“I’m very busy…”
“Dinner, Pia. Let’s start there. If by the end of our meal, I’ve bored you too much, you can decline another date with me.”
Why did it feel like if I agreed, I’d be cheating on Mylos? We’d never been together as a couple nor could we be. Our lives were full, and they were led in two different places.
He’d never asked for more than the brief interludes we shared, nor had I. I was twenty-six years old, and like Paolo said, I did little other than work. Why not accept his offer?
“Okay. Dinner.”
Paolo smiled. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at seven. We’ll go into the village.”
I took our cups and dishes into the kitchen after he left. Georgio was there, looking as though he’d been waiting for me.
“Hi,” I said, not liking the look on his face.
“Hey. I have some bad news.”
I set the things I carried in on the counter and walked closer to him. “What’s wrong, Georgio?”
“It’s Nonna Bella…”
I covered my mouth when his eyes filled with tears. “What’s happened?”
“She’ll be okay, but she had a heart attack last night.”
“She did? How do I not already know this?”
“I didn’t want to bother your family—”
“Bother our family? You are our family, Georgio. Both you and Nonna Bella. Tell me what happened!”
“She called me last night and said she wasn’t feeling well. When I arrived, her color didn’t look good and she was having a hard time breathing. I rushed her to the emergency room, and they confirmed she’d had a heart attack.”
“When was this?”
He ran his hands through his hair. “Around nine.”
Georgio had moved off of the estate shortly after he was promoted to winemaker. His place in the village was at least twenty minutes away. “Why didn’t she tell one of us? Call one of us? Why didn’t you?”
“I already told you.”
I nodded. His mother had had a heart attack. The last thing Georgio needed was for me to berate him or her for not letting us know she needed help.
“Tell me what I can do.”
He raised his head as if my words surprised him. “It will be quite a while before she’s able to come back to work. If ever.”
“Okay.”
“I’d like to ask that you consider letting her live here until I find another place for her.”
“No.”
“No? Jesus, Pia—”
“No, you will not find another place for her. She will stay in the home she’s always known, for as long as she’d like. She can stay there forever.”
“But…”