Loving Gigi (27 page)

They linked hands and walked out the front door together. A hush fell over the large crowd that was gathered there. Someone started clapping and more and more joined in until their approval thundered over Kane and Gigi like waves crashing on a beach.

Kane spotted Gio standing off to one side with Julia. His friend nodded briefly and smiled down at his wife.

Since the moment Kane had met Gigi he’d felt as if he’d done a hundred things wrong, but suddenly it all felt right. No, theirs hadn’t been the smoothest of paths, but maybe it had taken each one of those challenges to bring them to a place where nothing was impossible.

‡

T
hat evening and
the next morning, Gigi and Kane were given remarkably little time together. Gigi was swept off to Gio and Julia’s Slater Island home. Gio invited Kane to stay at Nick and Rena’s. All five of the homes buzzed with staff who were preparing for a party that would rival any wedding, even the quadruple one that had occurred there nearly four years earlier.

Gigi had breakfast with her brothers and their wives. At first she felt badly that Kane hadn’t been invited, but it gave her a chance to talk about the house they’d given her. At first they weren’t thrilled that Kane had preempted their surprise, but when they saw how happy Gigi was, they couldn’t stop singing his praises.

She wanted to tell them they didn’t have to sell him to her, but she held her tongue. It was sweet to hear even Gio list Kane’s good qualities as if Gigi were still undecided.

Around noon, Leora arrived. Gigi greeted her in Italian for the first time in almost fifteen years and her mother burst into grateful tears and began thanking saints profusely.

“Mamma,” Gigi said softly in her native tongue, “I’m so sorry. I know I said it before, but it needs to be said again. Maybe a thousand more times.”

Leora hugged Gigi tightly. “There is nothing to be sorry for, Gigia. Nothing.”

Gigi clung to her mother. “I judged you, Mamma, and I blamed you for so many things that were not your fault. How can you ever forgive me?”

“Loving you makes it easy,” her mother said before releasing her and wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Enough of this. I didn’t fly all this way to cry. I came for a celebration. Kane is going to propose to you today. Are you ready for this next step in your life?”

“More than I can express in words. I woke up this morning terrified I’d discover it was all a dream. Can life be this good?”

Her mother touched one of her cheeks gently. “At times, yes. You’ll face challenges, Gigia. Even with a strong man at your side. Life is not always easy. Nor is love. But relish every moment of both. The memories you make now will carry you through whatever comes later.”

“You really loved Papa, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I really did. And he loved us.”

In the past, that claim had been an impossible one for Gigi to agree with, but this time she accepted it. Her own experience with love had shown her that in some ways it was more complicated than she’d ever imagined and in others simplistically beautiful at the same time.

It arrived without invitation.

Made no apology for its existence.

And could be a person’s greatest weakness or their greatest strength, depending on whether one embraced or denied it. She met her mother’s eyes and said, “I understand now, Mamma. I would love Kane even without a promise of marriage. In every way that matters, I’ve already said yes to our future together.”

Her mother frowned. “Don’t let my choices be yours, Gigia. You deserve more than I had with your father. Your children deserve a father they can be proud of. Kane is a good man. He can give you all of that.”

Love—so complex and yet so simple. Her mother wanted better for her than she’d had for herself. That realization was humbling. “Don’t worry, Mamma. I doubt Kane will let me leave today without agreeing to marry him.”

Elise and Katrine walked over to greet Leora. They must have overheard Gigi’s last statement, because Elise said, “It’s the sauce. I told you it would work.”

Gigi introduced her mother to her two aunts before saying, “I don’t know if the sauce can be credited for this one.”

Katrine waved a finger at Gigi. “You did give it to him, didn’t you? Just as we suggested?”

Gigi thought back to the night she’d thrown the container of sauce at Kane. “I gave it to him, but . . .”

Elise laughed and winked at Leora. “Oo la la, you raised a wild one.”

“You have no idea,” Gigi said mischievously, and the older women shared a quick look of surprise.

Katrine turned to Leora. “I know that expression. Elise, this one may not need our talk.”

*     *     *

In the library
of Nick’s home, Kane patted his suit jacket pocket to make sure he still had the ring box. He wasn’t a nervous man by nature, but his hands were cold and shaky. He hadn’t been alone with Gigi since the day before, and that had given him time to consider the possibility that he should have proposed before the family descended on them.

Gigi was prone to bolting. What if they somehow sent her over the edge?

His father came to stand beside him. “Are you going to make it?”

Kane patted the pocket of his jacket once more. “Maybe.”

His father gave him a pat on the shoulder. “It’ll all work out. I was a wreck when I asked your mother. Want one final piece of advice?”

Kane nodded.

“There are a lot of people here with a lot of expectations. They don’t matter. You do this the way you want to.”

Kane hugged his father briefly. He hoped he would be even half the parent his father had been. “Thanks, Dad.”

A few minutes later, Kane met Gigi in the hallway. He knew everyone was gathering on the lawn outside of Nick’s house in anticipation of witnessing the proposal.

Kane held out his hand to Gigi. She placed hers in his and smiled up at him. She looked as nervous as he felt.

Following his father’s advice, he pulled her into the coat closet, flipped on the light, and closed the door behind him. Gigi’s eyes were dancing with laughter and his nervousness fell away. He dropped onto one knee and presented the open ring box to her. “Gigia Bassano, I love you more than I will ever be able to fully express. Say you’ll marry me.”

Gigi’s hand trembled in his. “I will. Not only because I can’t imagine spending another day without you, but also because I am more me with you than I have ever been me with me.” She stopped and frowned. “Does that make sense?”

Kane took the diamond ring and slid it on Gigi’s finger. He rose to his feet. “I’m more me with you than I was with me, too.” Then he kissed her soundly.

There was a tentative knock on the door. From the other side of it, Julia called out. “I don’t want to rush you two, but Gio sent me in here to find you, and I’d rather not tell him you’re hiding in the hall closet. I’m not coming in this time, but you might want to come out before people start looking for you.”

Gigi started laughing and Kane joined in.

Their love didn’t need to make sense to anyone else, it made sense to them.

*     *     *

Hand in hand
they stepped out of the coat closet. Gigi held her left hand up to show Julia her engagement ring and received a crushing hug from her.

A moment later Kane was the recipient of the exact same embrace. Gio walked up behind Julia. Gigi showed him her ring and threw her arms around his waist, hugging him as warmly as Julia had her. Above her head, Gio met Kane’s eyes and smiled. It wasn’t his usual restrained expression. His eyes were shining with love for his sister, his wife, and—Kane knew—his best friend. Kane was touched by the sight of his friend finally truly happy.

Before he made an ass of himself and started getting all emotional too, Kane cleared his thoughts and said, “I hear everyone is waiting for us outside. Let’s go make our announcement, Gigi.”

Gigi turned with a teary smile and took his hand again. “Absolutely.” Then she stopped and asked Julia, “Have you seen Annelise?”

With a twinkle in her eye, Julia said, “I saw her outside a few minutes ago. She and Waffle seem to be getting along quite well.”

“Waffle?” Kane asked, not sure he liked the idea of Annelise with anyone named after a breakfast food. “The cab driver?”

Gio put his arm around Julia. “He’s not so bad, Kane. Once you get to know him, he’s actually brilliant in his own way. Max has been tossing the idea around of partnering with him on a pastry business. I’m not sure how profitable it will be, but the kid is convinced it would make the world a better place.”

After a brief laugh, all four of them headed out onto the terrace. Family and friends were gathered on the front lawn. “Look at how many people are here because they love you,” Kane said to Gigi softly.

With her heart in her eyes, she looked up at him from beneath her beautifully long lashes. “I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t come to Venice to get me. I don’t even want to think about how close I came to missing out on all of this.”

Kane raised one of her hands to his lips and kissed it. “You would have gotten here, and we would have ended up together even if you had said no that time. When something is meant to be, life has a way of circling around until we get it right.”

She went up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. “You really believe that?”

He looped an arm around her shoulder and turned them both toward the crowd that was now hushed in anticipation for their announcement. “I do now.”

‡

A
month later
Gigi was seated at a long rectangular table in the kitchen of Uncle Alessandro’s house with several generations of women. She wasn’t sure why they were gathered there, but her senses were in heavenly overload from the aromas of Italian dishes being whipped together by Maddy’s very French husband. The irony of it was not lost on Gigi, nor was the beauty of it. The Andrades held to many traditional values, but they easily discarded the ones they considered outdated.

When Gigi had been ordered, rather than asked, to attend one Andrade dinner a month, she’d balked at first. She and Kane had decided to split their time between Scotland and the States, but she didn’t like being told what to do.

That feeling instantly dissolved as soon as she and Kane had arrived that morning and were greeted as if they had been away for months rather than weeks. Yes, this side of her family took some getting used to, but they loved her openly and in a way that left no room for doubt in her heart. Gigi needed that kind of reassurance, and they seemed to not only understand that, but also accept it about her.

*     *     *

Her cousin Maddy
stood and clapped her hands. “Who are we waiting for?”

A simply dressed, beautiful brunette bounced a young girl on her lap and said, “Lil and Jake are running late.”

Maddy looked across at Gigi. “You’ve met Abby Corisi, haven’t you, Gigi? She and her sister, Lil, are honorary Andrades.”

Abby winked at Gigi. “As if this family needs more.”

Gigi smiled and nodded. She vaguely remembered being introduced to the woman before. Her head still spun with the names of all the people she’d met over the last few months. “It’s nice to see you again, Abby.”

Rena glanced at the door. “Is Alethea coming?”

“Alethea?” Gigi asked.

Julia leaned toward Gigi and explained, “She’s a good friend, also. You’d know if you’d met her. She’s a tall redhead. Beautiful, but a little intense. She works for Abby and her husband.”

Abby picked a carrot stick off the plate in front of her. “Yes, she’s part of our security team. She and Marc are actually out with Judy today. There’s nothing my daughter likes better than pretending to be a spy.”

A memory came flooding back to Gigi. “I think I met her once at the weddings on Slater Island. A woman came up to me and gave me her card. She told me she knew who I was, wouldn’t out me, but was there if I needed her.”

Rena chuckled. “That sounds like Alethea.”

Maddy clapped again. “Okay, so, do we at least have one person from every team represented?”

Gigi searched the faces of the women at the table. “You have teams? For what?”