To Catch a Thief - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,73

and keep her from having to struggle for months or even years to make it all right.”

Bobby stared at him, first with defiance, then eventually in defeat. “What the hell?” he said at last. “I was getting sick of all this sunshine, anyway.”

Rafe nodded. “Think of it this way. You’ll be giving Gina the best Christmas present you could possibly give her, one she’s not likely to forget.”

Chapter Sixteen

Gina could no longer avoid her parents. They had been in the restaurant several times, asking questions, regarding her with undisguised worry. Each and every time, she had been busy enough to avoid responding to the interrogation. But on Thanksgiving Day, she knew that her time had run out.

“For once, you just sit there and let me cook,” her mother commanded the minute Gina entered the kitchen. “I can certainly fix a turkey and stuffing. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“I don’t mind helping,” Gina protested.

“I know that, but you need a break. You’re working too hard trying to avoid making some tough decisions. At least that’s the way it seems to your father and me. Are we right? Is this about Rafe or New York? Not that we aren’t delighted that you’re still here, but it’s not like you to stay away from your business for so long, not when you spent so much time making it successful.”

“A lot’s been happening,” Gina said defensively. “First with Karen, then with Tony and Francesca. I couldn’t abandon them.”

“That’s very noble, I’m sure, but I know you, my darling girl. Tony came back on Monday. Yet you’re still here, still in that little apartment behind Nancy Garwood’s house. That tells me that you’re hiding from something.”

Gina sighed. She had never been able to keep things from her mother, which was one reason she’d been steering clear of the house so much lately.

Gina toyed with a napkin. She folded it into an elaborate swan, then unfolded it and made a simple triangle more in keeping with her mother’s table setting. The silence in the room deepened as her mother stirred the pots on the stove and waited for a reply to her question. Gina recognized that she wasn’t going to be able to avoid giving an answer.

“You know about the problem with the business,” she said. “That’s how Rafe and I met. He thought I had something to do with Bobby stealing that money. He distrusted me.”

“But you fell for him, anyway,” her mother said. “And he for you. So you got past the initial distrust and resentment.”

Gina nodded and reached for a carrot stick just to have something to hold.

“Then you’re not hiding from Rafe?”

“Actually I am, in a way.” She sighed heavily. “It’s complicated.”

“Because you’ve fallen in love with him,” her mother concluded. “And that scares you.”

The carrot stick snapped in half. Gina stared at it in surprise, then looked at her mother with even greater shock. “You can see that?”

Her mother grinned. “Darling, you never were any good at hiding your emotions. Even your father figured this part out. What we didn’t understand was why you didn’t just admit it. It’s obvious he cares about you, too. Whatever complications there were at the beginning will resolve themselves in time.”

“I thought so, too, for a while, but he hasn’t been in touch lately. And now there’s another wrinkle. It just came up this week when Tony got back.”

“What’s that?”

“Tony asked me to go into partnership with him.” She took a deep breath, knowing that her parents were going to be delighted by the news, though they would never try to influence her decision. “He and Francesca want to spend more time in Italy. He says eventually the business would be mine, if I want to stay here.”

Just as she’d expected, her mother was wise enough not to reveal her reaction. Instead, she asked, “How do you feel about that?”

Gina permitted herself a slight grin. “I really, really want to do it. Despite all of the chaos the past few months, I’ve loved being here. Until I came back I hadn’t realized how much I missed you guys and my friends and even Winding River. I really don’t want to live in New York anymore.”

“Which brings us back to Rafe,” her mother guessed.

“Exactly.”

“There’s only one way to figure out what to do,” she told Gina. “You have to go to New York, settle things with Rafe and with Café Tuscany, then make a final decision. You can’t make such an important decision in a