The next morning, Winnie came to check on me in the tasting room. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
“Okay.” I managed a wan smile. “How are you?”
“Fine.” She set a bakery bag on the counter. “From my mom.”
“Thanks. Gianni brought me a few yesterday and they’re gone already. They’re like the one thing that isn’t turning my stomach.” I peeked into the bag. “Did you tell her about the baby?”
Winnie nodded. “I hope that’s okay. She won’t say anything to anyone.”
“It’s okay.” I pulled a scone from the bag and took a bite. “We told the Lupos yesterday. And I called my mom last night.”
Her eyes went wide. “And? How did everyone take the news?”
“Everyone was pretty shocked. Gianni’s mom cried, but not like she was sad. They were supportive.”
“Good.” She paused. “How about your mom?”
“She was great, just like you said she would be.”
Winnie was visibly relieved. “See?”
“She’s coming home today.”
“Wow. For good?” She laughed a little. “Am I out of a job?”
I smiled. “No. It’s temporary—just a visit. I asked her to come. You know how she always has the perfect plan for everything? I feel like I could use some of that kind of energy.”
“I’m glad.” She rubbed my shoulder. “It’s okay to still need your mom sometimes, even when you’re grown.”
“I was worried she would make me feel bad without even trying, but she didn’t. In fact, she said something that made me feel better.”
“What?”
“Something about life having a funny way of turning out fine, just when you least expect it.”
Winnie smiled. “I definitely think that’s true.”
“And, she told me that before she met my dad she was engaged to some douchebag who jilted her a week before their wedding.” I had to talk around the scone in my mouth because I was so impatient to get the story out.
“No way!”
“Yes. And she said”—I paused for a second to swallow—“she was in Paris on their honeymoon alone when she met my dad.”
Winnie gasped. “Seriously?”
“Yes. Can you imagine if she’d married that other guy and never met my dad?”
“You wouldn’t even exist,” she said, wide-eyed. Then she laughed. “And maybe we wouldn’t have found that box of sex toys under their bed.”
I frowned at her. “Please. I’m already nauseated.”
“Sorry. I wonder who that other guy was.”
“I don’t know. She said she’d tell me the full story when she got home.” I took another bite. “At least it will be a good distraction from my misery.”
“You seem a little better today,” she said hopefully. “Maybe it’s sinking in.”
“Yeah. I think telling the Lupos yesterday helped.” But then I thought about the kiss in the car afterward and suddenly my eyes went blurry. “God, these stupid pregnancy hormones are awful. I laugh one minute and cry the next.”
“I remember my mom being that way when she was pregnant with the twins.” She looked around. “Can I get you a tissue?”
“No, I’m fine. It’ll pass.” I sniffed and popped the rest of the scone in my mouth. “I just need to stop dwelling on things I can’t change.”
“You mean being pregnant?”
“I mean Gianni.”
“What about him?”
“He wants to be all . . . involved in the pregnancy.”
Winnie feigned outrage. “Rude.”
“I can’t handle it, Win. I just can’t.” My eyes filled with tears again. “He has to stop being sweet. He’s only doing it because he feels bad. And because his dad gave him shit. But I don’t trust myself not to fall for him, especially in this state.”
“Are you sure that’s the only reason he’s doing it?”
“No. I bet he’s also doing it because he wants to have sex again and we wouldn’t have to use a condom. I know how his mind works.”
She laughed sympathetically. “But what if he’s changing his ways? Maybe impending fatherhood has him rethinking his priorities.”
“We’ve been over this, Winnie. Guys like Gianni don’t change.”
Winnie sighed. “You know, it’s too bad. You guys could be good together, if only—”