Free Yesterday's Stardust by Becky Melby Page A

her best little-girl smile. “Morning, Daddy. Sleep good?”
Or was it strange to be in your own bed?
    His face softened as she spoke. He nodded. “How’s my little Wren?”
    “Great. Looking forward to a day off. I’m going to the park.”
    “Alone?”
    Going alone. Not being alone.
“Yep.”
    “Where’s Dominick?”
    “I don’t know.”
And don’t care.
    “Family night tonight?”
    Where had that come from? Dredged from the deep, dark recesses of their pathetic family history. They hadn’t spent a Monday night together in over a year—since the last time he’d had a revelation from God and turned a leaf that lasted almost four weeks. “Wow, that would be fun, but Nicky and I have plans. Maybe next week.”
    As usual, his expression melted her. He pouted like a spoiled little boy deprived of a cookie, and once again she became the parent. “How ‘bout I make breakfast just for the two of us tomorrow? Prosciutto and mozzarella frittatas, okay?” She ladled on the accent so heavy she could have been his—God rest her soul—sainted grandmother. As her father slowly retracted his pout, she wondered if the great-grandmother she’d been named for had been anything like the Fiorini legend she’d become.
    She walked the bike into the street. Her foot hadn’t left the ground when she heard her name from across the street.
    “Hey, Gianna.”
    “Where are you off to on this gorgeously hot day, Renata-bata?”
    Rena smiled. It was the same question her father had asked, but this silly nickname and the smile changed everything. “The park.”
    “Lovely.” Gianna shifted her bucket of cleaning supplies to her other hand as she walked across the street. Perfectly straight teeth glimmered from her perpetual smile. Rena’s aunt described Gianna as a “Sophia Loren caricature.” The comment was mean, but it did kind of fit. Her nose was too large and her mouth too wide to be pretty, yet she carried her large-boned height with a transfixing grace, and her smile dazzled.
    Gianna leaned in for a kiss on the cheek. “Enjoy.” She wiped moisture from her upper lip. “Nicky home?”
    “Nah. But Dad is.”
    “Ohhh.” Gianna drew out the word. The smile stayed but stiffened. “Where is he?”
    “In his room.”
    “Mmm.” Gianna glanced at the restaurant and back at her car. “I have some shopping to do.” Her eyes lit. “Wouldn’t you rather go to Kohl’s with me than exercise?”
    “I’d love to, but…”
    “But you’re meeting someone.”
    “Well…”
    One artfully shaped brow arched. A manicured hand rested on the waistline of Gianna’s peach capri pants. “A male someone.”
    Rena cringed, looking up at the window over the stairway, as if her father stood there reading lips.
    “Is he a good boy?”
    There were a million ways a person could interpret a question like that. “He’s wonderful.”
Well, he used to be.
    “Would I approve?”
    She
would
have to throw that one in. “He’s not Italian, if that’s what you mean.”
    “That is not what I mean, and you know it.” Hash marks formed between the sculpted brows.
    “His parents go to church.”
    Gianna shook her head. “God doesn’t have grandchildren.”
    Rena looked at her feet. “I know.”
    “Be careful.” Gianna patted her arm then dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Guard your heart…and the other parts you shouldn’t share.”
    Cheeks warming, Rena nodded. “Love you.” She lifted her foot and rode off the curb.
    “Love you to the moon.”
    “And back.” She shot the automatic response over her shoulder and got on her bike. She’d been saying it as long as she could remember. Rena had no memories of her first three years before Gianna swept into their lives. On Gianna’s one and only dinner date at the restaurant with Carlo Fiorini, she’d figured him out. She’d jilted him but fallen for his motherless children, convincing him to hire her as a nanny and housekeeper.
    Rena had given the woman reason to quit