She hugged him back, then stood to embrace Holly. “It’s such a hassle these days with delayed flights. At least you flew into JFK, so you weren’t as far as if you’d flown into Newark.”
“Morning, Raffaela,” Holly greeted her, then took a seat at the breakfast table next to Tim. “Well, at least we made it.” She reached for the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. “And the guestroom is just lovely. I slept like a baby.”
A ravishing smile spread over his mother’s lips at Holly’s compliment. Holly always knew how to charm Daniel’s mother. Holly was a true beauty with sparkling blue eyes and could have had any man she wanted. Why she wasted her life as a professional escort—a fact Daniel’s parents weren’t aware of—Daniel couldn’t quite figure out. Wasn’t she sick of sleeping with strangers?
“Oh, thank you, dear. And, Tim, did you sleep all right?”
“I slept great! And now I could eat a whole cow!”
His mother chuckled. “How about part of a pig? I have sausages and bacon being kept warm in the oven.”
“Perfect!”
When his mother was about to leap from her chair, Tim put a hand on her forearm. “Sit, sit. I’ll get it. It’s not like I don’t know my way around here.”
As Tim walked to the oven and opened it to take out the pan, Daniel’s father and Sabrina entered the kitchen. His father didn’t look all that different from Daniel—though his hair was the color of salt and pepper now. But his body was still as athletic as it had been in his thirties.
Within moments, everybody was sitting at the breakfast table, eating and chatting. Sabrina had taken a seat next to him, and Daniel looked at her from the side. Yes, he would make sure she would get her fairytale wedding. No matter what.
He reached up with his hand, brushing a strand of her long dark hair behind her shoulder. Sabrina turned to meet his gaze.
“What?” she murmured.
“Nothing, baby. I just can’t stop looking at you,” he responded just as quietly.
“You’re not on your honeymoon yet,” Tim said in a teasing voice.
Holly jabbed her elbow into Tim’s side. “I think it’s sweet. If only every girl were as lucky as Sabrina.”
Sabrina smiled at her friend. “Thank you, Holly.”
“So, what’s on the agenda today?” Tim asked as he scooped more food onto his plate.
Before anybody could answer, Daniel’s father asked, “Where’s the paper, honey? Didn’t you bring it in?”
Daniel tried not to cringe. He’d hoped his father wouldn’t notice the absence of the newspaper since the conversation over breakfast was even more lively than usual, considering they had two out-of-town houseguests.
“I thought I did, but apparently my days are running together. I can’t seem to find it anywhere.”
“Did you check outside?” his father pressed.
“Of course I checked outside. Twice, when I left for the bakery and when I got back.”
“I don’t think the paper was delivered today,” Daniel threw in.
“What do you mean it wasn’t delivered? Forty-some-odd years we’ve lived here and that paper has always been delivered.”
“The paperboy probably screwed up. Maybe it’s a new kid,” Daniel offered.
“Why don’t you just read the paper on your iPad?” Tim asked, nodding toward the device on the counter.
Daniel wanted to groan loudly. Sometimes Tim could be a little too helpful.
His father snapped his fingers and smiled doubtfully. “Yeah. I always forget I can do that. But you know, I kind of like the feel of the paper.”
“You mean getting all that black ink on your fingers? I only read the paper online now. All you need to do is get a subscription to the New York Times. It’s cheaper than the paper version anyway,” Tim claimed.
Not wanting this conversation to go any further and give Tim another chance to convince Daniel’s father to take out an online subscription, Daniel pasted a smile on his face and said, “Well, I don’t think anybody here has time to read the paper today anyway. We’ve got a full agenda. Don’t we, baby?” He smiled at Sabrina.
“Don’t remind me!” Sabrina sighed. “We have to meet with the pianist to give final approval of the music. And then we have to head over to the florist. She has a sample bouquet ready for us to look at.”
“How exciting!” Holly’s face lit up. “The flowers you chose are absolutely gorgeous.”