Page 46 of The Fall Affair

“I do. The pieces I’ve seen are beautiful.”

“Maybe you want to keep collecting, maybe not, but with more pieces, you get better price if you sell, eh?”

“I’d love to add to the collection. How far is Minori?”

“Four and a half, maybe five hours. It is beautiful place to visit, when it’s not overrun by tourists.”

“Maybe I’ll take a trip down one day.”

“Or I have her ship it here. You just tell me. No rush.”

“I will. Thank you so much for everything, Francesca.”

On my way home, I saw Matteo in his driveway standing in the bed of his truck. He had on a backward baseball hat and no shirt as he unloaded wine barrels, and I nearly drove into a ditch watching him. When he spotted me on the Vespa, he stopped, and I beeped and waved, feeling like a local. He shook his head, but I saw the smile on his face, even from the road.

I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about his dinner invitation since I woke up this morning. I’d wanted to say yes—God, I wanted to—but something about Matteo gave me pause. He was the kind of man who could make you believe in forever, and I only had a few months.

At home, or rather, Nonna’s house, I flipped over the Closed sign in the store to show Open and decided to spend the morning weeding the rest of the flower beds. I’d finished her English garden on the side of the house, but the front still needed to be done, and it was a gorgeous day. It was a bonus that I could see Matteo’s driveway from where I was working. Though sadly, he was no longer unloading barrels without a shirt. Around eleven, I saw his truck pull out and head toward Nonna’s. My heart sped up, thinking he was going to stop, but he looked straight ahead as he passed and didn’t even wave. Four hours went by before the truck returned. And when it did, his sister was with him.

A few minutes after they parked, Luciana crossed the field that separated our properties and climbed the fence like it was a normal, everyday thing to do. Her big, friendly smile was the same as last night, but she was dressed very differently than I would’ve expected, based on the sexy robe she’d worn yesterday.

“Ciao!” She held up a bag. “I brought you some outfits to try for Friday night.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Sure I did. I needed to take away any excusa for why you can’t go.”

I laughed and didn’t mention that I had been going back and forth and considering canceling. Pulling off the garden gloves, I wiped my brow with the back of my forearm. “What’s the vibe of the place? Is it dressy?”

“The dress code is more like a competition to see-a who can come as close to being naked while still wearing clothes and not getting arrested. I’m pretty sure last time I went, one of the ladies I saw was wearing a belt as a skirt.”

I definitely didn’t have any outfits like that with me, and I wasn’t sure I had anything in my closet back home that fit the bill either. Luciana must’ve noticed my face.

She chuckled. “Don’t worry. I didn’t give you anything too risqué, just sexy and fun.”

I smiled hesitantly.

“How was your evening with my brother?”

“It was nice.”

“Nice is like eating plain toast for breakfast. Gets da job done, but you’re hungry a half hour later and can’t even remember what you ate.”

I laughed. “What word is better when discussing spending time with someone’s brother?”

She pointed at me. “Good point. I don’t want to know more than nice. But there is chemistry, no?”

I couldn’t deny that, not even to myself, so I nodded. “There is.”

“That makes me happy to hear, especially on today of all days.”

“What’s so special about today?”

“It’s the anniversary of Isabella’s death.” She pointed to the black material of her top. “That’s why I’m dressed like a ninety-year-old Sicilian widow. We go to the grave to visit today.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Dis horrible frock didn’t give it away?”