By now, Lucca had sharpened the stick to a pencil point. He flipped it around and began whittling the other end. “He’s still looking for Holly?”

“Oh, yes. Holly’s is a special case to him. She and Justin shared the same birthday. I think if he could bring Holly home to me, it would help heal his heart almost as much as mine.”

“Have there ever been any leads?”

“For Holly?” Hope shook her head. “No. Margarita Santana disappeared into the immigrant community. But that’s part of what gives me comfort. I know who stole my daughter. I think she did it because she wanted to mother my girl, as opposed to the perverted murderer who took Daniel’s son …” Finding it difficult to talk about someone so evil, she hesitated. “To use.”

“Did they find the killer?”

“Yes, but not for three years, when he was apprehended for another crime. DNA evidence tied him to Justin’s murder. He was a pedophile.”

“Dear Lord.” Lucca moved his knife with such force that he broke his stick in two. “I cannot imagine anything worse. I’m glad he has you for a friend.”

“Me, too.” One of the horses let out a loud whinny, and Hope looked over to where Wade stood. “So what did Mr. Mitchell want?”

“An honest assessment of Wade’s talent. It sounds like he’s trying to come to grips with the idea that Wade might win a college scholarship.”

“He didn’t ask you to torpedo Wade, did he?”

“No. It’s obvious he loves his son. I think David Mitchell is the kind of man who believes in hard work, and if Wade’s hard work earns him a collegiate spot, his father won’t deny him the opportunity. I don’t think he’ll like it necessarily, but that might change once he gets used to the idea.”

“He’s scared of losing his son,” Hope said. Then, as Daniel exited the woods a few moments later, his eyes red-rimmed but a gentle smile on his face for Hope, she added, “David Mitchell needs to understand that there is losing, and then there’s losing.”

“Amen to that,” Lucca said. “Amen to that.”

“Dear Lord, pray for us,” Gabi said as she watched her mother march up the sidewalk toward Aspenglow, where her children waited. “She’s on the warpath. Really, she has all the nerve. We’re not the ones who were flaunting our illicit love affair in public.”

“Illicit love affair?” Max drawled. “Hell, Gabi. You sound like a virgin spinster.”

“I may be a spinster, but I’m darn sure not a virgin.”

“Aargh!” Zach said. “Please. No more.”

One hand on her hip, Gabi dramatically waved the other. “Give me grief if you want, but you weren’t there to see it. She all but gave that ice cream cone a blow job.”

Max said, “Gabi! Please.”

Tony scowled at his brothers. “Leave her alone. She has a point, you know.”

Lucca grimaced. Of the five Romano siblings, Gabi and Tony were the only two who didn’t know about their father’s betrayal. Friday night he and Max and Zach had decided to keep that information to themselves unless it became clear that telling would help the family unit more than keeping silent hurt it.

He hoped they could get through this meeting without damaging Gabi’s and Tony’s opinion of their father, but the next few minutes would tell that tale.

Maggie Romano opened the door to her bed-and-breakfast and stepped inside. She unwrapped the yellow scarf from around her neck and hung it on a coat rack before beginning to pull off her gloves, tugging finger after finger while visually taking inventory. “You are all here. Good.”

She put her gloves in her coat pocket, then hung her coat on the rack with her scarf. She wore a red skirt and jacket. A power suit. Okay. This could be trouble. She’s not going to go the teary, vulnerable, “please understand” route. She’s in “I’m your mother and you will obey me” mode.

That would work for the boys, but Gabi was a wild card. She could get on her high horse and out-Mom Mom if she so desired. Lucca had seen it happen more than once, and the afternoon in Gunnison had devastated Gabriella.

Nothing I like more than navigating a minefield with two emotional women.

His mother stepped into the remodeled room that would serve as Aspenglow Place’s public parlor. Max had built a fire in the hearth, and for a moment, the crackle of burning wood was the only sound to be heard. Then Maggie took a place in front of the fireplace, folded her hands, and said, “Thank you all for coming here tonight. I think it’s important that this family continues to communicate. I know you all undoubtedly have things you’d like to say to me. However, I get to go first.

“Due to unfortunate timing, my private business has become family public knowledge. I regret that. It was not my intention to parade my new relationship in your faces. That said, now that the cat’s out of the bag, I want you to know that I will demand you be respectful of my choices, just as I am of yours. I want you to know that I will always value your father and honor this family he gave us. I have and will continue to mourn his loss.

“But I am relatively young and I am ready to move forward. Your father would have wanted me to be happy. I would hope that you, my children, would want me to be happy.”

Lucca glanced around the room to gauge the temperature of his siblings’ reaction. Max and Zach looked cool. Gabi and Tony appeared to be sucking on prunes. He cleared his throat. “We do want you to be happy, Mom. I think everyone was a little shocked at first.”

Gabi snorted. Maggie shot her a disapproving scowl.

Max said, “We feel protective of you, Mom. We’re afraid that you’ve gotten too serious with this fellow too soon. After all, how much does anyone know about this Richard guy other than that he’s a decent contractor?”

“We don’t want you choosing someone just to avoid being alone, Mom,” Tony added. “This guy might have substance abuse issues or mental health problems. Is he divorced? Does he have kids? Maybe he’s looking for emotional and financial help with his children.”

Annoyance flashed in Maggie’s eyes. “For heaven’s sake, Anthony. Don’t you think I have any sense?”

“You haven’t dated in thirty years, Mom. There are a lot of losers out there.”

“But I’m too stupid to identify them?” She laughed without amusement. “Believe me, son. I have more experience than you know. Look, I’m dating Richard. I’m not engaged to marry him. Right now I care about him, and he makes me happy. Just like I had to grin and bear it when you brought home girls I wasn’t certain about, you get to do the same for me. Now, any other comments?”

She folded her arms and looked around the room. “Gabriella, you look as if you have something you want to say.”

“Are you practicing safe sex?”

All four Romano brothers groaned and grimaced and looked anywhere but at their mother, who arched a brow and said, “Gabriella, I learned the consequences of having unprotected sex when I was fifteen years old. It is not a lesson one forgets. And since you brought the topic up, I will add that I trust you all are acting in a sexually responsible manner.”

“Can we change the subject please?” Zach asked.

Lucca couldn’t have agreed more. Especially since the memory of the recent incident when he hadn’t acted sexually responsible suddenly flashed through his brain.

He sat back in his chair. He hadn’t thought about it, that first night when Hope had come to him. He hadn’t used a condom. He never made that slip, but that night, he hadn’t been thinking.

Maybe he should bring it up. Just check and make sure that she’s okay and not worried about … consequences.

“Do you have any comments or questions, Zach?” his mother asked.

“My situation is different from the others. I didn’t know Marcello Romano. I just … well … you have my phone number. Feel free to call me anytime. And I mean anytime.”

His mother smiled at him, then looked at Lucca. “You?”

He winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t have anything against Steele. I do want you to be happy, Mom. It’s just going to take some time to get accustomed to you … uh …” He couldn’t come up with a word.

“Living again?” she suggested.

He smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

Maggie Romano turned to her next eldest. “Tony?”

“I don’t have anything to say.”

The mulish look on his twin’s face told Lucca that Tony wasn’t going to surrender his anger easily. His mother recognized it, too, but rather than try to coax any more from him, she continued calling roll. “Max?”

Max stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles. He glanced from Tony to Gabi, then said, “More than anyone I’ve ever known, you deserve to be happy, Mom. If Richard Steele makes you happy, then I say have fun. Be careful, but be happy.”

Maggie offered up a tremulous smile. “Gabi?”

“I … I …” Tears swelled in her eyes and overflowed. “Excuse me.” She shoved herself from her seat and fled the room.

Lucca pulled his gaze away from his sister and back to his mother to see that now, she’d started crying, too. Oh, hell.

Maggie grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table and dabbed at her eyes. She cleared her throat, then said, “I expect you all here for Thanksgiving dinner. My kitchen will be complete by then, and it will be my first meal in Aspenglow Place. As is our family custom, you are all welcome to invite friends. I intend to invite Richard. Celeste plans to join us. I ask you to give me a final count on Tuesday before.”

Her gaze shifted once more toward the powder room where Gabi had disappeared, then she drew a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and asked, “Anything else?”