Page 61 of Wish I Were Here
I reach out a hand. “I’m sorry, Luca.” I can’t help but feel a rush of anger at this man I’ve never even met. Luca takes care of everyone around him. He deserves better than a deadbeat sperm donor for a father.
But Luca just shrugs again. “Honestly, it’s okay. My dad taught me a lot about the kind of guy I want to be. As in—the opposite of him. And I wasn’t hurting for male role models, as you’ve probably noticed.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said there are a lot of Morellis.”
“You haven’t seen the half of it. Someday, I’ll bring you to Sunday dinner.” He shakes his head slowly as if to warn me to run in the other direction. But I realize how much I’d like that.
“Plus,” Luca continues, “I always had my grandpa. He was really more like a dad to me.”
I glance around the Town Car. “I’msosorry you lost him.”
“Thanks.” He meets my eyes, and I can see all the emotion that he lacked when talking about his dad. “He was the best.”
“Is your family the reason you took the job at the DeGreco? So you could stay in the neighborhood near them?”
“Yeah, partly. Plus, I just really like older people.” His lips quirk. “They’re fun, and interesting, and wise.”
I think back to my chat with Sal and the interactions at the community center earlier today. I never thought about it before, but maybe it turns out that I like older people, too. “I completely see what you mean.”
Luca sits up. “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
“I showed the apartment to five different people the day you came to look at it. You’re the only one who was actually happy about the building’s residents. Everyone else seemed vaguely inconvenienced by them. One guy even asked me if any of the old people might be moving to nursing homes soon so younger people could move in.”
“No,” I say, appalled. I remember Mrs. Goodwin pushing me into an elaborate twirl while we practiced the Carolina shag. She has more energy than most thirty-year-olds I know. I can’t imagine what she’d do in a nursing home. Or why anyone would want to send her to one. “That’s terrible.”
Luca leans in. “That was thefirstthing I liked about you, and I knew right away that you were the one.” His cheeks take on that charming flush. “For the apartment,” he clarifies.
But Luca isn’t just talking about the apartment. It was that same day on the building tour when I flung myself into his arms, and he yanked me against him like I belonged there. I know now that I didn’t imagine that spark between us, or all the ones that followed. This attraction was there in every interaction, even the ones when we were arguing, when I thought he was the most maddening person I’d ever met. I pushed so hard against him. Now I can see that after being on my own for so long, it was hard to let someone in. To disrupt my careful plans.
But there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than in this old car, stealing mail and staking out a mansion. Even if it means I’m here because my entire life hangs in the balance. Because it also means I’m here with Luca.
Suddenly, I’m grateful for this vintage Town Car because it doesn’t have any of the cup holders and storage receptacles taking up space between the seats. It’s just one long bench, and my dress slides easily against the soft leather as I move in his direction.
“Thank you for helping me with this search for my mother, Luca.” I shift even closer. “I don’t know what I would have done without you this past week. I hope you know how much it means to me.”
Luca gazes back, his face serious. “I’m here for you, Catherine. Whenever you need me. I hopeyouknow that.”
He reaches for me, but an SUV pulls up beside us, slowing to a crawl. I jump back to my side of the car and shift in my seat to watch as it glides past. It slows even more as it approaches the mansion in front of us, and I hold my breath. But it doesn’t stop there. Instead, it turns in to a driveway one door down. A teenage boy gets out, pulls some sort of sports equipment from the trunk, and heads into the house.
I sigh. “False alarm. I guess I should have known it wouldn’t be so easy.”
“It’s still early in the evening. We have plenty of time.” Luca’s grin is back. “Besides, this way we’re getting the full stakeout experience.” He rubs his flat stomach. “I just wish I thought to bring doughnuts.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Fabrizio was right. Youdowatch too many movies.”
“We might as well settle in.” He leans across me to open the glove compartment, his hand brushing my knee. “Do I have any snacks in here?” He comes up empty and clicks it shut.
I check my purse, but with all my nervous energy around tracking down my mother, I didn’t think about food. And then I remember the pocket of my dress. I fish out the butterscotch Sal gave me earlier. “It’s not quite a doughnut, but you can eat this.”
Luca’s face registers surprise. “Was that in your seat when you sat down? I still find those things everywhere.”
“No, I—” But then I trail off because another SUV is heading toward us, slowing as it approaches. “Luca, look.” This time, the car turns off the street into the driveway of the mansion we’ve been watching. I grab his arm. “Someone’s home.”
We both peer out the side window as the car comes to a stop next to the house and someone steps out. She’s too far away for me to make out her facial features, but she looks to be a tall, slender white woman with silver hair. Something about the way she moves suggests that she’s older—maybe approaching eighty.
“She looks like a Victoria,” Luca comments. “I bet that’s your grandma.”
