Page 145 of Falling for Mr. October

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

GIOVANNI

I have to prepare for a major fall event, make the best apple pie in existence, and interview for a major morning show, all within a few days of my grandmother breaking her wrist. No big deal.

The thought nearly makes me laugh. But yeah, fuck…

“You look very serious,” Bianca comments, lifting one corner of her mouth into a half smile.

We’re sitting at the kitchen table with our coffee. It’s ridiculously early, but Bianca goes to work early, so I got up to make her breakfast. I wasn’t sleeping anyway, to be perfectly honest.

Janine texted me yesterday to say she’d retracted her story and wanted nothing to do with me or any of the weird people I hung around with ever again. Doesn’t matter, though. I’m still worried I’ll be asked something about her alleged baby.

“I guess I’m feeling very serious,” I admit.

“I could drive you to California, and we could pick oranges and lose ourselves in each other,” she says with a smile, echoing the offer I made her a while back.

I pull her onto my lap. “Don’t threaten me with a good time. I’d like to get away with you.”

“Let’s give your grandmother six weeks to rebound. Maybe we can go on a Christmas cruise and take the whole book club with us.”

I turn her around to face me. “I think you’re kidding,” I say, “but I kind of want to do it. Can you imagine? We’d have to find an adults-only cruise. I don’t think children would understand the Dong of Discussion.”

She grins at me. “Yes, I can see it now. Realistically, the nonnas aren’t going to let us leave them on Christmas, though. That’s not happening.”

I snort, feeling the truth of this in my bones.

They’re sitting in the sunroom right now, talking in low voices. Nonna’s going in later today to get that X-ray done, possibly to get a cast, but she insists it doesn’t hurt much. Knowing her, she’ll probably try to start cooking and moving furniture within the next few days.

“Your family can all come here again for Christmas,” she says.

Most of my siblings have already made plans to travel to Apple Ridge for Thanksgiving, except for Aria, who couldn’t get the time off work.

I smile at the thought of having them all here for Christmas. There’s something magical about a Christmas tree farm during the holidays.

“Enzo will want to pick out the tree,” I warn her. “He likes being in charge.”

“He and Theo can flip for it.”

“I’d like that,” I say. “So we’ll go on the cruise in January.” I stroke her hair, already feeling considerably better. “Maybe the cruise line would sponsor us.”

I pause before continuing. “I want us to run The Rotten Apple together. I think we could do a hell of a lot better than Mr. Mayor. I was thinking maybe you could use the money from Kitty’s fund to buy the building next door. We could use it to run community enrichment classes for senior citizens and kids. Maybe offer pro bono cooking classes.”

She nestles her head in my neck. “I love you so much, but he’ll never sell it to us, and you know the money’s tied up in probate.”

“I’ve got a plan, amore mio.”

She pulls back and gives me an incredulous look. “What have you been up to?”

“Wheeling and dealing. I learned it from my big brother, so you can blame him. Or Whit. That kid has more business smarts at eleven than I do at thirty.”

“Have you talked to Rhett?”

I nod. “And we’ve come to an agreement.”

“Giovanni.”

I run a comforting hand over her back. “I didn’t give up anything I don’t mind losing, and he’s not getting everything he wants. He only thinks he is.”