Page 154 of The Holiday Hate-Off
The snow is disgusting, but I feel brilliantly alive.
“Let’s go put a hat and gloves on Nico’s ice sculpture to seeif it comes to life,” Lucy suggests when we get up, panting from the freezing cold.
“Oh, come on, Lucy,” Nico gripes. “I thought we were friends.”
“I have enough nightmares,” Giovanni tells her with a theatrical shudder. “But I’m all for putting a ski mask on it so we don’t have to see his ugly mug every time we go to the Locke Reserve.”
“Children,” Nonna says regally. “You will all be going home and getting snug in your beds so Santa can come bring you some coal.”
“I wouldn’t want to miss my coal,” Lucy said. “And I definitely don’t want to upset Mrs. Cafiero, so I’m all for going home.”
Nonna pats Lucy on the shoulder. “You’re a good girl. You can call me Nonna.”
Lucy is mine, and she’s already been accepted as part of my family. It may only be just after midnight, but I swear to God, it’s already the best Christmas a man could possibly have.
EPILOGUE
LUCY
Ilaugh with delight when I see Enzo’s handwriting on the whiteboard sign outside of Love at First Sip.Daily Special: Iced Frenemy Cappuccino! Half off!
It’s a Saturday in September, cool and breezy, and he asked me to meet him here after Charlie and I took a walk at the Locke Reserve.
“Weren’t those cappuccinos incredibly gross?” Charlie asks.
“Incredibly,” I say with my heart in my throat, because it’s obvious from the whiteboard Enzo has something planned. Enzo always has something planned, and I’m the lucky recipient of all of his grand gestures. “He must want to celebrate CareWise.”
We just launched our app—ours, because ultimately he’s had as much of a hand in it as I have—and the interest it’s generating has stunned me. Humbled me.
Nonna Francesca has already used it to pick out a home helper named Tess, who starts in two weeks. The Cafieros have had a range of different reactions to this news. Aria, still working in Greece, thinks it’s a godsend. Enzo and Nico are relieved. And Giovanni, who’s so easygoing about everything,is surprisingly displeased. He insists they don’t need anyone else to help them take care of her, although that’s increasingly untrue.
I’ve met Tess, and she’s brisk and no-nonsense, exactly the sort of person most likely to survive as Nonna’s helper.
“Because you’re a bad bitch businesswoman,” Charlie quips, nudging my shoulder, but I see something in her eyes—she knows what this is all about.
I pause before opening the door, even though I see Enzo waiting in front of the counter, Eileen behind it. “What did he do?”
“I’ve been sworn to silence on pain of death.”
Laughing, I open the door.
“Are you here for a Frenemy?” Enzo says, his eyes dancing with mischief.
“I’ve been told I enjoy a good argument,” I say, grinning at him. “You look like an idiot.”
It’s very untrue, but he does have a red marker mustache with curly ends on his face.
Someone laughs, and I glance over and am surprised to see Giovanni, Nico, Lars, and Nonna Francesca are sitting at the tables. Wayne, too, of course.
Giovanni lifts his hand. “I can’t draw like you, Luce, but I did my best.”
I peer at Enzo, my lips parting. “Is this some kind of party?”
“I hope so,” he says, taking a to-go cup from Eileen, who’s beaming.
My heart starts to beat faster as I take the cup from him. I glance inside of it, and see the shape of a diamond ring drawn into the top layer of the foam.
I set the drink down.
