Speak later? I like talking to you x
Me, too x, she said.
Ginny felt flustered, like a teenager who’d been caught with a boy in her bedroom. She smoothed a hand through her hair before she opened her door.
Nico stood on the landing with his hands clasped in front of him. “Would you like coffee?” he asked.
“I’m okay, thanks. I have some water.”
Nico didn’t move. His brow creased and he took a few seconds to speak again. “This is not only about the coffee. I’d like to talk to you.”
As Ginny closed her door and followed him downstairs, she felt even more like an errant teenager. Had she been overly noisy or broken something?
Nico took forever to make two cappuccinos. He took the seat opposite at the dining table and held her gaze for too long. “Are you happy with your holiday?” he asked.
Ginny wrapped her fingers around the cup. She’d read somewhere that Italians preferred to drink cappuccino before eleven o’clock in the morning so she was glad to be within the deadline. “Yes, I’m having a nice time and I think the others are, too. Though it’s a shame about Edna’s quilt.”
“I hope we can find it for her.”
They sipped their coffees and Ginny heard a clock ticking.
Eventually, Nico leaned in. “May I talk to you about something...sensitive?”
Ginny nodded, a little apprehensive of what it might be. “Sure.”
He cleared his throat. “It is about Loretta. She is now talking about going to the college in Milan, instead of Bologna, and I did not expect this. Milan is much farther away and...” He let out a sigh. “Sorry, I have no one else to talk to.”
“I’m guessing she still has plenty of time to decide. Do you want her to stay in Vigornuovo?” Ginny asked.
“Not if she does not want to. I want her to follow her heart. I had a dream that one day Loretta, Maria and I would run Splendido together, as a family again. Soon, there will only be me left.”
“It sounds like that’s your dream and not Loretta’s.”
He nodded. “You are right and I have to let it go. If I ask Loretta anything, she will not tell me her full plans.”
Ginny could understand how he felt. Her own dream of spending the rest of her life with Adrian had shattered, too. She’d experienced Phoebe’s sullen teenage years and knew they could be draining. She rubbed her neck guiltily when she remembered Loretta creeping across the landing in the early morning and pressing her finger to her lips. A moped had roared off into the distance and Ginny had kept hold of the secret. Could a new boyfriend be behind Loretta’s plan to go to Milan? “Is she dating anyone at the moment?” she asked.
Nico shook his head. “There have been two or three boys—one of them still sends her flowers. Loretta broke their hearts,” he said. “I want to know she is making good choices. She will be eighteen next week and I don’t even know what she wants to do for her birthday.”
“What date is it?” Ginny asked, sipping her coffee.
“The twenty-eighth of June.”
The same day as my wedding anniversary, she thought to herself. Not that she’d be celebrating it. “Have you asked her?”
“Each year, Loretta makes a joke and says she wants a slumber party. She had one with her mother once, before Maria left.” Nico flicked his hand. “It is something for small children, an American thing.”
Ginny tried to think of a good way forward. “I can speak to Loretta, though it may seem strange if I spark up a conversation out of the blue.”
“It could make her suspicious.”
“Maybe we could go to the village together, one day.”
Nico’s eyes lit up. “There is a market on Wednesday and I need tomatoes.”
“I can ask Loretta to take me.”
“This is a very good plan,” he said. “Thank you. I’m sorry to ask you to do this.”
