Page 110 of Meet Me in Montreal

Vanessa pressed her hands to her cheeks, her eyes tearing again. “Y’all really are trying to make me cry, stop it.”

“And I’m proud of you too,” Nadine said, appearing on her right. She was teary-eyed as well. “But I wish you would come back to New York. Bobby is driving me crazy.”

“Aw, come on,” Bobby drawled and pulled them both into a hug that lasted a while.

After Bobby finally let her go to take Nadine out for a dance, Vanessa watched with a big grin. She spotted Dani and Jade dancing in a circle with the little girls when Jade stopped, staring at the entrance to the ballroom. When Vanessa turned to see who or what Jade was looking at, her face flamed.

“Oh, hell no,” she muttered. Before Santino could see the uninvited guest, Vanessa rushed to the entrance, her feet quick in her satin ballerina shoes.

Scott Malone, again, right now? He was in conversation with Virgil, who held up his palms when he saw her face.

“He’s just dropped by to say a few words. It’s cool,” Virgil said quickly. “In fact, he’s here to speak to both of you. I’ll go get Santino. It’s cool.”

Exhaling, Vanessa tried to calm her nerves as Virgil squeezed her arm reassuringly and went to find her groom. She looked up at Scott, who was dressed in a dark gray suit and white shirt. He held a wine-colored velvet box tied with a small gold ribbon.

“Okay, I know Virgil wants all his friends to get along, but if you’re here to say something crazy and cause more trouble, it won’t work. You’re too late.” Vanessa held up her hand, showing him the rock on her finger. With the other hand, she touched her belly.

Scott grinned and shook his head. It was partly sarcastic, but faded into the genuine smile she once knew.

“No, ma’am. I’m in town for the festival, and I heard from Virg that this was happening. For you and your husband.” Scott tried handing her the box and chuckled when she looked atit skeptically. “It’s not a bomb, Vanessa. It’s a token of my goodwill. You look beautiful.”

That caught her off guard, coming from him. But the sincerity in the green eyes gazing at her warmed her.

Softly, with a smile, she answered, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

By then Santino was striding in their direction, with Virgil barely keeping up. When he reached them, he glared at Scott.

“What do you want?” Santino demanded.

“I dropped by to give you a wedding present and to apologize,” Scott said, straightening his shoulders and lifting his chin. “The last time I saw you guys, I said some things that weren’t my place to say. I’d like to let bygones be bygones. I wish you both the best. I really do.”

“Thank you,” Santino responded slowly. When Scott reached out a hand, Santino hesitated, but he shook it.

“Also, I heard about what happened, down in New York. That shit was crazy. I’m glad you’re both alright. You may not be a Saint, but you’re kin to them, which means you are to me, as much as I hate to acknowledge it.”

Santino only nodded, still looking stern, but the hard line of his jaw had softened.

“Thank you,” Vanessa said. She glanced at Santino, who raised an eyebrow at her with a slight shrug as if he knew what she was thinking. “If you’re hungry, we might have an extra plate. Just stay away from the mic, okay?”

Scott grinned. He lifted his chin in Bobby’s direction, who was staring at them from across the room. “My man over there probably wouldn’t be cool with that.”

He was in the middle of shaking Santino’s hand again when he glanced up and paused, his eyes fixed on something over Santino’s shoulder. Vanessa looked over and saw Jade, who wasstaring back at him with her lips lifting up at the corners into a beautiful smile.

“You sure you want to leave so soon?” Vanessa asked, her eyes shifting between them.

Scott’s eyes narrowed. He turned back to her with a smirk. “On second thought, I might have a drink or two before I head out.” He nodded curtly, then disappeared into the crowd and out of Vanessa’s sight.

Santino, who’d somehow missed that entire development, shrugged his shoulders and took her hand. “That motherfucker better not drink up all our shit.” He glanced down at the box in her hand with a raised eyebrow. “You sure that ain’t a bomb?”

She laughed. “I was wondering the same. Uh-oh. I think I need to find the bathroom. I’ve had a ton of sparkling champagne, and Bambino is using my bladder as a punching bag.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Vanessa made a slight detour to put Scott’s gift on the long table laden with presents. Ling had put herself in charge of shipping half of them to Parma and the other half to Santino’s —theirfreshly renovated house in Bronxville. She was standing nearby, gazing dreamily at the other dancing guests while she chatted with Marcie the shopkeeper, who hopefully hadn’t brought any of those candles as her present.

Ling caught Vanessa’s stare and gave her a smile. Vanessa had been hoping to introduce her to Jace and maybe make a love connection, but he’d showed up with another one of his “one-hit wonders” and foiled her schemes. He was out on the dance floor now, spinning Sandy around while his date and Sandy’s looked on with annoyed expressions from their table.

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