Stella pulled up out front of Anna and Joe’s house and turned off the engine. She felt as if she were about to go into battle. What did Luca’s family know? What about Anna and Julia and Lizzie? Had they suspected anything was going on and would they now be more keenly aware of what wasn’t happening between her and Luca? And in the middle of all that complicated mess, she was about to meet his family. Well, Anna’s family too, but she hadn’t been involved in a complicated non-relationship with the good doctor, had she?
Stella grabbed her bag and gifts and walked to the front door. In the glass reflection, her fifties-style summer dress and black flats looked perfectly appropriate for a special lunch. Deep down, she didn’t feel appropriate at all.
She took a deep breath, pushed the door open and stepped into a cacophony of voices and people and laughter and Christmas carols blaring in the background … and family.
‘Stella!’ Anna tottered towards her on her new red patent-leather heels and kissed her warmly on both cheeks. ‘You look gorgeous. Find Joe and he’ll get you a drink.’
Stella couldn’t seem to get her feet to move any further. Right across the room, Luca was leaning against the living-room wall, his arms crossed, glaring at her. It had been almost a week without a word. He was clearly still angry, judging by that look. She rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses.
Stella turned all her attention to his sister. ‘Here’s a little something to thank you for having me today.’ She handed Anna a box wrapped in silver paper and topped with a giant white ribbon bow. She’d packed three chunky, vanilla-scented organic candles inside it.
‘You didn’t have to do that, but thank you. Come on in and meet the family.’ Anna took Stella’s hand and pulled her through the small living room to the kitchen. She could feel Luca’s eyes on her with every step she took.
‘Ma,’ Anna called. A short woman with dark hair and beautiful olive skin popped up from behind the kitchen counter. She plonked a pile of plates on the bench and smiled.
‘This is Stella. She’s the one with all the lovely shoes in her shop. You know, the job Luca just finished. Stella, Sonia.’
‘Hi, Stella.’ Sonia wiped her hands quickly on her apron. ‘How nice to meet you. What a lovely name.’
‘Thank you, Sonia. Is there anything I can help you with?’
‘Nice try.’ Anna laughed. ‘If you think my mother is going to let anyone else in the kitchen while she’s making Christmas lunch, you are officially crazy.’
Then a handsome man in his sixties appeared next to Sonia, heaving a bucket of ice onto the sink under the window.
‘Stella, this is Paolo. My Pappa.’
‘Very nice to meet you.’ Paolo reached for Stella’s hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the back of it loudly and dramatically. ‘You’re the one who’s kept Luca away from Adelaide all these weeks.’
‘Yes,’ she said after a millisecond of hesitation. She knew full well he was watching these introductions and exchanges with his parents. ‘He’s done a wonderful job on my shop. He’s very clever, your son.’
Paolo winked at her. ‘He gets it all from me.’
And then Anna steered her towards the family matriarch. She was by the Christmas tree, watching the babies on the rug; the littlies were fascinated by the flashing lights. ‘Come and meet Nonna.’
‘Hello, er …’ Stella looked at Anna, confused, and then turned to the grey-haired, elegant woman ‘… Nonna?’
‘Hello, bella.’
And then there were hugs and kisses from Ry and Julia, and Dan and Lizzie. By the time she found Joe, who pressed a champagne into her hand, she was mentally exhausted. Could these people understand how overwhelming this was for her? That this was about ten times the family she’d ever had?
‘Here, take this,’ Joe said. ‘You’ll need it.’
Stella gratefully sipped the cool, delicious liquid. ‘Thanks. It’s all a little …’
‘Loud?’
Stella laughed. ‘Overwhelming was the word I was looking for. They’re very close, aren’t they?’
‘They are. Look, don’t worry. I know what it’s like to walk into this family, especially when you don’t have one of your own.’
Why did Joe think she was walking into the family? Last time she looked, she’d simply walked into Joe and Anna’s house, with an expectation of some lovely wine and delicious Italian cooking and exactly nothing else. Stella averted her eyes, careful not to notice Luca still glaring at her from across the room. He hadn’t come to her to say hello and she’d decided to let him stew.
Joe nudged her in the arm. ‘But it didn’t take long for them to love me. Once they got over the fact I’d knocked up their daughter while she was still married to someone else.’
Stella almost snorted her champagne.
‘But once Francesca arrived, they forgave me everything.’ He threw her a wink.
‘I’ve been meaning to say, Joe. Thanks for the story in the Gazette. It’s been really great to get the word out that I’m back in business.’
He shrugged. ‘No worries. You’re big news in this part of the world. We had more hits on that particular story on our website than any other. People love your shop, Stella.’
She clinked glasses with Joe. ‘And I’m very glad they do.’
‘Come and eat, everybody.’ Sonia moved past Joe and Stella with a huge platter of crayfish.
Joe leant in close. ‘The other thing about this family? The food is terrific.’
There were too many people and the house was too small for a sit-down dinner, so the food was laid out on the dining table and everyone took a plate and chose from the groaning display. Stella selected some seafood, cold meats and salad and turned away from the table, scanning the room for somewhere to sit. Everyone had settled into groups: Ry, Julia and baby Mary had all somehow found a space in between all the scrunched-up wrapping paper from what must have been hundreds of presents. Joe and Anna sat cross-legged on the floor with Francesca by the Christmas tree. Sonia and Paolo were teasing each other about their Christmas gifts and, while Luca stood by his grandmother, his eyes were glued to Stella.
Every move she’d made, she could feel his stare. When she heard his voice across the room, commenting on something his nonna had said, laughing with Dan about cricket versus soccer, complimenting his mother on the spread, she got goose bumps. She could feel the ripples in the air between them as distinctly as the sea breeze from the beach.
But he’d kept his distance. That was his choice. Just as it had been his choice to walk out on her the week before when they’d been about to have sex.
Stella looked out to the big windows overlooking the deck. Lizzie and Dan had set up on the lawn under a tree, but she didn’t want to interrupt their tête à tête. There was, she noticed, a tattered old cane chair on the deck itself. Perfect—she could be in the middle of things but not forcing herself on any of the family groupings.
‘You not eating, Luca?’ Joe got up from the floor and stood next to the man who still wasn’t his brother-in-law.
‘Yeah, in a minute. Just finishing this beer.’ While he would normally dig right in to his mother’s cooking, Luca was still waiting for his appetite to kick in. He still had a stomach full of angry about Stella, and maybe that was why there was no room for hunger just yet. ‘Hey, Joe. Can I ask you something?’
Joe shrugged. ‘As long as it’s not about when I’m going to ask Anna to marry me. She’s said no about five times already. I know your nonna thinks it every time she looks at me with that death stare.’
Both men glanced at Nonna, who was indeed giving Joe the death stare.
‘That’s your business, not mine,’ Luca said quietly.
Ry joined them, a plate of food in one hand and a busy fork in the other. ‘Hey.’
‘Hey, Ry,’ Luca said.
‘What’s your question?’ Joe asked.
‘It’s about Stella.’
Ry looked up from his plate, exchanged glances with Joe. ‘Yeah?’
‘Stella told me she grew up here in Middle Point.’ Luca looked out through the big windows overlooking the deck and the view. He could see the back of Stella’s head through the closed window. That gleaming black hair was cut neatly across her neck. ‘Which one of those humongous beachside mansions did she live in as a kid?’
Joe shrugged. ‘Ry? Any idea?’
Ry’s brow creased in confusion and he stopped, fork in midair. ‘Stella? Beachside mansion? I think you’ve got her confused with someone else.’
‘I’m sure that’s what she said, that she grew up here in Middle Point.’
‘Mate.’ Ry chuckled. ‘Stella lived with her auntie in the caravan park next to the general store.’
Luca gripped his beer glass so hard he thought it would shatter in his fingers. ‘Oh, shit.’
Now he’d really lost his appetite.