“As a baby, I was left at a police station. All I had was this locket. My name is engraved on the back,” I say lightly with a slight smirk, not wanting pity or even for this discussion to continue. “Have you seen the marble sculptures upstairs? They’re beautiful.”
Valentina ignores my cue. “The locket must be very important to you. Gianna and I grew up in a large Italian family. I can’t imagine how hard it was not to have family.”
“I have family now,” I say coolly. “Besides, it’s all about how you define yourself, yes? To not let the past rule your future? Life picked my path, and I’m just a traveler.”
“How poetic,” Valentina murmurs, but I’m not sure I hear sincerity.
“Maybe I should put that on a tattoo ...” I smile back with the same level of earnestness she showed. I didn’t live in seven different foster homes without becoming a tough girl. I know how to punch back with a socialite and her artist sister. Tit for tat. Show them you’re made of sterner stuff.
Because I am. The fact that I’m in a dress doesn’t make me sweet.
I glance away from them, pretending interest in another piece. When I was little, I used to tell myself that my parents would find me, that I was a princess sent from the fairies to live among the humans until it was safe to retrieve me. Another was that I was kidnapped and my parents would pay the ransom and get me.
Pipe dreams. Parents who leave their kids in the snow don’t come back.
“Francesca?” Gianna says. “We must do coffee soon. Text me.”
Ah, a cue to leave.
I nod at them, but inwardly my heart twists. It’s been a strange, tumultuous day. Cece is leaving, I got a necklace from a man who wants to get to know me, too many people know I’m pregnant, a random stranger bought my paintings, I saw Edward, and now these two.
“It was nice to meet you,” Valentina says, her tone flat as she stares at my locket.
I murmur the appropriate niceties and head for the exit on the bottom level. As I walk down the steps, I glance back up, and they’re still at the bronze with their heads together as they whisper.
I try to suss out the root of what’s pricking at me and come up with one thing. Talking to the Russo sisters brought back memories of my past, of how it felt to be truly alone. They had each other and parents; I had a locket.
Guilt flares to the surface. Even with the childhood I had, I’m still planning on not telling Tuck about his baby.
Cece’s words circle in my head.Maybe it’s better to know and be sad than know nothing at all.
My child won’t be lonely with me—I know this—but a father figure means something. I place my hand over my stomach. She kicked today, and maybe that’s part of my turmoil. She’s real. She’ll be in this world soon. Is it fair to deprive her of her father?
Maybe I should tell him.
Family is the compass that guides us, a light that leads us, the most important aspect of a child’s life. It is unconditional and loves you no matter your shortcomings. It brings hope, courage, and protection, a port in the storm of life, all things I hungered, prayed, wept, begged, and trembled for as a child.
I wanted anyone, someone, to just pickme.
I want him to pick our child. Would he?
Tears threaten, and my breath quickens as I picture disbelief, then anger on his face.
Shouldn’t I at least give him a chance? Give our child an opportunity to have a father in her life—if he wants?
A clammy feeling hits me as that awful fear of rejection hits. It’s a cloak around me, a cloud that never disappears, no matter how tough I may act. Taking a deep breath, I fist my hands and try to squash it, to gather the strength I need to tell him. I should, right?
The sisters send a wave, and I blink, coming back to the present.
I don’t reciprocate their goodbye. I step outside to the cold December air.
There’s another pair of eyes on me as I exit—and a camera—but I’m too lost in thought to notice. I catch a cab and pull out my phone.
Text me the code, I send to Tuck.
His reply is immediate with the numbers, then,I’m waiting for you, princess.
Impulsively, I ask the cabbie to stop at a late-night market. I tell him to wait and walk briskly through the stalls, find what I want, purchase it, and then get back in.