Page 11 of The Woman in the Hollow
“Who’s your friend?” a female voice asked.
I felt the irrational surge of jealousy before I turned to see an older woman in a neat pair of cream slacks with a crease up the front and a floral printed button-down shirt. There was something familiar about her eyes, too, that made me think she was likely Dante’s mother.
The way Dante’s eyes squinted ever so slightly at his mother’s tone, like he knew something was about to happen that was going to be frustrating, cinched it for me.
“Ma, this is Hazel. She is the operations manager at the garden center. Hazel, this is my mom, Giulia.”
“Oh! Isn’t that nice?” Giulia asked, her eyes going bright and a smile spreading. “You never mentioned hiring someone new,” she went on. “Or someone so beautiful.”
“Yeah, because that wouldn’t be something a boss can say about an employee.”
“Oh, who is going to stop you? You’re human resources. Tell her she’s beautiful.”
“Oh, that’s really not—” I started, finally seeing why Dante looked so flustered. His mom was the kind to want to set him up all the time. And given that my own mother and grandmother were forever trying to make me go on blind dates, I felt an almost overwhelming rush of sympathy for this sort of uncomfortable interaction.
But before I could, Dante’s dark gaze found mine, and he was speaking. “You’re beautiful.”
Well.
Okay.
I was kind of glad I didn’t interrupt him, given the little shiver that coursed through my core. Even if he’d been coerced into saying it. It had been so long since I’d felt anything close to butterflies. I’d begun to think they didn’t exist anymore.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks.
“I made a handsome son, didn’t I?” Giulia asked, patting Dante’s chest.
“Yes. Very handsome,” I agreed, feeling even redder in the face.
“You have to join us,” Giulia said, moving aside to gesture toward an empty chair.
“She might have plans, Ma.”
At Giulia’s lifted brows, I admitted, “I was going to order some slices to try.”
“So you don’t have anyone expecting you.”
“No, I’m, uh, new to the area.”
“Sounds like you need friends then,” Giulia said, this time moving over to her seat. “Be a gentleman and pull out her chair.”
Dante was already moving to do so, giving me an apologetic head shake. “Sorry about this,” he whispered as I moved to sit, his warm breath teasing the shell of my ear, making my belly flip.
“So, Hazel, where are you from?” Giulia asked as she dropped her napkin onto her lap.
“Florida.”
“What brings you to Navesink Bank?”
“This is probably going to sound silly,” I said as Dante took the seat beside me while his mother reached to rearrange their drinks, making it clear she’d taken his seat so he had to sit closer to me, “but I really wanted to be able to experience all four seasons.”
“That’s not silly at all. I wouldn’t change a crunchy-leaf fall day or a snowy winter morning for anything. Even if I do love a nice growing season. I’m a big gardener.”
“Well, you must be really happy your son opened a garden center then.”
“I have been getting use out of my family discount.”
“If by ‘family discount’ you mean steal anything you want, then sure.”
