Best Man for the Bridesmaid

They now had dresses, flowers and a cake, of sorts. This wedding was going to come together. And Jules had already figured out what to do about the food. Dante’s family had been anxious to help; they could do covered dishes. From what she’d learned in her short time in Rome, the DeFiore family was a group of accomplished cooks. She couldn’t imagine buying anything that tasted anywhere as good as the dishes they made in the restaurant.

Right now was Jules’s favorite part of the wedding preparations—a chance to sample mouthwatering cakes from dark chocolate to angelic white. Or in this case, sample the wide array of cupcakes. Jules grinned like a little kid as she eyed the display case filled with cupcakes decorated in every imaginable color.

“Relax.” The woman smiled at Stefano. “I promise this won’t hurt at all. In fact, you might enjoy it. If you two would just have a seat at the table over there, I’ll grab some samples.”

“Thank you.” Jules took Stefano’s hand and led him to the table. Once they were seated, Jules turned to him. “Would you relax? You’re making everyone uncomfortable.”

“What?” Stefano glanced across the little white café-style table at her.

“Cheer up. This won’t take long, and you get to taste some delicious cupcakes.”

“Sorry. I was thinking about something else.”

“I’m sure you were,” she mumbled.

“I was.” His gaze narrowed in on her. “I was thinking about the vineyard.”

Apparently she hadn’t spoken quite as softly as she’d thought. “Are you that bored that you’d rather be working?”

“Why must you jump to conclusions?”

She shrugged. Was she wrong? Was it possible he wasn’t wishing he was anywhere but here with her?

“Then why were you thinking about the vineyard?”

He leaned the little chair back on its two rear legs and crossed his arms as though trying to decide if he should take her into his confidence. That bothered her. After everything she’d told him about her past, he really had to decide if she was trustworthy?

Before she could say a word, he spoke up. “It was brought to my attention that I’ve been cutting my father out of the business side of things at the vineyard. I guess I was so intent on keeping busy after Gianna died that I hadn’t noticed that he felt cut out. That was never my intention.”

“And you think your father wants more responsibility.”

Stefano nodded. “He’s succeeded in keeping everything under control while I’ve been helping you with the wedding. And he seems happier. But then again, I don’t know if it’s the winery or if he’s falling in love.”

“What? With whom?”

Before Stefano could answer, the saleswoman returned with a tray full of cupcakes. Jules’s mouth started to water just looking at the beautiful little cakes. With a knife they cut the cupcakes in half. The flavors ranged from lemon with buttercream frosting to red velvet with cream cheese frosting to banana crème. All in all there were eight flavors to choose from.

Jules didn’t know how she was going to make such a truly difficult decision. All of them tasted divine except maybe the vanilla. It was good, but in comparison to the others, it was a bit boring.

“Well, did you make a decision?” the woman asked after returning from helping some other customers.

“I don’t know. They’re all so good.” Needing some help, she turned to Stefano. “What do you think?”

She didn’t normally turn to a man for advice. Typically the men she’d dated never wanted to involve themselves in decision making of any form. It was easier to stand on the sidelines and let someone else do the problem solving. And she wouldn’t bother asking for Stefano’s input, but this decision was a big one. She didn’t want to get it wrong.

Who was she trying to kid? She valued Stefano’s opinion a lot. He had good taste and...she liked him. Even though he wasn’t crazy about weddings, he’d turned his life upside down to help her out. Someday when he was ready to get on with his life, he’d make somebody a good husband.

She glanced across the table at him. He smiled at her, and her heart gave off a fluttering sensation. What were they talking about?

His gaze moved to the tray, now littered with crumbs. “I think I like the espresso with buttercream.”

“You do? Really?” He was a man after her own tastes. When he nodded to confirm his choice, she countered with, “But what if not everyone cares for coffee flavor?”

The young woman spoke up. “That’s not a problem. You know that we can do two flavors.”