Chapter Twenty-Six #2
“So you can see why we’d find Mr. Abbott continuing to reference my mother as his wife confusing when he married two women in Costa Rica. I believe bigamy is still a criminal offense.”
“When you can prove intent, which you can’t. At the time, my client was unaware he was married as a result of the head injury he had sustained.”
“Except these sworn affidavits prove that, while he might have sustained a head injury, he hadn’t lost his memory as he’s claimed.” Sage handed Aaron’s lawyer the sworn affidavits from his attending physician, a nurse he’d tried to date, and the first women he’d married in Costa Rica.
“How did you get these?” Aaron asked, flicking them away. “They’re fake.”
“I’m afraid they’re very real. As to who acquired them, Jake did.
” Sage bared her teeth in a semblance of a smile.
“It’s too bad he had all that time to kill while you were making yourself at home on our farm.
He took a little trip to Costa Rica.” She passed his lawyer two more official-looking documents, her eyes hard, her voice knife-sharp when she addressed Aaron.
“Alice must have recognized you that day at the Smoke Shack. She would have seen the resemblance between us, and she knew what you would try to pull. She’d planned to shut you down before you had a chance. ”
“What are you talking about, honey?” Gia asked.
“When you went to Alice asking for advice about your divorce, she opened a file and began investigating Aaron. She had witness statements from people who lived in your neighborhood.”
Gia’s face got hot as she thought about what her neighbors would have told Alice.
She’d never mentioned the witness statements to her.
Maybe she would have if Gia had gone ahead with the divorce, but she’d been afraid to.
Afraid to put them on Aaron’s radar. She’d hadn’t seen or heard from him in over a year by then.
Aaron’s lawyer passed him the papers. He paled as he read them over.
“I think we’re done here,” the lawyer said as he came to his feet, nudging Aaron to do the same.
“Not before your client signs these, we’re not,” Sage said, passing several more documents and a pen across the table.
Less than fifteen minutes later, they were done, and Aaron was on his way back to Costa Rica. “What were the last papers that you passed to Aaron’s lawyer?” Gia asked Sage.
“The divorce papers, along with the witness statements from your old neighbors and the owner of the art gallery where you had your first showing in New York,” Sage said.
“Your neighbors paid attention to what was going on in your home. They didn’t like what they heard or saw Aaron saying and doing to you.
The gallery owner testified that the night before your second showing, your work had been destroyed, and you had to withdraw.
He pointed the finger at Aaron, relaying several instances of him belittling your talent in his presence.
” She rubbed Gia’s arm. “I’m sorry that he did that to you. That he stole your dream.”
Gia shook her head, reaching out her hand to Willow, who’d just joined them. “He didn’t. I got my dream right here. The two of you,” she said, and hugged her daughters.
Jake joined them. “I gather from the way Aaron and his lawyer slunk out of here that Sage notched another win.”
“The win isn’t mine alone. It’s as much yours and Alice’s,” Sage said as she came to her feet and kissed Jake’s cheek.
“We made a good team.” He smiled.
“You make a great team,” Gia said, standing up to hug him. “Thanks for everything, Jake.”
“Don’t mention it. I was happy to help.”
“After this, you two deserve a holiday,” Willow said.
“Great minds.” Sage smiled at Jake. “Now that we’ve got the Aaron problem taken care of and the Rosettis are one big happy family, I thought you and I could take a one-week vacation before I go back to work.”
Sage might have missed it, but Gia caught the subtle shift in Jake’s expression.
He wasn’t a fan of her daughter going back to work this soon.
Gia wasn’t happy about it either. But she knew her daughter.
She just hoped the couple were able to make a go of their relationship with Sage working and living in Boston.
“Great. Where do you want to go?” Jake asked.
“Home.” She whispered something in his ear that made him smile.
Gia had a feeling they wouldn’t be staying for dessert.
On her way to the family table, she greeted several customers who were checking that she was all right.
She obviously hadn’t been whisper-shouting as she had thought.
But the majority of customers on Sunday were locals who were well acquainted with the Rosettis.
She’d noticed a slight uptick in Sunday reservations and had a feeling they were a result of people hearing they were reinstating their Sunday family dinner.
They’d be disappointed tonight, she thought as she made her way to the back of the restaurant.
They’d witnessed all the Rosetti drama they were going to get for one day.
While accepting her sisters’ hugs, she worked at hiding her disappointment that Flynn was noticeably absent from the table. Then her mother appeared with a picnic basket. “Go. He’s waiting for you on the beach.”
Her family and Flynn’s ushered her out the back door with shouts of good luck and some love-life advice.
Gia had been wrong about not providing their customers with something else to talk about.
But all thoughts about being the subject of tomorrow’s gossip emptied from her head when she spotted Flynn sitting on a blanket on the beach.
She slipped off her heels, leaving them on the stairs to the family’s apartments, and after a quick hello to their customers eating on the deck, she walked down the stairs and across the beach to join him.
He came to his feet and took the picnic basket from her. “Your mom thought we’d like some privacy. Your sisters did too.” He gestured for her to sit.
She wondered if he’d gotten the same send-off she had. “I’m sorry I broke up with you over a text, Flynn,” she said as she opened the picnic basket. “It wasn’t my finest moment. I saw you with Cami on the dock and jumped to the wrong conclusions. I should have given you a chance to explain.”
“Yeah, you should have.” He set a container of caprese skewers on the blanket. “I found the cake on the stairs. I knew what you’d seen and what you’d think, so I went to talk to you. By the time I got to your place, I’d gotten your text. I sat outside your apartment waiting for you.”
“I needed time to think. I needed time by myself.”
“Would it have killed you to send an update to your daughters? They were beside themselves with worry.”
“So I’ve been told. Funny how they don’t have the same problem keeping me updated with their lives. I’m lucky if I hear from them once a week.” She opened a container. It held spinach and Havarti paninis with an olive tapenade.
“You’re mad?”
“Yes, I’m mad. Earlier, when you came over to the table, you seemed like we were okay.
But it doesn’t feel like we are so if you just want to rehash what happened and then break up with me, get it over with.
” She tossed the container and crossed her arms, looking past the whitecapped waves rolling onto shore.
In the distance, against the pink horizon, three sailboats raced across the water.
“You didn’t call me. You didn’t text me. ”
“No. I didn’t. I was angry and worried about you, and then I thought, given the way the girls reacted to us being together, maybe you were right and it was for the best. By day two, I called Jake.
He had a friend track you down using your credit cards, so I knew where you were, and I knew you were safe.
” He picked up a panini. “And then when you came home, you visited with your daughters and your sisters, got yourself arrested, and again, I didn’t hear from you.
” He ate his sandwich while looking out to sea.
“I thought about going to see you. I wanted to see you more than anything, Flynn. But I talked myself out of it. Aaron got into my head.” She told him what he’d said. Flynn’s eyes came to hers. He was angry, and she thought Aaron was lucky he’d left town. “I was trying to protect my heart.”
“A broken heart is the price we pay for living and loving, Gia. Sometimes you have to decide if it’s worth loving someone if the alternative was not loving them at all.”
“What would you say if I said I wanted to take the risk, with you?” She moved the containers and the picnic basket out of the way.
He lifted her onto his lap. “I’d say I’d do my best to make sure you never regret being brave enough to take a chance on me.”
“What would you say if I told you I loved you?”
“I’d say it took you long enough to realize it. I fell in love with you the day I walked into La Dolce Vita and you smiled at me.” He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Now you better kiss me so they can go and eat.”
She looked to see her family and Flynn’s standing on the deck, and she shook her head. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? I’m a package deal, you know.”
“I’m ready for anything as long as I’ve got you by my side,” he said. Then he kissed her to the cheers of their families.