When Papa died suddenly and Mama faded away right after him, they took the last of their heritage with them. No more speaking Italian at home. No more Mass every Sunday like clockwork. Lucas let her get away with cooking the old recipes, the homemade sauce, the never-ending lasagnas and ragùs, but even then she knew it
was only because he had a hearty appetite.
She’d heard horror stories of Caitlin somehow managing to burn pasta. Her poor brother. He was going to starve to death.
“What I was going to say was what are you doing here, Luc? I wasn’t expecting you for another couple of hours.”
He shrugged. “You know Caity. I wanted to take her to Hawaii, she refused to leave the state. I’m surprised I managed to drag her out of Hamlet. When she started to figure the station house was falling apart without her there, she... convinced me to come back home early.”
Maria covered her ears with her hands. From that small meaningful pause, she had a pretty good idea just how Caitlin convinced Lucas. “La, la, la. Little sister here, who doesn’t need to know about any of that.”
Shameless. Lucas was shameless. She could hear the rumble of his chuckle despite trying the block him out. It had been an accident, but Maria had never gotten over walking in on Lucas and Caitlin a few months before their wedding. She’d seen way more of her new sister-in-law than she ever wanted to do and thanked God every day that Caitlin had been on top.
Which was another reason why she had to go. She liked to pretend Lucas was as innocent as she was.
Maria caught Lucas peeking over her shoulder. Instead of leaning against the doorjamb, she straightened up. “Sheriff McKinley’s been running the department for forever. I think he could spare Caity for a week.”
“There’s a new deputy. She doesn’t think he’ll last.”
“Mason Walsh,” she said absently. He moved to his right. She countered by shuffling to her left. “I heard.”
Lucas didn’t ask if she knew him. Stupid question. In their small village, everyone knew everyone.
“You were in his classes?”
“All through school. His mom even taught us a couple of years.”
“Mrs. Walsh. I remember her.” Lucas’s chuckle was even more amused. “I don’t think she liked me very much.”
“She probably didn’t like how often you pointed out that the teachers were wrong.”
He pretended to consider Maria’s point. Nodding, he said, “Well, yes. There’s that.”
She shook her head, her own laugh bubbling up and out of her. Maria was going to miss seeing him every day. Lucas might drive her nuts with his overprotective big brother act, always looking over her shoulder, looking out for her, but she was going to miss him.
“Is Caitlin here? I haven’t seen her since the wedding. I can go say hi.” And move Lucas away from her hastily packed bedroom.
“No. Just me. I thought I would take a couple of things back to Cait’s while she’s at the station, then come back after I get home from the hospital tomorrow to pack up some more. Give me a couple of days and then the house will be all yours.”
Maria had grabbed Lucas by the arm while he was talking, already planning to lead him down the hall and towards the foyer. When she understood what he said, she nearly stubbed her toe on the carpet. Only her grip on his arm kept her from stumbling and falling over.
“Wait— what? Cosa vuoi dire?”
His eyes flashed in annoyance at her slip but he didn’t correct her this time. “Of course it’s yours. You didn’t think I was going to move Caitlin in here, did you?”
That’s exactly what she thought. “Why wouldn’t I? You married her. It makes sense that she would move into your house.”
“And then what? You thought we would just kick you out?”
Maria let go of him in order to cross her arms over her chest. She didn’t appreciate his tone. “I have a place to stay.”
“Yes,” Lucas told her. “Here. This is your home, Maria. So go unpack your suitcases—oh, yes, I saw them—and go put your things away. Then, since you’re so keen to pack, you can help me get my things together. If anyone is going to leave, it’ll be me. I’ve already made the arrangements.”
His tone was absolute. Final. Obviously, Lucas had been giving this as much thought as Maria had been. And, like every other time in her life, he was going to win.
For once, she thought she wouldn’t mind.
Still, she felt like she had to try to fight back. As much as she wanted to stay—and, boy, did she want to—she also knew that Lucas would be expecting it. She hated to disappoint him.