Page 18 of Smitten with the Single Dad

He’d have to talk to his brothers, and they’d all have to come up with the appropriate way to tell the children what happened.

At that thought, he shot off a quick text to their group of five.

Haven’t told the boys that Vica killed the guy. Not sure how to approach it. Can we figure out a way to tell the children together?

Dom was the first to message back.Agreed. I’m at a loss too. How is Vica this morning?

Wyatt replied with:She’s here at the breakfast table with a fat lip, black eye, and hollow look in her eyes. But at least she’s safe and alive.

He glanced at the woman who sat across from him. “Iced coffee?”

Her smile was small, and she winced as soon as her lips curled up even an inch. “Si.Please.”

He sprang up from the table and went about mixing her up a delicious iced coffee in the blender. He didn’t care if his breakfast got cold. After what this woman had been through, he’d eat dirt just so she could have a little bit of peace and joy in her life.

“Where are you from?” Griffon asked her as he held a piece of toast on a forkand gnawed on it like an animal.

“I’m from Italy. Do you know where that is?”

“That’s the country shaped like a boot,” Jake said. “We studied Italy in school this year a little bit.”

“It is shaped like a boot,” Vica said, reaching for the tub of yogurt and scooping a bit into a bowl.

“It’s also where pizza, spaghetti, and gelato come from,” Jake added.

Griffon’s eyes went wide. “Do you get to eat pizza every day there?”

Vica chuckled, but her smile made her wince again from the pain of pulling on her mouth. “We eat a lot of pizza there, yes. But there are other wonderful dishes besides pizza too.”

“Like what?” She had Griffon’s undivided attention now. If the topic was food, he was all over it.

She smiled as she took a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. “Ravioli, tortellini, Cannolis, cacio e pepe, zuppa di pesce marechiara, chicken parmigiana, casatelle.The list is endless. Italian food is … very, very good.”

“Pause for a sec. I’m gonna make some noise,” Wyatt said, hitting the blender button which filled the kitchen and dining area with the crunch and grind of ice against a blade. He loved his Vitamix because it pulverized ice in a matter of seconds. A moment later, the smooth and creamy iced coffee swirled against the sides of the carafe, and he hit the “off” button.

“I didn’t understand a lot of those words, but I’m sure they mean something and I’m sure they’re good,” Griffon said. “I do know what ravioli and tortellini are. And I like those. I still love pizza more though. I could eat pizza for every meal, every day for the rest of my life, and I’d never get sick of it.”

“Yes, you would,” Jake said with an eye roll as he sliced into his fried egg. The yolk ran across his plate and into his toast and bacon.

Griffon glared at his older brother. “I would not.”

Wyatt brought Vica over her iced coffee and she thanked him.

“How old are you, Vica?” Griffon asked. “I’m six. I just finishedkindergarten.”

Vica sipped her ice coffee through the straw. “I’m thirty-five. And I finished kindergarten a long time ago.”

That made Griffon smile. “What’s your job?”

Wyatt loved his outgoing, chatty son. He asked all the questions that burned inside Wyatt, but Wyatt couldn’t figure out a way to ask without coming off as prying or creepy. But when a kid asked them, it just came across as curious and friendly.

“I’m an engineer,” Vica said. “A mechanical engineer. I work primarily on alternate energy sources, like wind and solar energy.”

“So like solar panels and windmills?” Jake asked.

She nodded. “Exactly. But for the last year, I’ve been working on solar. I used to work for a company that studied and developed prototypes for wave energy though.”

“Like ocean waves?” Griffon asked. “Because we have loads of them here. They never stop.” He glanced at Wyatt. “Right, Dad? All the ocean waves are here.”

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