AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Luca,” I groaned.
“Okay, okay. I'm done bringing it up...for now.”
“Thank you.”
After another hour or so, traffic began to slow down to an unusual pace. As we crept along, Luca glanced over each shoulder and in all his mirrors trying to see what the cause might be.
“It looks like there’s some kind of detour up ahead. Would you mind checking on your phone to see what’s up?”
“Sure. One sec.” I pulled out my phone and started typing away to search for accidents and road closings in the area. “Oh.”
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure but it looks like a pretty major detour up ahead. The good news is that it shouldn’t add much time to our trip. A half hour at most.”
“Here, let me see.” Luca held his hand out and I placed my phone in it. After a minute of scrolling over the map, Luca let out a quiet curse.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s taking us through a portion of Emilia-Romagna.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I forget you’ve been away so long. Emilia-Romagna is Aurora’s estranged father’s territory.”
“Oh, and we aren’t on the best of terms with them,” I recalled.
“No.” Luca sighed. “We won’t be far into the territory and not for long. We’ll just make sure not to stop for gas or anything until we are back in Lombardy on the other side.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Luca nodded and turned right at the detour sign. Before long, we passed a sign letting us know that we’d crossed over into the Emilia-Romagna region and the air in the car shifted. The drive was tense, neither of us talked as we made our way down the road.
I felt like I didn’t breathe again until we crossed back into Lombardy and shortly after, arrived in Cremona.
“We’re finally here.” Luca sounded relieved. “Teo does know that the city is known for its violin making, not for baby furniture, right?”
“There’s a furniture maker who came to live in Cremona years ago. He was the same one who made Mia’s crib for her when he was just starting out. Her mother picked out the bassinet herself at a market nearby, but it was somehow damaged through the years. Teo was able to find the man who made it and convinced him to recreate the same bassinet from pictures.”
“Sweet.”
“Yeah.”
“Still a long way to go for something the baby will probably grow out of in just a few months.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “You are such a guy.”
“That I am, and I haven’t had any complaints about it so far.”
“It’s getting late, let’s try to hurry.”
Chapter 6
Luca
We followed the navigation system as it instructed us to pull off the main street and onto a winding road that led to the home of retired furniture craftsman, Rudolfo Abate.
I parked the SUV close to the door since I wasn’t sure how heavy the piece would be, and I preferred not to lug a heavy, solid wood crib all the way down the drive.
