That's Amore! - Janelle Denison [90]
"No, thanks, Mrs. Santori, I came to drop these off." She kept her voice low as she placed the sealed cardboard carton on one of the empty tables. "The favors were delivered this morning and I thought Maria might like to see them." Casting a quick glance toward the not-so-happy-looking bride and groom, she added, "Maybe you could give them to her later."
Mrs. Santori said nothing for a moment, merely giving her a long, thorough stare. Rachel willed her breathing to remain steady and her cheeks not to redden. There's nothing to feel guilty about.
She'd barely touched Luke, except, of course, when she'd thrown herself in his arms that first day. But only because of fat fingers Freddy. She'd certainly had no idea how much she'd like being in his arms until after she'd landed there, so she couldn't feel guilty about it.
Unless her innermost thoughts and wishes counted. Then, well, someone might as well call the executioner because she was guilty as hell.
"I think you should stay a little while," Mrs. Santori said. "You're very welcome here." Her voice was low, her expression caring, as if she somehow understood what Rachel was feeling.
Before Rachel could respond, she heard Maria's loud voice. "Rachel! How nice to see you."
That was about as friendly as Rachel had ever heard her, but she also noted a hint of forced gaiety in the other woman's voice. Maria's eyes were suspiciously bright as she rose from her seat and approached.
"I brought a box of your favors so you could check them out," Rachel said softly.
"Oh … those silly little almond things my father insisted on?" She gave a weary sigh. "Fine, why don't you leave them here and I'll go through them later."
Gloria Santori emerged from the kitchen and joined the conversation. "Oh, no, you're not getting out of this one. You have to open the top one right now, and end this suspense. Just how many babies are you and Luke going to have?"
Oh, God. Babies? Rachel sucked in a quick breath and clenched her fingers into fists, determined not to react in any way, though the mental picture pained her somewhere deep inside.
Maria reacted enough for all of them. "Babies? What babies? I'm not pregnant. Who told you I was pregnant?" Her voice was sharp and raised.
Luke walked over. "I don't think anyone suspects that's possible." He and Maria exchanged a telling look, both, Rachel noticed, remaining stiff and untouching. As if they weren't comfortable with one another. As if they shared no intimacy whatsoever.
Which definitely got her wondering.
"You know the custom, don't you?" Gloria asked as she reached for the box and began tearing off the packing tape. "The engaged couple opens the first little container, and however many almonds are inside determines how many children they'll have." She grinned. "Tony and I had two in ours, which means I'm off the hook for life!"
Though Rachel would rather have been anywhere else, she could think of no graceful way out. She had to stand here and watch Luke and his fiancée go through a family wedding ritual. Which she looked forward to about as much as she looked forward to her first tax audit.
Maria and Luke didn't appear very happy about this whole thing, either. Neither of them smiled, and they certainly didn't laugh intimately together at the thought of any children in their future. Meanwhile, Luke's mom just kept shifting her attention between them all, obviously sensing something was up.
Only Gloria appeared oblivious to the undercurrents as she finished tearing off the tape, then pushed the box across the table to Maria. "Go on."
The center of attention now, Maria slowly peeled up the sides of the box and peered inside. She was silent for a moment, though her face grew pale and her mouth opened.
Then she let out a scream. A loud one.
The few diners in the place dropped their forks and one woman tipped her glass over. Everyone stared in shock as Maria threw her hands over her face and began muttering something.
"What's wrong?" Luke