Dressed in designer jeans and a stylish blouse, her long golden hair pulled back from her lovely face, she looked down at the ground with a pout and started toward the house with a distracted air. At seeing the young man standing at the front door, she at first fixed him with a haughty, indifferent glare.

Then she stopped.

Elena lowered her sunglasses and regarded him from the edge of the driveway. Suddenly her gloomy expression melted. Her eyes opened wide with surprise, and she broke out in a beautiful, delighted smile that would have dazzled the sun itself.

“Carter!” she cried.

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 35

A whirlwind.

Shrieks of surprise and delight.

Elena rushing to Carter.

The two brushing cheeks, first on one side, then the other.

The thrill of having her next to him.

The softness of her cheek.

The scent of her hair.

Pulling away from one another.

Elena taking his hand, leading him inside.

Now, sitting together on the couch, her knees just an inch from his.

Her hand touching his arm when she spoke.

All of it like a dream.

Carter wanting to explode with joy.

“Oh, my God!” Elena exclaimed in English, her eyes still wide with surprise. “I am so happy I see you, Carter.”

Carter loved the sound of her voice, so light and sensual, especially the way she pronounced his name. She said it like Cart-air.

“Agnella!” Elena suddenly called out. “Venga qui!” Then, leaning toward him, she added in a playful, conspiratorial whisper, “I know she’s out there listening, the old witch!”

Agnella, the older woman who had met Carter at the door, came into the living room, where they were sitting. Carter had completely forgotten about her. In all the excitement when Elena had come home and recognized him, Agnella had discreetly slipped away and left them to themselves. Her hands folded respectfully, she stood there stiffly with a sedate air, eyeing the two with what seemed to Carter a look of mild disapproval. He sensed that Agnella was protective of Elena, and perhaps still a little suspicious of the young stranger from America who had just shown up at their door completely unannounced.

“Agnella, cosa fai?” Elena said to her. Then, turning back to Carter, “This is Agnella, Carter. She was my—what is the word, ninny?—since I was a little girl.”

Carter could not help but chuckle, for he was reminded of what Giancarlo had said about how charming people found it when a foreigner made a mistake when trying to speak their native language.

“I think you mean ‘nanny,’” he said, smiling.

“Ninny, nanny, whatever,” laughed Elena, throwing her hands up. “You know what I mean. Anyway, now I grow up, she still watch me like a mother goose.”