All the Stars Look Down: A Duo of Christmas Romances by Hunter Elizabeth & Draven Grace

Author:Hunter, Elizabeth & Draven, Grace [Hunter, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Draven/Hunter
Published: 2014-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ONE

Citta di Castello, Perugia

Italy

Serafina Rossi carefully sorted the letters her employers had asked her to find from within the mass of correspondence recently added to the Vecchio Library. Though she understood Dr. Vecchio’s reasons, she had to agree with Ms. De Novo’s somewhat frantic e-mail. The letters, despite being written from Rome, appeared to belong within De Novo Library in Los Angeles, which specialized in early Californian—particularly Spanish-era—history.

Fina walked around the massive library tables that occupied the floor in the central quadrangle of bookcases. Soft lights illuminated the letters from discreetly hidden sources in the walls of the villa. She reached a long arm to straighten two of the letters, nudging them into a perfect line in chronological order.

Everything was ready for her employers’ arrival, and she’d taken a short nap that afternoon in preparation for a late evening, as she always did when Dr. Vecchio or Ms. De Novo was in residence. They stayed in the villa if they needed to use the library for research. She knew they had an estate near Florence, but they preferred to stay in the convenient rooms her former employer had renovated on the second floor.

What they needed the California letters for, she had no idea. But she was a librarian. Her task was to conserve and organize the information, not ask questions.

Written by a young, well-connected Franciscan in Rome, the documents Ms. De Novo had requested were addressed to “my dear friend, Brother Rafael of Mission San Jose” in California. The first were dated in 1798 and the last in 1803. Five years of the earliest correspondence in Mission-era California. They were… not terribly interesting, in Fina’s opinion. Speaking mostly of church matters, the earliest were written in a familiar tone. She hadn’t had time to read them all yet. The most curious thing was the identity of the writer. “Father P—” was the only designation given.

There were inquiries about the establishment of the mission. A few mentions of holidays, university classes, and mutual acquaintances with very prominent names. These Franciscans were far from country brothers, which made the assignment of the Spanish priest to the California missions rather unusual.

Yes, definitely materials better sorted out in the De Novo Library.

But it was not Fina’s job to decide these things. In the two years she’d worked for the Vecchio-De Novo family, she had experienced far more than the usual quirks her colleagues at private libraries reported.

But then, as far as she knew, their employers were entirely human.

“Mama!” Her son, Enzo, called from the front garden. “I think I see the car!”

The winter sun had fallen several hours before, and Enzo was looking forward to their company.

It was a quiet life she and her son lived in Perugia, which did not bother Fina, though the country was beginning to chafe at Enzo, twelve years old and the center of her universe.

Enzo, books, and the odd request from vampire employers. It wasn’t the life she thought she’d be living twelve years ago when she finished her time at university, but it had given her independence when her family had shunned her.

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