‘Sally and Possum’, which featured AUSLAN-speaking characters, was great but this episode of Bluey had made McKenzie feel so included.
A lump rose in Peyton’s throat as McKenzie shifted from foot to foot in excitement and laughed at the shenanigans on screen. That would all change tomorrow. Tomorrow she took her first steps into the hearing world.
She knew that for many in the deaf community, cochlear implants were controversial. That parents often of very young children, like Peyton, were making life-altering decisions for their children which could potentially alienate them from their own community and language. And she got that. God knew, Peyton had read the pros and cons over and over and over. She spoke to deaf advocates on the regular but then saw the flipsideevery day in the clinical setting – the miracle moment when the device was actually turned on for the first time.
In the end she’d decided that she wanted McKenzie to have every opportunity in life and, controversial or not, that involved her being able to hear.
Was it the right decision? Would McKenzie thank her or resent her for it in the future? Those were unknowns. But, like any parent making decisions for their kids, she hoped and prayed it was the right one.
Valentino watched a subdued Peyton step out on the deck about ten minutes later. Sliding into her chair, she picked up her glass and absently swallowed a mouthful of the crisp Pinot Grigio he’d chosen because it came from the area near where he’d been born in the north of Italy. There was no recognition on her face of the glorious crisp, spritzy taste.
Lifting the plate of olives, he bought them close to his face and inhaled deeply. ‘Mmm. Don’t these smell divine?’
Looking at the plate with disinterest, she shrugged. ‘I guess.’
Okay, that wouldn’t do at all. Placing the plate on the table, he pushed it in her direction. ‘Have one,’ he murmured.
She shook her head. ‘I’m not hungry.’
Valentino smiled. ‘Who says you have to be hungry to eat?’ He picked up an olive glistening with oil and stuffed with feta and sucked it into his mouth.
Okay, thatgot her attention, her disinterested gaze changing suddenly, sharpening, zeroing in on the olive as it disappeared from sight, like shecould notlook away, and hell if he didn’t feel that in places significantly south of his lips. A warmth spreadthrough his system and Valentino took full advantage of her gaze upon his mouth, slowly swiping at the trace of oil left on his lips.
‘Food is to be enjoyed,bella. Not endured.’ He smiled then, noting her attention still firmly fixed on his mouth. ‘Try one,’ he coaxed.
She was looking at it the way Valentino imagined Adam had looked at Eve when she’d offered him the apple, and for long beats he didn’t move or say a word, enjoying the spotlight of her attention and how it felt not just on his mouth but in his loins. Then, inside, McKenzie giggled, which broke Peyton from her reverie.
Sighing impatiently, she said, ‘If I do, will you just go?’
‘Maybe.’ He grinned as he pushed the plate closer, nodding encouragingly.
Picking randomly and quickly from the array of plump specimens, she popped it in her mouth, barely chewed then swallowed. ‘Happy?’
Happy?Valentino shook his head. What she’d just done was an insult to these really good olives. Valentino tsked. ‘You need to savour it,bella.’
Her brows snapped together. ‘Don’tcall mebella.’
Ignoring her rebuff of his endearment, Valentino continued. ‘You’ve got to inhale its aroma.’ He picked one up and waved it under his nose, inhaling deeply. ‘Roll it around your mouth.’ He sucked it in with a satisfyingffft. ‘Let it sit on your tongue.’ He shut his eyes as the salty flavour diffused through his network of taste buds.
Valentino opened his eyes to discover her gaze on his mouth again. Her black pupils had dilated in the grey pools of her eyes, and his breath caught as he pushed the plate closer. ‘Try again,’ he suggested.
Frown lines appeared in her forehead. ‘No.’
‘Yes,’ he replied gently, his mouth tugged up at the corners. ‘You need to eat more.’
She needed toindulgemore. Like she had that night at the wedding. It may have taken her a while to get there but when she had… she’d been luminescent.
All Valentino could see when he looked at her both then and now was a woman who was starving – physically and emotionally. Shutting herself off, denying her body the things it needed. The thingseverybody needed.
Denial was not good for anyone.
Her gaze dropped to the array of olives, regarding them like they were lumps of cold porridge. ‘I don’t really have an appetite these days.’ Her voice held a wistful note, as if she used to have appetites. For all kinds of things. ‘Not since…’
The catch in her voice sat loud in the silence between them and Valentino wanted to reach across the table and cover her hand. He understood her silence. It may have been a tiny blip in time many years ago which he’d buried beneath wine, women and song, but he understood loss a little. ‘Since your daughter died.’
She nodded slowly as her gaze drifted back to his face. ‘Alessandro?’
Valentino inclined his head. ‘He mentioned it.’
