Whispering Vines by Amy Schisler

Author:Amy Schisler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Italy, World War II, romance, wine, vineyard
Publisher: Chesapeake Sunrise Publishing
Published: 2016-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Alex, Maria, Luigi, Giovanni, and the few other relatives who attended the service were returning home the next morning, but Nicolas was staying to help his mother finalize the funeral costs and to go over his father’s estate. Alex was packing her things when Nicolas knocked on her hotel door. At one time, the family owned a house in Florence, but houses in the city were expensive, and with Nicolas gone, his parents had moved to a small apartment. Nicolas was staying on his mother’s sofa, but Alex and the rest of the family had stayed the night in a hotel near his mother’s home. Alex opened the door to find Nicolas standing in the hallway. Her heart broke when she saw the pain in his eyes. She opened her arms, and Nicolas went into them like it was the most natural thing he had ever done. Alex held him tightly until he pulled away.

“I’m almost ready,” she said, “but I didn’t expect to see you. I thought I was riding back with Luigi, Maria, and Pietro.”

“That is why I am here,” he said. He looked into her eyes, and Alex saw the pain, but she saw something else, too. She looked at him questioningly. “Please stay,” he said.

Alex’s heart leaped, and she tried not to read too much into his request, just as she had tried not to read into his holding her hand at the funeral. He was in mourning, and he just needed to lean on her.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be in the way. I’m sure you and your mother already have many things to handle.”

“Please,” he said, and Alex could hear the anguish in his voice. “I need you to stay.”

Alex’s eyes filled with tears, and she tried to blink them away. She had spent the past several days reliving every minute of her brother and father’s funerals, and she knew just what Nicolas was going through. She longed to hear her mother call for her, ask for her help, ask her to stay, hug her, or simply reach for her hand the way Nicolas had done in the church the previous day. The least she could do was to do for Nicolas what her mother had never allowed her to do for her. Alex reached for his hand and squeezed it. Then a thought occurred to her.

“What about Eva? Surely she should be the one to comfort you.”

“She is not here. Please, for me.”

Alex was torn. On one hand, she was very uncomfortable standing in for Eva, especially when Eva already thought of her as “the other woman.” On the other hand, she and Nicolas were practically family. If he needed her, then she should be there for him. She nodded.

“Okay, then, I will stay. I will do whatever you need me to do. I can run errands, cook, whatever you or your mother needs...”

“Right now, you are all I need. Come with me,” Nicolas said and grabbed her hand.

“Wait,” she tugged at him to stop.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.