a lighthearted chuckle, Gina removed the plastic apron and dumped it, along with the disposable gloves. “You don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll come in tomorrow and take care of whatever needs to be done.”
One of her policies at All Things Tasty was that they left nothing undone for the following day that could be completed after a function. The cleaning staff saw to sanitizing the kitchen each time, but Gina liked to do a last sweep going into the weekend.
She stopped in her office, grabbed her handbag, and locked up. On the way to pick up Luca, she turned the radio to a station playing Christmas music. She sang along with Ray Stevens’s Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer , then chuckled to Frank Kelly’s Christmas Countdown .
Gina pulled into the daycare, prepared to wait a while, but didn’t have to do so since Luca entered the lobby a couple of minutes later. She suspected Zack wasn’t there, and Luca proved her right once he climbed into the van and buckled up.
“How come you’re so early?” he asked.
“I’m going out this evening. Seya will stay with you.”
“Okay. Can I use my tablet? I didn’t get any computer time today since Uncle Zack didn’t come.”
“No problem, but you can’t stay on it all evening.”
“I know. It’s bad for my eyes.”
For Gina, it was more than that. She didn’t like the idea of tranquilizing him with a screen. Since the pandemic many people didn’t socialize as well as they had before, including children. Gina believed in a healthy balance and ensured Luca had physical books alongside his electronic device.
He sat forward and leaned sideways. “May I borrow your phone?”
She swallowed a smile at his politely worded request, pulled the cellular from the holder, and passed it to him.
“Thanks.”
The traffic flowed smoothly, and she prayed they didn’t get stuck unexpectedly. She approached the next stoplight, humming to Mariah Carey’s All I Want Is You . The light caught her, so Gina tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and sang under her breath.
A sports car pulled up next to her. A Maserati, with the same matte finish and white gold trim as Zack’s. Somehow, she doubted there were two of them on the island. Male drivers preferred SUVs to sports cars, given the terrible road conditions in some areas.
Zack looked at her from the Maserati, with no hint of recognition in his eyes. Then he turned away and kissed the woman sitting next to him. His action was a gut punch that made her draw a sharp breath. He had some nerve to act as if he didn’t know her. Well, two could play.
He must have felt her gazing at him, because he turned his head and cocked one eyebrow. The glare she seared him with said exactly what she thought of him. A lowlife who didn’t deserve her attention. She should have known better. If she hadn’t caught him, Zack would have been two-timing her the way Boyd had done.
She pressed the gas, and the car surged forward.
Luca looked up, and she met his gaze in the mirror and reassured him with a smile. His gaze went to the Maserati that caught up with them and pointed. “That’s Uncle Zack’s car.”
“Why d’you think so?” she asked, veering into the far lane.
“Nobody else has one, so it must be him.”
“He’s not the only person to have a sports car.”
“I didn’t see anybody else with one like that.” Luca craned his neck, then nodded. “His car has the same number.”
Gina couldn’t win that argument, so she let it go. The confirmation of his license plate landed a boulder in her belly. At least she’d get to spend time with Luca this evening. That would keep her mind off Zack. A peek in the rearview mirror confirmed the Maserati was long gone.
She pulled in a lungful of air that hurt her chest and released it, feeling like a fool. Life was proving her to be a poor judge of character. Not to mention having a broken discernment radar. Zack was charming, handsome, and persuasive. Plus, there was that flashy, expensive car. Any fool would know he was a player. Any fool, but her.