I stiffened. “I will at the next hotel, okay? Right now, I just don’t want to.”

She gave a long sigh. “She has every right to be mad. It only takes one horrible mistake to ruin your life. Give your mom a break. She’s going through a hard time too.”

“Because she lost the lead on an account.” I wondered if this Italy trip was because of her job or me. Not that it mattered. She’d made it clear it wasn’t for Nonni.

“I want to look at this trip as a fresh start, for all of us. Is it silly to want the two people I love most to get along? Have some fun for a change?”

“No.” I knew how important this was for my grandmother, and I swore I wouldn’t act like a bitch. I’d try to take the opportunity and enjoy it with her. Maybe I’d even try harder with my mother. God knows, we were stuck with each other now for most of the summer. “But I don’t trust you.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m afraid you’ll drink too much wine and end up dancing in the Trevi Fountain.”

I loved her laugh and the way she hugged me, never afraid to show affection. “Or maybe I’ll meet a handsome Rossano Brazzi and fall madly in love and never return home.”

“Who’s that?”

Her look of horror made me laugh. “You’ve never seen the movie Summertime? It was a love story with this handsome Italian actor and Katharine Hepburn set in Italy. Oh, I need to fix this. You poor thing—believing that men with oversize pants that sag are sexy. You have no idea of the sheer class and sexiness of my generation.”

I thought of David, and his kiss, and the pot, and wondered if my grandmother was right.

Once the pizza was delivered, we ate it at the table. It was hot and cheesy with the perfect thin-type crust I loved, and after I finished the whole thing, my belly bulged and I crawled into the bed. “Nonni, I have to sleep.”

I heard plates clink and clothes rustle, and smelled the soothing scent of lavender. She smoothed my hair back and placed a kiss on my forehead.

I drifted off, finally content.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Francesca