Vito razzed his nephew about how he warned him the Spanish girl would never make him happy. Miller gave him a stern look, which Vito followed up with a laugh and a hardy, “Eh…Uh!”
Hadley assumed Theresa to be the Spanish girl, but didn’t ask.
Following the uncles, their wives took turns greeting her. While they didn’t look related, they were all dressed much the same, in leggings with tunic blouses and heels. It appeared they were in competition for the biggest hair. The women were weighed down with jewelry, make-up, and fingernails. Hadley felt plain. Hell, she stuck out like a sore thumb, but the women were sweet to her.
Next, Hadley met the twins, who informed her they were seven, followed by the cousins. Miller nudged her before she shook Vinny’s hand and she tried not to laugh.
Hadley actually felt relieved when Paul approached her and more so when he introduced Katherine. She was tall with long dark-blonde hair and very little make-up. Like Hadley, she was casual in jeans.
Voices swam around in her head, all with thick Jersey accents. “She’s lovely.” “She’s so cute.” “I like her.” “After Theresa, I never thought I’d see the day Gio brought a girl home.”
Had she not been focused on the man in front of her who, other than a head full of silver hair, looked exactly like Miller, Hadley would have noticed one of his family members used the name “Gio”.
Miller smiled brightly.
“Hadley, I’d like you to meet my father, Miller Genetti, the second.”
Miller’s father took her hand, holding it between his own. He placed a gentle kiss on each of her cheeks.
“It’s lovely to finally meet you, Ms. Walker.”
She would later admit to blushing a little. Father was nearly as handsome as son.
“It’s nice to meet you to. Please, call me, Hadley.”
In the next second, she was engulfed in the arms of a small brunette, who also kissed her on each cheek before releasing her.
“Ah, mi carina, so lovely. I’m Noemi, Miller’s mamma. Welcome to our home. We we’re thrilled when Miller said he was bringing you.”
“Thank you.” Hadley smiled politely.
Noemi was gorgeous and certainly didn’t appear old enough to be Miller’s mother. Her sleek waist length black hair shined. She wore gold lament Capri-leggings. The straps of her matching heeled sandals wrapped several times around her ankles. Her black blouse narrowed at the waist cinched with a gold leather belt. Gold jewelry completed the ensemble that, on anyone else, Hadley would consider horribly gaudy, but Noemi Genetti rocked it. On Mrs. Genetti it was pure class, which Hadley attributed to the fact it was probably expensive boutique fashion, rather than plastic knockoffs from cheap mall chain stores.
“Come on everyone, let’s let the girl breathe. Out back you go.” Noemi shooed the mob–pun unintended–with a brush of her hand.
With one arm around Hadley’s waist, Miller steered her as the two followed his parents to the backyard. Spacious and without fencing, the lavish landscape went on for miles with no visible neighbors. Hadley heard a splash and her eyes followed the noise to where the twins were swimming in a pool made of granite boulders.
The women gathered on one side of the yard while the men congregated on the other, smoking cigars. All of them drank wine out of small glass tumblers. As her eyes scanned the crowd, Hadley noticed everyone spoke with their hands, as though they had a need to accentuate every important word, which, in their case, were all of them. It was something her mother had often done. Hadley smiled.
She expected Miller to excuse himself and join the men, but he didn’t. He held her hand and waited for her to prompt when they should socialize. In the distance, Hadley saw what appeared to be hay bales stacked tall with white circles painted on them. She was about to ask Miller what they were when she heard Katherine’s voice.
“Hey, Cugino, may I barrow your girl for a moment?”
Hadley turned and smiled at Katherine, noticing sincerity in the eyes of her boss’s wife. Miller pulled gently on her chin and gazed into her eyes, silently asking if she was okay with him leaving. After assuring him she was fine, Miller released her hand and made his way over to the group of men.
Katherine tipped her head to a door on the back of the house.
“Come on, let’s go down to the cellar and get more wine.”
Hadley smiled and followed Katherine. The temperature in the cellar was much colder than the humid air outside. She rubbed her bare arms, wishing she brought a sweater. Wine barrels were stacked neatly in the center of the room. Every wall was covered floor to ceiling with wine bottles, each unit labeled with classification, year, and region. Hadley definitely felt out of her depth and choked back giggles when she thought about the box of wine in her fridge.
“Paul tells me things with you and Miller are going well?” Katherine said as a question before scanning the wall of red wines and pulling down a few selections.
Hadley remembered the Jensen’s were related to Theresa and tried not to be angry with Katherine for snooping. She assumed her boss’s wife was close to her sister-in-law.
Haley replied simply, “They are.”
Katherine turned and set the bottles of wine on one of the barrels. She gave Hadley a placating smile.
“Good, I’m thrilled to hear it.”
Hadley relaxed. “You are?”
“My sister-in-law played my cousin like a yo-yo for years. I couldn’t be happier he finally got over her and found someone else.”
“I forgot you were cousins.” Hadley hadn’t, but could think of nothing else to say.
“Yep, Alex is my dad. Miller and I were closest in age growing up, so we were tight. He introduced me to Paul.”
“He told me.”
Katherine began selecting white wines.
“And you two met via letters, right?”
Hadley thought about her stalking days ending with a meeting in the building elevator and smothered a smile.
“Yes, well kind of, I wrote a letter that I never intended to mail. Someone at the office found it and sent it. At first, I was angry, but I owe that person a thank you.”
Katherine set two bottles of wine next to the others. She wiped the dust from her hands onto her jeans and extended one to Hadley.
“You’re welcome.”
Hadley’s jaw dropped, and she shook her hand. “You sent it?”
Katherine shrugged. “Guilty.”
“But, I don’t understand. You don’t know me.”
“It was all kind of fate actually.” Katherine waved her hand. “If you believe in all that anyway. My husband is a busy man. Over the years, I’ve spent more time on the phone with Mac than Paul. I adore him by the way.” Hadley nodded her agreement. “Mac is a gossip, as I’m sure you know.” Hadley nodded again. “He told me a friend at work had a ‘delicious’–his word–crush on Miller, and that she was sweet and kind and too terrified to approach him, which is understandable. Mac didn’t know at the time that Miller and I were related. I was at the office the morning after the story about Miller broke, handling some PR things for Paul. I heard you talking with Mac and found you quite delightful. When Mac left, I saw you pull out the letter and read it. I waited for you to go to lunch and snatched it up. Then, I signed, sealed, and mailed it.”
Hadley gaped at her boss’s wife in disbelief.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words right now.”
“You’re very sweet, and I’m sorry for invading your privacy, but I don’t regret it. Miller hasn’t been this happy in a long time. Theresa sucked everything she could from him, but she never loved him. It was high time Miller found a nice girl. I hope we can be friends.”
“Of course we can.”
They exchanged thoughtful glances before Katherine reached out and hugged Hadley.
When the two women returned to the backyard, Noemi informed them the uncles and their wives were preparing to play a family football game and to join her in the kitchen if they didn’t want to participate. Hadley was surprised to see an actual football, not a soccer ball, which she supposed was stereo-typing, but Italian’s loved fùtbol. She remembered when they stayed with her grandparents as a kid. Her grandfather spent Sundays in front of the television, usually screaming and gesturing wildly with his hands.
Miller watched his love from across the lawn. Hadley was more radiant than he’d ever seen her. The sunlight filtered through her long brown waves, highlighting the subtle streaks of red. Her olive skin glowed. She appeared happy here with his family, and it made him proud.
As Miller crossed the yard and sealed their hands together, he knew she was the one he’d spent a lifetime searching for.
“She’s all yours, Cugino, and she’s lovely.”
Katherine patted him on the back and joined her husband.
Miller kissed Hadley’s cheek and asked, “Did she give you the third degree?”
Hadley considered telling Miller they owed their relationship to Katherine, but she rather enjoyed the thought of keeping it a secret.
“No. We just talked. I like her a lot.”
“You do?” Miller asked surprised.
“Yes, I do.”
His estranged wife and Katherine in the same room was a lot like watching two cats bare their claws and waiting to see which one would strike first. There may have even been a little betting amongst the men as to who would be victorious if a catfight ever broke out.
“Hey, lover boy, bring your girl over here. We have a game to play,” the one Hadley thought might be Otto, called over.
A bout of laughter erupted in the group and she heard someone say, “Shut your fucking mouth before he kicks your ass.”
Hadley bumped Miller with her hip. “What do you say?”
Miller arched a dark eyebrow. “My ballerina is going to play football?”
Hadley huffed and shoved past him. As a girl funneled through the foster care system, she usually ended up in foster homes with boys. They were usually mean and fiercely competitive. They rarely had toys of their own, but there was always a football.
“Yes, I’m going to play football.” Hadley turned her head, glancing at him over her shoulder. “You scared?”
Miller looked at her expressionless. On the inside, he had more of a desire to throw her over his shoulder and haul her upstairs to one of the bedrooms than to play football. A confident Hadley was sexy.
“It’s on, Ms. Walker.”
Hadley giggled. She was grateful for the sneakers she’d chosen to wear. Miller’s aunts all lined up to play. She looked to their footwear and silently questioned how they planned on managing the task when not one of them wore less than three inch heels. Her question was answered when the women removed their heels and tossed them in the grass. They cracked their knuckles and growled. It may have been the most awesome thing she’d ever seen.
These are my people
, she thought.
Quinn and Otto picked teams. As it turned out, Miller and Hadley ended up together, with Quinn, Aggi, Vito, and Paul. Katherine declined and joined Noemi in the kitchen to help with the cooking.
Team Quinn was on offense first. Hadley lined up in front of Otto. He waggled his eyebrows at her.
“You ready, doll?”
Hadley held back a laugh at how Otto said doll as though it were spelled
dawl
and shot him a look.
“You bet your ass!”
Otto opened his mouth and then turned to Miller.
“I’m seriously jealous, hot and a foul mouth.”
“Giù le mani da, Otto.” Miller winked at Hadley before lining up at quarterback. He successfully completed a pass to Vito for ten yards.
When they returned to the line, Miller informed Hadley that he warned Otto to keep his hands to himself, and she laughed.
The friendly game had been going strong for about an hour. Although Hadley had yet to appreciate it, the game presented an easy bonding experience. The teasing and casual conversation allowed Miller’s family to get to know his new girlfriend, and she them. She liked everyone and was particularly fond of Otto, even though he was a little obnoxious. Once Noemi announced dinner was ready, the group decided the next score would win.
Team Quinn huddled up. Hadley demanded the ball.
“Competitive, G. I like it,” Vito told Miller.
Hadley thought it odd Vito would use G, for Genetti rather than M, for Miller given how close the two were. She thought maybe it was a football thing, and it didn’t stick with her long enough to question it.
She lined up in front of Otto again.
“You ready, doll?” she asked.
Otto laughed at her mockery and said, “Bring it!”
Vito snapped the ball to Miller, who handed it off to Hadley. Otto headed straight toward her, grinning victoriously as he put his hands out to touch her. Before he reached her, she spun gracefully and he missed. Hadley heard her teammates cheering her on before she put a move on who she thought might be Alex and left him in the dust. After scoring the touchdown, Hadley held the football in two hands above her head, brought her toe to her knee, and performed a flawless pirouette, before spiking the ball. Miller hauled her into his arms, his nose skimming the back of her ear.
“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Miller brought his mouth to hers, kissing her long and hard. Catcalls and whistles soon broke out among his family. Hadley ended the kiss, and Miller set her back on her feet. She covered her face with her hands as embarrassment washed over her. Miller removed her hands, keeping one in his, and pulled her toward the house for dinner.
Hadley heard Maya say, “Damn! That was one hot kiss! How come you never kiss me like that, Gabe?”
Gabe answered with a gruff, but mumbled reply Hadley didn’t catch, and everyone laughed.
The large dining room table held the entire family, other than the twins, who sat at a smaller table designated for children. Enough food to feed a small country spread the table. Hadley laughed when Noemi smacked Michael’s hand and told him to keep his fingers out of the gravy. Her mother had been the only person she knew who referred to pasta sauce as gravy. She’d been reminded of her mother a few times throughout the day. To her surprise, the memories made her happy. She sat between Miller and Otto, and across from Vito and his wife Juliana.