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

apart?
    Her conversations with Carlos were the same conversations that they had back at home. Most of the time she handed Tori the phone because he craved his daughter’s attention above all else. But the first thing Tori ever did was to chew the phone—which was pretty much what she did to anything. New objects went straight into her mouth.
    Caught up in these thoughts and trying to make sense of them, Rona soon found herself in the center of town and saw the sign for Gioberti’s come into view. She pushed the stroller towards the direction of the familiar restaurant.
    The brilliant, dazzling white smile of Gioberti’s captured her attention first. It was hard to miss. He was always on the lookout for young women to entice into his restaurant, always surveying the scene, for that was how he’d caught her the very first time she had stumbled upon his establishment.
    She smiled, and could clearly see he was looking her up and down in the white cotton shift dress she wore.
    “Ah, Bella, the beautiful summer evening has just been made brighter,” he said, dazzling her again. He kissed her warmly on both cheeks. “Come, come,” he beckoned and cleared the way for her to follow him. “You will be dining here, yes?” he presumed.
    “Yes,” she said excitedly, the warm smell of garlic and buttery herbs reeling her in.
    “The same table, yes?” he asked and led her over to the table where she used to sit before, tucked away in a corner but with a view of the open area outside.
    “Thank you,” she said and moved the stroller with Tori fast asleep in it, up against the wall.
    Electric fingers tasered her forearm, and she jumped back, startled, as the sting of static grazed her.
    His touch was more than a little familiar, and she recognized his voice before she’d even had time to look up at him, before she’d even had time to recover.
    Ruben.
     
     

Chapter 12
     
    “Rona?”
    Goosebumps tickled her skin as she looked up to eyes that shone as much with curiosity as excitement.
    “Ruben.” Her eyes widened and she felt the rush of heat to her face. Just looking at him brought up more memories than she would ever own up to. Happiness beamed out of his face and he ran his gaze over her, and then to Tori sleeping quietly in the corner.
    “Is this your daughter?”
    She nodded, still reeling from the fact that he was actually here—in the flesh and no longer an old memory. She couldn’t deny the way her heart fluttered right now, at this very moment.
    Just seeing him made her breathless, rendered her speechless and took her back to prom night. She shook her head, trying to get a grip on herself.
    What are you doing?
    His fingers still lingered on her arm, and his smile still burnt into her soul, and everything she had sought to keep down and hidden in the depths of her being had now burst to the surface.
    “She’s beautiful,” he said, craning his neck over to get a proper look at her. “Beautiful.” His eyes were shiny as he said it.
    “Thank you,” she said, accepting the compliment and knowing that he wouldn’t say it, but the way he looked at her he didn’t need to. Just like her mother.
    Theirs had been nothing but a connection on an emotional level. He’d neither sought more nor had she indicated that she was looking for anything more. Yet their conversations from before, often lasting until closing time, meant they had shared so much of their past that they knew more about one another than people who hadn’t known each other that long ought to.
    And here they were again.
    He stood awkwardly at the table with a small bag in his hands. A take-out bag. Disappointment drenched her new found exuberance as they faced one another, suspended in silent wonder for a few moments that were filled with so many questions.
    “It’s great to see you again, Rona. When?” He looked perplexed, “When did you get here?”
    “ A few weeks ago.”
    “A few weeks ago?” His brow creased with unasked