“I will.”
Luca narrowed his eyes. “Where have you been?”
She looked away. “I went to the mountains, at first.”
“Mountains? What mountains?”
“Colorado.”
He remembered her saying something about her love of skiing. Something he had never done.
“I spent the winter staring into a fire and wondering if I had made the wrong choice. And since I couldn’t say yes or no to the question, I stayed away. I thought it was the right thing to do. For Francesca. For you.”
Luca really wanted to believe her.
“I stayed a season, moved around. As the years stacked up, it was harder and harder to come back.”
“Then you got sick,” he concluded. “Only you haven’t so much as sneezed since you’ve been here.”
She shrugged. “I sleep a lot. Ask Rosa. But yes, being home and spending time with Francesca has given me more energy than I had a month ago. I wish I had been more stable when I had our daughter. Being away from my family and not having the ability to move around wasn’t easy for me.”
Yes, he remembered her complaining about the ties to the restaurant and her desire to fly all over the world.
“And now that you’ve seen it, spent your money, you’re back.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve grown up. I’m ready to settle down.”
“You mean get a job, your own place?” Antonia was allergic to work. Just asking the question was making her squirm.
“I’m thinking about going back to school.”
Luca crossed his arms over his chest. This ought to be good. “For what?”
She looked at the ceiling as if she was coming up with the idea right then and there. “Interior design.”
He could actually see her doing that if she put her mind to it. “Good plan.”
“I thought so,” she said, smiling. “We were good together.”
“In the past.” Luca took a step back. Put more space between them.
The softness of her voice faded, and cattiness moved in. “I have concerns about Brooke.”
“She has concerns about you.”
“Be careful, Luca. She’s an older woman who is likely wondering if she’ll have a family of her own. Clearly you can see she is attaching herself to you, all of you, to fulfill that need. And perhaps we shouldn’t let Francesca get too attached to Brooke’s father. Grandpa Joe, really, Luca? You’re not married to the woman. How manipulative is that, using a little girl to plant the seed of matrimony?”
“I’m not asking for your advice on my love life. And up until last month, you had no idea who Franny was attached to and who she wasn’t. So instead of spending your time thinking about what is happening inside these walls every day, why don’t you sign up for those classes that will help you earn a living?”
Antonia sighed. “I should go.”
Luca nodded, walked toward the door, and opened it.
“Well, hello,” Brooke’s voice came from a half a flight of stairs above them.
Luca stepped back.
Antonia smiled.
“Rumors are flying.” Chloe helped Brooke get into the right position for a Side Angle Pose.
Yoga on the terrace was kicking her butt yet making her feel good at the same time.
“Oh yeah?”
“Salena asked if Antonia and Luca were getting back together.”
“Where did she get that idea?”
“Horse’s mouth.” Chloe changed her pose. “Reverse Warrior,” she told Brooke.
Brooke moved into position. “Doesn’t she realize the rumors will get back to Luca and she’ll have to eat crow?”
“Who knows. Anyone who sees the two of you together knows Luca has it bad.”
Brooke couldn’t stop smiling. “I have it pretty bad, too.”
Chloe laughed. “You’ve got a certain glow about you.”
“It’s all the sex.”
“Blah . . .” She kept laughing.
“You knew I was going to say that,” Brooke said.
“Warrior Two.” Chloe shifted.
Brooke followed, took a breath. “Who is your ob-gyn? I need to make an appointment.”
Chloe shot Brooke a concerned look. “Is everything okay?”
“Routine. I’m on my last month of pills, need to get a doctor to prescribe more.”
“Dr. Archer. She’s local. Tell her you know me, they’ll get you in quick.”
They moved position again. “Text me her number.”
As Chloe had predicted, Brooke was able to make an appointment to see Dr. Archer in two weeks, the quickest appointment in history, and was now filling out intake forms.
Every time the question was asked about pregnancies and births, she felt her heart ache.
But it was when she had to pull out a calendar to look up her last period that Brooke paused.
She went to the bathroom and pulled out her pack of pills. Had she forgotten to take the placebo pills and went right into the week of real ones?
Wait . . . no. She’d spotted in Texas.
Brooke shook her head, returned her pills to her vanity, and walked away.
Luca sat with Brooke outside on the terrace after the restaurant had closed and everyone had gone to bed.
“Antonia wants Franny to spend the night.”
“What does Franny want?”
“To make everyone happy.”
“What do you think?” Brooke asked.
“I don’t know, cara. If Antonia hadn’t left after we divorced, I’d have to share Franny. I’d be used to it by now.”
Brooke squeezed his hand. “She’d be just down the street. And Rosa is there.”
Luca cringed. “You’re encouraging it?”
She cleared her throat. “Your Honor, the reason my ex-wife isn’t fit to have our daughter overnight is because she lied to me and my girlfriend in an effort to get me back.” Brooke widened her eyes. “I don’t think that’s going to fly in court.”
“They haven’t spent more than two hours with each other, and only with someone else around.”
“I hate to say it, but that needs to change. Unless Franny isn’t comfortable. Or Antonia does something other than spread rumors that no one is believing.”
“Why are you so reasonable?”
“Because I’ve taken my personal feelings out of the equation. Do I like it? No. Do I think this is just another way for her to get to you . . . yes. Probably. But if it isn’t and she only wants to know Franny, we have to give her a chance to do that. Or to fail. We’re between the proverbial rock and a hard place here. Give her the rope. She either hangs from it or uses it to swing to another branch. But you give her the rope. Because making her fight for it only hurts Franny and your relationship with her in the long run. At this point, Antonia has done nothing to suggest she’s an unfit mother since she’s been back. No court would keep her away from her daughter.”
“I hate that you’re right.”
“Me too.”
“Did your mother make your father fight for you?”
Brooke looked at him like he was crazy. “Please. She could only hope he would come around and take me for any amount of time. Then I wouldn’t be there casting my ‘judgmental eyes’ on her when she came in drunk or with another guy.”