Page 583 of Not Over You

Maybe he asked because I was holding the bread in a vise-grip. Sesame seeds were stuck to my apron.

“I’m doing okay,” I said. “How about you?”

He shrugged. “She’s getting weaker.”

I could come up with a million things to say, but none of them would do. Michele was not a bullshitter. And that was exactly what my response would have been. Crap for the sake of something to say. We all knew Carine was getting weaker. She’d lived with the disease for years, but it had gotten worse. It was doing her body a lot of damage.

“Take that up,” he said, nodding to the bread. “Mrs. Camerota shouldn’t have to wait. She’s been a loyal customer for years. Her kids shop here now.”

I was tempted to respond with, “I know,” but I also know these Valentino men. No excuses, but he was using the truth to get me moving. Michele rarely brought up Carine and her disease, sometimes pretending like it wasn’t happening to save his own sanity, but occasionally he made blunt remarks that sent me stumbling back.

It was heart-wrenching to watch as both father and son learned how to let go.

It was beyond that to watch as Lilo stood on the outskirts of his family, struggling like Michele, but only growing closer to Carine. She was their shared link to the same world.

Once she was gone…it was hard to think about.

The outside air felt so sweet on my body as a light breeze swept past. I paused on the sidewalk and took a deep breath.

“What the fuc—” Something tried to lodge itself up my ass, and I whirled, ready to defend myself with a loaf of bread. I yanked it back before the dog could sniff it. “Pull him back, Ava!”

“I’m trying,” she said, through laughter. “But he wanted to say hello!”

“By putting his nose up my ass!”

She laughed even harder, jerking on the massive dog’s collar. “That’s what dogs do. That’s his way of saying hello, beautiful. Just like his owner.”

My face went into defense mode and tightened. “If I would have dropped even a loaf of this—” I held one up. “You would be breaking the news to Michele.”

She scrunched up her nose. “So he could break it over my head? No thanks.”

I took a good look at her. My sister was shorter than me with dangerous curves. She wore a sparkling black dress that accentuated them with a pair of tennis shoes. And her makeup looked like it was left over from the night before.

“What do you want, Ava?”

“Is that how you treat your sister? Your sister who you haven’t seen in a bunch?”

I didn’t have a clue as to why she used that stupid-ass term—seen in a bunch—but she always did.

“That’s how you treat me,” I said. “We live in the same city. In the same damn house! And I never see you. I have to call your office to get in touch with you most of the time.”

“I’m a busy lady.”

“What do you want, Ava?”

“You said that already.”

“I guess it bears repeating then.”

I loved my sister, but she was as flighty as our mom was. I didn’t like the patterns I saw in her. But trying to talk to her about it? It was like trying to teach Mooch not to stick his nose up people’s asses.

“And what are you doing with his dog?”

We both looked down. Mooch was a pitbull/horse mix, I was sure of it. Lilo had appointed him the gym’s mascot. He was a silver-bluish hue, and he was all muscle. He was entirely gorgeous, but the only one he really listened to was Lilo when it came to goosing. It wasn’t normal how far he could get up there. But other than that one vice, he was a good dog. His tongue lolled to the side, and it looked like he was grinning at me.

“His?” Ava smirked and shook her head. “He has a name, sis. Lilo. Brio. Shadow Man.”

“Don’t,” I said.

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