“You did such a good job with the moro yesterday that you can have that job again, if you’d like,” Elena says.
“Sure.” I take the wooden spoon she offers me. “Thank you again for having us today.”
“We’re delighted to have you and your little boy.” She glances at the door to the garage that the others closed behind them when they went outside. “It may be premature for me to say anything, but it does my heart good to see my son with your son in his arms.”
“He’s very good with him.”
“You have to understand…” Her gaze shifts again to the door. “It’s not like him… I’ve never seen him with a little one in his arms.”
“Mateo adores him.”
“You should know he’s also never brought a woman to a family holiday or dinner.”
She adds this so casually, as if it’s not a major disclosure. “Is that right?”
“Uh-huh. He must really like you.”
“I really like him. He’s a very nice man.”
“He can be.”
“I’m aware of his sharper edges, Mrs. Giordino. Maria, Dee and Carmen have filled me in.”
She smiles. “You should call me Elena, and I’m sure they did. They’d take a bullet for him, but they wouldn’t let him hurt you, not after all you’ve been through with your little boy.”
“He promised he wouldn’t hurt me. I’ve decided to give him a chance to prove that.”
Elena puts her hand over her heart, her eyes filling with the start of tears. “That makes me so happy. You have no idea. He’s the one I’ve been the most concerned about since my illness. Maria and Dee have settled down with Austin and Wyatt, men I would’ve hand-picked for them, and my Milo, he’ll find a nice, sweet girl when he’s ready. But my Nico… He’s the one I’ve lain awake at night worrying about what’ll become of him, especially if I don’t make it.”
“You’re doing well, though, right?”
“I am, thank the Lord, but a serious illness makes you think about all the worst-case scenarios.”
“What does that word mean? ‘Scenarios’?”
“It means the various things that could happen.”
“Ah, okay. Thank you.”
“Anyway, as a mother, you think the worst. And add the potentially fatal illness to the mix, and you start planning their lives without you. Nico was the one I was most concerned about, but knowing he’d have you and your little boy makes me feel so much better.”
“It’s all very new still.”
“I know, and I don’t mean to put pressure on you. It just does my heart good to see him making a real effort.”
“He’s very special.”
“I think so, too, and I prayed he’d find someone who can see that.”
Nico comes bursting through the door from the garage, looking spooked.
I’m immediately panicked. “What’s wrong? Is it Mateo?”
“No, I realized I left you alone with my mother.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Nico,” Elena says while I try not to howl with laughter at the expression on his face. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
He holds out a hand to me. “Come with me. I can’t leave you alone with her. She’ll be planning our wedding. I don’t know what I was thinking.”