them could cook that well, this was the only option. His brothers had razzed him about having money to hire out the cooking, but it was all in fun.
“Ms. Casella, you wanted a fifteen-minute warning as to when dinner will be ready.”
“Thank you, Barbara. And please, call me Hayley.”
She turned to the group. “If everybody would get seated, we’d like to open the champagne.”
Of course, they jockeyed for the best seats, mostly who was going to sit next to Hayley. Paul dropped down next to Matka and stared at the empty chair at one end. She leaned into him. “Let us enjoy who came, Pawel. We cannot wallow in who is absent.”
“You’re right.”
A waiter poured the bubbly. Paul stood and picked up his glass. “I’d like to make a toast.”
“I think that is my job in this family.” The booming voice came from the entrance to the deck from the condo.
Paul dropped his glass. It fell onto the table and broke. Champagne spread everywhere. But the people with him hardly noticed. They were open-mouthed as they stared at Filip Covitz, who’d come to dinner after all.
He strode closer, but instead of sitting in the empty seat, he approached Paul. They looked at each other, wordlessly. They both swallowed hard. And Paul felt his throat clog again.
Until his father reached out and hugged him.
Over Paul’s shoulder, Filip winked at Hayley. No one else knew she’d gone to see Filip, more than once, and spent hours with him talking about being abandoned and how she’d forgiven Ronan. She used all her charm and wits to convince him on successive visits, but she had no idea what he’d decided.
Finally, they broke the bear hug and Filip walked to the seat Paul vacated, next to Matka. Hayley knew she hadn’t gone home to him yet. He squeezed her shoulder and a waiter handed him a full glass of champagne. “To my family,” he said hoarsely. “NaZdrowie!”
Ten happy voices chimed NaZdrowie.
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Author’s Note
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Welcome to my new spin off series, The Casella Cousins. First seen in TAKE ME BACK, the characters really stuck in my head and I knew I had to tell their stories. What I like about this group is their variety of outlooks on life, of the careers they’ve chosen and what personal baggage they have.
So, what did you think of Hayley and Paul? Did you buy the enemies-turned-lover theme? I have to say, this is one of my favorite subjects to write about. Attraction can be masked by adversity. Not always, of course, but I thought theirs was believable because they’d known each other for a year, fought like cats and dogs and then were jailed together. That overnight stay behind bars was the first time they ever got to really talk, to know each other as people. Then, after the trial ends, they throw caution to the wind. They both knew at that point there was more between them than animosity. I must admit though, I didn’t expect the moonlit sail to include lovemaking, but I always go with my gut when the characters make their own decisions.
I found Paul particularly fascinating because of his background. I hope you sympathized with the plight of an eighteen-year-old who is disowned by his father, that the damage that did to his psyche. It was horrific enough to make him cut off his family completely for two decades. The reunion scenes between the brothers were particularly emotional for me. And how about that last scene?
I don’t always like my characters right away, but I did like Hayley from her time in TAKE ME BACK. Her story was particularly poignant to me because I personally know what it’s like to have an older sibling disappear from your young life because of their parents’ unreasonableness. When Ronan shows up, I got teary-eyed, because it brought back memories of my own childhood. And when she learns Paul did pretty much the same thing to his brothers and sisters, she stops seeing him. I did get annoyed with her sometimes, but mostly she was my favorite.
Seth’s story is up next, so I hope you grab a copy and see how the Casella saga continues to develop.
Kathy
Visit or contact Kathryn at www.kathrynshay.com
Don’t miss the other books in
THE CASELLA COUSINS Series
July