Convenient Brides by Lindsay Armstrong, Catherine Spencer, Melanie Milburne

coffee table as Lidia buried her face in her hands. “You foolish woman, do you seriously think we will stand idly by and allow you to tear our grandchildren away from the only home they’ve ever known—and not only that, but to live with a woman who puts career before home and family?”
    “Those are your conclusions, Signor Rainero, not mine. I wouldn’t dream of relegating the children to second place. Just the opposite, in fact. I’d take an extended leave of absence from my work, and devote myself entirely to looking after them. As for tearing them away from you, that’s utter nonsense and the furthest thing from my mind. I hope you’ll visit them often. But I also believe a complete change of scene will benefit them at this time. I think learning something of their mother’s country—learning its customs, seeing where she grew up, things like that—will help preserve her memory more indelibly for them.”
    “What you believe or think is of no consequence, young woman!” Salvatore informed her blackly.
    “Father,” Paolo intervened, shaking his head at his parent in what struck Callie as a distinctly cautionary manner, “be sensible and calm down before you have another heart attack. And you, Momma, dry your tears. Caroline is merely expressing an opinion to which she’s obviously given careful thought, and frankly, what she’s suggesting isn’t entirely without merit. She is the closest substitute for Vanessa, after all, and could well fill her empty shoes better than you’re willing to recognize.”
    But his father, purple with rage, was beyond sensible. “You’re taking her side against us?” he bellowed. “Where’s your sense of loyalty, man?”
    “Exactly where it’s always been, with you and the children. But they’ve suffered enough, without ending up being the pawns in an ugly tug-of-war, which is why I propose we directour energies to finding a compromise that will satisfy everyone.”
    Lowering his voice, Salvatore said with such deadly emphasis that Callie’s blood ran cold. “What need is there to talk of compromise when I know full well, as do you, that those children belong to us in a way that supercedes any claim this Johnny-come-lately aunt thinks she might have?”
    “What if I can prove differently, Signor Rainero?” Callie said, goaded past all caution. “What if I plead my case before a family court judge, with evidence to support my claim?”
    Hissmileresembledadeath’sheadgrimace.“Thenprepare for a long and fruitless battle, my dear, because there is not a court in this country that will uphold a foreigner’s right to interfere in the upbringing of children of Italian citizenship.”
    Sick with fear, she said, “Those children were born in the United States and are half American.”
    Cursing, Salvatore lunged up from the sofa, and strode to where she sat on the other side of the coffee table. “They have no ties to America,” he thundered, looming over her threateningly. “They are Italian in every way that counts.”
    Paolo immediately intervened by pushing his father aside none too gently. “That’ll do, le mio padre! You resolve nothing by browbeating our guest in such a fashion, and have said enough.”
    A timely reminder, Callie thought, realizing belatedly that she, too, had said more than enough. Salvatore wasn’t the only one at fault. For all that she’d not intended it to be so, she’d allowed herself to be provoked into speaking rashly and inflicting pain, and for that she was sorry.
    Paolo was right, she realized dazedly. There was no clearcut solution to the situation in which she and the Raineros found themselves. They had to find a compromise, one which would not trample anyone’s rights, least of all the twins’.
    Her children’s welfare had always dictated her choices. Itwas why she’d made that promise to Vanessa in the first place. But she had neither the heart nor the stomach to enforce it for enforcement’s sake. And nor, she