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Lost in thought, standing on the terrace watering the flowers, Hallie jumped when she heard Cristiano’s voice behind her.
Turning, she saw him, devastatingly handsome as always in a sleek suit. He wasn’t alone. Behind Cristiano was an older woman, plump, white-haired and simply but perfectly dressed.
“Cara, I have someone I’d like you to meet.” He looked over Hallie’s tank top and capri pants as she stood holding a glass pitcher from the kitchen. “Are you watering the flowers?”
She could hardly deny it, since he’d caught her red-handed. “Um, yes?”
“You must not. We have hotel staff who are paid very well to do it and who are supporting families. You would not wish them to be out of a job?”
“I suppose not,” she said, crestfallen. With a sigh, she set down the glass pitcher on a nearby table. “I can’t wait until we have a house of our own.”
He frowned. “A house?”
“When we go back to New York.”
“I thought you liked Rome.”
“I do, but...” She thought of her friends with a pang. “Tess sent me a text that Lola had her baby yesterday. I miss my friends. I’m looking forward to when we can settle down and have a proper home.”
A strange expression crossed Cristiano’s face. “Well, we’ll talk about that later.” Clearing his throat, he motioned to the white-haired woman behind him. “I’d like you to meet Agata Manganiello. She lives in Rome and used to work for me. She was my first secretary, long ago.”
“Hello...um...buongiorno,” Hallie said.
Smiling shyly, the woman said in careful English, “Hello, Mrs. Moretti. I am pleased to meet you.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, too,” Hallie said, then turned inquisitively to Cristiano.
“I have known Agata for almost fifteen years,” he said. “She is careful, responsible. She’s very good with children.”
“I raised six of my own,” Agata said proudly, “while working for Cristiano.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “I think caring for you was harder than the other six put together.”
Cristiano gave a good-natured laugh. “You were a miracle worker,” he said affectionately.
Hallie looked at him in amazement. He sounded so relaxed. And the Italian woman had called Cristiano by his first name. She’d never heard any of his other employees do that, not even Mr. Loggia, the manager.
Cristiano was treating this woman like...family.
“You’re thinking of hiring her to watch Jack,” Hallie said slowly. “Aren’t you?”
His gaze met hers. “I’d like you to consider it.”
“But I don’t want a nanny.”
“Not a nanny. A babysitter. Occasionally, I’d like to take you to dinner, just the two of us. And once my new hotel opens on the Amalfi Coast, there will be a grand ball to celebrate. We will sometimes need help. And I’d trust Agata with my life.”
He waited, watching her. Biting her lip, Hallie considered. It felt very different from when he’d tried to force that last awful nanny on her by surprise.
Reluctantly she turned to the older woman. “You raised six children?”
Agata nodded. “And now I have five grandchildren.”
She has kind eyes, Hallie thought. Cristiano said he trusted her with his life.
Slowly she asked, “Would you like to hold Jack?”
The woman smiled. “Sì, naturalmente.”
Picking up the baby from the thick quilt on the terrace, Hallie placed him in the woman’s capable arms and waited for him to fuss. He simply gurgled happily, reaching a flailing arm toward Agata’s nose.
