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“I don’t mean to bother…”
Both Luca and I looked up to find a sweet old lady standing at our row, peering down at us with a soft smile on her face.
She pointed at Luca and then me and said, “You three make the most beautiful family. I’m sure you get that all the time.”
Luca offered a tight smile but didn’t correct her, so I followed his lead, adding a mumbled “Thank you” as she shuffled off to the bathroom.
We caught each other’s eyes, and so much passed between us in only a moment that it felt like the breath got knocked straight from my lungs. I quickly turned back to my book, lifting it all the way up so it covered my face, while a twinge of guilt twisted in my belly. I fought back the sudden wave of nausea that followed it and cursed myself under my breath.
There was no way I could hide the baby from him. He’d know that it was his. What was more, he deserved to know. Whichever way I looked at it, my world was about to be blown to smithereens, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I never wanted anyone to get hurt, and now it looked like that was the only way it was going to play out.
“I need the bathroom,” Leo said to his dad, one headphone pulled back.
Luca lifted a finger and called over one of the flight attendants. “Could you please escort my son to the bathroom?”
“Of course, sir,” she replied with a friendly smile, holding out her hand to Leo. “Come on, young man. It’s just this way.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t go at him for having too much to drink,” I said once we were alone.
Luca set down his iPad and glowered at me. “I’ll talk when you’re ready to talk, but until then, we can stick to business.”
“I’m talking…” I said with a shrug. “You’re the one who’s been in a weird mood since—”
“Since when, Scarlett?” He fought to keep his voice down, but I could see the agitation jumping in the tendons of his tightened jaw. “Since you shut me out and refuse to tell me why?”
I swallowed hard and sank back into my seat. I wasn’t expecting him to get into it right there on the plane.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I offered feebly, knowing full well that my lie wasn’t in any way convincing.
It didn’t matter. My time of keeping Luca in the dark was drawing to an abrupt end, anyway. I didn’t have the energy to keep up the constant back and forth for much longer.
“You don’t fool me, Scarlett. That’s what I mean.” Luca leaned over Leo’s seat to get even closer to me. “You haven’t been the same since you ran out of my office that day, and every time I try to get you alone to talk about it, you say you’re okay.”
“Because I’m o—”
“Okay, yes. You keep repeating it,” he cut me off. “We both know it’s a lie, so why say it? Do you think I’m stupid? Do you think I’m a chomp?”
I pursed my lips tightly and shook my head. I knew that he meant to say “chump,” but it was still funny hearing it in the heat of his anger. I didn’t have the heart to correct him and blow the wind out of his sails.
“I don’t think you’re stupid, Luca,” I replied. “I just… I need time. That’s all.”
He threw his hands in the air, curling his fingers like he was attempting to strangle the nothingness in his abject frustration.
“How much time? It’s been days, and you haven’t—”
“I’m back!” Leo jumped into Luca’s lap, climbing on top and then over him before sliding into his own seat. “The lady said they have chicken nuggets for dinner, and I can have mine with ketchup.”
He beamed up at me, slipping on his headphones and going back to his viewing as though he hadn’t just stormed through the first real conversation his dad and I had had in days. Luca and I shared a defeated look—we couldn’t talk with Leo around—and went back to our methods of distraction for the rest of the flight.
His agitation simmered in the air like something physical, and I could only hope that he didn’t have an inkling about the guilt and confusion that was tearing me up inside.
***
The limo pulled to a stop in front of a gorgeous villa. The sun was setting and washed the whole place in an other-worldly reddish orange glaze.
“My God,” I breathed, taking in the beauty of it while Leo helped the driver get the bags out of the trunk.
