Free A Santini's Heart (The Santinis Book 10) by Melissa Schroeder

she drove away.
    This was definitely a weird day. Chet asked her for a date, and she was going shopping for a dress with Mrs. Santini.

    * * *
    C arlos rinsed out his cereal bowl and looked out the window. It was a habit he’d fallen into the last year. Eat breakfast, drink coffee, and look for Tia.
    Just as he thought the night before, it was a pattern, one that he found comforting. It was odd how fast he had fallen into patterns. And how strange it felt to be in the house and on the ranch without her. Of course, there had been times when she hadn’t been there. Last year, she’d had the stomach flu, and he had ordered her home after she had thrown up on his boots.
    In the past week, he had been able to steal three more kisses. He would never do it during work hours. Tia was a woman with a lot of pride, and he would never dishonor her by doing that where a client would see them. Tia wasn’t trying to play hard to get. One of the things he liked about her was that she was straightforward. A person always knew where he or she stood with Tia. She wanted to be sure. He could understand that. Although, it didn’t make waiting easier.
    He saw the cloud of dust that told him someone was coming down his lane. He glanced at his watch, and realized his first tour was supposed to start in five minutes. With one last large gulp, he finished off his coffee and headed to the front door. He had work to do before he could moon over Tia.

    * * *
    T ia parked her truck and grabbed her purse. She was fifteen minutes late, and she was pretty sure Marcella wouldn’t be happy about it. Carlos had told her horrible stories about his mother and her need for keeping a schedule.
    Tia hurried through the door and found Marcella at the back of the store. She turned with a smile on her face. Tia had always envied Marcella’s calm demeanor. Today, she was dressed for shopping. The red blouse set off her Hispanic complexion perfectly. On most people, jeans would look casual. Somehow Marcella made them look classy. Her makeup was perfect and, amazingly, she didn’t have a hair of out place.
    “Oh, Tia, there you are.”
    She rushed over to her. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
    “No worries,” she said with a wave of her hand.
    Tia blinked and opened her mouth to remark on the stories that Carlos had told her, but she quickly snapped it shut.
    “What?” Marcella asked.
    Tia shook her head.
    “Are you sure?”
    She pretended to be interested in a dress. “Yeah.”
    Marcella chuckled. “I have a feeling my son has been telling stories about me again.”
    She glanced at the older woman. “No. Not really.”
    “That’s okay. They all do it, and I have no idea where they come up with such horrible things to tell about me. You can tell me over lunch all the atrocious stories Carlos has been telling you.”
    “They weren’t that horrible. Not really.”
    “Don’t worry. Come over here. I want you to look at these dresses.”
    Tia approached the fitting room and looked at the dresses. There were three, just three. All of them were stunning. The first was a red, off the shoulders thing that Tia knew would complement her coloring. The dark green dress was barely there, with spaghetti straps and a very low neckline. The last was white, just plain white, with a shimmer of sparkling rhinestones that she knew would shimmer when she moved. All of them were simple in design, but Tia was smart enough to know they would be perfect for her.
    She approached the dresses and saw one of the price tags. Her eyes widened. She had money, as Adrian had left his money to her, and Carlos had paid her for half the ranch. However, spending hundreds of dollars on a dress she would wear once wasn’t something she could do.
    She turned around. “Mrs. Santini—“
    “Marcella.” Determination marked her features.
    “Marcella.” This brought a smile to the older woman’s face. “I really can’t afford these. They are gorgeous, but they are a bit above my