by Tina Beckett
“It wouldn’t be forever. Could you at least ask for your leave of absence to be extended? Just long enough for us to think things through properly. I don’t want either of us to feel rushed and then later be unhappy with the decisions made.”
He’d done that exact thing once. Only there was no hint that he was unhappy with that decision.
He was right. A month was a very short time to come up with a plan for a lifetime.
“I don’t know if they’ll let me. I have a contract that spells things out.” What if they decided to let her go just like they had Luca and the rest of them?
Well, her former colleagues had all bounced back, from what she’d heard from various sources. Surely she would too, if it came to that. She was pretty sure any of the larger hospitals in Atlanta would welcome her on board. She just wasn’t sure she would welcome them. She’d been at Atlanta Central Medical Center ever since she’d graduated from med school. She didn’t know anyplace else.
That fact may have led her to make her own rash decisions. Like staying on at the hospital instead of walking out with her team in protest at the firings. Everything had happened so fast she’d had no time to digest what it really meant to her.
She set aside the magazine she had been looking through when Luca leaned forward. “Will you at least try? Ask them and see if it’s a possibility? If it’s not, and you’re not willing to quit, then we have some things that need to be done quickly. Like getting my name added to her birth certificate.”
A zip of shock went through her. Oh, Lord, she hadn’t even thought about that. Hadn’t thought about much other than informing him that he had a daughter. And now when she thought about it, that had been a pretty cold-blooded way to go about it. This was his child and yet in her head she’d made it into a mere formality, like a business letter: We would like to inform you that...
Annalisa was anything but business-oriented. She was a living, breathing human being who had a mother...and a father. To make it about anything else would be criminal. Maybe marrying him wouldn’t have been as big a stretch as she’d made it out to be. It would make officially naming him as Anna’s father easier.
Her heart cramped. But to marry him for anything other than love... She couldn’t do it.
She wasn’t sure how to add him to Annalisa’s birth certificate, or if they could even do it from Italy. He was right. She needed to at least ask the hospital for more time off. If they said no, her decision was made. But if they said yes...then she had some decisions of her own to make. And quickly.
“I’ll call the hospital tomorrow morning and get the lay of the land.”
“The lay of...?”
“Sorry. It means see if they’re agreeable to an extension.”
His English was so good it was easy to forget that it wasn’t his native tongue. Some of the expressions didn’t make much sense when you dissected them. That was another thing. He spoke excellent English, but her Italian was limited to what she’d learned from Luca and some of that made her blush. Not exactly the kind of talk that occurred around the dinner table. In fact, she could feel her face heat at the memory of some of those desperate phrases muttered in the heat of passion.
She hurried to ask, “Lorenzo speaks English pretty well, if I remember right.”
“Yes. Most of the staff have some understanding of English. Anything you or they don’t understand, I can translate.”
“Thank you. If Atlanta does give me additional time off, I think I’d like to take a language course, if I can have Annalisa there with me.”
“If you can’t, I’m sure Emilia would love to watch her. Or I could set up a portable crib at the clinic and have her there. With me.”
She opened her mouth to argue with him, but then snapped it shut when she remembered she’d already had four months to get to know her daughter. He’d had under a day to adjust to the fact that he was a father. Guilt pressed hard against her chest, making it difficult to breathe.
She uncurled her legs and leaned forward to take one of his hands.
“I’m really sorry, Luca. I should have found a way to get word to you. I just didn’t know if she was even going to—”
“You’re here now. Let’s just leave it at that.” Something in his eyes flashed, though, making her wonder if he was really that quick to forgive her.
She let go of his hand, stung by the coolness of his voice. Especially after the way the slide of her palm against his had awakened nerve endings that had gone into hibernation. It had been a long, cold season and there was no end in sight.
Who could blame him if he hated her? She hadn’t been that quick to forgive herself. But how much worse would it have been if Anna had gone looking for her father once she reached adulthood and he’d found out about it then? Now, that would have been unforgivable. And both Annalisa and Luca would have missed out on some precious memories.
In the end, she’d done the right thing. Even if it wasn’t the easy thing.
“Okay.” The whispered word took a while to get out. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“I know this has been hard on you as well.” His gaze softened. “I’m glad you came. Really glad.”
With his black hair and dark eyes, he’d been the epitome of tall, dark and mysterious. And with the difference in cultures, his body language wasn’t as easy to pick up on as American men’s were. Maybe that’s why she’d been so drawn to him, even as she’d tried so hard to keep her distance. Unlike her, though, he’d let his feelings come through loud and clear from the very beginning, making her sizzle inside.
That had been wildly attractive. Looking back, it had only been a matter of time before she gave in. Only she’d never expected to be the one doing the asking. But she had. It had seemed inevitable at the time, though.
Luca knew what he wanted and set out to get it. Not something she was used to in the men she’d known. Not even Kyle had been so driven. Getting swept off her feet had been a heady experience.
She just had to be careful that she didn’t let his charm affect her all over again or influence her in certain areas of her life. Like talking her into a sham marriage. For a second or two, the word “yes” had teetered on the tip of her tongue. But down that road lay craziness. Even if it had been for their daughter. A fact she had to remind herself of several times a day. She was no longer calling all the shots when it came to making decisions about Anna.
Before she could think of anything else to say, he stood and reached down his hand. “You must be hungry. And tired.”
From her position her eyes had to skim up his body to get to his face. Heat flared as her glance swept over parts she’d once known in all their glory.
If it had been anyone else, she might have thought he was standing over her to intimidate her, to make himself look bigger and stronger, but she knew that wasn’t how he operated. And other countries didn’t have the same bubble of personal space that Americans did. At least, that’s what she’d learned from Luca. He tended to stand close. To kiss close. To love close.
Elyse closed her eyes for a second before forcing herself to nod in the hope that he’d take a step backward, so she could stand as well. He must have read her mind, because he did just that, the hand he’d held down toward her dragged through his hair instead. He took a second step back. She climbed to her feet, only to discover that he was still well within her personal space. And with the couch behind her, she had nowhere to go.
His finger lifted to touch her cheek in a way that sent a shiver over her. “We’re going to figure this out, Elyse. I promise.”
Figure what out? How to kill the emotions swirling inside her that just would not die? Because his touch and the low rasp of his voice were doing just the opposite.
“I hope so.”
Just then she heard the back door open and Peg’s voice as she chattered to Annalisa.
“Per
fect timing all around,” he said, moving away from her.
“Yes, it is.” Elyse smoothed her shirt down over her skirt with trembling hands, anxious to hide the turmoil whipping through her. She’d hoped all of those odd pangs of need for him would go away with time. And they had faded somewhat, but his presence had evidently popped a trapped bubble of longing, because a stream of it was hitting her system hard. So hard it was difficult to concentrate on anything but the way he looked, his scent, the way she’d once felt in his arms.
Staying at his house, for a week much less a month, was such a big mistake. She hurried over to Peg and lifted Annalisa out of her arms, hugging the baby to her.
Luca came over and chose that moment to kiss his daughter on the cheek, and when he looked up, they were inches apart, his lips heartbreakingly close. And there it was again. That quivery sensation she’d had a minute ago. Then he pulled back, with a smile that was full of hidden knowledge.
He knew exactly what he did to her.
“I’ll go get check on dinner,” he murmured, and then he was gone.
Her aunt glanced at her, eyes wide. Elyse wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the disruption in the space/time continuum.
“Oh, my,” she said, “I think I’ll go help him. Annalisa is probably hungry for her dinner as well. She was getting a little fussy outside. Looks like I picked the wrong moment to come in.”
“Oh, no, Peg. You picked the perfect time, believe me.”
“I’m not so sure...”
But Anna was fussy again, starting to shift and snort. The precursor to a complete meltdown. The baby wasn’t the only one close to a meltdown. She could feel one coming on herself. She threw her aunt a grateful smile. “Thanks, I’ll feed her and put her down for a nap, so we can eat in peace.”
Peace? Ha! Not much hope of that. Not as long as Luca was around.
Well, she was going to have to figure out how to deal with him before she did something completely stupid.
Like fall for him all over again.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I DON’T KNOW, Elyse, we were counting on having you back on time. Isn’t there any way you can keep to your original schedule?”
Not the words Elyse was hoping to hear this early in the morning. She’d dragged herself out of bed, nursed the baby, stuffed her feet into flip-flops and made her way out of the bedroom. Annalisa had gone back to sleep as soon as she was full.
As it was so early, she’d decided to get the thing she dreaded most out of the way. She called the hospital and reached the administrator. He was not overly accommodating, which was normal. She should be happy he was being difficult, that she would have an excuse to leave when her month was over but, oddly enough, she wasn’t.
She couldn’t blame him. It had been several months already. Her complicated pregnancy had meant not working as many hours as she’d used to. And then she’d been put on complete bed rest. No more patients, no more going into work. At all.
“I’ll do my best. I’ll let you know in a few days what I’ve decided.” She thanked him and hung up the phone.
The longer she was here, the more complicated things promised to get with Luca. Surely whatever they had to work out could be done in a month. And he’d talked about maybe moving back to the States once his patient load was redistributed, in about six months’ time.
Elyse swallowed. In six months Annalisa would be crawling and doing all kinds of other things. And Luca would miss all of it.
How was that fair? But how was staying here for six months fair to her? She would probably have to quit her job, put her career on hold in order to stay. And then there was her mom. Where would she be in six months? Yes, she had her younger sister Peg, her husband and a multitude of friends she could call on. But she only had one daughter: Elyse. And she would only ever have one grandchild.
There was no good solution. Something she’d told herself all day yesterday. They were going to have to come up with some kind of plan, though. And she knew that “plan” needed to include having Anna’s father in her life.
That little act of fertilizing an egg had bound them together for life in some way, shape or form. That had been the easy part. The fun part. She shivered; yes, it had been a lot of fun.
Oh, there was fun in raising a child too, but it was definitely life-altering, in more ways than one. Luca would find out the reality of that soon enough. Like giving up months of a career that had taken years to build. He’d told her he couldn’t move back to the States because of his patient load and had asked her to move to Italy instead. The problem was, he’d already practiced medicine in Atlanta, so he could take up where he’d left off with his career, whereas she...
She would have to give up everything she’d worked for. Scrabble up the ladder all over again.
Wasn’t Anna worth it? Absolutely. But if there was a better solution, she wanted to find it. And that meant some give-and-take on both their parts.
That would be something else they’d have to talk about. She didn’t want to scare him, but she also didn’t want him to just sit back and be content with coming over and kissing his daughter’s cheek periodically. Annalisa’s view of men was being formed with each interaction. It was up to both of them to make sure those interactions were meaningful and healthy.
She glanced down the hallway. Peggy was awake, evidently. Her bedroom door was open and when she made her way over there, there was no sign of her. Anna was still sound asleep. She padded to the kitchen, where she found her aunt chatting with Emilia, who was poised to crack an egg on the edge of a bowl.
“Good, you’re awake. We were just talking about how you like your eggs.” Peggy turned her head and mouthed, Oh, my God.
Elyse forced back a laugh. Her aunt wasn’t used to having things done for her. She preferred to wait on people, not the other way around. “You don’t have to cook for us, Emilia. We know how to make eggs.” She said the words in rapid English before pulling herself up short and slowing way down. “I’m sorry. Did you understand?”
“Yes. I like cook,” Emilia replied with a smile.
Hoping Peggy wouldn’t jump in and try to take over, she pronounced each word carefully. “Thank you. And I like eggs...scrambled?” She made a stirring motion with her hand, hoping to get across the meaning.
“Why are you talking like that?” Peg asked.
“What do you mean?”
She laughed. “One of Emilia’s kids is studying English in the States. She understands quite a bit, she just doesn’t like to speak it because she’s afraid of making mistakes.”
The housekeeper nodded as if in agreement.
Well, Emilia wasn’t the only one afraid of making mistakes. Elyse was too. And not just with regard to the language. She was afraid of making a terrible mistake with her daughter or with Luca. One she’d have a hard time recovering from.
Don’t hurt either one of them, Elyse.
The thought came unbidden and was unwelcome. She wouldn’t if she could help it. Right now she was doing the best she could with what she had.
While Emilia cooked their breakfast, Peg motioned her into the other room. “You’re going to the hospital to consult on a case this morning?”
Luca must have told her.
“Exactly how long have you been up?”
“Long enough to sit and have a chat with him.” She squeezed her niece’s hand. “He wants a relationship with her, honey. You need to give him a chance.”
She frowned. “That’s why we came here. To tell him about her.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. He told me he asked you to stay in Italy, but that you weren’t sure.”
“Did he also tell you he asked me to marry him?”
“He what?” Her eyes went round with surprise. “What did you say?”
Elyse grimaced. “What do you think I said? No, of
course. It was an impulsive suggestion. He didn’t mean it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure. And as for staying, I just don’t know how that would work. My administrator basically said he wants me back at the end of a month.”
“Are you going to go? This is Anna’s future we’re talking about.”
Elyse looked off into the distance for a moment. “I know. He hurt me, Peg.”
“Are you so sure that was a one-way street? He lost his job, and you were the one who told him. You don’t think that hurt him?”
“I had no choice about him losing his job. And I felt it was better coming from me than from a hospital bureaucrat.”
“I’m not saying what you did was wrong. But it still had to sting.”
She shrugged. “He left. Packed up his bags and was gone soon after the announcement.”
“And you’re afraid he’ll do the same to Annalisa? He won’t, you know he won’t.” Peg tilted her head. “Anna is a part of him. They’ll always have that connection, no matter what his relationship with you is like.”
Something burned behind her eyes. What Peggy said was true. That even if Elyse meant nothing to him, he would always love their daughter.
“You’re right as usual.”
“I’m going to go back to the hotel, if it’s all right with you. It’ll be harder for you two to work things out, if I’m hanging around. Unless you need my help with Annalisa. And my vacation is only for a week.”
Elyse’s eyes widened. “Please don’t abandon me.”
“I’m not. But you and Luca need this time together—even if it’s only related to your daughter. I’m going back to do some sightseeing.” She held up a hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll text you if I run into problems. And if you need a babysitter during the week, I’ll be around. After that, you’re on your own. And you’ll be fine. You all will.”
