“They’re in love, I tell you.”
She shakes her head. “She never liked the man.”
“People can change their minds,” I say, and she slides her eyes briefly to mine before she looks away.
“Your breakfast!” Marlene announces, placing the food and coffee on the table between us. “I hope you enjoy!”
“Thank you so much,” Fabiana says.
“It looks amazing,” I add.
“Tell us, Marlene, what is there to do in this town on a rainy day?” Fabiana asks.
“Eat pastries, drink coffee, and then when the time is right, switch to wine and pasta.” She throws us a wink.
“What if we wanted to do something in between all the eating and drinking?” I ask.
“If you had children, I would suggest you go to The Giggle Garden down the hill, but as you don’t, perhaps you would like to go to the library and read a book, sir,” she replies.
“Reading a book sounds fantastic to me,” Fabiana says before she eats some of her pie. “Oh, this is just as good as I remember it.”
“You’ve been here before, miss?” Marlene asks.
Something passes across Fabiana’s face, but it’s gone before I can work out what it is. “No, but I’ve had your pies. They’re famous around here.”
Marlene beams with pride. “Thank you.”
“What’s The Giggle Garden?” I ask.
“An indoor children’s play area. It has things like a ball pit and a huge slide. The children love it. Me?” She shudders. “Not so much. It’s too loud.”
“A ball pit? With a huge slide?” I repeat, turning to Fabiana.
She shakes her head. “No, Max.”
“Why not?” I ask.
She looks up at Marlene as though looking for a comrade. “Because it’s for kids, right?”
“So?” I lean closer to Fabiana and add for her ears only, “We had fun in our fort last night, didn’t we?”
Her cheeks bloom pink, and she picks up her coffee cup and takes a sip.
“You go on the big slide and in the ball pit if that’s what you want to do, Prince Max,” Marlene says.
“See?” I say to Fabiana. “Marlene said I could, so…”
She laughs, shaking her head. “Sure. Why not? We can pretend we’re both four foot nothing and play in a ball pit. But you have to let me do some filming.”
I reach across the table and shake her hand. “Deal.”
Chapter 23
Valentina
I cannot believe I’m doing this.
I’m wearing a pair of socks with rubber pads on the bottom of my feet as I dash between soft-padded obstacles, brightly colored enough to induce a migraine. What’s more, I’m clutching a foam gun in my hands while firing large yellow foam bullets at Max.
