“Hi, Olivia! Congratulations. I can’t believe Zach’s going to be a married man!” Logan said, his eyes widening.
“You know what they say. It’s like a domino effect. You could be next,” Zach said.
“No way, man, I’m going to be a bachelor for life!”
Olivia laughed.
Zach talked about Logan so much that Olivia felt like she already knew him. They’d also FaceTimed after a few drinks last week—Olivia, a little buzzed on prosecco, had quizzed Logan about what high school with Zach had been like. There had been a lot of laughs as Logan recounted the story of Zach jumping off the Santa Monica bridge naked on dare night and hinted there might be video evidence. It had only been noon back home, and Olivia respected the way Logan had calmly put in his AirPods so that his entire office didn’t have to listen to their antics but kept talking to them for another thirty minutes in hushed tones. They’d called Chloe right after, Olivia wanting to share her best friend too.
She thought of her conversation with her mom again and felt a pit in her stomach. Logan was cheering them on. Chloe was excited. Why couldn’t her mom be happy for her too? Trust her that she knew what she was doing?
Zach glanced at Olivia and twisted his mouth. He could tell she was upset. “Dude, let me call you back,” he said, ending the call. “Hey,” he said gently and wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head against his chest and her body curved into his, like they were two connected pieces in a puzzle. “So how bad was it? Scale of one to ten?”
Olivia looked up at him and traced her finger over the stubble on his jawbone as her mom’s questions swirled inside her.
“Twelve,” she sighed.
Zach sat down and pulled her onto his lap. “If it helps, Logan is excited. He’s already planning the bachelor party. I’m told it will be in Vegas.”
Olivia offered a thin smile.
“And don’t forget how excited Chloe is,” Zach added. When they’d called Chloe to tell her, she’d screamed in delight from her room in the house she shared with their mom. Had June heard?
“I want my mom to be too,” Olivia said quietly.
“Why don’t you think she is? What did she say?”
“Well, we didn’t discuss wedding venues, if that tells you anything.” She took a breath. “It was more like, where will you live? Does he have medical insurance? What’s his religion?”
“Religion. Wow. She wasn’t messing around.”
“That’s nothing. You want to know the best one?”
“Have I ever been convicted of a crime?”
“No!” She jabbed him with her elbow. “But you haven’t, right?” Olivia snorted but also held a breath. She couldn’t imagine it—he was so gentle—but what if he hadn’t always been this way? Or could there be a trigger in the real world that made him different? Her mom had instilled enough doubt through her pointed questions and thinly veiled jokes—like how could Olivia be sure Zach was the one when she had known him less time than it took to complete one of those beach-body-ready workout programs?
“Would it change how you feel about me? If I had?” Zach waited a beat. “Because I wasn’t sure how to tell you this, but I did some hard time for murder a few years back, but I’m innocent, I swear! I was framed!” He grinned.
Olivia elbowed him again. “Would you stop?” She blew out a breath. “My favorite one was—am I pregnant?”
“Brutal,” he said. “Wait. You’re not, right?”
Olivia gave him a sideways look. “Come on.”
She didn’t tell him the hardest-hitting question of all. The one that had made her mom’s voice crack when she’d asked it. The one that made Olivia’s heart ache. Why didn’t you tell me about him?
She didn’t know how to answer. She typically told her mom everything. She always had. Her mom had shipped her condoms, so clearly there were no topics that were off-limits. Maybe deep down she hadn’t been ready to share him because she knew what she’d have to face from her mom once she did. The judgment. The questions. The skepticism. Not that she blamed her mom for feeling these things. When her parents gave her the Italy trip as a graduation present, they’d probably been thinking she’d bring home lemon-scented candles and soft leather handbags.
Not a fiancé.
That was the joke Chlo made earlier. Olivia smiled at the memory.
Zach interrupted her thoughts. “I don’t blame her for the pregnancy question. She’s trying to make sense of this. And she’s worried about you. I am a convicted murderer and all.” He smiled softly.
Olivia glanced at her ring, still shocked by the sight of it. She’d never thought she’d be engaged this young. Her plan had been to wait—in fact, she’d reiterated that to her parents last fall when she found out she’d been accepted at UCLA. She intended to pass the bar and get a job as a junior associate and then think about getting serious with someone.
But Zach had changed all that. How many nights had they sat out here, staring at the starry sky? Zach taking her hand in his, their fingers tracing yet another constellation, his love of the solar system never getting old.
“What about your dad? Have you told him yet?” Zach asked gently.
“I’m going to have Chloe do it.”
Zach arched an eyebrow. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
Olivia sighed. “Maybe not, but I don’t want to have another conversation like the one I had. My mom is the easy one.”
“Trust your gut,” Zach said simply. “Do you think your dad will be pissed that I didn’t ask for your hand?”
“I think we’ve bucked every tradition on this engagement. It will be better this way. He can have some space to process it all. He’ll be okay as long as I’m happy. And start law school.”
“Of course you’re going to law school! I only asked you to marry me so I could have a lawyer in the family,” Zach deadpanned.
Olivia punched Zach playfully. “If you ever leave me, I’ll take everything. Don’t forget that.”
Zach leaned down to kiss her. “If I was ever so stupid as to leave you, I’d deserve it. So Chloe’s okay with telling him?”
Olivia laughed. “She can’t wait. Chloe loves the drama.” She checked the time. “She’s going to call him today. I’ll know more later.”
Zach crossed his fingers dramatically.
“Did Logan agree with you that you should wait to tell your mom and dad until we get back?” Olivia asked. She had initially been surprised that Zach wanted to wait. He had practically told everyone in Positano at this point. Tommaso, the man who owned the bakery below her apartment; Donna, the woman who worked at their favorite gelato place; and more strangers on the street than she could count. He’d argued that telling his parents the news in person was the best way. That his mom was well meaning but could be a little high-strung and slightly overbearing. And that his dad was laid-back and chronically upbeat, but would immediately want to discuss what it meant for the real estate business they ran together. After her mom’s reaction, Olivia now understood that Zach was being smart. That no matter how easygoing the parent, dropping a bomb like this produced shrapnel.