Free It Takes Two (Italian Summer Book 1) by Lily Zante

loves dada?”
    Her little girl clapped ecstatically.
    “Da-da coming soon.” Rona smiled at her daughter and saw Carlos’s soft brown eyes staring back at her. Tori was a real mix of the two of them but looking at her in this moment reminded Rona of Carlos. She’d called to tell him they had arrived, but he seemed a little reserved. His unhappiness at their departure was evident.
    “Da-da-da-da,” trilled Tori.
    “Come on,” said Rona, lifting her up and putting her into the stroller. “Let’s go to work.”
     
    “Good morning!” Ava cried excitedly as soon as Rona walked through the doors and into the hotel lobby. She hoped the wheels wouldn’t mess up the marble floor and was grateful to have made it inside. Pushing the stroller up the steps and through the double doors wasn’t easy, and she bet her bottom dollar that Nico would install a ramp once Ava had the baby and they realized how difficult it was.
    Tori’s chubby little face spread into the widest smile, baring two brand new bottom teeth.
    “How’s my favorite niece?” Ava freed her from the stroller and hugged the baby close to her.
    “Did you sleep well?” Ava asked her over the baby’s head.
    “Better than Tori,” Rona replied, and exchanged greetings with Gina, the friendly receptionist who always seemed to be on duty.
    “Nice to see you again, Rona.”
    “It’s great to be back again,” confessed Rona happily. “And congratulations on the promotion.” Ava had told her that Gina was now the manager of the hotel.
    “Thank you,” replied Gina, blushing.
    “Come on,” said Ava, and took her into her office. “This used to be Nico’s once,” she explained.
    “Where’s he gone?”
    “Into Edmondo’s office.”
    “Come in,” said Ava a little breathlessly. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
    Rona stepped in and saw a young girl, probably no more than in her early twenties.
    “This is Lizzi and she sometimes helps us with childcare duties here at the hotel. She’s happy to look after Tori while you and I work.”
    Rona glanced at the smiling young woman before her who appeared to be looking at Tori with delight. She felt slightly unsure but knew her sister wouldn’t have hired someone she didn’t trust.
    “Hello, you pretty little baby,” said Lizzi, in a cheery, sing-song voice.
    Tori immediately smiled and then held her arms out.
    “Only if you’re sure,” said Ava. “I trust her implicitly but the decision is yours.”
    Rona looked at them both. “Where will they be?”
    “Always around the hotel. They have the gardens and the conservatory when it’s quiet, and one of the toilets is set up for baby changing facilities. I suppose at some stage we need to have some sort of children’s play area. But we don’t have that yet.”
    It was more than the playpen, thought Rona. A slow smile spread across her face. This was more than enough and she always had Tori close by. She’d been worried about the childcare aspect of things, and any hesitance she experienced at handing her daughter over to a stranger fell away as soon as she saw the way Lizzi and Tori seemed to be getting on. It gave her a good feeling.
    “Okay,” agreed Rona. “Let’s give it a try.”
    And that was how it had started.
    They spoke about Elsa, Nico, Edmondo’s passing and Carlos and how their lives had suddenly changed in such a short span of time and then they spent the morning getting to work.
    Ava wanted to know about the way she and Kim processed orders, from start to finish. She seemed more interested in what worked and what didn’t and how it could be improved and she made copious notes ‘for the training manual’.
    For the rest of that first week, they followed the exact same procedure. Rona would arrive with Tori at around ten in the morning. Lizzi would take the child for a walk or play with her and keep her busy while the sisters worked at streamlining Ava’s business.
    Over time Ava showed Rona how to update the