And partly because the man next to her was scheduled to be there, as well. Her personal protector at the ready, his presence made being brave a lot easier.
After much back and forth, it was decided the vineyard would have to give up on trying to win any awards and instead design as simple a float as possible. Something that could be assembled with minimal manpower in as short a time as possible. Nico was the one who came up with the idea. Some of the parts of last year's float, namely the fountain, were in storage. All they needed was fresh foliage. While it was too late in the day for the fountain to spout water again, they could easily recycle it into a different design. And so it was decided they would recreate the royal wedding. Two of his employees would play Prince Antonio and Princess Christina while others played wedding guests. The couples would waltz around the fountain, pretending to dance beneath the stars. It might not be an entirely accurate representation, but it would do the winery proud.
As she watched Nico and Mario retrieve the fountain later that afternoon, she couldn't help wondering if the idea reminded Nico of the kiss they'd shared. The one she'd told him to forget had ever happened. Which he apparently was having much better luck doing than she was.
Marianna's party attracted a crowd. In addition to Dani and Rafe, who came on their day off, there were several other couples Louisa had met at Marianna's baby shower and other events. There was Isabella Benson, one of the local schoolteachers, and her new husband, Connor, along with wedding planner Lindsay and her husband, Zach Reeves, who'd just returned from their honeymoon. Louisa chuckled to herself, remembering the jokes she and Nico had made at the royal wedding about Lindsay and Zach's obvious adoration for each other. Even Lucia Moretti-Cascini, the art expert who'd worked on the chapel restoration and who was in town visiting her in-laws, was there. Having appointed herself the unofficial design supervisor, she sat on a stack of crates with a sketch pad while swatting away suggestions from her husband, Logan. In fact, the only person missing was the organizer herself.
Not a single person mentioned the tabloid stories or Louisa's history in Boston. The women all greeted her with smiles and hugs, as if nothing had changed. After years of phony smiles and affection, their genuine embraces had her near tears. Only the reassuring solidity of Nico's hand, pressed against the small of her back, kept her from actually crying. "Told you so, bella mia," he whispered as he handed her a glass of wine.
In spite of Marianna's absence, the work went smoothly. In no time at all, the old pieces were in place and covered with a plastic skin, ready to be decorated.
Louisa and the other women were put in charge of attaching the foliage while the men assembled the foam cutouts that would make the frame for the palazzo walls.
"This is a first," Dani said as she pressed a grape into place.
"Hot gluing fruit to a chicken-wire nymph. Are we sure this is going to look like marble?"
"Lucia says it will, and she's the art expert," Louisa replied.
"Art expert. There aren't too many museums who deal with produce."
"They used grapes last year," Isabella reassured them, "and it looked wonderful."
"She's right. I saw pictures," Louisa said, remembering the photograph of Nico that Marianna had shown her. "Hopefully we'll do as good a job. I'd hate to embarrass the vineyard."
"I'm sure we won't, and if it does turn out a disaster, Nico can always keep it locked in the garage."
"True." Louisa reached for a grape to glue into place only to pick up her wineglass instead. Something had been nagging her since the party began and she needed Dani's perspective. "Did you know that as palazzo owner, I'm supposed to play the part of festival queen?" she asked as she took a drink.
"Really?"
"Nico told me it's a tradition."
Dani's eyes flashed with enthusiasm. "How exciting. Do you get to ride on the back of a convertible and wave to a crowd like a beauty queen and everything?"
"I have no idea." Although Dani had painted an image she'd rather not contemplate. "I wasn't planning to do it at all."
"Why not, if it's tradition? Sounds like fun." Dani asked. "I always wanted to be the homecoming queen, but the title always went to some tall cheerleader type."
"I was a cheerleader."
Her friend took a sip of wine. "I rest my case."
"Hey, less drinking, more gluing," Isabella said, her dark head poking over the nymph's outstretched arm. "Do not make me come over there and take your wineglasses away."
Chastised, the pair ducked their heads, though Dani managed to sneak one more sip. "Seriously though," she said, reaching for the glue gun. "You should totally do it. You'd make a gorgeous festival queen."
"I'd rather be part of the crowd," Louisa replied. "I've had enough of the spotlight for one lifetime."
"That I can understand." Dani said, putting another grape in place. "I didn't want to bring up a sore subject, but how are you doing? You sound a lot better than you did when I spoke to you on the phone."
"I feel better," Louisa answered.
"You have no idea how worried I was when I saw those headlines. Rafe told me how brutal the paparazzi can be, and I was afraid one of them might try something scary."
"One did try," Louisa said, "but Nico scared him off."
"So I read in the papers. Thank goodness he showed up."
"Thank goodness is right." Not giving it a second thought, Louisa looked to the other side of the truck bed where he was arguing with Rafe over the foam placement. Sensing he was being watched, he looked over his shoulder and grinned.
She dipped her head before he could see how red her cheeks were. "I'm only sorry his help dragged him into the gossip pages, too," she said to Dani, hoping her friend didn't notice the blush either. "He's a good man."
"Rafe wouldn't be his friend if he wasn't," Dani replied. "I don't know if you've noticed, but my husband can be a little hard to please."
"A little?" Rafe Mancini's demanding reputation was legendary. He'd been known to toss vendors into the street for selling him what he considered subpar products.
And yet, the same chef and his wife had accepted Louisa without question. Louisa felt the swell of emotion in her throat again. Swallowing hard, she did her best to make her voice sound lighthearted "Have I told you I'm really glad we met on the bus from Florence?"
"Is this your not so subtle way of thanking me for being your friend?" Dani asked.
"Maybe."
Her fellow American gathered her in a hug. "I'm glad we're friends, too," she said. "Although if you get hot glue in my hair, I will kill you."
"And Lindsay and I will kill you both if you do not get to work," Isabella scolded. "We are not gluing all these grapes by ourselves."
"Jeez, I'm glad I'm not one of her students," Dani whispered.
"I heard that."
Louisa snorted, almost dropping the grape she was putting into place. The teasing reminded her of old times, when she and her college friends would get together and giggle over cocktails. Steven had hated that.
"You too, Louisa," Lindsay admonished. "Just because you're dating the boss doesn't mean you get to slack off."
Dating-? The newspaper photographs. Just when she thought she'd actually put them behind her. The only saving grace, if there could be one, was that at least these women didn't consider her some kind of financial predator. Like Marianna the other day, they saw it as a potential romance. "Nico and I aren't dating," she told them.
"Are you sure?" Isabella asked. "Those pictures-"
"Were pictures, that's all," she said, cutting her off. "The two of us are just friends."
"Sure, just like Zach and I are friends," Lindsay replied. She and Isabella exchanged smirks.
"Something tells me the lady protests too much," the teacher replied.
Louisa stared at the grape-covered plastic in front of her and reminded herself the women were only teasing. Nevertheless, that didn't stop her skin from feeling as if it was on fire. Not because she was embarrassed or ashamed, at least not in the way she expected to be. She was embarrassed because they were right.
She was protesting too much.
* * *
"I didn't realize you found the gluing of grapes so fascinating, my friend."