“Sure.”
If she’d been ambivalent when Joe had first arrived, the feeling had only intensified over the past few days. The logical side of her brain told her none of this was Joe’s fault. Oh, sure, he could be a great guy and refuse the offer of more money than he’d ever imagined. But that would make him certifiable. The fact that he’d won the inheritance lottery was just plain lucky for him and sucky for her.
So she shouldn’t resent him or really want to kidnap him. But a part of her did.
“Have a seat,” Mia said, patting the mattress.
He crossed to the bed and grabbed a handful of clothes, which he tossed onto the dresser, then settled on the mattress, as far from Mia as possible.
“We were talking about dating. I’m in desperate need of a meaningless relationship,” Mia told him.
“Go fishing somewhere else,” he said.
She frowned. “Is this a metaphor about my dating your friends?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t think you’d be so macho and brotherly.” She glanced at Brenna. “Was he like this when you first met?”
“I don’t think I tortured him as much as you do.”
Mia turned her attention back to Joe. “If you’re trying to protect me, it’s really sweet, but I’m not a virgin. I haven’t been for a long time.”
Joe winced. “I really didn’t want to know that.”
Brenna grinned at his discomfort. “In the girls-against-boys battle, you’re a little outnumbered.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Quit complaining. You love us,” Mia said.
Brenna wasn’t so sure. “We’re still unfamiliar,” she said. “A regular family would be a big adjustment, but I’m not sure how one gets used to the Marcelli clan.”
“Slowly,” Joe admitted. “You told me who everyone was when we first met, but I’m not sure I believed there were really that many people living in one house.”
He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. “I don’t remember when my folks told me I was adopted. I always seemed to know. Until they died, I never much thought about my real parents. Then I figured Colleen had given me up because she didn’t want me.”
Brenna stretched out her hand and touched his. “It wasn’t like that at all. She and Dad were too young to stand up to their parents. They weren’t given much of a choice in the matter. Now things are different, but thirty years ago not many sixteen-year-olds were able to keep their babies.”
He nodded.
“I never thought about how hard it would be to find out you had a whole family you’d never known about. You must be feeling really confused.”
He glanced at her. “I’m a SEAL. I don’t have feelings.”
Brenna smiled. He looked up, met her gaze, and winked. Mia socked him in the arm.
Joe glanced around, looking puzzled. “Is there a fly in here? I think it just landed on my arm.” He brushed at the place she’d hit him. “Huh. I guess not.”
Mia shoved him. He didn’t budge. She sighed heavily, then rested her head on his shoulder again.
“You have to like us at least a little,” she said.
“Some more than others.”
She rolled her eyes. “However you’re acting, I’m glad you decided to come visit. We’re all enjoying getting to know you. Even when you’re uncooperative.”
Joe put his arm around her. “You’re tough, aren’t you?”
“You bet.” Her curving mouth straightened into a line. “You know, it’s kinda cool having you around. Things would have been so different if Mom had been able to keep you. Our parents got married anyway. If they’d married then, you would have been one of us from the beginning. Would you have liked that?”
“I don’t know,” Joe admitted. “My parents aren’t Colleen and Marco, and I can’t imagine that changing. If I’d been raised here…” He shrugged.
Brenna understood his ambivalence about even considering an alternative life. If Joe had been around, if she’d known about him, her world view would have changed completely. He would have been the acknowledged heir. While she believed her interest in the vineyards would have always been there, she wasn’t as sure about family pressure. With Joe in the picture, would she have been more willing to take a chance on Nic? With Joe as the one inheriting, would she have been more willing to risk her family’s disapproval?
“If you’d been raised here, I would never have been born,” Mia stated.
Brenna shook her head. “That’s not true.”
Mia’s mouth twisted. “Sure it is. I’m okay with it. We all know that the doctors told Mom not to have any more children after you and Francesca were born. Yet she risked her health to try for a boy one more time. With Joe around, that wouldn’t have happened.”
Brenna couldn’t imagine growing up without Mia tagging along, nor did she want to.
“Lorenzo is too hung up on gender,” Joe muttered.
“That’s Brenna’s theory,” Mia said brightly. “The family business is wine, not breeding, so what does having a penis matter.”
Brenna winced. “I don’t phrase it exactly like that.”
“Close enough.”
Joe ruffled Mia’s hair. “You’re a pain in the ass, kid.”
“And you adore me.”
“Maybe.”
Joe looked at Brenna. “About this whole winery thing…” he began.
Brenna cut him off with a shake of her head. “We don’t have to talk about it. What happens, happens. If Grandpa Lorenzo doesn’t leave it to you, there’s a good chance he’s going to sell. I can’t…” She swallowed. “I have to make my own plans.” Which she’d done. Sure it hurt now, but eventually she would be fine.
“Everyone says you do a hell of a job.”
Brenna appreciated the compliment. “That doesn’t seem to matter much. You’re the firstborn son, Joe.”
“I didn’t know I’d been getting in the middle of all of you,” he said.
“That’s family. Loving but messy.”
Mia pouted. “Excuse me, but I’m still in the room. I want to talk about me.”
“No way,” Joe said. “You’re only interested in dating inappropriate guys.”
“Honestly, I think it’s more about sex,” Brenna said helpfully.
Joe winced again. “What is it with you two?”
Brenna raised her eyebrows. “Nothing. We’re just normal, healthy women looking for love.” She leaned forward. “I guess this is where I tell you I’m not a virgin, either?”
He stood. “I’m so out of here.”
Mia raised her palm toward her sister. Brenna slapped her hand against Mia’s in a gesture of victory. Joe groaned.
He was saved by Grandma Tessa calling up the stairs, telling them it was time for dinner, and to be sure to wash their hands before coming down.
Joe headed for the door. “We do this every night,” he complained. “Why can’t we eat separately, like normal families?”
Brenna was the last to arrive at the restaurant. She found her three sisters sitting at an outdoor table, in the shade of an oversize umbrella. Between the work she had at home and her new winery, she was running in fourteen directions at once. Mia’s demand that she join them for lunch had been inconvenient. But as she approached the table, she found herself smiling in anticipation. She couldn’t remember the last time the four of them had done something together.
“There you are,” Francesca said as she pulled out the empty chair next to her. “Now that you’re here, we’re going to have to stop talking about you.”
“Why?” Mia asked as she batted her eyes. “I think it’s a lot more fun to talk about someone in front of them. Then you get a reaction.”
“Is she getting on everyone else’s nerves or just mine?” Brenna asked.
Katie handed her a menu. “She’s pretty much annoying us all. Do I want to ask how things are going?”
Brenna took the menu and shook her head. “Nope.”
“Then I won’t.”
The waiter appeared. He was in his early twenties, with the tanned good looks of a surfer. “Have you ladies decided?”
Brenna scanned the menu and nodded. Katie went first. They all ordered salads and iced tea. Mia asked for a side of fries. When the young man had written it all down and left, Mia sat straighter in her chair and cleared her throat.
“You’re probably wondering why I called this meeting,” she said.
Brenna thought she was kidding, but when she glanced at Mia, she saw her baby sister was completely serious.
“What’s up?” Katie asked.
“Nothing specific,” Mia said. “It’s just that everything in our family is changing. I’ve felt uncomfortable for a while, and I’ve been trying to figure out where it all started. Maybe with my aborted engagement or Brenna’s separation. Suddenly what was familiar isn’t anymore. Katie, you and Francesca are getting married. Brenna’s starting her own winery. I’m growing up.”
“Can we take a vote on that?” Francesca asked.
Mia laughed. “No.” Her humor faded. “I wanted us to get together one more time before everything is different forever.”
Brenna felt her throat tighten. “Good idea, kid.”
“Thank you.”
Francesca and Katie both nodded.
Mia preened. “You keep talking about how smart I am, but then you never pay attention to me. I’ve had tons of brilliant plans that you’ve dismissed over the years.”
The waiter appeared with their drinks. When he was gone, Katie picked up her glass.
“I sense trouble coming,” she warned.
Mia ignored her. “It’s true. What about the time I wanted to get Grammy M a membership in a dating service for her birthday? You three wouldn’t listen, but look. She’s dating Gabriel and is really happy.”
“They wouldn’t have met through a dating service,” Francesca said.
“No, but she might have met someone else. My point is—”
Brenna laughed. “We are clear on your point, but we don’t agree with it.”
Mia scowled. “You guys are always like this. It’s the three of you against me. You stick together because I’m so much younger.”
“That’s not true,” Francesca said.
Brenna disagreed. It was often true. There were ten years between Mia and Katie, nine years between Mia and herself and Francesca.
Brenna patted her shoulder. “We still love you.”
“I know, but sometimes I want a little respect.” She brightened. “The good news is I’m still cool while the three of you are seriously old.”
“How flattering,” Katie murmured.
Mia picked up her glass. “Anyway, that’s why I wanted you all here. So we could reconnect.”
Brenna glanced at Francesca. “Not a bad idea for a baby.”
Francesca nodded.
Katie looked less convinced.
Mia sighed. “What?” she asked. “You have that ‘Mom’ look you sometimes get.”
Katie shrugged. “I’m just wondering if you’re really okay. Do you have any regrets about breaking off your engagement?”
Mia put down her glass. “No. David and I were really good together, but we were more caught up with having a relationship than actually thinking about what getting married would mean. I reacted to family pressure, and he reacted to being on his own for the first time. We’ve stayed friends and that works.”