Free The Tuscan's Revenge Wedding by Jennifer Blake Page B

been
unlucky in her marriages, though it was unclear whether death or divorce had
ended them.
    Carisa did not join the conversation but watched closely,
dividing her attention between Amanda and Nicholas for the most part. Now and
then a small, secret smile touched her lips, as if she might comprehend a
little more of what was being said than Nicholas or the others seemed to think.
    It was only as a pause came while Erminia cleared the table
in preparation for dessert that the girl spoke up. Her voice was soft and
engaging but carried an obvious question in its lilting syllables.
    “Carisa! If you please!” Aunt Filomena exclaimed. “ Per piacere! ”
    The girl stared at Nicholas, putting her question again in
puzzled tones. After a moment, he gave a short laugh before answering in quiet
reassurance, “ Si, si , little one.”
    Carisa sprang to her feet with sudden joy in her face. She
ran to fling her arms around his neck while glancing toward Amanda and then
back again, chattering happily. In that flood of Italian, Amanda caught only a
single word, one which sounded like bambino .
    Nicholas laughed again, returning the hug. Talking in low
tones, he smoothed the girl’s shining hair as if to calm her exuberance.
    Nonna, smiling with a slight tremor at the corners of her
mouth, reached to pat Carisa’s arm with caressing fingertips then indicated
that she should return to her seat. At the same time, Aunt Filomena signaled to
Erminia that she was to serve Carisa’s desert at once. When that was done, she
slipped her own dolce of cake and nuts with sweet cream onto the girl’s
plate.
    Obediently, Carisa seated herself once more and dug into the
food in front of her. It seemed some small crisis had been averted.
    Amanda could not imagine anything too unusual had been said,
still she was curious. She turned to Nicholas with a smile. “What was that all
about?”
    “Nothing of importance.” His voice was distant, dismissive.
    “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
    He looked away, drew a controlled breath, then turned back
again. “Carisa asked if you were a special lady, my fiancée.”
    Amanda’s heart somersaulted in her chest, while her stomach
muscles clenched. Still it took less than a moment to realize Carisa could only
suspect that state of affairs if she was unaware of the accident and Amanda’s
connection to it. But what, then, had that been about a bambino? Everyone
recognized the word for baby.
    “She doesn’t know I’m Jonathan’s sister.”
    “No.” He made a staying gesture with one hand, lowering his
voice as he went on. “Please. I will explain later.”
    Carisa might have some small disability, but her
understanding seemed more than adequate when people spoke to her directly. At
least her lack of knowledge explained why no one had mentioned Carita or
Jonathan since they’d sat down at the table.
    Nicholas must have spoken to his grandmother and aunt
earlier, and they’d agreed among themselves to avoid the subject in front of
Carita’s twin. This meant no one could express sympathy for her brother’s
injuries or address her natural concern for him. The knowledge eased a small
ache in Amanda’s heart that she had not realized was there.
    When the dessert was eaten, a young Polish woman appeared
who was introduced as Carisa’s companion, Yolanda. With her flaxen hair, sky
blue eyes, and rather vapid expression, she appeared the perfect model for a
child’s doll. Looks were perhaps deceiving, however, as she was not only
greeted with affection by Carisa, but spoke to her charge in Italian, greeted
Amanda in English on being introduced and muttered an soft oath in her own
language when a lizard darted across her path.
    Yolanda drew the girl into the house for her afternoon rest
with the promise of a chapter from the book they seemed to be reading. A short
time later, Nicholas’s grandmother drifted away with a similar idea in mind, or
so it seemed, and his Aunt Filomena excused herself for a