Chapter 17
17
PIA
“Ooh, this place is so nice,” Sophia said, echoing my sentiments as we walked into the restaurant. The interior was cozy and inviting, perfectly capturing the essence of Italy. With the warm glow of pendant lights and smell of wood-fired pizza and freshly baked bread, Bella Luna was already a winner. As long as the food was good.
“Very clean, too.” Mom led Sophia and me to the hostess stand.
“Of course you’d notice that.” Sophia rolled her eyes at me.
“Reservation for five under Russo,” I said. “We have two more joining us.”
“Sure thing, right this way,” she said, grabbing five menus and leading us to a booth not far from the pizza oven. I hadn’t planned on getting pizza, but that smell might have sealed the deal.
“Your waitress will be right with you.”
“Excellent customer engagement and”—Mom opened her menu as we sat—“menu presentation.”
“You can take a woman out of her restaurant, but you can’t take the restaurant out of the woman,” my sister said as five waters were poured for us.
“That makes no sense,” I said, trying not to look at the door. We’d left mid-afternoon to walk around town and shop, so the guys were meeting us here.
“Yes it does.”
“No,” I said, distracted, “it doesn’t.”
“You know what else makes no sense? You staring at the door but pretending not to have a crush on your boss.”
“Sophia,” my mother chastised. “Enough teasing your sister.”
“I’m not teasing her. Just telling the truth. It’s so obvious.”
Last night I refused to talk about Mason, but Sophia had been relentless about him all day. If it were that obvious to her after just one weekend, there was zero chance Parker and Beck hadn’t noticed as well.
And then there was Mason. After the bedroom incident, I was certain he knew as well. And maybe even returned my interest.
There’s a lot of ways I could respond to that, but being respectful of our positions here, I’ll keep it clean. You have nothing to be sorry for .
I’d said the words so many times in my head, I knew them word for word. Maybe I was projecting my own feelings. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. Or maybe not, and Mason’s words meant exactly what I thought they did.
The door opened. Parker and Mason walked inside.
When I’d seen him last, Mason had been covered in paint splatters. Not anymore. Wearing navy pants and a white button-down with a camel sport coat, he was a walking billboard for the phrase “cleaned up nicely.”
More than nicely.
Before he caught me staring, I buried my face in the menu.
“Oh boy,” Mom said. “I wish I could stay beyond tomorrow. Looks like things are going to get interesting in Cedar Falls.”
“Great,” I said just as the guys got to our table. “Now you too. Traitor.”
Mom didn’t appear at all guilty for teasing me herself even though she’d told Sophia a minute ago to knock it off.
“Mind if I sit with you?” Parker asked my mother.
“Not at all.”
He slid into the booth next to her as Mason assessed the situation. Mom and Parker on one side of the booth, Sophia and me on the other. There was room for him in both spots.
Our eyes met.
Maybe he read my silent “sit with me” or did it of his own accord, but for whatever reason, he sat next to me.
Be careful what you wish for, Pia .
As the conversation swirled around me, I somehow managed to order a wine and pretend, for a few minutes anyway, not to notice how good Mason smelled. Or the fact that, if I moved my right leg even the slightest bit, we’d be touching.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying our little town,” Parker said as Sophia regaled him with our afternoon’s adventures.
“Little being the operative word,” Sophia said. “I can’t imagine what the dating pool is like in a town this size.”
I was going to kill her.
“Small,” Parker said. “Very small.”
“How many graduated in your high school class?” my mother asked as our drinks came and we paused to place our orders.
“Oh, I’m not actually from here. I met this guy”—Parker indicated Mason—“in college.”
“How did you end up here?” Sophia asked.
“Beck was looking for a roommate. I was a business major in college and always knew I wanted to work for myself but wasn’t sure of the industry. My dad owns a car dealership, and if I went back home he’d be all over me to work there. So I came here, got into construction, which I’ve always enjoyed, and am biding my time until I can start my own company.”
“Basically,” Mason added, “he wasn’t ready to leave college so he and Beck came back here for round two.”
“And that,” Parker admitted.
My mother, true to her nature, asked Parker and Mason about a billion questions. After we ordered and got our food, I was just beginning to breathe and act like a normal human being when Mason shifted in his seat. His leg now touched mine. Subtly. And barely. But definitely touching.
I should have pulled away. Instead, I let my leg relax into his. He probably wouldn’t even notice. We stayed that way through dinner.
“So Pia’s doing a good job so far?” my mother asked. “I heard you two were off to a rocky start.”
I groaned. “Mom, please.”
“It’s okay.” Mason’s hands wrapped around his beer bottle. I should absolutely not concentrate on his fingers or imagine what they could do to me . As he lifted the bottle to his lips, I snuck a peek at his face, something I’d mostly avoided doing since our legs began to touch.
He took a sip, looked me straight in the eyes, and then glanced under the table. It was so quick, I couldn’t imagine anyone else noticing.
But I had.
“I apologize for the way I treated your daughter,” he said. “When she first came?—”
“You’d just buried your father,” my mother said gently.
“I thought you didn’t believe in apologizing?” I asked, sincerely curious. I’d thought about our conversation throughout my shower. More or less. Okay, mostly I’d thought about Mason, but about that conversation too.
“I believe in rectifying wrongs, but you’re right. Usually apologies are unnecessary if we see them as an opportunity to learn from our mistakes. But in this case, I am truly sorry.” His words were as softly spoken as I’d ever heard him before.
“Well, that’s a new one,” Parker said.
“To answer your original question…” Mason ignored Parker and turned his attention to Mom. “She’s doing a phenomenal job. Pia was meant to work in this field.”
“She was brought up in our restaurant, as I’m sure she told you. And she was always good with the customers. Though her dad and I were surprised she didn’t want to work at our place, I agree, it’s a perfect fit for her.”
“Um,” I interjected as our food arrived. “I am right here.”
“Oh look,” Sophia teased. “There you are.”
Well into the meal, my eggplant pizza even better tasting than it smelled, and after my mother regaled Mason with childhood Pia stories, I’d almost forgotten Mason and I were so close our legs touched.
Almost.
Until he leaned into me to snag the small bowl of grated cheese. “Pardon my reach,” he said.
I tried not to inhale.
Tried not to notice our legs were now flush up against each other.
Tried to swallow my pizza. Breathe normally. The basics.
Somehow, I managed to get through the meal. And when my mother said she was ready to go to the inn—no pub for her—I’d almost volunteered to take her back and keep my butt there. I trusted the guys to take care of Soph, who was ready for a night out.
But Mason beat me to it.
“I’ll take you,” he said to Mom. And if that wasn’t enough, when we asked the waiter for the check, she said it was taken care of as she handed Mason his credit card.
When had he managed that?
“Thank you,” Mom said, Sophia echoing the sentiment.
“It’s the least I could do for giving her to Heritage Hill,” he said to my mom, standing.
“You’re awfully complimentary tonight,” I teased him, following. “And thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Looks like you ladies are mine,” Parker said, linking elbows with both me and Sophia. “See you there,” he called to Mason, whisking us away. Mom waved as the three of us made our way up the street, the sight of her with Mason stirring something inside me that shouldn’t be there. A feeling of domesticity, as if we were together and he was taking care of his mother-in-law.
What an absolutely absurd thought .
I turned around again, for one last look, but they’d walked in the opposite direction and were already gone.