Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“She doesn’t even know me!” I objected, then saw a guilty as hell look cross Nino’s face. “Do I?” I asked, suspicious. “Oh, my God. I’ve met her? And you didn’t tell me?”
“In my defense, of which I have very little here,” he was smart enough to say. “It was before we really started to be something. She came in to get pastries and decided right then and there that you were going to be her next daughter-in-law.”
“Oh,” I said, not sure exactly how I felt about that. Almost, well, disappointed? That I missed my chance to make my first good impression. Then again, though, maybe she got a better first impression getting to meet me when I wasn’t aware she was Nino’s mom. She would have seen me in my normal environment where I felt comfortable, and not all nervous and queasy like I was right then.
“She gushed about you,” he went on, sensing that this was probably helping my nerves.
“She did?”
“She said you had a megawatt smile and had kind words for everyone. And she said you were beautiful.”
“She did?” I asked, actually feeling a little teary-eyed.
“Well, you are all of those things, sweetheart,” he reminded me, giving my hand a squeeze. “Come on. Let’s go eat an insane amount of food. But you might want to prepare yourself for the noise,” he warned.
He wasn’t wrong about that.
It wasn’t just a meet-the-mom event. Because it seemed like every Grassi event practically involved the whole family. So not only were his brothers and his sister there, but so were several of his cousins and their wives. And the kids.
But it was Giulia I was most excited to finally—officially—meet.
And I found her, naturally, in her gorgeous kitchen with Smush and her daughter Valley helping her put the finishing touches on the meal.
“There she is!” Giulia declared, throwing her arms up and out before wiping them on her apron and coming toward me, grabbing my face in both hands. “Yep, just as beautiful as I remember,” she declared. “I’m so glad we can officially meet! Thank you so much for saving my son!”
Then I was wrapped up in the tightest hug of my entire life.
It was safe to say I was… welcome.
As welcome as another woman who I’d never seen before. All tattoos and dyed hair. Gorgeous. And slightly more familiar with the family than I was yet.
I would learn later that this was Traveler.
And she was, apparently, with the baby of the family, August.
You could say that Giulia was over the moon at the prospect of two potential new daughters-in-law. And all the possible grandbabies we might give her.
By the end of the evening, I officially felt part of this loud, crazy, over-the-top family.
I couldn’t wait to bring my mom into it too.
We’d been on our own for so long.
It was going to be a grand new adventure to be part of a big family.
God knew she and Giulia, as well as Lucky and Smush’s mom Adrian, had a lot in common when it came to cooking.
I figured when they all finally met, there would be a lot of talk about the menu at our wedding.
And, well, I was perfectly okay with that.
I had every intention on marrying Nino Grassi some day.
Nino - 8 months
I was in the kitchen, tossing together some dinner for both of us, my pocket feeling overly heavy.
It wasn’t the ring itself.
It was what it represented.
A life.
A future.
A new family.
As well as an extension of the existing one.
One that Savannah had fit into seamlessly. As had her mother, who had taken to having a bunch of mom friends who loved to cook like she’d been searching for them her entire life.
It all just… worked.
It was time to make shit official.
“Don’t let him jump on you!” Savannah called a second before the Golden Retriever came bounding into the kitchen, all limitless energy, and dirty-ass paws.
“Digging in her Azaleas again?” I asked him, clucking my tongue.
“Yes, he was,” Savannah said, coming in with a small basket in her hand, full of an unbelievable amount of quail eggs, since she’d just collected them the day before. “And if he doesn’t stop, he’s going to end up on his Grandma Giulia’s doorstep with a note around his neck, telling her to keep him forever. And then what, Verb?” she asked the puppy, whose actual name was Verbena. I still wasn’t entirely sure how she’d talked me into that. It probably involved nudity. “Then those mean cats of hers are going to chase you all over the house until you’re whimpering on top of the dining room table again.”
At that, Verb sat, ducking his head a bit, giving her the big eyes.
“Whoops,” she said, grimacing, realizing what she’d done. She’d said the “g” word to him. Grandma always meant a visit from one of his two favorite people in the world—my mom, or Savannah’s mom. Who each spoiled him as if he was a human grandchild. He got presents under the tree at Christmas, and baskets on Easter. Sunshine made him homemade dog treats. They both took turns picking him up to go on walks or beach trips.