I grab my phone and finally do what I’ve been fighting myself over for hours.
Me:Thank you for yesterday.
His reply comes in less than a minute.
Colin:No need to thank me, son. What I told you stands. You can talk to me about anything. Call me whenever you need to.
Colin:I love you, Ethan. I will always love you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make things right.
I read his words at least four times with a tight knot in my throat before I type back.
Me:Okay.
I set my phone aside and lean my head back on the sofa. I run my fingers through Dalila’s hair, but I can’t get his texts out of my head.
Maybe someday, when saying ‘Dad’ doesn’t make me flinch... I’ll start letting him back in.
Chapter 18
tell me to stop
Alexander
“Ethan, are you sure? I can catch the next flight today. If you or Alicia need me, I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
I stand there with both drinks in my hands, feet sinking into the sand. Cecilia sits at the small table beneath the thatched umbrella, her phone lifted close to her face, earbuds in place.
She must have finally reached him. All morning she’s been saying she needed to hear his voice because something wasn’t right, forcing her mother’s instinct on hold until it was a reasonable hour back in the States.
A tight knot forms in my stomach. The dread that she might already be preparing to leave coils there. I push it down. If something is wrong, if she needs to go home today... then my only role is to make sure she gets there.
I set her drink in front of her, a peach spritz, and I’m about to step back and give her privacy when she touches my arm and gives the smallest shake of her head.
I sit across from her, my gaze fixed on the endless blue water beyond us. I try not to listen, but worry puts me on edge.
A few minutes later, the call ends. She exhales, lifts her glass, and takes a long sip. “Thank you,” she murmurs.
“Everything okay with the children?” I ask, watching her closely.
Her eyes shift from the horizon back to me. “Yes,” she says, a relieved smile on her lips. “But my intuition wasn’t entirely wrong. Ethan flew home yesterday. It seems he’s having trouble with his girlfriend.”
Even as my throat tightens at the idea of her leaving, I say what is right. “If you want to go back today, I can arrange for one of the pilots to take you home.”
The words cost me more than I let show. But I would rather have her far away and at peace, knowing her children are safe, than keep her here while her heart is somewhere else.
Watching her worry throughout the morning as we walked through the city—checking her watch, calculating the time difference—only made my chest tighter. I brought her to Marina di Pisa for lunch, hoping the sea breeze would calm her. Yet her eyes kept drifting back to her phone.
Now she shakes her head. “No. Ethan assured me it’s just... a situation with his girlfriend. And even though I didn’t have much experience with boyfriends at his age, I know how intense young relationships can be.”
Her gaze goes back to the water.
“I won’t lie—part of me wants to catch the first flight out and wrap my son in a hug that makes everything better. Or do something incredibly cringe, as Alicia would say... like calling his girlfriend to give her advice the way I did with Ethan.”
She sighs. “But he’s a young man now. And if he’s going to learn how to live, he has to stumble sometimes on his own and figure out what’s right for him.”
I reach across the table and lace my fingers with hers.
“If you change your mind,” I murmur, “you only have to say the word. I’ll take care of everything.”
