Natasha could see why she’d set it down. It was too heavy to hold for long. “That’s very nice of her. And you,” she said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Aiyana’s excited you’re here, and I hope I’ll have the chance to get to know you, too.”
“You said the name of your restaurant is Da Nonna?”
“Yes, but it’s not entirely mine. I only own half of it. My mother and I took over for my grandmother, once she passed. That’s why we changed the name to Da Nonna. It means Grandma’s place. But that’s the only change,” she added proudly. “We still use all of Nonna’s old recipes.”
“It sounds wonderful. I’ll stop in once I get settled. But I don’t want Mrs. Buchanon to have to pay for my dinner. Let me get my purse.” Natasha didn’t have a lot of cash, and her debit card had been declined at the U-Haul place, but she was hoping there’d be room for this meal.
“Don’t bother,” the woman said, stopping her. “Aiyana’s already taken care of it. And she’d be mad at me if I let you pay instead.”
“This is...such a nice welcome.” When Natasha put the basket down and opened the lid, the scent of garlic, onions and basil permeated the room. “There’s even a bottle of wine in here.”
Obviously curious, Mack walked over, and that was all it took to distract Lucas from his lunch. He followed Mack and leaned up against Natasha while Mack sorted through the basket. “Wow,” he said. “Looks delicious.”
“This must be your little boy,” Camilla said.
“Yes. His name’s Lucas. Can you say hello to Mrs. Ricci, Lucas?”
“Hello,” he mumbled shyly.
“What a cutie.” Camilla jerked her head to indicate Mack. “Looks just like his father, doesn’t he?”
For a moment, the whole world seemed to stand still. “Mack isn’t Lucas’s father,” Natasha said, oddly breathless, her heart in her throat. “My ex still lives in LA. Mack is...um...just a family friend who’s helping me move.”
Camilla’s face went as red as her hair. “Oh! I’m sorry. Aiyana made it sound as though you weren’t bringing your husband with you, but when I saw—” she gestured toward Mack “—and then Lucas, I assumed...”
Her words faded away when she realized she was only making things worse. “I have to go,” she said and hurried back down the walkway.
Mack didn’t move or speak as Natasha closed the door, and he didn’t offer to help when she lifted the basket into the kitchen. “Looks like we’ll have a great dinner,” she said, infusing as much enthusiasm into her voice as possible in an attempt to direct attention away from what’d just occurred. She’d always told herself and everyone else that Lucas belonged to Ace. But the truth was she didn’t know for sure—didn’t want to know, either. Although she and Ace hadn’t been exclusive when she’d returned to Whiskey Creek and spent that crazy night with Mack, she had slept with him before then, so chances were good Lucas belonged to Ace.
But sometimes when she looked at her son, she saw Mack’s likeness herself.
Lucas scrambled up on a chair Mack must’ve brought in and shoved the paper towel that held his sandwich aside so he could see inside the basket. “Are there any treats?”
“There’s some tiramisu, which is dessert.”
“Tira...what?”
She forced a laugh while watching Mack from the corner of her eye. “Never mind. You wouldn’t like that even if I could give it to you. I packed some snacks, so you don’t have anything to worry about. Speaking of which, we’d better finish unloading the van. I’ll just go brush my teeth first.”
Her mind was racing a million miles a minute, and so was her heart as she got out the toothpaste. It’ll be okay. Even if Lucas wasn’t Ace’s son, Mack couldn’t be mad at her. He’d never followed up after their night together. Not the way she’d wanted and needed him to. At the time, she’d fully believed he wouldn’t want to know.
She heard movement behind her and wished it was Lucas, but she could tell by the heavy tread on the stairs that it was Mack. He came up and leaned against the bathroom doorjamb, watching as she brushed her teeth.
His eyes never left her as she rinsed and dried her mouth. Finally, she answered the question she knew was burning uppermost in his mind. “It’s not possible.”
“You’d tell me?”
She dried her hands and tried to slip past him, but he caught her by the shoulders, which wasn’t hard to do since she only came up to his chest, and searched her face so thoroughly she could scarcely bring herself to meet his gaze. “Of course I would,” she lied. Things were what they were, and she was going to leave them that way. Lucas had a father; there was no reason to confuse him. And if she was wrong about the genetics, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if her mistake was costing Ace anything. She was taking care of Lucas herself. He wasn’t even paying child support. “Do you mind?” she said when Mack still didn’t step aside.
“Can we talk about the circumstances and timing?” he asked.
What was she going to do? She’d gotten over him, moved on with her life. She refused to open her heart or her mind to anything from the past. “I’ve already told you—no.”
“No, you don’t want to talk about it? Or no, it’s not a possibility?”
“Both.”
“Damn it, Tash,” he muttered, but he let go of her and moved out of the way.
* * *
It was difficult not to watch Lucas even more closely as they unloaded the truck. Mack didn’t want to put Natasha through anything else. Her life had been rough, and he’d inadvertently caused some of that pain. But did that mean he had to accept what she said without proof?
When she caught him studying Lucas, who was playing in the truck while they unloaded, he got back to work and lifted another box out of the moving van. “Where do you want this one?” he asked.
She seemed worried about what he was thinking and feeling, but she didn’t address it. He could tell she was too afraid—and that only made him more suspicious.
She peeked inside the flaps. “I’m sorry—I forgot to mark it. Looks like it goes in the bathroom.”
After she grabbed a different box, she followed him inside, and they made one trip after another until they’d managed to empty the van.
“Now I just need to put all this stuff away,” she said. “Moving is such a nightmare, isn’t it?”
He didn’t reply. She was trying to act as though that incident with Camilla Ricci had never occurred, but he couldn’t get the woman’s words out of his head: Looks just like his father, doesn’t he?