Grandma looks to me and asks how to tell her to slow down because quality is more important.”
“Slow.” I give her the word.
She nods and looks to Sophia. “You do … slow. Make … pretty.”
“Okay.” Sophie nods. “Sorry.”
“No, sorry.” Grandma pats her hand. “Good.”
Once we finish lunch, Sophie slumps into a chair in the courtyard. Nick approaches as I help Grandma get things in the oven, and Gunner looks over the wine. He looks between the red and the white.
“I think the red will pair better with the meat dish – as usual, and white belongs with the fish.” He sets them accordingly, and Grandma rewards him with a pat on the head which requires her to stand on her toes and for him to bend down.
He grins at her and kisses her cheek, which makes her grin. She pats us both. “Good bambinos.”
“Thanks, Nonna.” Gunner kisses her cheek again.
“Try wine.” She points at the red and white.
Gunner grins and pours a small amount in a glass. He shares with my grandmother, and I shake my head. Nick and Sophia talk softly, but I know that everything will be okay based on how at ease she is. She doesn’t need to worry about anyone else creeping or sneaking around her.
We’ll take care of her, happily. With how good she makes us feel, how alive, how whole, the least we can do is keep her away from the garbage in the world. Not that a part of me doesn’t ache to follow up about the man.
Gunner asks my grandma to hold on for a second and runs off. Despite all his jokes and bullshit, I know all he wants is to be taken care of, to have someone who values him and his opinions, someone who doesn’t make him feel like he’s the clown and nothing else.
Which I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t taken care of him blackout drunk on more than one occasion. Grandma shakes her head at me and speaks in Italian. “Someone tried to hurt Sophie. Here. At home!”
“Not in the villa.”
“The whole city is home. We are good people. Who would hurt her?” Grandma stirs the pasta angrily, then motions for me to add more sauce. “Bastards. I told Massimo I’ll take care of it. We stick together as family.”
I kiss her cheek. “She’s okay. It’s not as terrible as it could be.”
“And we won’t wait until it is.” She promises. “She’s a good woman.”
“Just like you, Nonna.” I grin. “Maybe not as fierce.”
“Not yet.” She points at me. “I bet she would be if someone tried to hurt you.”
“Grandma,” I say in English.
“She likes you.” She motions to Sophia and the rest of our group while testing the English I’ve been trying to teach her. “All you.”
“I know it’s strange.” I shrug.
Nonna shrugs and switches back to Italian. “You’ll figure it out. You’re a smart boy, just like Massimo. He found Danny. Anyone can find love.”
We both laugh, and I finish lunch with her. We set it out, and people come out eagerly to fill their plates. Anything with Grandma’s approval is good to eat. We’ve all learned that plenty of times over.
Sophia laughs at something and shoves Nick.
I join them and give her two glasses of wine. “Nonna says thank you.”
Sophie beams at me and pats Nick’s hand. “We’re painting.”
“Sophie.”
“I want to see what you’ve got. With wine and these kinds of vistas, you can’t tell me no.” She points her fork at him.
Nick rolls his eyes. “I told you, that’s a different life, a different me.”
“Then teach me to do more than stick figures.”
I chuckle. “Go on, Nicky. You were always sketching in your free time before. Let’s see what else you’ve got.”
He flips me off and grumbles about how out of practice he is, but I know that he’ll do it for Sophia. And once he starts, he’ll be happy he did. Holden flexes his hand again, but Sophia’s laugh makes him smile slightly.
None of us are immune to her. Sophia insists on clearing lunch, but then her phone rings. She reaches for it eagerly and apologizes before excusing herself. Gunner watches her carefully. “She’s worried about Miles. Have you guys heard anything?”
“He liked the pictures I sent.” Nick shrugs.
“Said work is going smoothly and asked me to double-check some numbers yesterday,” Holden murmurs. “Everything was fine; things just fell into the wrong categories.”
“He should be resting,” I grumble. “But I know he won’t until we’re back.”
“Yeah.” Gunner rubs his jaw.
We glance at one another, but I shake my head. Sophia wants us to enjoy this trip, and she deserves to enjoy it too. I’m committing to that. Beyond sex, beyond the teasing we can give her, we can make sure she gets what she wants.
She comes back and smiles. “Dad sounds better.”
“Good.” Gunner nods and has some water.
“What do you want to do while we’re here?” I ask. “We saw some vineyards, walked around town, went to a garden. What else would you like to do?”
“I know it’s really cheesy, and I haven’t even seen them here, but I’d really like to do a Gondola ride. And the beach! I’d love to swim.”
“There are topless beaches here, right? Or am I thinking of France again?” Gunner smiles.
“We’ll make sure to do both. Tomorrow?” I offer.
“We can do the beach tonight.” Nick butts in. “Before dinner. Be there for sunset and everything.”
Sophie beams as we go back and forth on things we can do. Nick promises to buy paints before we head to the beach, and Sophie shovels her food quickly before running upstairs to get ready.
Holden follows her with his eyes. “We’re not being overprotective, are we?”
“After last night, not a chance.” I stab my steak. “She’s only leaving our sight while we’re here. When we leave the walls …”
“Yeah. She’s the mission.” Gunner rolls his eyes. “A better looking mission than the ones I remember.”
Holden pushes food around his plate, and Nick chuckles. “Painting on a beach in Italy sounds like a good way to unwind.”
At Holden’s shrug, Nick says he’ll get a second canvas for Holden to work on. Holden rolls his eyes but doesn’t disagree. It’s progress. We seem to be making a lot of it with Sophia around. Hopefully, it carries over when we get back home.