Page 8 of Love or Leave (Mapleton #4)

He lifted Sophie up, and she kissed his cheek. "Hello, little miss," he said before shifting his attention to Cara, who smiled back at him, finally resembling her usual self. "Cara, this is my niece, Sophie. Sophie, this is Cara."

"Hello," Cara said. "I love your dress."

Sophie smiled, then dropped her cheek onto Antonio's shoulder. Maria finally caught up with her daughter and stopped in front of him with a sigh.

"Sophie," she said, taking her from Antonio's arms. "Go find the other kids so I can talk to Zio, okay?"

"I don't know where they are," she said, the corners of her mouth pulling down with a little whine.

Maria gave her a patient smile. "That's the point of hide and seek. Off you go."

She set Sophie down on her little white dress shoes and they all watched as she meandered away until she saw a little boy run out from under a table and chased after him.

"I'm glad you came," Maria said to Antonio as she gave him a hug before turning to Cara.

"Hi."

Cara smiled at Maria. "Hi."

Antonio's shoulders relaxed slightly. "This is Cara," he said to Maria. "Cara, this is my sister, Maria."

Maria pulled Cara into a tight hug and, when she pulled back, gave him a look of concern. "Fran's already here with Blake Hunter."

Antonio sucked in an annoyed breath. "I think we can just call him Blake."

"I know that name…" Cara said. A little crease formed between her pretty dark eyebrows as she scanned the room.

Antonio could see the second she found him and put two and two together. She gave a bit of a nod, and her gaze dropped to the woman beside him.

"Is that Fran standing next to him?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "That's her, Princess Fran."

"Be nice," Antonio said.

"She makes it impossible," Maria said, shaking it off and turning to Cara. "So, how did you two meet?"

Cara made eye contact with Antonio and gave him a smirk. "In a garden."

Antonio huffed an unexpected laugh. He loved how subtly funny she was. "A rose garden at midnight. It was beautiful," he added.

Cara's face lit up and she held his eyes.

"Why does that sound like a lie?" Maria asked, a smile playing on her face as she looked between him and Cara.

Antonio shrugged. "It's all true."

"I don't know how beautiful it was," Cara said.

Antonio stared at her for a moment and loosened up the control he had over his mind, allowing his suppressed thoughts to run rampant for the first time since he'd met her that night.

Cara was quite possibly the most strikingly beautiful woman he'd ever seen in real life.

The fact that she even questioned her beauty was beyond him.

She was tall and curvy, with the softest, rosiest skin and the glossiest dark hair.

She looked stunning now, all put together and glowing, but even when she was drunk in the bushes and he was untangling her hair from a thorn, she looked beautiful.

And he hadn't even mentioned how brilliant and funny she was.

"It's all true," he said, unable to peel his eyes off her. He wanted to touch her again. Hold her in his arms.

He reached for her hand.

"Hi, Tonio."

That voice, so familiar, stopped him in his tracks. He blinked away from Cara and turned to find Fran standing right next to him. His eyes met hers for a moment before darting up to her date.

He stared in silence, searching for words before Maria saved him.

"Introduce us," Maria said to Fran, with a nod to Blake.

Fran collapsed a little, as she always did under Maria's scrutiny, and Antonio was reminded of all the times she'd been upset throughout their relationship because she felt like Maria hated her.

He'd always taken Fran's side, always told Maria to back off. But he couldn't really blame Maria for being annoyed in this situation.

He was annoyed.

"This is Blake Hunter," Fran said, stepping aside as her date reached his hand toward Antonio.

"Great to meet you, man," Blake said, grabbing hold of Antonio's hand and shaking it. "Fran told me all about you two."

Antonio fought off the urge to bare his teeth, and schooled his face to a neutral position. "Great," he said, unsure how to respond to that.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your date?" Fran asked, barely even looking at him. Her eyes were focused on Cara.

"Yes," he said. "This is Cara." He placed a hand on the small of her back and pulled her a little closer to his side.

Cara smiled and gave a little wave. "Hi."

Silence fell over the group for a moment. He realized he was staring at Fran, who was staring at Cara. He looked at his date, hoping she wasn't feeling anxious again, but instead of fear, he found worry… directed at him. Maybe even a little pity.

Was she worried about him?

He looked at Maria. Same look.

Jesus.

"So," he said, trying to break the million-year-long silence even though he didn't have a follow-up.

He let out a breath and glanced around the room. Every pair of eyes was staring at him. He rolled his eyes, hoping they would all fuck off and stop staring.

No one did.

Just when he couldn't imagine it could get any worse, his mother broke away from the group she was with and started toward them.

"Incoming," Maria said under her breath.

Fran turned and saw his mother, then turned back toward them and dropped her head.

"Tonio," his mom said. "You made it."

She came in close, and he bent to kiss her cheeks.

"And you brought someone with you?"

"This is Cara. Cara, this is my mom."

Cara smiled. "It's nice to meet you. Happy anniversary."

His mother tipped her chin up and gave a cold, "Thank you," as she turned her gaze away from Cara and on his soon-to-be ex-wife. "Fran," she said. "I'm surprised you came."

Fran's eyes widened. "Well, you sent an invitation."

"Yes, but," she said, looking over at Antonio before continuing. "I didn't think you'd bring someone."

Maria glared at their mother while Fran dipped her head and Blake's eyebrows shot up.

Jesus Christ. It was too fucking much.

Antonio wanted to pick up a chair and throw it through a fucking window.

He knew that seeing Fran with someone new for the first time would be difficult, not just for him, but for his entire family. What he hadn't imagined was how confused and angry he'd feel. He honestly couldn’t even pinpoint his feelings in that moment. He was just overwhelmed.

He looked around the room at all the familiar faces, the same faces that had watched them dance their first dance together, and he just couldn't take it anymore. Sending that invitation had been a big mistake.

He had to get the fuck out of there.

He opened his mouth, closed it, then dropped his gaze and shook his head. "Freezing."

The dead silence that suffocated them stretched for a few more seconds while everyone tried to figure out what he'd said.

"What?" Maria asked.

Before he could respond, Cara clutched her stomach and moaned.

Thank fuck.

"Ooh… I don't feel very good," she said.

He turned toward her, happy to have a set of eyes to focus on that weren't judgmental. "You don't?"

She dropped her delicate chin and shook her pretty head, making her earrings dance. "No, it's my… head," she said, moving her hands from her stomach to her temples. "I think I'm getting a migraine."

Antonio put a fake worried look on his face and placed his hands over hers, dipping his knees to look squarely in her eyes, as if evaluating her.

"Doesn't look good," he said, brushing his thumb over her temple. "I better get you home."

Without another word, he turned away, took Cara’s hand in his, and headed for the door. Luckily, it only took a few seconds for the attendant to get their coats, and they were back in his car within minutes.

They sat in silence for a long while as he drove back. He was at a complete loss for what to say. What an embarrassing mess.

"So," Cara said, treading lightly. "You're just as bad at code words as you are at Scrabble."

It took him a second to process her little quip, but when he finally did, a laugh bubbled up from nowhere and escaped his lips.

Then another.

He shook his head and laughed as he drove under the streetlights, the rest of the stress draining from his body. "And you're an even worse actor. Why did you hold your stomach and say you had a migraine?"

Cara smiled and shrugged. "I wasn't expecting you to say freezing. I thought it would be me."

"Yeah," he said with a headshake. "Sorry, I don't know what happened there."

Cara shook her head. "Don't apologize," she said. "That was rough. You handled it better than I would have."

He glanced over at her. "What would you have done?"

"I would have cried and ran out of the room. Or kicked that guy in the shin. Your mom seems very… passionate."

"Passionate?"

"Yes. Passionate about your relationships."

He nodded. "She's not happy about me and Fran separating. She thinks I've brought shame to the family and I'm going to hell."

Cara blew out a whistle.

He looked over, and she was back to fidgeting with the charm on her bracelet.

He pulled into his apartment’s parking lot and parked. They both stepped out his car, and he walked her over to her car.

"Thanks for coming," he said. "It was better with you there."

She gave him a smile. "What are you going to do about Fran?"

He shook his head, not even knowing where to start. "I don't know. I can't imagine she actually wants to be with a guy like Blake."

"Yeah, they don't seem that compatible," Cara said, digging out her keys from her purse. She pressed the button to unlock her car and pulled open the door, then hesitated and turned to him.

"Just so you know, if I were Fran, I'd choose you," she said. "And I wouldn't even think twice about it."

She said it while looking at her feet, as if she knew better than to say it, but couldn't help herself.

It was comforting to hear, especially following his extremely embarrassing night and returning alone to his awful apartment.

Actually, everything about having her with him that night had been good, like a salve over a burn.

"Thanks, Cara," he said, fighting the urge to pull her into a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She gave a nod and smiled, then got in her car and drove off. He watched her go, feeling way too alone now that she was gone.