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Had she just made the biggest mistake of her life?
“What do you think? Can you handle it?”
Tess jumped guiltily. “What? What do you mean?”
Smiling, Stefano took the baby from her, cradling Esme in his strong arms. “The castle. It’s not too rustic for you?”
“Oh.” She looked around the master bedroom. One of the staff—Salvatore?—had already brought up their three suitcases. She studied the twisted wood columns of the massive four-poster bed, and caught the view of the valley past the balcony. She tried to smile. “I think I can handle it.”
But could she?
When they went back downstairs, they found Gerlanda waiting with a picnic basket. “And one of the village mothers thought you might find this useful for your walk.”
Stefano looked doubtfully at a fabric contraption in the housekeeper’s hand. “What is it?”
“A baby carrier!” Tess exclaimed. She’d wanted one for ages, but hadn’t had the money. When she started to put it on, Gerlanda stopped her.
“It’s man-size. For the father.”
Tess turned to Stefano with a huge grin. “Even better!”
For the next few hours, they explored fields and vineyards, beneath the wide blue sky and golden light. Stefano held Tess’s hand and carried their baby on his back. As Stefano pointed out interesting features of the estate and Esme jabbered behind them softly, Tess looked down at her hand wrapped in his larger one and felt tears in her eyes.
Stefano stopped abruptly. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She tried to smile. “Nothing. I’m just happy.”
“So happy you’re crying?” he said suspiciously.
“We’re a family,” she whispered, looking up at him.
Their eyes locked, and for a moment he looked stricken.
Then all trace of emotion was shuttered from his handsome face. “Of course we are.” His voice was cool. He dropped her hand. “Ah. There’s the winery.”
Inside the squat, prosperous gray stone building, they found the winery staff busy serving the tourists in the tasting room, selling them bottles by the case. Seeing Stefano, one of the employees immediately took them back to the production area, where they found the vintner, a middle-aged man, looking harried amid all the vats.
The employee went ahead and quietly spoke in the man’s ear. The vintner whirled and saw Stefano, and his face lit up. With a joyful clap, he strode forward and eagerly shook Stefano’s hand, bowing again and again. Turning to Tess, he welcomed her with an embrace, a kiss on each cheek and a rush of words in Sicilian.
They spoke for an hour with the vintner and his staff, learning how the winery’s production and fame had flourished and grown. Then Tess started to notice some of the tourists peeking into the production area and surreptitiously snapping photos—not just of Stefano, but also of Tess. For a moment she was bewildered, then she remembered that, back in the real world, she was all over social media right now, and probably TV, as well. Being even temporarily famous made her uncomfortable. She was relieved when they finally left the winery and returned to the castle’s private land.
“The winery’s doing well.” Stefano sounded shocked. “I didn’t realize. They’re shipping all over the world. They can barely keep up production.”
“You didn’t know?” she said, surprised. “Don’t you own it?”
“No, and that’s probably why they’re doing so well,” he said dryly. “The village owns it, as a cooperative.” He shook his head, a smile lifting up the corners of his lips. “All of Gioreale is thriving.”
“Because you believed in them. Invested in them.”
He frowned. “Of course I did. I grew up here. Who wouldn’t?”
Your father, Tess thought, but she didn’t say it. It wasn’t her place. Family could be complicated, she knew. She didn’t like to hear criticism of her own father, though he’d died three years ago without ever trying to contact her. Even after his death, she’d tried to respect his wishes—by not going to his funeral or ever telling his other family of her existence.
Was it right? Wrong? Tess didn’t know. All she did know was that love could be complicated, and sometimes it could be hard to tell it apart from hate.
Which must be, she thought with a lump in her throat, why Stefano didn’t want any part of it.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Stefano said suddenly, giving her a wicked grin. “If we don’t eat this picnic, we’ll never hear the end of it.”
