Mother of the Bride's Second Chance
Author
Susan Meier
Reads
19.1K
Chapters
15
Attend the wedding of the season with the second installment in Susan Meier's The Bridal Party trilogy, and watch the mother of the bride and the father of the groom navigate an unexpected liaison of their own… IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO DATE! Traveling to Tuscany for her daughter's wedding, mother of the bride Juliette is caught off guard by father of the groom, Lorenzo. The Italian billionaire is certainly charming — and their chemistry is undeniable! — but Juliette's learned the hard way that wealth doesn't equal happiness… And after a disastrous first marriage, Lorenzo's determined never to commit to anyone again. So while a fling is inevitable, a second chance at forever is impossible…right?
CHAPTER ONE
JULIETTE MORGAN STOOD in a grassy spot a few feet away from Dene Summerhouse in New York City’s Central Park. She’d been summoned here by Antonio Salvaggio and her heart thrummed with anxiety.
Her daughter, Riley, had been dating Antonio for a few months, but they’d broken up. Juliette hadn’t heard that they’d gotten back together. But Riley was a marriage proposal planner, and she scheduled a lot of the events she put together in this very gazebo. Wouldn’t it just be like an Italian playboy to rashly propose instead of simply calling her daughter and apologizing?
She glanced at Antonio’s grandmother, GiGi, and his dad, Lorenzo. They both looked like cats who’d swallowed the canary. Though Lorenzo was an extremely handsome man with his dark hair and compelling dark eyes—explaining where Antonio got his good looks—Juliette was not amused by the antics of this privileged family. When she’d been hustled here by Riley’s videographer, she’d barely been introduced to the Salvaggios, let alone been given time to ask them what was going on.
Because she’d been shushed. Silenced.
It had been so long since someone shushed her that she didn’t know whether to be amused or infuriated.
Infuriated was winning.
She glanced around. The beginning of the second week of November, the park’s trees had lost most of their colored leaves. But the sun was warm. The day bright. It was a perfect fall day—
Oh, God. It was the perfect day for a proposal! She just knew that impulsive billionaire was going to ask her daughter to marry him.
Off in the distance, Juliette heard Riley’s assistant Marietta’s voice. “This way.”
Riley said, “Really? I thought Dene Summerhouse was that way.”
The Salvaggios laughed.
Juliette’s suspicions heightened.
Marietta said, “You can get to it a lot of ways.”
They emerged from a bank of trees. As they walked up the path to Dene Summerhouse, Antonio appeared behind the gazebo, still not visible to Riley but Juliette could see him. He wore a suit and tie and looked his absolute handsomest.
Marietta and Riley reached the gazebo and Marietta gave Riley a nudge. “We can’t see much from back here. Why don’t you go check out the inside, see if you can tell what the contractors will be changing or repairing.”
Juliette frowned. What was Marietta talking about? There was no scheduled maintenance on Dene Summerhouse.
Riley did what she was told, ambling up the steps into the pavilion like a person so confused they just went with the flow.
Juliette’s heart squeezed. Not only was Antonio going to propose, but Riley didn’t know. Marietta had lured her here with a ruse!
Before Juliette could figure out a way to rescue her daughter, three violinists appeared out of nowhere, playing something soft and romantic.
Riley turned, clearly baffled, but Juliette wasn’t. Her breath stuttered as Antonio climbed the steps. They’d broken up. They hadn’t made up as far as Juliette knew. But the real bottom line was they didn’t know each other well enough to get married.
This was all wrong.
The only hope she had was that her extremely logical daughter would say no.
Antonio got down on one knee, pulled a ring box from his pocket and said, “I love you. Will you marry me?”
Juliette held her breath.
Riley leaned down to kneeling Antonio and whispered something.
Antonio rose, slid his arms around her and pulled her close enough that he could whisper in her ear.
Riley eased back, studying his face as he kept whispering.
Clearly, Riley wasn’t sure—might have even said no—and he was talking her into it.
He bumped his forehead against hers.
Riley pressed her lips together.
Juliette pressed her lips together. This was it. Her smart, logical daughter was going to say no.
Antonio opened the ring box and slid the ring on her finger.
No longer whispering, Riley said, “It’s a different ring.”
Antonio said, “The other one was for a fake proposal. This one is very real.”
Riley smiled. “And it fits.”
Then he kissed her. Riley kissed him back passionately, apparently with no thought to taking off the ring.
Juliette’s face fell in disbelief. Where the hell was her smart, logical daughter?
Antonio broke the kiss, and the sound of the alleluia chorus filled the area. Thirty singing judges danced their way onto Dene Summerhouse and made a circle around them. GiGi and Lorenzo began to applaud. Marietta and Jake, the videographer for Riley’s company, stood off to the side, applauding too.
Juliette stared at them. What the hell had just happened?
She calmed herself. She didn’t dislike Antonio. He was a nice guy. And he made her daughter happy. What she objected to was their getting married without really knowing each other. Still, they weren’t getting married today. They had gotten engaged. No big deal. They could be engaged forever.
Or at least a year. Most people needed a year to plan a wedding. People in Manhattan needed two, sometimes three to reserve a good venue. In that time, her smart, logical daughter would see Antonio’s flaws, his quirks, and she’d be wise enough to break it off with him, if the flaws and quirks were god-awful.
They might not be. Rich, handsome, suave Antonio Salvaggio could be a great choice for a husband for her daughter—after they’d been engaged awhile and knew each other better.
There was no reason to panic.
“Aren’t you going to congratulate your daughter?”
Juliette pasted a smile on her face and turned to Antonio’s father, the equally suave and handsome Lorenzo Salvaggio. “Yes. Sure. In a minute.”
He frowned. His nearly black eyes grew serious and sincere. “Something troubles you?”
“No.” Something troubling her was the last thing she’d admit. These people were rich, pampered, accustomed to getting their own way. If they supported this engagement, she’d have to be careful what she said to them. “I think I will go congratulate the happy couple.”
Lorenzo said, “Sì.” He put his hand on the small of her back and directed her to Dene Summerhouse.
She stiffened, but not from offense. Owning a home nursing agency, she worked with a lot of older doctors, who believed taking a woman’s elbow or putting a hand on the small of their back was gallant. Those kinds of gestures never bothered her.
It was the zing that traveled up her spine when his fingers touched her that almost made her shiver.
Ridiculous really.
He kept his hand on her back the entire walk. When they reached Riley and Antonio, Lorenzo’s mother, GiGi, was hugging them.
“I am so happy for you.” The older woman glowed with happiness.
Not for the first time, Juliette noticed the scarf on her head. She knew GiGi had breast cancer. The last she’d heard from Riley, GiGi had been refusing treatment. If she’d begun the treatments in the time Antonio and Riley had been apart, that was good.
Riley stepped away from GiGi to hug Juliette, who squeezed her tightly. Even her successful business wasn’t her greatest accomplishment. Riley was. Juliette loved her beyond what she had ever believed possible.
Though she thought it too soon for her daughter to be getting engaged, she wouldn’t ruin this moment. She pulled back and said, “Congratulations!”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Antonio came over and hugged Juliette.
“And congratulations to you too,” Juliette said. “You’d better take good care of my daughter.”
Riley groaned. “Mom, that sounds so outdated.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. I don’t expect him to wait on you hand and foot or even to buy you chocolates and write poetry. But I know you want kids. I hope he’s aware of that.”
Antonio laughed. “That’s what we both want. Two or three children we can raise in the villa.”
Juliette’s heart stuttered.
Her daughter would be moving to Italy? To live on a villa...when Riley’s company was in Manhattan?
She faced her daughter. There were so many questions and cautions Juliette wanted to issue. But this was a little too public. She would wait until they were alone when the conversation could be honest.
Antonio put his arm across Riley’s shoulders. “That’s why we’re getting married in January.”
Juliette’s eyes bugged. Good God! Was it not shocking enough that her daughter was actually engaged and eventually moving to Italy...but so soon?
“January?”
“We don’t want our wedding to be too close to the holidays. We want the day to be ours.”
“First we make the commitment,” Antonio said, smiling at Riley. “Then kids.”
Juliette worked to find her voice. “Just like that?”
Antonio and Riley laughed joyfully, as if they were the two happiest people in the world. “Just like that.”
GiGi left the small group to sit on a bench, and it dawned on Juliette that her health was poor enough that Antonio and Riley might be rushing the wedding to please his grandmother. It was noble to be sure. But a smart person didn’t make a lifetime commitment to please someone else.
Marietta and Jake stole Riley’s attention to congratulate her.
Juliette’s thoughts jumped into overdrive trying to put all this together as her brain was bombarded by the terrible problems her daughter and her Italian playboy apparently had not considered.
“They’re not kids.”
Lorenzo’s voice came from behind her, and Juliette turned. “No. They aren’t.” She sucked in a breath. “But a heads-up would have been nice and a chance to remind my daughter that she’s got a company to run—here in Manhattan—also would have been appropriate.”
“I understand that she’s relocating most of the administrative work to Tuscany and leaving Marietta behind to continue work in the States.”
Juliette gaped at him. “You know this?”
He frowned. The corners of his eyes crinkled. Juliette’s breath stuttered. Good grief the man was gorgeous.
“It came up in casual conversation.”
“Really? Riley hasn’t been in Italy for weeks. How did it come up in casual conversation?”
He shrugged. “Maybe I also read between the lines a little bit.” He smiled. His dark eyes sparkled with humor.
She swore if a person could blind others with their good looks, he’d be the one.
She took a breath. “She hasn’t actually told you?”
“I guess not in actual words. But it’s the logical thing to do and your daughter is nothing but logical.”
Juliette’s gaze strayed to her daughter. “She usually is.”
“Look, I understand your apprehensions.”
She faced him again. “You do?”
“You think the marriage is too soon?”
“I think the engagement is too soon, but I could have handled that if they’d spent enough time being engaged to get to know each other a little better.”
“Sì.”
The first bit of hope filled her. “You agree that they should be engaged longer?”
He laughed. “Of course I do.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
Riley and Antonio walked over again. Antonio addressed his father, “Are you ready to go?”
Lorenzo looked at his watch. “We have about three hours before the plane takes off.” He caught Riley’s gaze. “That gives you a half hour or so to pack.”
Riley said, “Okay.” She leaned in and kissed her mother’s cheek. “I love you, Mom. I’ll see you later.” She turned to leave but stopped suddenly. “Actually, I was hoping you could fly to Italy this weekend, and we can start planning the wedding.”
GiGi was suddenly beside her. She caught Juliette’s hand. “Sì! We would love to have you. Stay at the villa. We’ll have every waking minute to plan the perfect wedding.”
Lorenzo saw Juliette’s expression fill with dread, as his mother outlined all the things they had to plan and how they’d be having the ceremony at the villa.
He swore the woman was going to faint or hyperventilate. Obviously accustomed to being the one in charge—as anyone who owned a business was—not being able to voice her opinion was killing her.
He understood. He knew how it was to raise an only child. He knew she felt a certain proprietary interest. Which was foolish. Once a child became an adult, they grabbed on to the life you’d so carefully nurtured and took it for a spin like a shiny new convertible. Various careers and lovers. A little travel. A lot of wine.
Though it seemed Juliette realized she couldn’t voice the only dissenting opinion, she was still having trouble processing everything.
She said, “Sure, that’s great,” to Riley’s invitation that she come to Italy. Then Riley, Antonio and GiGi headed out of Central Park to the limo.
Juliette stared after them.
“You wouldn’t happen to be able to give me a ride to the airport, would you?”
She spun to face him. Her eyes still spoke of confusion, but he suddenly noticed how green they were. The prettiest green he’d ever seen.
“You need a ride?”
He laughed at the incredulity in her voice. “I was kidding. They might have taken my limo, but I can call a cab.” He smiled at her. “I have about an hour if you’d like to go to a coffee shop to talk this out?”
That seemed to knock her out of her shock. Her eyes sharpened. Her full lips lifted into a fake smile. If he hadn’t negotiated with world-class businesspeople for the past thirty-plus years, he wouldn’t have realized the smile was fake. He wouldn’t have seen the determination in those eyes.
“No. Thank you. I’m fine.”
He snorted. “I’m sorry, but thirty seconds ago you looked like you were going to faint. I know it’s difficult when you feel left out of your child’s decisions—”
“Feel left out?” She gaped at him. The fire in her eyes could have set Central Park ablaze. Her shoulders were back. Her breathing became ragged. “This morning, my daughter was snarfing down a doughnut, telling me she was considering giving up on men forever. Now she’s engaged and flying to Italy? Yeah. I’m definitely out of the loop.”
“Then come with us.”
The eyes that had been filled with fire narrowed. “Oh, you’d love that, wouldn’t you?”
“This isn’t war. There’s no need to think I’m planning a sneak attack. We’re going to be organizing a wedding.” He smiled. “Join us.”
She huffed out a sigh. “No. Thank you.”
She turned and stormed down the path to the street, leaving him standing at Dene Summerhouse in Central Park. When she was out of range of hearing, he let himself laugh.
She was magnificent when she was angry.
Still, unless he wanted to risk her doing something she might regret when she eventually did come to Italy, he was going to have to keep an eye on her—
Which, actually, wouldn’t be a hardship. She was very pleasant to look at. He liked her eyes. He loved her hair. Yellow. Shiny.
And, no, he hadn’t missed that she had the figure of Venus.
