Thecalzolainodded vigorously, a grin of delight lighting his face.“Molto bene,” he said.
“Molto bene, indeed,” David replied.He accepted the package the girl offered, realizing they were the brown half-boots Vittoria had been wearing.He offered his arm and Vittoria took it, but before he headed for the door, he turned to face her.“Does this mean...youlikeme now?”he asked.“Or do you still think me a rogue?”
Vittoria arched a teasing brow.“Can it not be a bit of both?”
His mouth dropped open, but he apparently saw the glint in her eye.“You minx,” he accused.
Her grin of delight lit up the entire workshop.“Finally,” she whispered happily.She quickly sobered, though, glancing at thecalzolaibefore she turned her attention back on David.“Does this mean you likeme?Or do you still think I’m a shrew?”
She watched as David struggled to hide his sudden humor.“Can it not be a bit of both?”
Although she should have expected his response—he could tease her as readily as she had done to him—Vittoria couldn’t help the moment of hurt she felt.
Perhaps it showed on her face, for he was quick with an amendment.“Actually, you have proven you’re not a shrew,mia donna,” he said.
Vittoria let out the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.“Bene,” she murmured
“Mayhap a bit spoiled...”he adding, grinning before he leaned forward and bussed her on the forehead.
She inhaled softly, remembering how many times she had seen Donald do the same with Nicoletta.How she had seen their father do the same with their mother only that morning.
A form of apology.An acknowledgment of error.
A gesture of affection.
She watched as David turned and reached for the young girl’s hand and kissed the back of it.The girl giggled, her grin wide as she blushed a bright red.
“Grazie, signora,signore,” David said to the girl and to thecalzolaibefore he opened the door for Vittoria.The two took their leave of the shop, Vittoria happily stutter-stepping in her new half-boots as they made their way back to the barouche.
From the doorway of the jewelry shop across the thin street, a young woman watched the couple exiting thecalzolai’s shop, and she grinned.“Povero uomo,” she murmured on a chuckle.
Poor man.
