It Takes Two (Italian Summer Book 1) (3 page)

Rona stared at her cherub with her heart aglow. Tori sat happily caged within the playpen. Rona had no option but to put her there while she took a shower and got ready.

She didn’t go out much in the evenings, even though this was her second time out in nearly two weeks. She was looking forward to it. Any excuse to get dressed up and forget her daily grind. With Carlos working too hard to notice that things were slipping in their relationship she had taken matters into her own hands. A mid-week date night for no apparent reason was her answer. Especially since Grandma was now feeling better again.

She turned to the side and checked out her profile; first from the right and then the left. “Still fits,” she murmured smugly as she smoothed her hand over her belly. Turning her back to the mirror, she checked her rear view.

Her bottom didn’t look bad either—her hips were almost back into shape.

She was as thin as she’d been before she’d given birth.

“Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma,” gurgled Tori. She stamped excitedly on the padded mat of the playpen and eagerly held her hands out to Rona.

“No-no-no, baby. Grandma will be here.”

Come on, mom.
She glanced at her watch. It was almost six-thirty. Time for Carlos to be home too.

Angry, Tori bent down and threw her Baby Stella doll at Rona.

“No,” Rona said firmly. She picked it up and returned it to her daughter who immediately thought they were playing a game. She flung the doll back out again.

“No, baby. Mama going out with dada. Gandma coming. Gandma and Tori play.”

Her little girl understood enough to not cry. The kind, gentle fairy godmother, was coming her way. This was as close as Rona’s life would ever get to a fairy tale.

She walked away and fluffed out her hair again over her shoulders. Dinner had been booked for seven thirty at the new Greek Restaurant in town. Carlos liked trying out new places and though she wasn’t so fond of the bread and meat dishes, she wanted to do something nice for him. He worked hard, he deserved a night out. And so did she.

If they ate earlier, they could maybe go to the new cocktail bar and hang out there for a couple of drinks. Or maybe not.

Remembering the tall stranger she’d seen last time she decided it wouldn’t be wise to go there. Maybe the Lizard Lounge? Or they could go to the movies but she was too dressed up to sit in the dark looking this good.

She preferred that they do cocktails. And it was time they sat and talked and ate without interruption. She’d seen the way Nico was with Ava, and she wanted that with Carlos again. She missed the days when they could barely keep their hands off one another. Six years of marriage had been great. But Tori’s arrival had put a bit of a dampener when it came to sex though Rona didn’t really feel too sexy or in the mood for much these days. Sleep was the only thing she craved.

She ran a brush through her hair.

“Ma-ma-ma-ma,” cried Tori again, and clutched the edges of the playpen, until she tumbled down again. She was still getting used to the feeling of standing up and anytime soon she’d be taking her first steps.

Then it would be even harder, running around trying to keep her out of mischief.

“Ma-ma-ma-ma!” the little girl yelped.

Rona sighed. The poor little angel had been in there for long enough, but Rona dared not get her out just yet. She didn’t want to get her dress or her hair or makeup messed up again.

Where are you, Mom?

“Grandma coming,” cooed Rona, and slicked on another layer of lipstick. It was just dinner. But it was something; anything to make life back at home more appealing. She’d had a hard time settling back into things after Verona.

It hadn’t really been a flirtation.

It had just been—well, it had just been a bit of fun. And now, unless she worked at it, she and Carlos would be too late to save.

It was even worse now that her mother was back because all Elsa talked about was Ava and how happy the girl was.

Her cell phone rang and she grabbed it, half-hoping it wasn’t Elsa calling to cancel.

“Hey, baby.”

“Are you still at work?” Rona looked at her watch in alarm.
Where was Elsa?
“We’re going to be late. I made the booking for seven thirty.”

“Uh…”

She froze, not liking the ‘Uh.’

“Uh - what?”

“I—there’s a —I—”

“What, Carlos?” He had some bullshit reason. She gritted her teeth in readiness.

“I forgot, but I’d already agreed to do the overtime—”

Screw the overtime.
“Do you need to do it? Tonight?”

“Uh—it’s a sixtieth birthday party for my dad’s oldest friend. We’ve got a booking for forty extra people—”

“Carlos,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “We don’t get out often. I told you this morning before you left.”

“Sorry, baby. But it isn’t our anniversary or anything. Is it?” He sounded unsure.

“Does it have to be?” She’d thought going out for no reason might make for a good change.

“It’s midweek,” he moaned. “I thought I had the dates wrong.”

“No, you didn’t.” She thought she’d go for spontaneity.

“I can’t get out of it. I’m sorry, but maybe we could do it another ti—”

You never put me first.

She wished, for once. that he would put her first, that he would take a little time out for her, for them, so that she knew she mattered. So that she knew he cared enough about their relationship.

“You can’t get the others to help?”

His brothers worked alongside him—where were they? When he struggled to respond she knew she already had her answer. It was easier to turn her down than
them.

“If I put my hours in now I can take a longer vacation for the wedding.” He was always putting his hours in and he’d already cut short a previous trip to Verona.

She’d had her own flirt going on back then. Those evenings had been sublime—it was the kind of adulation and attention she sought but didn’t get from Carlos anymore.

She clenched her jaw.
A night out with his wife. Was that too much to ask?
“You do what you think is best.” She slammed the phone down just as a Baby Stella doll smacked her on her waist.

“Tori!” she snapped. “Stop it!” The sharp tone of her voice startled the child whose bottom lip trembled, and then the top lip too, and in the next second a full-blown wail started up.

Rona closed her eyes and winced. “Aaaa, sweetie,” she said, feeling guilty as she moved towards the playpen. She scooped Tori out.

“I’m sorry. Mama isn’t angry with you.” Tori grabbed a fistful of her mom’s big hair and tugged it.

“No, Tori. No!” But her little girl found it funny and thought it was a game. The crying stopped just as suddenly. She gurgled and flailed her arms even more, pulling at the long strands.

“Oh what now?” Rona tried to free her hair with one hand and at the same time felt dampness on her bare forearm. She held Tori away and turned her to the side mid-air while she examined her bodysuit.

She groaned.

Drippy poop had leaked out of her diapers. As healthy as they were, mashed up sprouts would have to be permanently removed from Tori’s food plan. Rona winced at the small patch of dark that had stained her pink dress.

The doorbell rang. Great, she thought and hugged Tori to her chest once more as she went to answer the door.

Chapter 4

Elsa’s head pounded as if the weight of a lead brick rested directly at the top of it.

But she drove to Rona’s anyway.

She had no choice—her daughter needed her. She parked and remained in the car for a few moments while she closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself for what she knew wouldn’t be the quiet kind of evening she’d had in mind. Lately, she liked nothing more than to sit at home and reflect on things. But this evening wasn’t going to be one of those evenings. Still, she got to see her granddaughter, and even in her melancholy, Elsa’s spirits lifted.

Mornings were the hardest, and getting out of the bed was almost impossible—it was something she hadn’t experienced before in her life and she concluded that age had crept up on her in the two months since Edmondo had passed away.

She felt the need right now to go back home and curl up again but knew she couldn’t.

So despite her desire to sit in her favorite chair and close her eyes and reminisce about Edmondo and Verona, she had made an effort to get dressed and make her way here.

She hoped that Tori would at least be bathed, fed and ready for bed in a few hours.

But as she slowly climbed out of the car and walked to the door, she heard a cry. She rang the doorbell and Tori’s wails reached her ears—followed by a sharp admonition from Rona.

Elsa’s heart sank.

The door opened and a crying Tori clung to her mother’s shoulder with a fistful of her hair. “Hey,” said Rona. She was made up, big hair and earrings, but her smile didn’t light up her face.

“I’m sorry I’m late, honey. I lost track of the time and —”

“Hey, mom,” Rona sounded despondent. “It doesn’t matter,” she marched back inside, leaving Elsa to close the door. Elsa swallowed and wearily followed her inside. “What do you mean it doesn’t matter?”

Rona bounced Tori around on her hip in order to hush her.

“What’s that on your dress?” asked Elsa, noticing the stain on her daughter’s dress.

“Poop. Brussel sprouts and poop. Or some liquefied form of it.”

Elsa looked at Tori apologetically. “Has my granddaughter got an upset stomach?” Cooed Elsa, all big-eyed and pouty lips.

“Your granddaughter’s fine, but her mommy isn’t.” Now it was Rona’s turn to pout.

Elsa looked at her.

“Carlos can’t get the night off. He forgot. Shhhhh, Tori,” said Rona and attempted to unfurl the baby’s fingers from her hair.

Elsa winced. That poor hard working man was always slaving away. She put her car keys into her handbag and laid the bag on the table.

“That’s too bad.” For a moment, Elsa wondered if her services were still needed. “Is he working until late?”

“Until the early hours of the morning. You know how it is.”

Elsa scratched her eyebrow. “What happened? Why did he forget?”

“He says tonight’s a busy night and he had already agreed to help. Then later he remembered we were supposed to be going out.” A foul stench, like boiled socks and underwear, infiltrated their nostrils at that moment, causing Elsa to sniff.

“I think you need to get her out of those clothes.”

Rona sniffed, copycat style.

“Gandma’s right. Baby is smelly. Come on, let’s go clean you up.” She marched off to her room and laid the baby on the changing station.

“I can do that if you want to go clean up.” Elsa offered as she followed her daughter into the bedroom. She might as well make herself useful now that she was here.

Rona moved aside and sat on the bed, untangling the tresses of her hair that Tori had pulled. Elsa coo-ed and smiled at Tori as the baby wriggled her legs in the air. “Let’s get you out of these dirty clothes.”

“He spends more time at that goddamn restaurant than he does at home with us.” Rona stared at the stain on her dress.

“He’s trying to do what he thinks is right—he’s trying to earn. He loves you very much. If he’s working this hard it’s for you and Tori.”

“Even the break we had in Verona—he came rushing back because they were so busy. What type of man does that?”

Elsa sighed. That had been unfortunate. Her daughter had been left in Verona and would often go out alone in the evenings—leaving the baby with her. Even to this day Elsa didn’t know what she’d been up to, if anything, but she understood her daughter’s desire to free herself and get out a bit more. Carlos doted on Tori—he loved that little girl more than life itself, but his long hours meant he wasn’t around as much.

Rona continued her rant. “What’s the point of working so hard if we never get to spend time with him? What’s the point? You always say you and dad had a great life together.”

“We did,” said Elsa, her voice suddenly quiet and distant. Until the fatal accident had snatched him from her, from the girls, from their beautiful little family. She’d been alone for twenty years. Memories of that time when they were a family were sprinkled with gold dust; they were beyond precious.

“He’s more worried about letting his father down than me,” Rona complained. Elsa had taken all of the baby’s clothes off. “I think she needs a bath,” she said, turning to Rona. She knew she couldn’t do it herself since bending down on her knees was hard.

“Bath time!” said Rona in a sing-song voice that lacked real enthusiasm. She flung off her stilettoes, grabbed a hair tie from the chest of drawers, and tied her hair up again.

“Let’s give you a bath because mommy got all dressed up for no reason. Daddy is too busy.” Rona told Tori as though the little girl could commiserate with her. She turned to Elsa, “Who am I kidding? I’m home bound until she’s eighteen.”

She scooped Tori up in her arms and wandered into the master bathroom. Elsa picked up the baby’s dirty clothes and followed them in. “I’ll give these a rinse.” She began to fill up the sink.

“You’re not housebound until eighteen. You’ll have more time on your hands once she starts school.” But by then, hoped Elsa, they might have a sibling for Tori on the way.

“Feels like it,” Rona moaned while Tori squealed with delight at the soapy suds in the bath water. An assortment of brightly colored plastic farmyard animals consumed her attention.

Elsa felt sorry for Rona. Her daughter loved being sociable, loved looking good and going out. Elsa had wondered how the arrival of a new child might affect her. Work at his father’s restaurant kept Carlos busy and he had always been a hard worker. With Rona having stopped working to look after Tori, she’d seen Carlos work harder than ever.

“Why don’t you go out anyway?” she suggested, “You’re all dressed up, why spoil the evening?”

Tori got overexcited and splashed water everywhere. Elsa laughed. Bath-time was her granddaughter’s favorite time.

“Go where?” asked Rona. “We just had our girls’ night out last week. Nobody’s going to be able to go out at such short notice. This was supposed to be something spontaneous. Something different. Turns out Carlos doesn’t do spontaneous.”