The Accidental Engagement (21 page)

“Oh, you heard me. I’m glad your mother can’t hear you talking like that.”

Daniel sputtered a bit. His grandfather had always been the one person who could render him speechless.

“You were there, Grandpa, you know how much pain my father caused everyone. Like it or not, I’m his son. I made the choice to follow in his footsteps and I’ve never regretted that decision.”

“Your father wasn’t a bad man, Daniel, he just made bad choices.” Daniel was surprised by the intensity in the old man’s eyes. “Your father recognized his mistake when your mother died. He realized that he’d gotten his priorities all screwed up. And I think he tried to make up for that with you. Why do you think he was so insistent on you coming to work for him?”

Daniel couldn’t answer and his grandfather didn’t give him a chance. “I’ll tell you why. He wanted to spend time with you before it was too late. He wanted to make up for all the time he’d missed when you were young.”

His grandfather shook his head and Daniel tried not to squirm like a little kid in the face of the old man’s disappointment. “It was bad enough that your father made the poor choices that he did. But to see you making the exact same mistakes...” his voice trailed off and he looked every bit his age as he leaned back in his chair with an exhausted sigh.

His grandfather tried to lighten the mood a bit. “Or maybe you’ve never fallen in love. Is that it? Maybe you haven’t found the one.”

Something in Daniel’s expression must have given him away because the old man’s eyes softened. “Don’t be a fool, Danny.”

“I don’t want to hurt her.” The words came out strangled. His voice could barely be heard over the sound of children playing. But his grandfather heard him and he leaned across the table to squeeze his hand.

“The only way you can hurt the ones you love is to push them away. Take my word for it.” The old man’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Now go to her, Danny. Don’t wait until it’s too late.”

* * * *

Ivy and Jack found themselves in wedding planning central that morning. It turned out Brunelli and his family were amazingly efficient party planners and the happy couple’s sole job seemed to be giving the final nod of approval once everything had been selected, from the flowers to the music.

Ivy felt like she was in some sort of bizarre dream world as her life was planned right in front of her eyes. She sat there with a slightly dazed expression and tried not to think too hard about what it was they were planning.

This will all be over soon. You’ll be back in your studio apartment with your job at the hotel and everyone will have forgotten about Jack Everett’s failed marriage.
She’d tell her family everything and they would forgive her in time. And they would be taken care of financially, that was the important thing.

The internal pep talk did the trick. It kept her placid and quiet as she accepted the fact that her wedding—the event she’d dreamed of since she was a little girl—was going to be the most miserable lie of her life.

She wasn’t sure what was going through Jack’s mind during the planning session; he was abnormally quiet as well. When he finally spoke up, everyone looked surprised.

“Could we have a moment please?”

The Brunelli clan stared at him with wide eyes. “I’d like a moment alone with my fiancée, if you don’t mind.”

Brunelli himself ushered the group out of the room, telling them to take their time. “What is it?” she asked him once they were alone.

He turned to her with the most serious expression she’d ever seen from him. “Ivy, you don’t have to do this.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Jack sighed and flopped back in his seat. “I mean, I hate to see you like this. You’ve already gone above and beyond for me and this merger but I can’t ask you to go through with a fake wedding when you’re so clearly in love with someone else.”

Ivy was humiliated to find tears filling her eyes. She’d gone all morning without a single tear but at the mere mention of love, she went to pieces. Jack’s eyes widened with concern.

“Ivy, what is it?”

She sniffled a bit before the words came out in a watery voice. “He doesn’t want me.”

Jack’s expression went from shocked to confused to royally enraged in a heartbeat. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Jack angry and the sight was rather shocking. “Of course he does. The man is head over heels for you. If he says otherwise, he’s lying.”

Ivy gave him a weak smile. “Even if he does, he won’t admit it. He made his decision and I’ve made mine.” She explained to him about her family’s finances and her job. He shrugged. “I’ve still got some money left. I’ll help you and your family out—it’s the least I can do to repay you for these last couple of weeks.”

Ivy’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times as she digested his offer. “But what about the merger? Jack, this means everything to you. You’ve been working so hard for this.”

He sat back and shot her a rueful smile. “I’ll admit, I’m bummed that I won’t get to see this particular dream come true, but I’ll find another way. Brunelli isn’t the only manufacturing tycoon out there. And there have got to be other investors who’ll take a chance on me if Daniel decides he’s out.”

“You would do that for me?” The tears were outright spilling down her cheeks now and he pulled her in for a hug.

“Your happiness is more important than a merger.”

Ivy let out a hiccup sob against his chest. What she wouldn’t give to hear Daniel say those words.

They were both startled by the sound of someone clapping in the doorway.

“Bravo, Jack. Bravo.” They looked up in surprise to see Brunelli beaming at them in the doorway. At their shocked looks, he added, “
Mi scusi
, but the acoustics in this place….” He waved his arms as he struggled to find the words. “No secret is safe in the villa.”

He’d heard everything. Ivy sat up and shot Jack a quick look but he seemed resigned to the fact that the deal was over. He gave her a little shrug along with his devil-may-care grin.

“Well, I guess that cat is out of the bag,” Jack said under his breath.

The waited for Brunelli to say something, to call them out on the lies or lecture them on trying to fool him but he was still standing there in the doorway, smiling for all the world like he’d just gotten married himself.

Maybe he hadn’t heard everything or, maybe he thought that Jack was offering to postpone their wedding for her sake.

It was time to come clean. She shared a look with Jack and at his nod of approval, she started, “Brunelli, we need to explain—”

He cut her off by leaning toward the doorway and bellowing out in Italian. Angelo came running with a piece of paper and a pen.

“What are you doing?” Ivy asked.

“I’m signing the merger contract.”

Jack and Ivy looked from one another to Brunelli and back again. “You’re signing it? But why?” Jack asked. “The wedding is off.”

“
Si
, the wedding is off, that is what is so fantastic.” He caught their look of confusion and laughed in their faces. “It’s so simple,
bella donna
. You love Daniel and Daniel loves you—”

“So you know?” Jack interrupted. “How long have you known?”

Brunelli gave him a look that said he clearly doubted the younger man’s sanity. “Please, my friend, give me some credit.”

“But Jack and I…we’ve been lying to you,” Ivy said. She had to be sure he understood. Her mind was scrambling to make sense of the sudden turn of events.

“I know, I know it all and I couldn’t be more pleased that you finally put an end to this silly show.” Brunelli turned to Jack. “What you just did—what you said to Ivy, that proves that you are the man I want to work with.” He turned to Ivy with a knowing look and patted his heart. “He has soul.”

Ivy laughed and accepted the handkerchief he handed her. “He definitely does.”

After that, things moved quickly. As fast as the wedding was planned, it was dismantled. The Brunelli’s were a well-oiled machine of industry.

Ivy went back to her room to pack up her belongings and figure out what to do next. She couldn’t go back to the hotel. Not yet, at least. There, Daniel would be her boss. Even if she didn’t see him on a day-to-day basis, she would be looking for him, straining to catch sight of him or hear his name mentioned.

No. She needed a clean break. Someplace where she could heal her broken heart and start again. She needed to go home.

There was a knock on her door and for one fleeting moment, there was a flicker of hope inside of her that Daniel would be on the other side. She tried not to let her disappointment show when she saw Lucia standing there, wearing a sad, sympathetic smile.

Would she ever stop holding out hope? She hoped so. It was hope that caused her heart to break over and over again.

She forced a smile she didn’t feel as she motioned to Lucia to come in. She went back to folding and packing, unable to summon up the energy to be polite. For a little while she thought Lucia may not speak at all, she hovered in the doorway, watching Ivy’s progress.

“I’m sorry to see you go,” she said. “I’m sorry you’re leaving like this”

Ivy glanced up with a wry smile. “I suppose you heard the truth from your grandfather?”

Lucia’s grin was mischievous. “I didn’t need Grandpa to tell me what’s underneath my nose.”

Ivy dropped the pair of pants she’d been folding and turned to gape. “You knew?” At Lucia’s broad smile she let out a sigh of exasperation. “Did everyone know? Was everyone just laughing at us behind our backs all week?”

Lucia looked horrified. “No, of course not! Grandpa and I are the only ones who knew. And it was you who told me.”

Ivy stared at the young woman. “What are you talking about?”

Lucia wagged a finger teasingly. “I had my suspicions from the very beginning. The way you and Daniel looked at one another…” her voice trailed off with a romantic sigh that made Ivy want to vomit. She didn’t doubt Lucia had seen love in her eyes, but Daniel?

“And then when the two of you disappeared at the festival?” she added with a knowing look that made Ivy blush, despite herself.

“That’s when I decided to test my theory. "Lucia was looking at her with an expectant look. When Ivy just turned back to her luggage, Lucia sighed. “I was testing you,” she said, placing herself in front of Ivy. “The other night at dinner…” Lucia let out a high-pitched girly giggle and gave Ivy a flirtatious look. The same look she’d been throwing Daniel’s way at dinner the other night. The night she had been ready to—

“I thought you were going to claw my eyes out,” Lucia said with a laugh.

Ivy just stared at the other woman for several seconds before laughing herself. The laughter felt incongruous after so many tears.

Maybe there was hope for her yet.

Lucia held up her left hand, where a diamond ring that Ivy hadn’t noticed glittered in the dim light. “Maybe I forgot to mention that I am happily engaged.” She gave a little shrug. “How do you say...‘my bad’?” she said with a mischievous grin.

When Lucia reached out to give her a hug, Ivy stepped into her embrace and as quickly as she’d started to laugh, she was choking back tears.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a choked voice. “I seem to be a bit of a mess.”

Lucia just held her tighter. “Don’t give up on him,
mia amica
. I may not know much about the world but I know love and that man is head over heels.”

Ivy nodded as she pulled back from the embrace. How could she explain that whether Daniel loved her or not, it didn’t matter if he didn’t choose to follow his heart?

Lucia was almost at the door when she stopped and turned back. “I almost forgot, I wanted you to have this.” She held out a drawing. Ivy’s breath caught in her throat at the sketch. It was clearly Ivy and she was wearing the most beautiful dress Ivy had ever seen.

“Your wedding dress,” Lucia explained. “I thought I would try out my designs….”

“It’s gorgeous,” Ivy said with a sigh. She went to hand the sketch back but Lucia shook her head. “You keep it. You may still need it.”

She opened her mouth to protest but Lucia had already slipped out.

Ivy didn’t see Daniel for the rest of the day. The Brunelli clan fell over themselves to help her—from booking her plane ticket home to arranging for a ride to the airport. She’d insisted on leaving on the next flight home and Angelo was recruited to be her driver.

Jack offered to come along with her to the airport but she refused. He seemed to understand that she was through talking for the moment. She was done with being comforted and consoled by her well-intentioned new friends.

Ivy needed to be alone with her thoughts and, most importantly, far, far away from Daniel and all of the people and places she associated with him. Jack helped her with her bags as she and Angelo loaded up the car but she kept their goodbye short and simple.

“I’ll see you when I get back to New York,” she said.

He gave her a quick hug and whispered in her ear, “he’s an idiot.”

* * * *

Don’t wait until it’s too late.
Daniel’s grandfather’s words echoed in his skull as he sped through the winding, country roads that led back to the Brunelli’s villa. He couldn’t let her go through with this. How had he ever thought he could?

His grandfather was right; he was making the same mistakes as his father. He was choosing business and money over love and family. The older man had gone on to tell him the stories from his perspective, which was so very different from his own. As a child all he’d seen was how hurt his mother had been. How hurt
he
had been. He hadn’t seen the love they’d shared when they first married or watched the trail of bad choices that his father had made which led him so far astray.

Daniel sucked in the fresh air of the land he loved so much. He still had a chance to make this right. He wasn’t destined to make the same choices as his father. He could get it right. He could make her happy. He could give her the kind of love and commitment she deserved.

I’m not going to throw it all away over some fling.
His words came back to haunt him and he pounded on the steering wheel, furious with himself for being so blind.