Page 1 of Come Back to Me

CHAPTER 1

Giana

NOW

Summer in Maple Ridge, Colorado, is as beautiful as it is hellish. It’s a reminder of a simpler time when my life was perfect. Or close to it. For the first twenty years of my life, I wasn’t really living. My life truly began on May 29th, 1969. The day I met Leonardo Moretti.

Little did I know that my first encounter with Leo would not only alter my future, but it would skew my definition of love forever.

Having regrets is for foolish people though, and I’m no fool. I’ve lived a full life. Complete with nearly a four-decade-long marriage, two children, and five grandchildren. I’ve been blessed with lifelong friendships and enough money that I don’t have to worry if my kin will be taken care of. My late husband made sure of that.

As I gaze out at the field of pine trees and wild grass and letthe air rock me back and forth on the porch swing, I clutch the compass hanging from a chain around my neck. I can’t help but let my mind wander back to that summer. Being at the cabin always reminds me of Leo. It’s where I feel closest to him. And summer is when the memories are at their rawest.

We spent ten weeks here in the summer of 1969, tucked away in our own little paradise—as we liked to call it—in the mountains of Colorado. For days on end, we worked alongside one another tirelessly, fixing it up. Loose floorboards needed nailing down, shingles on the roof needed stapling, and the cabinets in the kitchen needed sanding.

But in the evenings, we made better use of our time together. Night after night, we made love on the old mattress in the primary bedroom. Some nights we took to worshipping one another under the sky of twinkling stars. The roaring fire was our only audience. There was even a time or two we went skinny dipping in the creek, and despite it nearly freezing our appendages off, I can still feel the warmth of him inside me.

Because that’s how our love was. It was hot and passionate. It was intense and electric.

Not many people know about that unforgettable summer. My best friend Nettie and her husband Pete were our partners in crime. I have them to thank for introducing Leo and I. Leo was Pete’s cousin, and he came to Maple Ridge for Nettie and Pete’s wedding and wound up staying the entire summer. Bought this cabin with me, made promises to love and cherish me, and grow old with me.

It’s ironic how you can look back on your life and see how things worked out. Or didn’t. As I observe my grown granddaughter, Rosie, play a game of horseshoes with Nettie and Pete and their granddaughter, Camille, I can’t stop the smile from pulling at my lips. I also can’t stop my mind from drifting back to that sweet and reckless summer of 1969.

CHAPTER 2

Giana

THEN

My best friend Nettie is a twit. I’ve told her as much. The idea of being tied down at the young age of twenty is ludicrous. Personally, I have dreams that are bigger than marriage and having children.

But the war has nearly everyone on the edge of their seats. Making decisions they might not necessarily make if our men weren’t being sent over to Vietnam left and right. I’m selfishly grateful I only have a sister and my father is still recovering from an injury at the mill from a decade ago, so his card won’t be pulled unless the Secretary of Defense gets awful desperate.

Pete Martin might be a catch, but times are changing. Shit, just because Nettie wants to have sex with him and pop out a couple of babies, doesn’t mean she has to marry him. But Nettie is stubborn. And so head over heels in love with Pete, there’s no changing her mind.

The only benefit I’m getting from this wedding is a date. Pete’s cousin is flying in from Texas for the wedding. He thinks we’ll hit it off. The idea of a summer fling has my skin buzzing with anticipation.

Nettie has every right to give me a hard time right back when I tease her about settling down with one man. I’m all talk. I’m still a virgin.

But maybe that’s about to change.

“How much longer till your cousin gets here?” I ask Pete while I lick my ice cream cone, being extra careful not to smudge my lipstick. Heartbreaker Red.

Pete plucks the back of Nettie’s blouse, yanking her into his lap, and she squeals. “My dad picked up his family from the airport this afternoon. They should be rolling into town any minute.”

“You sure Giana is going to like him?” Nettie asks, licking her rocky road.

Pete shrugs. “The girls sure go crazy for him back home.”

“If that’s the case, then why is he still single?” I begin imagining an unattractive hillbilly with missing teeth. I’ve never met anyone from Texas before.

“Maybe he’s like you, and he’s so doggone picky, he’s done and given up,” Pete teases me.

“Oh, Pete. Stop it. She’s not picky,” Nettie says.

“That’s right. I’m not.” I slump down on the bench next to Pete and Nettie outside the Freeze Hut and go back to enjoying my ice cream.

It’s not warm enough in our mountainous town of Colorado for capri pants or shorts even. But it’s never too cold for ice cream. Something about the sweetness on my tongue reminds me that there’s still good in this world.

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