Chapter Thirteen
Piper
Somehow I find myself in the vehicle with Magnus as he makes his way out of the city on his way to his mother’s place for Sunday dinner. I’m not sure how he talked me into this, because my stomach is dancing with a mixture of nerves and cowardice. It’s clear we’re dating now, but isn’t it far too soon to meet his mother? I’m scared.
Then again, I’ve decided to jump in with both feet, and this is what he wants. I need to remember who I am, remember that I’m the person who always has a glass that’s overflowing. With this thought I try to calm my racing thoughts. Meeting his mother isn’t a marriage proposal. I don’t know why this is freaking me out as much as it is.
“We’re getting closer to his mother’s place when he turns and grins at me. “I thought I should warn you that my mother doesn’t know you’re coming,” he says with a mischievous smile that instantly sends my stomach into my throat.
“You’re kidding, right?” I demand. He shakes his head, still smiling, looking completely at ease. Of course he is, he’s not the one about to be a stranger in a mother’s kitchen. I never should’ve agreed to this.
“We can’t just show up, Magnus. What if she doesn’t want a guest? What if she hates me?” I demand.
He chuckles as he reaches over and takes my hand, brings it to his lips, and kisses my palm. The gesture does manage to calm me . . . slightly. He’s still not out of the doghouse though.
“My mother will love you, Piper. Trust me, this is a surprise she’ll be delighted about.”
“I’m not trusting you right now, but as I’m held captive in your vehicle, it looks like unless I want to go running and screaming down the vineyard I have to come,” I tell him. He kisses my palm again sending heat through me. I don’t know how he manages to turn me on when I’m annoyed with him, but he’s doing it.
“What do we tell her?” I ask.
“That we barely got out the door to arrive on time for dinner because you jumped me in the kitchen,” he says in a serious tone.
“That’s so not funny, Magnus,” I tell him as my cheeks heat.
He laughs, finding himself very amusing. “We tell her you’re my . . .” He pauses for a second. “Girlfriend,” he finally finishes, and my gut clenches again. We haven’t put a label on what we are. It’s not like we’re in middle school where he officially asks me to be his girlfriend. It’s so much harder to know where you stand in an adult relationship because we don’t do those labels, though. No wonder dating is so difficult. I might like it a bit too much that he’s calling me his girlfriend though.
This man is so different from the one I met a year ago who was cold and barely smiled. This man beside me is sweet, playful, and seems to not want to let me go. This gives me the courage to meet his mother. I’m still scared, but it seems that both of us are truly jumping in with both feet and our eyes wide open.
He sends me a wink as all of these thoughts pass through my head. We continue driving in a comfortable silence before we turn off the road, and then drive for another ten minutes. We take another turn and then we’re moving down a windy paved road between beautiful grape vines that are about ready to be harvested. I lose the last of my fears as I look out at the stunning scenery.
“This is beautiful,” I tell him, not willing to tear my gaze away from the incredible vineyard. “I can’t imagine how wonderful it would be to live in a place like this, to wake up with this view every morning, and take evening strolls through the sweet, scented air.”
“I love leaving the city and coming out here. I even love harvest time, and helping my sister prepare the grapes for the wine. There’s something about fresh country air that heals the body and mind,” he tells me.
We pull around a final corner and see a beautiful, charming home on a hill with such a welcoming aura about it that I’m instantly in love. Beautiful gardens of vegetables and flowers surround the home, making it look like the entire property was picked up and moved straight from Italy. Paradise, it’s absolute paradise.
“This is incredible, Magnus,” I whisper, afraid if I talk louder I’ll be breaking the spell I’ve been placed under. I finally turn to look at him and he’s gazing back with what looks like awe. I don’t know what to think of this.
“I thought you’d like it,” he tells me.
“Who wouldn’t love it here?” I ask with a laugh. I’m still scared, but this place is homey, and far less intimidating than his house in the city. Then again, his mother is inside this home which makes it a tad scarier. I just have to hope she doesn’t chase me out with a rolling pin.
Magnus exits the vehicle and I fumble with my seatbelt as he walks around and opens my door. I take his hand as I step out, then try to pull away, not wanting to be hand in hand as we go inside. He doesn’t let me go, though as he leads me inside through the front door. The smell that hits me immediately makes my stomach grumble. We had a very light breakfast and now it’s closer to dinner time and I’m starving, especially after all of our activity the night before and this morning. He assured me we needed to come with a full appetite as there is going to be a lot of food we’ll want to eat.
Magnus moves through the home straight into the kitchen. His mother is facing the stove as we step into the room. She’s a petite woman with salt and pepper hair tied into a bun on the back of her neck. As she turns around, her stunning beauty shocks me. She doesn’t look old enough to be his mother. She’s wearing a smile as she looks at her son, but then her gaze focuses on me, and her smile grows.
“Magnus, Darling, you’re late,” she says. She moves over and kisses his cheeks before she focuses all of her attention on me. “And who is this lovely young woman you’ve brought with you?” There’s a youthful sparkle in his mother’s eyes that has me wanting to look at the floor. I’m desperately trying to keep my cheeks from flushing.
“This is Piper,” Magnus says, his voice filled with pride that sends a little zing through me.
“Hmm, Piper. Why has my son been hiding you from me?” she asks, making me shift on my feet. I have no idea how to answer this. I certainly don’t want to tell her that we’ve only been dating for about a month, not even that if you count how many dates we’ve actually had.
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Carter,” I tell her, my voice quiet.
“You must call me Isabella,” she says as she reaches up and cups my cheeks, turning my head from side to side as she gives me a nice long look. She then pulls me from Magnus. “You come help me. You’re too skinny and need to be fed.”
I personally think I could lose ten pounds, but I don’t dare say that to this woman. She’s Italian and I might get a long lecture about the importance of a good appetite. She’s tiny herself though, but again I don’t dare say this. I’m a bit panicked that she wants me in the kitchen with her. If she sees what a terrible cook I am she might not find me suitable for her son. What if she thinks her son will starve with me as his girlfriend?
She stops at the counter that’s filled with various ingredients. “Today you will help me make fresh pasta, a lesson all kids should know,” she announces as she moves over to a rack, then comes back and hands me an apron. Magnus is already pulling his own apron from the wall. “Magnus will work on the sauce.” It shows that they’ve done this many times before.
“I’ve never made pasta before. I don’t want to ruin anything,” I tell her, fighting panic.
“You’ll do beautifully. I can tell by your hands. They’re the hands of a woman who works,” she tells me as she holds my hands up for inspection. I look at them at the same time realizing how unsophisticated they are. I don’t wear fake nails, and they do tend to get dry with working with so many books.
I don’t continue to argue with her, not wanting to set a bad impression. I listen carefully as she instructs me on what to do, her voice patient and kind as I scoop the flour on the work surface, add the eggs and begin mixing. I find I’m really enjoying it as the big glob turns into a beautiful dough. I carefully watch as we each make our own pile, then seal it to rest. She pulls out dough that’s already rested and shows me how to roll it. When we get to the point we’re cutting it, I’m grinning ear to ear.
“I can’t believe I’m making fresh pasta,” I tell her with true joy rushing through me.
She beams at me. “There’s nothing as satisfying as feeding your family with your own hands. The secret ingredient to great Italian cooking is always love,” Isabella tells me.
I lean over and hug her, overcome with emotion, my eyes filling. I pull back horrified at my action. She laughs and grabs me, giving me a long hug in return. I’m falling in love with Magnus’s mother as quickly as I’m falling in love with him.
“That passion I see in your eyes, is exactly what I still feel today when cooking for my family. It’s a gift to give a love of creating beautiful dishes,” she says. “We feed the bodies and the souls at the same time.”
I look over at Magnus who’s staring at us and I beam at him, so grateful I decided to come with him. Now I don’t know why I was ever scared because this is great. Isabella moves over to Magnus and tastes his sauce before she hits him in the arm.
“You’re distracted my boy. This needs much more basil,” she tells him. He laughs as he leans over and kisses her cheek.
“Yes, I’m distracted. It’s impossible not to be with two such beautiful ladies in the kitchen with me.”
She chuckles. “My son the charmer,” she says. She then moves over and starts showing me how to put a lasagna together. I’m not sure how much food is on the counters, but there’s no possible way we’re going to be able to eat all of it. It’s never ending.
We get into a rhythm, and I find myself smiling as the conversation flows, Magnus showing his mother the upmost respect, and her love for him more than apparent. They’re also including me, truly making me feel like a part of their family. My heart swells just a little bit bigger when it comes to this man.
We’re deep into our cooking when the door bursts open and a whirlwind of energy enters the house as Bianca, Magnus’s sister, comes rushing inside, talking a mile a minute about her latest dating disaster. She turns the corner into the kitchen.
“. . . and then he says—” She abruptly stops, her eyes widening as she notices me standing beside her mother cutting up vegetables.
“Who are you?” she boldly asks looking from me to her mother to Magnus, then straight back to me again.
“Um, I’m Piper . . . a . . . uh . . . friend of Magnus’s,” I stumble out.
Her eyes spark with interest. “A friend, huh? Interesting.” I don’t know what she thinks about me being here but with the mischievousness in her expression, I’m afraid I’m in for some trouble. The woman is absolutely stunning with dark hair, dark chocolate brown eyes, stunning olive skin, a figure that has to make men sweat, and confidence oozing from her.
Bianca gives Magnus a long look. “It seems you look quite smitten, Brother dear.” I gulp as I look between the two siblings. “I want to hear every single detail of how you met. My brother doesn’t bring women home so this will be a good story.”
Knowing he doesn’t normally bring women home makes my nerves jump all over again, but it also warms me from head to toe. What does this all mean? I need to not read too much into this.
My heart is racing, and I decide I’m leaving this one up to him. I’ve already proven I don’t know what in the heck to say. I’ve never met a man’s family before. I haven’t been serious enough about a man to want to meet his family. This one is so close knit that if either of them don’t approve of me I have no doubt I’ll be out. I realize this will crush me. Even knowing this, though, I don’t want to try to pretend to be someone I’m not. I need to assure myself that I’m enough as I am. It’s still scary.
“You’ll get details, but for now why don’t we try not to scare Piper away?” Magnus says as he smiles at his sister. She thinks about it for a moment, then smiles.
“Okay, I’ll try not to scare your girlfriend too much,” Bianca says as she winks at me. “I’m not above embarrassing my brother, though. Girl, I have some stories to tell you.”
I laugh as Magnus groans. Maybe he’s regretting bringing me now. Since the attention is off of me for the moment, I relax again, and enjoy watching Magnus squirm. I wish I had this same kind of relationship with my brother, but at least I do with Livie. We’ll embarrass each other all day long, but never do anything hurtful.
“Did you know that Magnus used to be afraid of the dark? Yep, Mr. Big, Strong, and Confident was afraid to sleep without a nightlight. He’d sneak into my room at night, convinced there were monsters hiding beneath his bed. He refused to go back to his room even if I offered to go look beneath his bed. He’d freak out and tell me no way, that they’d get me if I did that,” Bianca says with glee as Magnus swipes his towel out at her. She barely dodges him as she dances away while laughing.
“Don’t you have some cooking to do since you’re so late?” he asks her. He then looks at me. “I was like seven at the time and I certainly grew out of that,” he adds.
“Doesn’t matter how old you were. It was still funny, especially since I was two years younger than you, and I was big and brave,” Bianca says. She looks at me again. She has so much more. “When he was fourteen he was trying to impress a girl by climbing a tree. He got his foot stuck and was up there for over an hour. She grew bored waiting for him to come back down, and we had to call the fire department to get him out. He was desperately tugging and swearing which got him in trouble with mama. The department took an hour to show up. He was begging us to never say a word, but I have pictures that I’m more than willing to show you.”
I burst into laughter, imagining his horror at being stuck while trying to be so cool. Fourteen is such a vulnerable age for young men. “I’d love to see the pictures,” I admit.
Magnus groans again. “What was I thinking in bringing you here?” he says, but he’s smiling. He’s taking the teasing in stride. This is the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him. He’s more than comfortable in this home. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of, and shows me this isn’t an act he’s been putting on for me this past month. This is the real Magnus. The cold man I met a year ago was the act.
“That you wanted to be embarrassed,” I tell him. He nods at me in agreement. He had to have known he’d get some razzing from his sister, but he still brought me here. This tells me a little more about the man.
“Just remember I was young and stupid then. I’m all man now,” he says. I can certainly testify to this fact, but it isn’t happening in the kitchen with his mother and sister.
Before he can respond, his sister jumps in again. “There was that time in his life he thought he was going to be a singer. Maybe he’ll serenade us if we say pretty please,” Bianca continues riding over her brother’s protests. “He was convinced he’d be the sixth member of the Backstreet Boys. He’d rattle the walls while he sang in the shower, in the car, and through the woods as we ran around. He was completely off key with a voice only a mother could love.”
“You do have a beautiful voice,” Isabella says as she moves over and pats Magnus’s cheek. He smiles.
“Thanks, Mom.” He turns to his sister. “You’re a brat.”
“That’s why you love me,” she says as she blows him a kiss through the air.
“Don’t you want to save some stories for next time?” Magnus asks her.
“Will there be a next time? You’re a pain in the butt and Piper might run screaming after one meal. I need to give her everything now just in case.”
“That would all be on you,” he quickly replies. “She’s not scared of me, but she might realize how crazy you are and never want to come here again.”
“Not a chance. I’m an angel,” she says. “Besides, we have to see what Piper’s made of. She deserves to know what she’s getting into.” Even these words are said with love. It’s more than clear how much the siblings love each other. Isabella tries to save Magnus, but there’s no stopping Bianca now that she’s on a role.
“I also have pictures of Magnus with the worst haircut known to man when he was trying to look like his favorite soccer player. It didn’t go well and was so uneven. That’s what happens when he asks his sister to help him out. I never said I could cut hair. He nearly cried when he looked in the mirror, and then he didn’t speak to me for days, thinking I did it on purpose.”
“I didn’t almost cry,” Magnus says. “You’ve had your fun. Now get to cooking before I start sharing all of your embarrassing moments. Trust me, there are a lot of them.”
She giggles. “I’m not embarrassed. Everything I’ve gone through in my short life has shaped me into the wonderful woman I am today, and you can’t argue with perfection.” She strikes a pose as she says this while fluttering her gorgeous eyelashes. She isn’t wrong, the woman is as close to perfection as I’ve ever seen before.
“Oh, I beg to differ. I remember the summer you went around kissing frogs because you were sure one of them would turn into your very own prince charming,” he says.
She laughs, not at all embarrassed. “I’m still kissing frogs, and they’re all toads. Didn’t you hear what I was saying when I walked in. I can’t get a good date to save my life.” She lets out a dramatic sigh of displeasure. “I’m not giving up, though, because one of these days the kiss will bring me Prince Charming.”
“You might just be too picky,” he tells her.
“Look who’s talking.” She then gives me a long look. “Though it seems you’ve finally grown some real taste. I think I like you, Piper.” This makes me blush. I’m not sure what to say.
“You’re certainly a lot of fun,” I finally tell her, which makes her laugh again.
“I’m a blast. Just wait til I get you all to myself. Then I can tell you all of the really good stuff like when Magnus nearly set the kitchen on fire when he tried to cook a meal for a date.”
I don’t like this, don’t like the idea of him cooking for anyone else. It’s such an odd feeling for me to have, but it’s such an intimate act and I don’t want to think of him romancing another woman. This is strange for me. Of course he’s been with other women, with many women. I look over at him with a smile. No way am I showing him that I’m in the least jealous about this.
“So you haven’t always been good in the kitchen?” I say. This morning he was perfect in the kitchen, but that had nothing to do with cooking.
He shakes his head. “I’ve improved a lot since I was thirteen,” he says with a shake of his head. It makes me feel slightly better this cooking incident happened when he was so young. He then winks at me and I know he’s thinking about our afternoon kitchen romp as much as I am. This train of thought needs to end now while his mother is so near.
We all continue cooking as more stories flow, this time Isabella stepping in and talking about some sweet memories about how much Magnus does for her, and what a great son he’s always been, and still is. Bianca even admits he’s the best brother a sibling could ever hope for.
It takes hours which goes by in the blink of an eye, and then we sit down and share a beautiful meal at a table overflowing with delicious, fragrant, textured food. I’m smiling so much my cheeks are hurting. Every moment I’m here, I’m grateful to be. It’s absolutely wonderful.
The food is excellent, the best I’ve ever had before, and even greater, knowing some of the pasta has been made with my own two hands. Isabella made sure to put my noodles on Magnus’s plate, and the look he gives me as he takes a bite is enough to make me blush. I have to look away at the pride in his eyes. Who knew it would make me feel so great to cook for a man? I’m suddenly taken back into the fifties . . . and I don’t hate it.
The laughter, praise, and stories all add up to an evening filled with love and warmth. I can’t even imagine how wonderful it would be to grow up in this home, to have this every night at dinner. What a beautiful life Magnus has come from. I have to fight tears as emotion flows through me.
I get another huge hug from Isabella as we say our goodbye’s that once again makes my eyes fill. I try to hide my sniffle. Bianca gives me a big hug too and makes me promise to come back. I nod at her, unsure if I can fulfil this promise. I know for sure it’s something I want to do. I’m not only falling in love with Magnus, but with his family as well. It’s too soon, I try to tell myself, but it doesn’t seem to matter. The heart seems to want what it wants.
I’m quiet as Magnus drives me home. He reaches over and takes my hand. “Are you okay?”
“That was a wonderful night,” I tell him, my throat tight, my nose tingling.
“What’s wrong?”
“I guess I’m a bit jealous. I can’t imagine growing up like that in such a wonderful home so filled with love and admiration for each other. You might not realize it, but you’re a very lucky man to have such a wonderful mother and sister,” I tell him. A tear slips making me feel foolish.
He pulls the car over and undoes my seatbelt. He pulls me to him and hugs me, and a few more tears fall.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
He holds me close. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you,” he tells me. He then tilts my chin up so I’m forced to look at him. “Thank you for that. I do forget how lucky I am. It’s quite humbling to see it through someone else’s eyes. I appreciate you more than words can say.”
He leans in and gently kisses me. Then he holds me for another few moments as I pull myself together. I finally climb back into my seat. He holds my hand all the way back to my apartment, then comes up with me. No words need to be said. We want to be together. I have to work in the morning so I need to be home, but I don’t want him to leave after such an emotional day.
He doesn’t. He comes in with me, and we make slow, sweet love this night, and I fall asleep in his arms again filled with too many emotions to name. The connection between us is continuing to grow and I’m not going to ask him to leave. I want him right here beside me, maybe for always.