Starter Wife (The Jilted Wives Club Book 1) by Bethany Lopez (a court of thorns and roses ebook free TXT) 📕

surely have nightmares that night, but I moved to sit between them on the couch, pulling up a throw blanket and saying happily, “I’d love to.”

Eighteen

Luca

“Ma, you look gorgeous,” I said as I leaned down to kiss one cheek, then the other. “The motherland really must have suited you.”

“It really did,” she gushed happily. “It’s the most wonderful place on earth.”

“I’m glad you had a good time. How about Dad? Did he love it?” I asked, grabbing an olive out of the dish and popping it in my mouth.

“Of course. Why don’t you go ask him about it, he’s in his chair,” she said, turning me and practically pushing me out of the kitchen. “No more snacking for you, you’ll ruin your supper.”

I shook my head and chuckled, then spun around to grab another olive and ran out as she swatted at me.

I’d come a little early so I could catch up with my parents. They’d never really left us before and I’d missed them, which seemed funny. But I was used to seeing my dad at work and my ma being home, so having them out of the country and not easily accessible had left this empty space in my life.

It made me realize how much I needed to cherish and appreciate having them around and what they meant to me.

“Hey, Dad, how’s it feel to be home?” I asked as I walked into the den.

My father looked away from the game on the TV and gave me a welcoming smile.

“Amazing,” he replied. “Italy was wonderful, and the vacation was great, but there’s nothing like that feeling of coming back home.”

“I missed you,” I said, crossing to give him an awkward hug. “It’s good to have you both back.”

“Everything okay at the office?” he asked.

“Na-ah,” I replied. “We can talk about that tomorrow when you come in. No work talk at home, you know that.”

“I know, it’s just been so long. You know I’ve never been away from the office this long, I’m dying to know what’s been happening.”

“I’ll just say everything is great and leave it at that. Now, tell me all about your trip.”

“The pace took some getting used to, but by the end of the trip I was moving slower and napping during the day. The food is outta this world, the countryside is gorgeous, and the people are salt of the earth.”

“What was your favorite dish?” I asked.

“There was no such thing as a bad meal, but my favorite had to be the carbonara at this little trattoria in town. We sat outside, had some wine, and stayed well into the night listening to music.” He stared off as if picturing himself back there, then glanced back at me. “You know how your mom is in bed by ten every night and up at six, well, not in there. We slept in, went on long walks, and stayed in town until well after bedtime.”

“That’s awesome, Dad. I’m thrilled you both enjoyed yourselves.”

‘Hello, hello,” my brother called as he opened the front door and came inside.

His greeting was followed by the pounding for four feet stomping our way as my nephews came running straight to the family room, yelling, “Grandpa!”

I laughed as they both hurled their bodies into the chair and hugged him fiercely.

“There they are,” my dad said happily as he held them close. “If you go into the back bedroom, you may find a couple souvenirs waiting for you to claim them.”

And just like that, as quickly as they’d come into the room, they left it, shouting, “Thanks, Grandpa,” as they ran.

“Don’t forget to thank Grandma!” he shouted back.

Once everyone arrived and dinner was ready, we all gathered around the table and you could tell how happy we all were to have our parents back. As I looked around, I pictured Whitney sitting next to me at the table. I could see it. Her laughing at something my brother said, passing the bread to my sister, and my ma gazing down at us both proudly. And, suddenly, I wished she was actually there. Reservations or not, I knew she’d fit in perfectly.

“We have a surprise for all of you,” my dad began as he piled pasta onto his plate.

“Yeah?” Vanni asked, looking back and forth between our parents.

“You aren’t leaving again, are you?” Charlotte asked, her tone playful, but her expression tired and serious.

“No, not exactly, but I’ll let your mother tell you.”

We all looked expectantly at our mother.

She paused for effect, before saying, “Your father and I bought a house in Italy.”

There was a moment of shocked silence before the room erupted as everyone began talking at once.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re moving to Italy?”

“Are you serious?”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

The last was from my sister-in-law, Sara, who obviously didn’t read the room.

“Silence,” our father said, his voice low but his tone brokering no argument. “Go on, sweetheart.”

“We are not moving to Italy, at least, not now,” she explained. “We toured an olive grove and found out that the property was for sale. The house is gorgeous, and the olive grove is fully manned and producing, so we wouldn’t need to be on site in order for it to continue. We would, however, go at least once, maybe twice a year to check in on everything and vacation. It will be a family home, so you can all go whenever you’d like, but I’d really love it if we could all vacation there in the summers, as a family.”

The tone of the room completely changed.

“Oh my God, a family home?”

“We’re going to Italy!”

“Our own olive grove?”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

The rest of the dinner was lively with excited conversation and everyone making plans about when we could all go to Italy and check it out.

By the time I left, we were all locked into going to see it and spend our first family vacation together at the new place in July. It was surreal, but I could see how happy my parents were, hell, how