“How was your spelling test?”
She shrugged.
“That bad?”
“I dunno.”
Franny was shutting down in front of his eyes. He knew why, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
The park was filled with a lot of familiar faces. Although Franny wasn’t searching the crowd for a friend. She was watching her feet, deep in a pout.
Luca, on the other hand, saw a face he hoped would bring a smile back to his daughter’s.
He nudged her shoulder. “Look who’s here.”
Franny’s chin shot up. “Mama?”
That cut through him like a poison arrow.
He pointed.
Franny’s face brightened, and her excitement was even greater. “Brooke!” She broke into a run, then wrapped her arms around Brooke’s waist in a hug. “You’re back!”
“I told you two weeks.”
Franny hugged her harder.
Brooke looked over at him, concern on her face.
Luca shook his head.
“I heard you had some pretty big excitement while I was gone.”
Franny pulled away, smiled. “My mama came back.”
Brooke knelt to Franny’s level, kept a smile on her face. “I know. That’s crazy. How does that feel?”
“Strange. Good . . .” Franny looked over her shoulder at Luca, then back to Brooke. “But weird.”
“That’s a lot of emotions. Are you talking to anyone about it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like a best friend? Someone you can tell all the strange parts to and the good parts and the weird parts?”
Franny shook her head. “I told Regina, but she doesn’t understand.”
Luca listened to what Brooke was saying and considered her words more than his daughter did.
“Then we need to find someone you can talk to.”
“Like who?”
Brooke shrugged. “I bet we can find someone. And in the meantime, you can always talk to me.”
“Really?”
“Yup, really! I met my dad for the first time when I was just a few years older than you.”
Franny’s mouth dropped open. “No way.”
“Yes way. I remember it being great one minute and confusing the next. I’d get angry and sad and happy. I still get that way when it comes to my father.”
“Really?”
“Sometimes.”
Franny lowered her head . . . paused. “I’m sad she didn’t come today.”
Brooke looked at Luca. “We can tell.”
Franny glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Papa.”
“For what?”
Tears started to pool in her eyes. Her lips quivered. “I-I don’t know.”
Luca took two steps and opened his arms and Franny fell into them. Her little body shook as she cried.
He held her tight and looked at Brooke.
The compassion in Brooke’s eyes was so deep, he could see the hurt for his daughter.
He held her for a few minutes until the sobs turned to whimpers, then sniffles.
Sitting back on his heels, he looked at Franny. “Feel better?”
She nodded.
“It’s been a hard couple of weeks.”
“Papa?”
“Yes?”
Franny’s eyes shifted from side to side, a question weighing on her. “Can I call her Antonia and not Mama?”
The air in Luca’s lungs was sucked out with the question.
He glanced at Brooke, who offered a subtle nod.
“Absolutely, tesorina. If that’s what you want to do.”
The three of them walked over to a bench, where Franny tossed her backpack. “Wanna play Frisbee?”
Luca reached inside the pocket of the windbreaker he wore. “Yes, but before we do, I have something for both of you.”
Brooke and Franny looked over at him.
He removed two small boxes, one in silver and the other gold. Handed the gold one to Brooke and the silver to Franny. “I saw these and thought of the two special girls in my life.”
Brooke tilted her head with a smile. “Macaroni?”
He winked. “Open it.”
Luca watched Brooke’s expression when she saw the gold heart dangling from a chain.
“Luca, it’s beautiful.”
She removed it from the box.
“Mine is like yours,” Franny said.
It was, only smaller and in silver. “Thank you, Papa.”
“You’re getting so grown-up, you should have pretty things.”
Brooke set the box down and fiddled with the clasp.
“Here, let me.” He took it from her.
She turned around and lifted her hair out of the way.
Once it was in place, she modeled it for him. “Thank you.”
He leaned over, kissed her. “You’re welcome.”
“My turn,” Franny said.
Luca put the necklace on his daughter and accepted her kiss on his cheek.
He sat back and looked at them both.
“Bellissima.”
“Who is ready to play some Frisbee?” Brooke asked.
Franny jumped up. “I am!”
Mari sat with Rosa at one of the outside tables at the restaurant drinking cappuccino.
“I’m glad you could meet on such short notice.”
“You make it sound so formal,” Mari said to her friend.
Rosa sighed. “Antonia called me, twice now . . . asking to stay in my spare room.”
Mari’s smile fell. “You want my blessing.”
Rosa waved a hand in the air. “You tell me no. Then no. But she is Franny’s mama, and I didn’t want to put her on the street without talking to you first.”
“She won’t be on the street.”
Rosa shrugged. “I don’t know. Most people are loyal to Luca and you. She doesn’t have much money and hasn’t been well.”
“As she keeps telling everyone.” Mari wasn’t convinced. “What is her game? She has to work eventually . . . or find another man to support her. I think she returned to snare my Luca again. Thank God for Brooke.”
“Perhaps I let her stay with me long enough to learn her plan? If she is in my home, I can see her coming and going . . . maybe discover what she is thinking. And again . . . she was your daughter-in-law . . . for what that’s worth.”
Mari hesitated.
“And if Francesca visits her mama, she’ll be in my home. A familiar face where I can watch and be available.”
That wasn’t something Mari had considered.
Rosa sipped her coffee. “But if you don’t like it, I say no.”
“No, no. You make good points.”
“And if Antonia has truly changed, we have all given her a chance.”
Mari cradled her cup with both hands. “And if she hasn’t . . . we see what she is doing before she does it.”
“Sí, sí.”
“Thank you for coming to me first, Rosa. You’re a dear friend.”
“Always.”
They drank their coffee, and beyond the restaurant patio, Mari noticed her son’s head above the other people walking on the sidewalk.
The crowd parted enough to see Brooke at his side, the two of them holding hands and Franny skipping alongside.
Her heart warmed. “Now that is the family I want to see happen.”