Dante's Dilemma (a Dante Legacy Novella) by Leclaire Day

Author:Leclaire, Day [Leclaire, Day]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-09-09T00:00:00+00:00

Midday the next day, Rom approached the cottage the Bianchi family was using until Julietta’s wedding. He could tell the instant Julietta sensed him. She stood in front of a window box, gently prying a clump of dying roses free from their hard-packed dirt bed. Once again, she wore a simple cotton dress, faded from repeated washings and the bleaching rays of the sun. She’d tied a gardening apron around her trim waist and protected her complexion with the same wide-brimmed straw hat she’d carried when he’d first come across her in the meadow. This time she wore her hair up, the hip-length mass gathered in a heavy knot at the nape of her neck.

At his approach, her back went rigid, and she stilled, as though taking a moment to gather him in and absorb his very essence. “You shouldn’t be here,” she said without turning around.

He responded with simple honesty. “I couldn’t stay away.”

She glanced over her shoulder, her reproving frown belied by the amusement in her gaze. “And what will you say if people ask why you’re here?”

“I’ll tell them the truth,” he answered promptly. “Tito told me his fiancée possesses shockingly plump fingers and asked me to resize the engagement ring.”

She laughed at his teasing. Then her humor faded—no doubt at the reminder of all that stood between them. In its stead came a pain Rom would have given anything to ease. “The ring’s too constricting to wear.” She touched a spot beneath the bodice of her dress. “I put it on the chain that holds my crucifix.”

The irony of her comment didn’t escape him. “That ring will never be the right fit because you and Tito aren’t the right fit.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “And we are?”

“You already know the answer to that.” She frowned at the flowers she’d upended, and he joined her, clicking his tongue in dismay. “You’re like these plants, Julietta. If you stay in Santa Lucia, you’ll be as choked and root-bound as they are.”

“And if I don’t stay? Where will we go… after? Assuming there is an after.” She stroked the faded roses with a gloved hand. “Florence?”

He hesitated. He hadn’t told her about his job offer or his plan to move to California. He didn’t want to panic her. But she deserved to know. Deserved to have all the facts before she made her final decision. “Not Florence.”

Her brows pulled together. “But your job is in Florence, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “I’ve been offered a new job. One that will give me the freedom to become a better craftsman. To create my own line of jewelry and receive credit for it.”

She swiveled to face him, her expression alight with joy on his behalf. “Rom, that’s wonderful. Where’s this new job?”

He took a deep breath. “In America. San Francisco, to be precise. That’s a city in California.”

Her excitement stuttered, fading away, and she stared in disbelief from beneath the wide brim of her straw hat, her eyes dark and shadowed. “Are you serious?”

“Quite serious.

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