“Bene,” he responded and dusted off his hands as if he was releasing himself from all future responsibility.
Considering the situation, Charlotte couldn’t really hold that against him. They all said, “Ciao.” Then he was gone, and Charlotte wondered if they’d see him again while they were in Praiano. It wasn’t as if he’d expressed any interest in staying in touch.
“Not a bad guy,” Julian commented.
“Because he helped carry a few boxes belonging to the woman he’d been with before she died?” Charlotte said. “He’s just relieved to have Sabrina, her daughter and everything that belonged to them out of his house.”
Julian dropped into a seat at the outdoor dining table. “Yeah, I get the same impression. He hinted he shouldn’t have gotten involved.”
She sat across from him. “I didn’t hear him say that.”
“It was on one of our trips to the house.”
“Thank you for getting up to help me. It would’ve takensomuch more time without you.”
“It was nothing. It’s always fun to one-up my sister,who chose to sleep in,” he added for emphasis.
Charlotte chuckled. “Sloane probably had a hard time falling asleep last night just like I did.”
“Excuses, excuses,” he teased.
“Not everyone comes through the way you do,” she told him. “You’re like Ben—a really good guy.”
“I’m a hell of a lot better than Ben,” he said with a mock scowl.
Her mind immediately went to her own situation. “Well, if you’re better than Ben, Cliff must not be any competition whatsoever.”
“I thought that was a given.”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess I should’ve marriedyou.”
He didn’t laugh like she’d expected. Her last comment hung awkwardly in the air, making her wish she could snatch it back. There’d been moments when shehadbeen attracted to Julian; maybe that was why. The joke had landed closer to the truth than she’d intended.
She felt her face heat up as he stood.
“You definitely don’t want to marry me,” he said, suddenly serious, and went inside.
Lilly stayed in her bed all morning, waiting to make sure that Charlotte and Luca had done whatever they were going to do with her mother’s stuff before she so much as ventured from her room.
When she finally did come down, she was relieved not to see a single box.
“Did Luca show up this morning?” she asked Charlotte, who was sitting at the indoor dining table working on her laptop.
“He did,” she said rather absent-mindedly.
“He didn’t want to talk to me?”
Charlotte had been scowling at her screen, but at this, she looked up. “He asked about you, wanted to be sure you’re okay.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“I said you’re going to be fine, because I believe youwillbe fine.” She gestured toward the kitchen. “I made a caprese salad for breakfast if you’d like some. There’s also fruit and granola with yogurt.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Charlotte checked her watch. “It’s nearly two,” she said in that way adults had of letting her know she’d given the wrong answer. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
