“We’ve had a really enjoyable night, and I don’t want to ruin it.” She answered ruefully. “I loved my parents, but it’s a sad story.” She looked over, and he met her gaze, reading the pain on her face like lines in a book.
“Life can be beautiful and sad at the same time.” He shrugged his shoulders, pleased when she relaxed beside him.
Cesare continued. “I get the sense you’ve been through a lot of loss, but I also get the sense that you are strong. Capable too, and resilient.”
“How would you know that?” Sabrina asked, surreptitiously wiping at a tear that had the nerve to fall down her right cheek.
“Am I wrong?” He asked.
“Why are you psychoanalyzing me?” Sabrina asked shrewdly after a long moment of silence.
“I’m not trying to psychoanalyze you.” He answered, frowning at the word choice. “I want to get to know you so that I know how to... how to takecareof you. So I know how to provide what you need.”
Sabrina took a shallow breath and released it slowly. Cesare eyed her profile as she stared off at the tree line in the distance, her lips pursed in that damnable pucker that reminded him of a fucking doll.
“I provide myself with what I need.” She spoke softly, a note of pain in her voice.
“Don’t you get tired, Sabrina?” He asked gently.
She closed her eyes, and another tear fell silently. Her emotional exhaustion threatened to break through her carefully placed veneer of independence. Her distress made his hand twitch.
“My parents grew up in Kittery. They were high school sweethearts, and then they studied marine biology together at the University of New England. They were a whole hour away from home until they finished and came right back to Kittery. At some point it came out they’d gotten married in secret when they were still in high school, which was a bit of a scandal; or so I was told.”
Sabrina shook her head ruefully. “They never cared what anyone else thought about anything. They were so in love, which is embarrassing when you’re in high school.” Sabrina let out a pained laugh.
“They were just decent, good people.” She continued. “I was born during their final year of college. And they were…” Sabrina broke off, rubbing self-soothing circles at the sides of her temples for a brief moment.
Cesare waited patiently, watching as Sabrina slowly exhaled, and her hands went back down to her lap. She looked back in his direction. “They were the best parents. And I know a lot of people say that shit, but I mean it, Cesare.” She swallowed thickly. “They were so good to us.”
“How many siblings do you have?” He asked.
“One. A younger sister in the Navy.” She answered. “Her name is Brooke. We’re close, but she’s been deployed almost non-stop since the funeral.”
“What happened to your parents?” Cesare asked.
“A car crash. Thanksgiving weekend four years ago.” Sabrina answered hoarsely.
A stab of empathy panged in Cesare's chest; tighter than he was used to. He tugged her into his lap, and to his pleasure, she allowed it. Sabrina lightly rested her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Thank you for sharing that with me.” He intoned, tightening his grip on her in a way that he hoped was comforting. “What were their names?” He asked.
“Fred and Nicki Hamilton.” Sabrina answered quietly, nuzzling into the curve of his neck and relaxing further into the hold. “I don’t talk about them much. Which makes me feel guilty sometimes, but the less I talk about it, the less I feel like the sad girl with dead parents.” She muttered.
“So you were on your own at what, twenty-one? Twenty-two?” Cesare tried to do the math.
“Twenty-two.” She rasped. “Ugh.” She made a sound of disgust. “I really don’t want to cry here, Cesare. It’s too pretty to cry here.” She scoffed, trying to wipe away a tear discreetly.
“I’d hate for anyone to say I made you cry on our first date.” He quipped, as he soothed a hand up and down her back.
Sabrina gave a delicate sniff. “Yeah, what the hell?” She retorted with no real fire in her tone.
Cesare continued to hold her, shifting her into a more comfortable spot. He carefully tucked part of her dress between her body and his.
“You don’t want me to flash the food truck?” She asked dryly.
Cesare shook his head, giving her an amused look. “I don’t share.” He said wryly.
“Hmm.” Sabrina hummed. “Neither do I.”
