been carved and etched with kids who had only wanted to love each other as much as possible too. Josh wouldn’t want me hanging my head in shame when it came to that night. He’d have wanted to protect me from everything that happened after if he had survived.
I looked at our family. To David, standing tall, finally putting weight back on after his final chemo session. Last month he was declared to be in remission. Two weeks later, Brandon and Jenna announced she was expecting.
And tonight was my twenty-seventh birthday. I’d celebrate it with my family, the first birthday I had in a decade to celebrate with anyone, and my first ever with a family who loved me for me.
I grinned up at Hudson and tugged him toward the waiting trio who had stayed back to give Hudson and me a private moment with Josh. “I’m ready.”
For everything. Our future. New beginnings. A life. And love.
All the beautiful things I could imagine were ahead of me.
I was ready for all of it.
I was wrapped in a high back, chocolate brown booth, inhaling the scent of tomato and basil and garlic and the rest of their fabulous spices that made me grin from ear to ear as soon as we stepped inside my favorite pizzeria place. I hadn’t realized how badly I’d missed Chicago-style deep-dish pizza until Hudson had asked me where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner.
Sure, I could have chosen somewhere fancier, with crystal wine glasses and white cloth tablecloths. They would have taken me to the top of the John Hancock building to overlook the city, anywhere I wanted to go.
But Milanio’s Family Restaurant is a staple for locals, if you’re lucky to know about it at all. Beneath the ground level, the outside of the building looked crumbling and about ready to fall apart. All of the Valentines had looked at me with wary eyes when I started down the narrow cement steps with the rickety metal wrought-iron railing.
Once we stepped inside, all their jaws dropped. Milanio’s didn’t have a Facebook or social media presence. They didn’t even have a website yet. I’d had to cross my fingers and hope they were still open when I gave Hudson the general address.
It was the same as I remembered with exposed walls and ductwork, gleaming wood tables, high back booths made to give privacy. It was rustic, with a hidden speakeasy vibe from the prohibition era and my feet were practically bouncing on the wood floors with excitement for the incredible meal soon coming our way.
“Sorry about that,” David said and slipped his phone into the pocket of his suit coat before sliding into the half-moon-shaped table next to Jenna. “That was Gerald. Figured I’d take it before he didn’t leave us alone.”
Hudson tore a chunk off a breadstick, growling beneath his breath. “What’d he want?”
Gerald and the rest of Nina’s family had been nothing but trouble for the Valentines since Hudson walked away from the river project and Gerald’s ridiculous marriage idea. He was a thorn in their side, and Hudson bitched about him constantly. He was pretty sure now that things were starting to move forward with it, they had inspectors being paid off to pass inspections that shouldn’t have.
“Nothing but trouble.” David sighed and then yawned. While he was doing better, he still tired easily, and today had been long for everyone. “Sometimes I’m amazed we were close for so long, because now I hardly recognize the man.”
Hudson made a sound of displeasure. “River project?”
“Some of his investors have backed out. He doesn’t know if he’ll have the funds to continue much longer.”
“Pity,” Hudson said.
Across the table from me, Brandon asked, “What does that mean? He wants you to join him?”
“Yup.” David reached for a glass of Chianti we’d ordered for him while he went outside to take the call. “I told him no. But we’ll happily scoop it up when he goes broke.”
“Nice.” Brandon held out his fist and David knocked his fist against it, humoring smile on his face. “Way to be a hardass.”
“It’s good business. There’s no way I’d work with him again, but if people are finding out his business is sinking, then good riddance.”
I opened my mouth to ask about Nina, even though merely thinking about her grated my nerves. She’d been a nuisance, but she’d come back to Chicago after Hudson refused her proposal. She called occasionally and more than once had stopped by his office when