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I got to meet the infamous Francesca and I was very pleased to see she was not tipsy at all. Salvatrice was visibly fond of this woman, and I’ve learned that since Francesca was widowed, they’ve been living together. I was glad she helped Salva navigate this new life she had, but I sincerely hoped Francesca was good at being left on her own because I was planning on taking both my daughter and my woman back home with me.
Salva had to go and start baking, but even though Francesca offered to babysit, I insisted that Romina spend the day with me. We didn’t tell her the truth yet, but I wanted her to feel comfortable in my presence. Salva kept talking about taking it slow and one step at a time, but she didn’t understand the longing I had inside. I was craving that little girl to call me dad, to come running into my arms when I came home and tell me all about her dance classes. I wanted Salvatrice desperately, but the feelings I had for her seemed small compared to the hold Romina had on me. She was my blood, my famiglia. A piece of my heart was beating in her chest.
I wanted to take Romina shopping, but she persuaded me into a beach day, so an hour later I was going down to a busy beach in Portofino, with a child, a dog, two folding chairs, and two big bags. Salvatrice gave me enough luggage and food to survive in the wilderness for a week and she insisted I have my phone close because she would be calling to check on Romina. I was sweating buckets, water pouring off me like I was the Fontana di Trevi when we finally found a place close to the shore line.
“Romina, I want you to stay close, ok? And don’t go too deep into the water without me.”
“Ok, but I know how to swim.”
“It doesn’t matter, I want to make sure you’re safe.”
“But can you come into the water with me? What if we go and someone tries to steal our things?”
Ha! I’d like to see them try. The last person who stole from me was now eating his lunch through a straw.
“Yes, I will take you swimming. We’ll leave Maximus as a lookout.” I wanted to see the thief who had the courage to get close to my brute of a dog.
“Ok. Do you want to come and pick shells?”
“Go ahead, baby girl. I have to fix the umbrella.” I had no fucking clue how I was supposed to make an umbrella stand straight. All my beach vacations were on private beaches in the Hamptons or Bahamas, and I always had a butler, but Salva was very clear about that. No more than one hour at a time in the sun or Romina would get sunburned. I wasn’t going to bring our daughter back, cooked like a medium-well steak.
She came back after twenty minutes with her fists filled with shells and pebbles. Kids were so easy, man. They were entertained by everything.
“Roman! Roman, look!”
Roman. I’d never hated the sound of my own name more. I wanted her to call me daddy.
“What is it, baby girl?”
“I found so many!” She dumped the capture on the cooler Salva had filled with water and three – three! – types of freshly squeezed fruit juice. “You can keep the green pebble.”
I was so damn touched by her words.
“Thank you, Romina. I’ll get a present for you in return.”
“You don’t have to. Mama says we have to give to others and I have so many already. Maximus found it anyway.”
“Did he? I had no idea he was so talented.” He was trained for a lot of things and he was very good at sniffing out money, guns, and drugs. I guess I had to add pebble-finding to his resume. “Hey, do you want a snack? Your mama packed a lot of food for us.”
“Like what?”
“We have sandwiches.” She frowned and shook her head. “Cookie?”
“Yes!” I handed her a couple of cookies and she climbed into the chair next to mine to nibble on them. Adorable. How could someone so little be so perfect? “Roman, can we go swim after this?”
“Sure, but finish your food first.”
Just then my phone started ringing and I didn’t recognize the number, but the Italian area code gave it away.
“Yes, Salva?”
“Hey, I just wanted to see if everything is fine.”
“We’ve been gone for thirty minutes, amore. You need to calm down.”
“I am calm, I just wanted to see how you’re doing. Remy is an active kid and she can be a handful sometimes.”
“She’s an angel and I can handle her. Can you have some faith in me that I can take care of her?” I sounded a little sharper than I intended.
