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I never fucking wanted it.

Mamma squeezes my hand.

“You don’t need an empty heart to love again, tesoro.”

A tear rolls down my cheek.

And suddenly I see green eyes. A grumpy face. A horse named Indigo. Sunflowers at sunrise. Calabria beneath a sky full of stars.

My breath catches.

Jude.

Oh God.

I shake my head as everything suddenly becomes so fucking clear I don’t understand how I didn’t see it before.

“Oh my God.”

“There she is.”

“I love him.”

The words leave my mouth and everything inside me goes quiet.

No guilt. No fear.

Nothing about it feels wrong.

It just feels... true.

“I fucking love him.”

Mamma laughs as tears fill her own eyes and suddenly I can’t stand still anymore.

I need to go.

Now.

I turn and practically run back toward the signing table.

“Nora?” Mamma calls after me, but I don’t stop.

Chiara looks up as I approach. “That was a fast—”

I drop into my chair and grab my pen.

“Next!”

Chiara blinks. “What?”

“Next person, Chiara. Come on.”

She looks over my shoulder at Mamma, who has followed me back and is standing there smiling.

“What the fuck happened back there?”

“Later.”