The bartender brought their drinks. “Grazie,” they both murmured and paid before taking one in each hand.
“Have you heard from your parents since you got here?” Sloane asked as they passed through a handful of artists who were busy painting colorful scenes of the beautiful town around them.
Charlotte stopped to gaze at a partially finished canvas depicting the villas stacked up on the hillside above them—the scene that was always in the most famous photographs of Positano. “They both texted me to make sure I arrived safely.”
Since they weren’t moving, Sloane took a sip of her drink. “I bet they’re wondering where this will lead.”
Charlotte gave the artist a smile to compliment his work, and he nodded in return as they moved on. “It’s definitely been a shock—for all of us.”
“They must be curious about Lilly.”
“They are. I should call them later today—when it’s a decent time in LA—and let them meet her via FaceTime. Or at least send a picture. But I don’t want to overwhelm Lilly. I believe we should take everything very slowly. And to be honest, I’m not overly excited about speaking to my parents right now.”
Sloane quit walking again. “Why?” she asked in alarm. “You’re not going to let this come between you, are you?”
Charlotte turned back, since Sloane had stopped. “I just need some time. I know they’re worried and want blow-by-blow information, but including them feels strange. This is so hard for me that I just want to deal with it myself—at least until I can come to terms with it.”
“I can’t even imagine what you’re going through,” Sloane said. “I’m sorry.”
“It helps to have you here,” she responded. “I’msoglad Ben didn’t mind you coming. I wish I’d married someone more like him,” she added with a chuckle.
Sloane felt the heavy weight of the guilt she now hauled everywhere. What was she going to do about her husband? How would she know whether to stay with him or build a life without him? She had no idea which path would make her—and him—the happiest.
Fortunately, Julian and Lilly had spotted them and were coming to get their drinks, because it saved Sloane from having to form a reply.
“Everything go okay with Luca?” Julian asked Charlotte. His voice was light—for Lilly’s sake, no doubt—but Sloane knew her brother better than anyone and could tell he would probe deeper later on.
“Great,” Charlotte said. “He’s going to bring Sabrina’s belongings to the villa tomorrow.”
“He’s bringing them tous?” Julian said.
Charlotte nodded as if it was the most natural place in the world for them to go. Then she dipped her head to get Lilly’s attention. “You can go through the boxes and have whatever you want. And the rest... Well, we’ll decide what to do with the rest later. We’ll just keep it safe for the time being.”
“Okay.” Lilly sounded relieved, at least to Sloane’s ear, but at the reminder of her mother, her gaze fell to her toes again, which were buried in the unusual black pebbles of Spiaggia Grande.
“I hope thelimonatasoda was a good choice for you,” Charlotte said. “I was going by what you ordered last night.”
Lilly nodded. “I like it.”
“We should get lunch in a bit,” Julian suggested. “What’s good?”
“Are you asking me?” Lilly touched her chest since he was looking at her.
“Of course I’m asking you,” he replied. “You’re the expert around here.”
This elicited a small grin. Julian could win over almost anyone and had certainly been working his magic on Charlotte’s half sister.
“There’s a deli up there.” Lilly pointed toward the busy shopping district, which had a labyrinth of lanes, stairs and stores, most with apartments or flats on top that had bougainvillea spilling from the verandas and climbing the banisters. “My mom took me once when we came here. It has a spaghetti pie that’s pretty good.”
“What’s spaghetti pie?” Sloane asked.
“It’s like—” Lilly made a face as she tried to think of a way to explain it “—gobs of noodles packed into a pie dish that has bits of ham and cheese mixed in. You can pick it up and eat it with your hand like a piece of pizza.”
Sloane couldn’t picture it. “The spaghetti doesn’t fall apart?”
“Nope,” Lilly replied. “It’s thick and dry, so it sticks together.”
“Sounds interesting,” Charlotte said. “I’d like to try it. But let’s take a few minutes to enjoy our drinks first.”
