Luca was having none of it. She was a stubborn one so he had to try another tack. ‘The truth is, Mila has taken to you,’ he said.
Gracie flapped a hand in front of her face. ‘That’s nothing. Kids always gravitate to me. I’m the one who ends up keeping the kids entertained at weddings. Must be the fact that I know many naughty songs.’
Luca could not help but smile. ‘Nevertheless, Mila hasn’t taken to any strangers in a long while, especially those who threaten to steal my time. It is time for her to let someone new into her social circle, especially since she will be starting school next year. This arrangement would be good for all concerned. It’s not personal, Gracie. It’s strictly business.’
Gracie watched him with her head cocked on the side, her bright blue eyes clear and her expression open, and then she burst into laughter.
‘What’s so funny?’ Luca asked.
‘Do you mean to sound like a character from The Godfather, or is “it’s business, not personal” just another essentially Italian thing?’
Luca had no idea what she was talking about. ‘I’ve never seen the film, sorry.’
‘You’re kidding me?’
He shook his head and wondered if he had somehow blown it. But her smile only grew. Whatever he had accidentally said, it had worked.
‘OK. I’ll do it. Your Mila will be speaking like a little Aussie before you know it.’
He released a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. ‘Wonderful,’ he said, surprised anew at how very much he had hoped she would agree. ‘I know I should have asked before even making the offer, but I’m sure you understand I will need some sort of résumé and references.’
Gracie dived into her backpack and after some squirrelling about pulled out a slightly crumpled two-page résumé. She handed it over with a shrug. ‘I had it with me today just in case. If I decided to slog it out for another couple of weeks, I would have had to get a job in a pub, or something…’
‘Well, Ms Lane,’ Luca said after making sure there were a couple of phone numbers he could call, ‘it seems that the possible pub has lost out to “or something”.’
‘Papa!’ Mila squealed as she bundled back to the table.
Luca grabbed her up as she raced towards them, plonking her onto his lap. He knew he was using her as some sort of shield, a promise to the woman before him that Mila was the only thing between them, though he had a mounting feeling that wasn’t entirely true. If he could reunite father and daughter, there was an undeniable symmetry in the idea that he could not ignore.
‘Papa, I ate tiramisu and cassata,’ his little girl gushed.
‘You never did!’ he exclaimed, his smile for his daughter easy and true. He gave her a big kiss on the cheek, knowing she would giggle and squeal and love every second of it. ‘No, I was mistaken. You taste extra, extra sweet. You must have eaten all those desserts.’
Mila licked her lips, checking how sweet she really was.
‘And I have some other good news. Gracie is coming home with us today. Wouldn’t you love to introduce her to your gran-nonna?’
He watched his daughter carefully for her reaction. Mila looked at him for a few moments as she weighed up the information and he prepared himself for the crying fit that would surely come. She surprised him mightily when she bounced up and down and clapped with all her might.
‘Yay! She can meet Pino,’ Mila said.
‘Your great-grandmother’s name is Pino?’ Gracie asked, with a twinkle in her eye.
‘No!’ Mila said with one hand splayed across her mouth in shock. ‘My great-grandmother’s name is Gran-nonna. Pino is my horse.’
‘Ooh. I see. Well, then, I look forward to meeting both your great-grandmother and your horse. Equally.’
Giovanni arrived back at the table with a tray of fresh pasta and she was surprised at how hungry she was. Famished. But she had been living on pizza and cappuccinos for weeks.
By the time she had finished her generous portion, Luca was barely halfway through his.
‘You like pasta, I see,’ he said, watching her over his fork.
‘You can tell?’
‘Aren’t there any Italian restaurants in Australia?’
‘Tons. Especially in Melbourne. Many even make great pasta but you have to search to find one that makes the pasta fresh and cooks it al dente. The food here is unbelievable!’ she finished, hoping that would go some way to make up for her ravenous behaviour.
‘Good unbelievable, by the looks of your plate. It is so clean you could serve food from it.’
Feeling sassy, Gracie poked out her tongue.
Mila gasped in shock. ‘Papa! Did you see what she did?’
Gracie covered her wayward mouth with her napkin.
‘I did see,’ Luca said, watching Gracie from the corner of his eye.
Great, she thought. Excellent start. Now he’s going to know I wasn’t kidding when I said I had no idea how to teach a kid anything except how to mess about.
Though she had tried to talk Luca out of the arrangement, it genuinely appealed. The chance to stay in Italy alone would have made her day. The chance to do so in a proper house, with proper food, with a bathroom not shared by twenty others and with twenty-four-hour access to a telephone, was beyond her wildest dreams. She just hoped she hadn’t blown it with her big mouth and her bad manners.
‘What should we do to punish her?’ Luca asked Mila, and Gracie held her breath.
‘No dessert for Gracie,’ Mila suggested without delay.
‘Sounds fair to me,’ Luca said, and Gracie felt great relief, until Giovanni came out with three plates of dessert and her mouth watered in appreciation of the mounds of multicoloured gelato.
‘How about I only have one flavour?’ Gracie suggested. ‘Then you could eat the rest of mine.’
Mila’s mouth twisted sideways as she considered the fact that she could come out even further ahead in this new scenario. ‘I think that’s fair,’ she said, nodding sagely. ‘As long as you only eat the lemon flavour.’
‘Done.’
Mila looked to her father for backing and Gracie did the same. She expected to find him watching Mila with that same rapt amazement that came over him whenever she spoke, but even though he still held his little girl on his lap, his gaze was all on Gracie.
When the guy chose to bestow his attention upon her, he didn’t disappoint. Even with a youngster squirming on his lap, he had the ability to make Gracie feel as though she was the only one who held his immediate interest.
Under Luca’s encouraging gaze she felt vulnerable, quiet, soft. He had met her at her very worst—her eyes darkened by tired smudges, her hair a mess of ungroomed curls, her spirits downtrodden—and yet he made her feel safe and protected and liked despite it all. So liked she had even eaten a whole bowl of pasta in front of him in two minutes flat!
As though he knew where her thoughts travelled, his perfect sculptured mouth kicked up at the corners and his dark eyes glimmered against his smooth olive skin. Her heart gave a little lurch sideways and she smiled back before delving into her lemon gelato.
Only once Mila had finished both desserts did Luca call for his driver. Gracie felt profoundly sad that their delightful meal was over so soon.
‘I