That's Amore! - Janelle Denison [77]
Lottie snorted. Gloria grinned. Rachel chuckled under her breath. And Meg, growing pale, murmured, "Uh, water balloons?"
"All done," Rachel said, before the conversation turned to breast-feeding and breasts and Santori men playing with said breasts.
Rachel couldn't go there. Not even in her mind. Not without feeling all tingly, just at the thought of being touched by one of those men in particular. The one whose bride should have been here, the center of attention, right now.
"So what was Maria's excuse for not showing up this time?" Lottie asked, not hiding a frown.
Her mother pursed her lips. "She has a dentist appointment."
"Huh. You know, it kinda says something about a bride if she'd rather get a root canal than get fitted for her wedding dress." The other women mumbled and Meg coughed into her fist, but Lottie appeared unrepentant. "Oh, come on, you know it as well as I do. She's about as interested in getting married as I'm interested in staying a virgin until my wedding night."
Mrs. Santori grabbed the gold cross hanging around her neck and raised her eyes heavenward. "Lottie!"
The young woman flushed a little, shifted in her chair, and re-crossed her legs. "Sorry." Not too sorry, because she persisted. "But it's true. I hear her latest demands are that there be no mother's cakes and no Italian food of any kind at the wedding? She's decided to call in some French caterer at the last minute?"
Mrs. Santori blanched and her lips tightened. But she merely shrugged. "It is not our wedding."
Lottie shook her head in disgust, then shrugged. "I guess we can look on the bright side. Today sure has been a lot more pleasant than it would have been if she was here."
"That's not nice to say about your brother's fiancée," Mrs. Santori said with a hard stare.
"I know. But we're all thinking it, aren't we?" Lottie retorted, glancing around at all of them, as if daring them to deny it.
Mrs. Santori didn't answer. Neither did Gloria. Or Meg.
Rachel continued to work, staying out of this family discussion. But she couldn't help feeling very, very curious.
Maria didn't seem too anxious to get on with this wedding, judging by her complete disinterest in her own gown. Lucas's family didn't seem too happy about things, either.
Which left her wondering … how, exactly, did the groom feel about his upcoming nuptials?
CHAPTER FOUR
LUKE TRIED TO KEEP his mind off Rachel Grant the next day, knowing it was not only wrong but also dangerous to be thinking so much about a woman other than the one he was supposed to marry in a short time.
But he couldn't get her out of his head. Her smile. Her husky voice. The unconscious grace in her movements. The affection in her eye when she spoke of people she cared about—like Luke's own family. The resolution in her voice when she talked of using her delicate little fingers as lethal weapons against offensive oafs like the one yesterday.
"Get out of my head," he whispered as he parked his SUV outside his parents' restaurant after work.
She wouldn't. She certainly hadn't gotten out of his head throughout the long, sleepless night before, or today at work when he'd had a hard time concentrating on a thing anyone said to him. His co-workers chalked it up to pre-wedding distractions. Hmm. He guessed wondering if he'd made a terrible mistake and proposed to the wrong woman a few months before meeting someone who could be the right one—would be distracting for anyone.
Why hadn't he met Rachel first?
Or not at all.
No. He couldn't even pretend he wished that. Especially on days like today, when he'd spent all morning on the phone with Maria, who'd suddenly decided she hated every single thing about their wedding plans, from the food to the dress to the music.
He'd bowed out of the food and the music. But he'd pinned her down on the dress, rightfully saying there was no time to order another one.
Yet even as he'd said it, he'd been worrying more about Rachel—and how the rejection