Just Add Spice

Rafe’s aunt grasped Jenna’s hands. “I don’t understand what happened. You were so wonderful together. But then you left.”

“Yes. For my job.”

“And now you’re back. For your job?”

Tension gripped Jenna. She wanted to skirt the question, but she admired and respected Vesta too much to play coy. “This isn’t about my job. I want to do this to help Rafe. He’s very important to me, Vesta. You have to know that.”

Jenna had no doubt her affection for Rafe shone in her eyes.

The older woman smiled and said, “Aunt Vesta. You are family, cara mia.”

Jenna’s heart constricted and emotion swelled in her throat. It took a few seconds for her to collect herself and say, “I always appreciated how you accepted me. I never meant to screw up things with Rafe. Or hurt him. He means the world to me. The entire family does. But… I’m not like all of you. Can you understand that?”

It was vital to Jenna that this woman she thought so highly of knew how Jenna felt about her—and the family.

Vesta squeezed her hands. “Si. And I’m happy you have come home.”

Okay, that was uncomfortable.

“Vesta—”

“You are here for now,” Rafe’s aunt said, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “That matters most.”

Chapter Four

“My darling, Rafe.”

He turned at the sound of his aunt’s voice and grinned. “Aunt Vesta. What a nice surprise.” He bent at the waist so she could kiss his cheeks.

She said, “My visits are hardly a surprise. I’m in here at least three times a week.”

“For lunch today?”

“Next time.” She took his hand in hers. “What’s a true surprise is seeing Jenna covering for Reesa as hostess. Come, tell me all about it.”

She led Rafe into his office and he closed the door behind them. Sliding into his burgundy leather executive chair while she gracefully perched on the edge of one of the chairs opposite his desk, he earnestly told her, “Don’t get too excited, Aunt Vesta. Jen’s only here for a couple of weeks. She had some spare time on her hands and didn’t know what to do with herself.”

“So she came here.” Vesta smiled knowingly. “That says a lot, don’t you think, tesoro mio?”

Rafe shook his head, and not just at his aunt’s term of endearment—sweetheart. “I don’t k

now what it says. The fact that this is the place she’d come to when she finally has a break in her schedule suggests she thinks of it as home. But then again… Jenna doesn’t know the actual definition of that word.”

“She belongs here,” Vesta said in a soft tone.

He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. She likes her whirlwind, jet-set life. If she didn’t, she would have stayed.”

His aunt crossed her legs and rested her hands in her lap. A rather unassuming position Rafe decided. And he geared up for whatever it was she had on her mind.

A few uncomfortable moments slipped by before she spoke. “You held on too tightly to her, tesoro mio. You wanted to do everything for her. Take care of her. Give her the moon and the stars. But… She never asked for any of that, did she?”

“No,” he said quite frankly. “Does that make it wrong that I wanted her to have whatever her heart desired?”

His aunt paused once more, as though choosing her words carefully. “How can you give someone what their heart desires when you don’t know what it is they want? Or need?”

Rafe shot to his feet. “It’s not like I didn’t ask!”

“But even she doesn’t know,” Vesta said, her tone still quiet. Never a good thing when Italians were having a tense discussion.