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“Sort of,” he said. “But I won’t take no for an answer. I know you have the funds. And who doesn’t love Sicily in the spring?”
“Have you been?” I asked Neo, already knowing Gian had been there. It’s where he met Mazzie.
“First time,” Neo said. “But you should absolutely come. It’s gonna be a great time.”
Sicily. In three weeks.
I’d probably still be here, based on the timeline Dave and I had discussed. “If the environmental impact assessment clears, there’ll probably be a public hearing soon.” I thought about the timing out loud. “But aside from that, most of the process could be done remotely, though it’s good for me to be here as needed.”
“And you are. Except for a few days. Most people are coming for a week, but you could come for a long weekend if you wanted. It might be a long way to travel for just a few days, but...”
“Do it,” Neo prompted.
Carpe diem.
Since Dad died—and I never got to say goodbye, being halfway around the world when he had a heart attack—coupled with an acceptance of death from my many brushes with it, the mantra had become more than a string of Latin words etched into a guard tower I’d been manning when the news came.
I lived it.
Not giving a baker’s fuck about inconsequential shit that a lot of other people worried about was freeing in a way that made my mother worry sometimes. But despite what she said, I neither had a death wish nor was dismissive of other peoples’ feelings. I simply refused to do anything but live my life on my own terms.
Sicily.
“He’s thinking about it.”
“Oh man,” I said out loud before I could stop myself. A vision of one wet-haired, cross-legged vixen sitting on my deck pretending to be nice popped into my head. It had been funny to me that Natalie thought I had no idea what she was up to. For someone who’d looked at me solely with anger in her eyes since we met to suddenly turn sweet just because I gave her some dry clothes?
Nah.
Though I applauded her change in tactics, and welcomed the respite, it wasn’t all that surprising to me that we’d parted ways with Natalie angrily jumping into her kayak and rowing away without her clothes.
Despite the fact that she hated me, one thing was crystal clear.
I wanted her.
I wanted Natalie in a way I hadn’t wanted a woman in recent history. Visions of me peeling off those sweats I’d given her had me almost seeking her out, using the clothes as an excuse to see her again. So far, I’d resisted.
Sicily. And she’d be there.
“Sounds like fun,” I said. “But I thought you were keeping it small, mostly family?”
“Small and my family don’t exactly go together,” Gian said. “But it is mostly immediate family and a few close friends. About forty-five, fifty people. Certainly room for an old friend, and a guest, of course. I’ll get you the details.”
“So you’re in?” Neo asked.
Close friends. That must include Natalie, but how to ask without revealing my interest? “You sure my presence won’t irritate Mazzie’s friend Natalie? She doesn’t seem to care for me very much.”
Gian laughed. “I hate to say you’re right. But nah, Natalie will be fine. She’s a big girl. Super sweet, but there’s a streak to her too. I’m not worried.”
There was a lot of information packed in there. So Natalie would be at the wedding. And also, “A streak?”
Gian shrugged. “You know what they say about nice girls.”
My eyes widened.
“Oh no, nothing like that. I’m just saying she can be a bit wild. They went to New Orleans a few months ago and apparently Natalie was the one dragging everyone to a dance club at two in the morning. That kind of thing.”
So my girl had a wild streak, did she? Very interesting.
