There was no way of knowing, of course. A lot could’ve changed and probably had, but Colette hoped at least that the little slice of heaven that was Delfino hadn’t.

Impulsively asking the taxi for a diversion from her original destination, she sat back and stared out the window, wondering what the hell she was doing.

“Wait for me,” she instructed him a little while later, as she closed the car door and walked hesitantly down the laneway toward the familiar entrance.

It was just the same. Nothing had changed at all and Colette was happy to see that. A large smile painted her features as she stepped inside, fully expecting to see Mama Elene behind the counter.

“Welcome to Delfino. Table for one?”

Colette looked at the much younger Italian woman. “Hi. No, actually, I was just wondering if Mama Elene was here? I’m an old friend.”

“I’m sorry, but Mama Elene passed away a couple of years ago. I am Carlotta.”

“Oh.” Colette’s heart sank at the news. She couldn’t believe the warm, smiling woman was truly gone. “What about Luca, her nephew? Do you know him?”

“Of course I know him.” Carlotta smiled in such a way that Colette knew in her bones she and Luca were romantically involved. Hell, for all she knew the attractive woman in front of her could well be her former lover’s wife! “He is the owner of the restaurant now, but he just stepped out. You can wait a few minutes and he will be back,” she explained and Colette’s heart quickened.

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” she said quickly, panicking now. “I was just passing and I really need to go anyway. It’s no big deal, truly.”

“He was only going out for a few minutes,” Carlotta insisted. Then she looked behind her, back toward the kitchen. “In fact, I think he might already be back.”

“Really, it’s OK.”

Colette had to get out of there now. She turned and walked quickly out the door and kept her gaze to the ground as she rushed back to the taxi, terrified of maybe bumping into him on the street outside.

She couldn’t see Luca now. She just couldn’t. She didn’t want to look into that face, those eyes, and not know what she would feel.

Reaching the car, Colette told the driver to take her straight back to Sorrento as originally planned.

No more walks down memory lane while she was here—it was much too dangerous.

From here on, it was all about the now.

Chapter 48

Now

“Where’s your passport?” Annie called as she turned the couch cushions over.

Their flight to Naples was in a couple of hours and things were upside down. Charlie had been playing with his passport the night before; now it was missing and Annie was seriously stressed.