Page 78 of Luca

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything. My incredible birthday gift, being so good to my kids, for the best afternoon I can remember… and for giving us a chance.”

He places a soft kiss on my lips and finishes dressing before taking my hand, leading me downstairs. He’s barely flipped the deadbolt to the unlocked position when we hear commotion heading in our direction.

The door flies open, and my mother and the kids rush in carrying slushy drinks. Truitt is barely holding on to his sippy cup, resting his head on Mom’s shoulder.

“You guys look like you had a great time,” Luca says. He walks over to rub the back of his hand over Truitt’s cheek. “So tired, Tartanuga.”

“The snow cone truck was at the pool, Mama!” Caleb says lifting his bright blue cup in the air. Not that I needed to see that, as the Smurf-colored lips were a clear giveaway.

“We see, Puffo.”

Caleb gives Luca that curious tilt of his head. “What?”

“Puffo means Smurf in Italian,” Luca teases.

I walk over to give my little guy a hug. “I’m glad you guys had such a good time.”

“We did. You should’ve come!”

I can hear Luca’s low, gravelly voice taunting from behind me.

“Oh, she did.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Luca

“Luca,I’m so sooo sorry to bother you. Ouch.” Jillian sounds upset.

I stop in my tracks, alarmed she’s in trouble. “What’s wrong, Cucciolotta?”

“I’m fine. The ouch was nothing… I’m reheating my lunch since I haven’t had a chance to eat yet, and when I went to grab it out of the microwave, it was hotter than I expected. That’s all.”

“You really should avoid all things connected to cooking, Jillian.”

“Hey.” She sounds offended. “Okay, you’re not wrong.”

“Did you need me to help with something?”

“If you can. I snuck in here to eat after Roslyn asked… scratch that, after my boss told me I had to stay after my shift’s over because someone called out and they can’t reach the on-call nurse.”

I move into my office and shut the door so I can hear her better over the sounds of the shop. “Can they do that? Make you stay?”

“Yes and no. I can’t abandon my patients if there’s no one to take over. But I don’t think she’s trying very hard to find another solution. I’m always on eggshells with her. If I stay, I’m hoping it might help smooth things over a bit. She’ll see I really am a team player, even if I’m struggling to get my childcare situation managed better.”

“Tell me what you need.”

“Is there any chance you can pick up Truitt and meet the kids at the bus? Lucy has some after school thing today. And my mom’s in North Carolina with her bridge club at a Big Foot Festival.”

“A what?”

“I know, I know. I told you they’re weird.” I can hear her shuffling around. “They’re already saving up to go to New Mexico in July.”

Flipping through my calendar on my phone, I verify there are no pressing obligations that’ll keep me here at work any longer. “Why am I afraid to ask what’s in New Mexico?”

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