She actually threw the salt shaker at me.
I grinned.
“Honestly, I think it was the car.”
Isabella glared.
“Come on, what did he say?”
“He just asked normal dad things. Why I thought I was worthy of dating you? Where I wanted to take you? Stuff like that.”
“And then he just said, okay, you can date my daughter.”
“Actually, he said I can take you to the drive-in movie tomorrow and then it was up to you to decide if I was allowed to continue dating you after that.”
She relaxed in her seat, relieved.
“Oh, and what’s up with me calling you Bella? He seemed surprised by it. It doesn’t offend you, does it?”
Isabella opened her mouth to speak and then closed it. After a moment she tried again, but this time we were interrupted.
“Izzy, your father told me about your big date tomorrow.”
“Yes, Mama, this is Liam. Liam, this is my mother.”
We chatted with her mother for a bit. She remembered me from that first day. She told me it was hard to forget a face as handsome as mine. I flirted back with her until she blushed, and her husband arrived with our pizza. After placing it on the table, he slipped his arm around his wife’s waist as if the display of affection was natural. I envied it.
Focusing on the food, I noted, “This looks delicious.”
Mrs. Bianco smiled.
“It’s Enzo’s specialty. You must have impressed him. If he didn’t like you, he would have given you anchovies.”
Her husband playfully pinched her side.
“Silencio,woman! Don’t expose my tricks.”
The couple kissed softly. I wondered if Isabella knew how lucky she was to have two parents who so clearly loved each other. One glance at her, though, and it was clear she did. When her parents finally stopped kissing, her mother blushed.
“You two kids enjoy. I better get Enzo back to the kitchen before he forgets he is supposed to be working.”
They left us then, and Isabella and I made a plan for the following day. It was becoming so natural to be around her. To be happy again. To laugh. Once we finished the pizza, I thanked her father again and walked her home. We held hands. Not because people were looking but just because it was becoming second nature to us. As we stood at her front porch, a cool breeze came over us. She sighed.
“Bring a jacket tomorrow, just in case.”
I nodded and reluctantly released her hand.
“I guess I should get going. I’ll see you tomorrow at five?”
She nodded and smiled at me for a moment longer before heading inside. When I returned to my car, her father was back outside. He had obviously been spying on us, but more than that, he was still trying to get a look at my car.
“What do you say, Mr. Bianco? Do you think your wife will mind us going for a quick drive?”
I tossed him my keys and he looked at me in shock. Running inside, he threw off his apron and screamed something in Italian before rushing back out. A minute later I was in the passenger seat and Isabella’s father was sitting behind the wheel. He had that same smile on his lips that his daughter had when the wind was in her face.
So much happiness for things I always took for granted. This assignment really was changing me. Isabella was changing me. In my world, everything had a cost, but now I was starting to see that the things that really matter, they were always priceless.
Chapter 12
