Chapter 9
EVAN
Evan stole a glance at Mia, who was sitting in the seat across from him.
She’d curled up with her feet beneath her and leaned against the window, her eyes closed.
She looked peaceful, and her hair was slowly escaping from the bun she’d made, one strand at a time.
Night had fallen, and the dark sky outside the window was studded with a thousand stars, but Evan couldn’t sleep.
He had too much work to do, and he was too distracted.
Evan knew he should have talked to her. At the very least, he should acknowledge that he hadn’t been responding to her messages.
Over the last month, she’d sent several messages and emails asking to get together for dinner to discuss their cover story for the wedding.
Evan had ignored them. Mia had been in his mind constantly since the Napa Valley wedding, and he was certain that if he saw her again, it would only get worse.
And it had.
Now that they were alone together — except for Carolina, who brought drinks, snacks, and a meal at regular intervals — it was very difficult to focus on his work.
He kept stealing glances at Mia, and he kept holding himself back from starting a conversation.
He was aware of each of her small movements.
He was going to have to be very careful this week.
If he let himself grow closer to her, it would be impossible to get anything done while they were in Italy together.
And worse, he could risk his whole career if he let himself feel something real.
Eventually, the sun began to rise. The sky lightened through orange and pink and finally into a bright blue.
Beneath them, the ocean gave way to green land, and they began their descent.
Carolina woke Mia up and brought her a coffee, but Evan just stared at his work, pausing only to thank Carolina for his own coffee.
As they made their final descent, he packed his things into his work bag and finally took off his headphones.
He’d expected Mia to try to talk to him.
She had been so friendly at the wedding and in her messages.
But she kept reading, even as the plane bounced down onto the tarmac and came to a stop.
The doors opened, and the flight crew rolled up a staircase.
Still, Mia read, turning the pages with a flick each time, her eyes never straying from the book.
Finally, when Evan stood and gathered his bags, she got up and took her own.
She barely glanced at him, and, to Evan’s surprise, it hurt.
He was the one who’d ignored her for the last month, but he’d still expected she would at least try to be friendly.
Well, this was for the best.
They descended into the warm July morning.
The sky overhead was achingly blue, and the land around the airport was made up of rolling green and brown hills and vineyards.
A faint scent of lush vegetation filled the air.
The scenery was reminiscent of Napa Valley, in a way.
They crossed the tarmac to the waiting car, bidding Carolina goodbye, and got in.
As they rolled out, Mia undid her hair from the bun and brushed it back with her fingers. Then she glanced at Evan.
“I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me the plan for the day,” she said, her tone brisk and distant. Evan winced. He deserved that, though he felt like her students probably felt when she chastised them for a forgotten piece of homework or for talking in class.
“We’re going to the villa where the wedding will be held,” he explained. “We’ll have a bit of time to change, then we’ll meet my family for dinner.”
“And who exactly does ‘your family’ mean?” Mia asked.
“My parents, Arthur and Ellen, and my brother, Luka. He’s marrying his fiancée, Sarah.” Evan paused. “Well, that’s my immediate family. There will also be a few aunts, cousins, and grandparents around, but you won’t be expected to know their names.”
“Great.” Mia folded her arms and turned to look out the window.
Evan was tempted to try to continue their conversation, but instead he turned and looked out his own window.
He had no idea how Mia managed to look so fresh and lovely after a twelve-hour flight, especially given that she was annoyed with him.
Evan tried to distract himself by looking at the scenery outside.
They were near Val D’Orcia, if he remembered correctly, and the countryside was absolutely gorgeous.
Green rolling hills lined with a scattering of pine trees gave way to stone villas that were probably older than the United States.
A few people passed on bicycles, and Evan spotted an older man holding the hand of a small boy and walking down one of the country lanes that led away from the main road.
They passed a few olive groves and a couple of fields populated by fluffy white sheep or brown-and-white cows.
Mia seemed equally entranced by the scenery. She even snapped a few photos on her phone, but mostly she watched. Evan couldn’t help stealing a few glances at her now and then, still aware of her movements and her breath.
After about forty minutes, they pulled up in front of the villa where the wedding would be held.
The villa was enormous, with beige stone walls and a reddish roof.
A huge archway led through to the vineyard behind it, and the yard featured numerous seating areas, a pool, and a sweeping lawn where Evan imagined the wedding events would be held.
There were a few cars in the front already, and several members of Evan’s family were sitting at a stone picnic table beneath an awning in the front.
His heart sank. He’d hoped to sneak Mia inside and buy them both a little time before they met his family.
“Here we are,” the driver said in Italian-accented English.
“Grazie mille,” Mia said.
“Thanks,” Evan added, feeling unprepared. Did she speak Italian? There was so much he didn’t know about this woman. They got out of the car, and Evan came around to her side.
“That’s my mother and two of my aunts,” he told her in a low voice, gesturing to the group at the table.
“Okay.” Mia took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.
” Then she put on a bright smile, one Evan remembered from the Napa Valley wedding, and took his hand.
Warmth spread up his arm, and he tried to pretend that this was normal.
He was very aware of Mia’s soft palm and the way their arms brushed as they walked.
In an instant, she’d turned from rightfully angry to friendly.
“Evan!” His mother, Ellen, stood and hurried over to them.
She wore a floaty white dress and low heels, along with classy silver jewelry that included a necklace and earrings.
Her hair was dyed brown with lighter highlights and had been curled away from the sides of her face.
She looked more Evan’s age than that of a woman in her sixties.
“Hi, Mom.” Evan let go of Mia’s hand as his mother pulled him into a lavender-scented hug.
“And this must be the girlfriend you mentioned!” Ellen let go of him and turned to Mia. Her gaze swept over her, evaluating as always. “So nice to meet you. Please, call me Ellen.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Mia held out her hand for a shake. “I’m Mia.” Evan could see that she was nervous from the way her eyes didn’t quite meet Ellen’s, but so far, this was going well.
“Your outfit looks so… comfortable,” Ellen said, and Evan winced.
So much for this going well. He glanced at Mia’s travel outfit, a pair of jeans and a light purple T-shirt, along with sneakers.
She looked perfectly lovely to him, but of course his mother would think that she wasn’t dressed fashionably.
“Oh!” Mia bit her lip, glancing down at her clothes. “Um, thank you. I picked something comfy for the flight.”
“Of course, of course.” Ellen furrowed her brows. “We’ve been begging Evan for details since he told us he’d be bringing a girlfriend to the wedding, but he’s been as reticent as ever. Tell me about yourself.”
“Mom, we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other,” Evan said, wanting to head off an awkward conversation, but Ellen was deep into questioning mode and waved him off.
“Don’t worry, darling, we’re just chatting. So, Mia, what do you do?”
“I teach high school math,” Mia explained. Ellen’s eyebrows shot up.
“Is that so? How… noble.” The last word sounded more than a little snide, and Evan knew it was time to step in. He cleared his throat.
“So, Mom, are you looking forward to the festivities?”
“Of course.” Ellen glanced at Mia again before turning her full attention to her son. “It’s wonderful that Luka is getting married, and Sarah is such a catch.”
“Yep.” Evan glanced at his phone. “Listen, Mom, we’d better head upstairs and get changed before brunch.”
“Oh yes, do get changed.” Ellen glanced at Mia’s outfit again. “And we’ll see you in a bit. This villa is simply gorgeous, you know. Your father and I are in the Rose Suite, and it’s darling. You and Mia will be in the Lemon Suite, I believe.”
Mia and Evan exchanged a glance before excusing themselves. As they went inside, Evan hurried to explain.
“Sorry about the room. I would have gotten you your own, but it would have been too suspicious. Don’t worry; I made sure we got a suite with a couch, so I can sleep there.”
“I won’t fight you on that this time,” Mia said. Her tone was sharp again, a reversal from the polite way she’d spoken to his mother. This was going to be a very long week.
“And I’m sorry about my mother, too. That’s how she is.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure we’ll be the best of friends.” Mia smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “And anyway, if they hate me, it’ll make it easier for you to show up to the next event alone.”
They reached the counter before Evan had a chance to reply and got their key, an old-fashioned brass key like the one they’d had in Napa Valley. Thanking the receptionist, they headed up a flight of stairs to their room on the second floor.
Suite would have been a generous description.
The room was small, with barely enough room for a large bed covered in pristine white sheets, a white-painted desk and chair that looked out of the window to the vineyards below, and a small sofa that would seat two people.
There was no way Evan would be able to lie down on that without his legs hanging off the end and his neck bent onto the armrest. As suggested in the name, the suite was decorated with a pattern of lemons on the wallpaper, and there was a glass vase full of fresh, bright-yellow lemons on the desk.
Mia set her bag on the end of the bed, opened it, and started looking through her clothes.
“Would you like to shower before brunch?” Evan asked.
“No, I’m okay, but I definitely need to change.”
“Sorry again about my mom.”
“It’s fine.” Mia pulled out a flowing yellow dress embellished with small white flowers. “How’s this?”
“It’ll be great,” Evan said. Mia took the dress and a makeup bag and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Evan alone.
He’d planned to work today, but he’d dragged Mia into this mess, and he couldn’t abandon her to his family.
There would almost definitely be more snide comments, and if things really escalated, it would be pretty easy for his family to figure out that they weren’t really dating. They barely knew each other, after all.
So, with a longing glance at the laptop bag where his work supplies were, Evan ran his hands through his hair and grabbed a new shirt out of his bag. As he was pulling the old shirt off, Mia emerged from the bathroom, and her eyes widened.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t change in here.”
“It’s only my shirt,” Evan said. He turned to face her as he pulled on the clean one. “And it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.” He couldn’t help moving a little slowly, giving her a glimpse of his bare chest and abs before the shirt was on.
Shut up, he told himself, but seeing Mia blush was worth the teasing. She didn’t respond, though, instead walking to the door and pulling it open.
“Brunch?” she said.
“Let’s go.”
As they headed downstairs, Evan couldn’t help feeling that this was going to be a very long week indeed.
Mia was upset with him — and understandably so — and his mother was already suspicious of Mia.
They hadn’t even met the rest of the family yet.
Plus, Evan really did have a lot of work to do, and it was looking like he wouldn’t have much time for it.
If he made it through this week without a huge blowup, it would be a miracle.