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

website and how to retouch product images. Daunted at first, Rona felt out of her comfort zone, annoyed at times, often with herself. But Ava wasn’t going to let her off that easily. When she knew she had no choice but to overcome her fear of technology and the unknown, and that it was alright to make mistakes, because Ava has assured her she had a backup, she felt freer to leap in and fail. Within a few weeks she was getting along just fine. What took more getting used to was Carlos’ absence. Even though he wasn’t often home that much, the few hours he did have with Tori helped. Now she had Tori all to herself after a day at work and she felt as though she had no time at all to unwind.
    She felt like a single mom these days and it was hard going. At times like this she often wondered how Kim coped.
    Sometimes during their day she and Ava would stop and occasionally talk about the impending wedding and the preparations. Rona was surprised to hear that Ava, who had gone over the top with the wedding preparations when she was getting married to Connor, her previous fiancé, was now remarkably relaxed about the big day this time around.
    “I have a dress,” said Ava when Rona asked. “I think even a blue whale would fit into it. But I don’t have time to worry about things like that just yet. There are bigger problems that Nico’s dealing with.”
    “But this is your wedding dress!” exclaimed Rona, aghast. “You’ve been for fittings, haven’t you?”
    Ava shook her head. “What’s the point? I inflate by an inch daily. I’ll get it fitted nearer the time.”
    It was only by working so closely with her sister that Rona saw first-hand just how hectic Ava’s life was.
    Tori had taken to Lizzi and Rona no longer had any hesitations about leaving her child in her hands.
    The evenings saw the two of them either eating at the pensione or a couple of times at the hotel. Ava had asked them over a few times, but Tori would be so tired at the end of the day that Rona preferred to take her straight home, bathe her and put her to bed.
    Lizzi excelled at her role and Rona wished she could take her back to Denver with her. She felt better able to concentrate on her work not having to worry about child care and knowing that Tori was happy with Lizzi.
    She wanted to enjoy this time and the first few weeks flew by with barely time to catch her breath. She hadn’t yet ventured to the town center in Verona or Gioberti’s yet because she’d simply been too busy. She missed Carlos but each day when she called him their conversation seemed so basic, so mundane that she got the feeling he was still holding a grudge from the night she’d told him about Verona. Maybe he was still holding resentment towards her regarding baby number two.
    Rona didn’t dwell on it too much because there wasn’t much she could do about it now. They would fix things in due course. They always did.
    A few weeks after arriving in Verona she ventured into town for the first time. Taking Tori in the stroller, she walked around the familiar shops that she had once frequented.
    She looked her best in her white dress and pale gold sandals. The dress wasn’t clingy but still fitted enough to show off her figure. Ava would have considered her overdressed but Rona decided that she was on a holiday of sorts and that this was no different to dressing up for an evening out.
    She’d felt freer and happier than she had in a long time and she felt no guilt either because she was doing nothing wrong. Could it only have been that she needed a change of scenery? Was that it?
    She had ceased to think of Ruben or even Gioberti’s anymore. She was simply enjoying the freedom of being in Italy, with Tori, and working. Or did she feel unrestrained, and, therefore, happier because there was no Carlos to argue with?
    She wasn’t sure why she suddenly felt freer and happier here. It couldn’t just be because she was alone. Could it? Had she and Carlos drifted that far