Keep Me At Christmas (Romano Family Book 4) by Lucinda Whitney

Author:Lucinda Whitney [Whitney, Lucinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lange House Press
Published: 2018-05-31T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Saturday, December 23rd

Luciana arrived at the Café DiLorenzo just before noon and stomped her boots on the rug by the door. She brushed her coat, shaking off as much of the snow as possible before entering. Maybe she should have listened to Mr. Wynthrop at the museum. Instead of the usual seven minutes, it took her over twenty to walk the one and a half blocks between the two buildings. The most labored walk of her life. Who knew walking in the snow could be so hard? She’d returned the oversized coat and heavy boots Jack had lent her the night before, and what she wore was sadly inappropriate. Underestimating the short distance in heavy snow conditions hadn’t been a smart idea. She trembled, as the cold in her feet seeped and spread through the rest of her body.

After the sleigh ride and the kiss she’d shared with Jack, Luciana hadn’t been thinking straight, and asking pertinent questions about the forecast didn’t even cross her mind. She’d tossed and turned all night, unable to set her body to rest, unwilling to get her mind on something else. Instead, she relived those moments with Jack, over and over again, until she fell into a fitful sleep in the early morning only to wake up a few hours later.

Paola DiLorenzo met her at the door. “Luciana, what are you doing out in this weather? Did you walk here?”

Luciana let the coat fall off her shoulders and Jack’s mom caught it.

“I had a break for lunch,” Luciana replied. Her teeth chattered and she closed her mouth firmly. She pulled off her cap and gloves, but didn’t move. The snow on her boots was melting rapidly, and she didn’t want to track the water puddle on the wood floor. She winced. “I’m getting the floor all wet, Mrs. DiLorenzo.” Her chin quivered in between words.

“Please, call me Paola. And don’t worry about the floor.”

Luciana slid her feet out of the utterly useless fashion boots and Paola picked them up, carrying them in her other hand.

“Come with me,” Paola said. “We need to get you changed from those wet clothes into something warm.”

Luciana didn’t argue, unable to think past the feeling of pins and needles in her feet as the heat warmed her blood. She absently noticed that the café was empty and Jack wasn’t around. Where was he?

Somehow, she found the strength to follow Paola to the back of the café and up the stairs that connected to the house.

Paola opened the door to a bedroom and Luciana sat on the edge of the bed. After a few minutes, Paola returned with a stack of clothes.

“There are towels in the bathroom closet. Come to the living room when you’re ready. I’ll put your clothes in the dryer.”

Jack’s Nonna already sat by the fireplace when Luciana entered the living room some time later. The clickety-clack of the metal needles as the old woman knit was a soothing, relaxing sound. Luciana had taken a quick

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