Page 61 of Worth the Vow

“No, I’m good. I’ll grab a quick sandwich and be out of your hair.” Following Matt in, I think of something. “Hey, I do have a question.”

“Go for it.”

“What does raggio di sole mean?” I ask.

Matt’s eyes widen. “Where did you hear that?”

“Dominic has said it to me a couple of times.”

“Huh,” Matt says, scratching his chin while in thought. “Interesting. My Italian isn’t as good as his, since Dad didn’t want it said in our house, but if it means what I think it means, I’m gonna let Dom tell you.”

“He said that I wasn’t ready to know what it meant? I don’t understand that either,” I say, and I feel even more confused than I did when he said it the first time.

“I can see that,” Matt laughs. “He’ll tell you when you’re both ready, sis.”

I smile up at my big brother. I love when he calls me sis. “Thanks, Matt.”

“Anytime.”

After grabbing a sandwich, I head down to the guest room in the basement. Starving, I inhale the sandwich and then jump in the shower. Being at the prison, and then the seedy but cheap motel, I feel gross.

Once finished with the shower, I pull up Netflix on my old laptop to find a romantic comedy I’ve already seen. I need something where I already know the ending to help me dissociate from the day. I assume I’ll fall asleep before the movie finishes.

At some point, my phone rings, jolting me from a light snooze. Seeing it’s Dominic, I can’t help but smile, and I realize it may be the first time I’ve ever been excited for one of his calls.

“Hi,” I answer.

“Hi,” he says huskily.

“Did you make it to the hospital?”

“Yeah, just got here and relieved my mom. She’s a zombie at this point. My dad stayed home with the other two.”

“How’s Aspen?” I ask.

“She’s asleep. They gave her some pain medication. I’m waiting for the doctor to come back with the x-ray results, but they think it’s just sprained.”

“Oh, thank God,” I blurt out. Dominic chuckles as I continue. “Do you know how miserable she’ll be if she’s stuck in a cast and can’t do the things she wants to do for the rest of the summer? Furthermore, do you know how awful she’s going to be to all of us? At least with a sprain, she should be able to move around some. I can just imagine Aspen finding a bell and assuming we’ll all be at her beck and call.”

“She would absolutely do that,” Dominic replies. “I’d ask if you’re back at Matt’s, but I checked your location. I’m sadly disappointed I hadn’t thought to stalk you like this before.”

I burst into laughter. “Goodness, Mr. Santo, was that an actual joke?”

“Yes, Mrs. Santo, it was,” he replies, and my breath gets lodged in my throat. “We’ll have to rectify that.”

“What?”

“Your name.”

“Why?”

“I’d like it to be legal, Katharine.”

“Does it really matter? If this is temporary, I don’t want to have to change everything back whenever this is over,” I stammer.

“Don’t think I want it to be temporary,” Dominic says nonchalantly. When I don’t reply, I hear a light chuckle. “Did I stun you into silence?”

Not knowing what to do, I say, “Gotta go, goodbye!”

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