Chances Are - By Christy Reece Page 0,48
a kiss on her nose. “Me too.”
“Good.”
His arms tightened around her and they lay in perfect quietness for several more seconds. And then Jake broke the silence and said, “Tell me about your family. Are you more like your father or your mother?”
Loving the rumble of his voice beneath her ear, she wiggled deeper into his arms. “One of mama’s favorite sayings was: ‘I swear, Angela, you’re just like your papa.’ “
“You weren’t like your mother?”
Angela laughed. “Oh yes, very much so. In fact, my father would always counter with, “No, Elena, she’s just like you.””
Grateful for the opportunity to share the memories of her loved ones with Jake, she continued, “My family was wonderfully unique but I guess a typical one, too. We had our disagreements. My father wanted my brother to study architecture but Max wanted to be a painter. He was an amazing artist. From the time he could walk, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. That didn’t prevent my parents, especially Papa, from trying to influence him. He never budged.” Her voice held a wealth of sadness as she added, “He was on his way to fulfilling his dreams.”
Dropping a comforting kiss to her head, he said, “And your sister, Chloe, what was she like?”
Her eyes closed to prevent the tears, she said, “Like a peaceful river.”
“What do you mean?”
Angela shrugged, unsure if she could do justice to her sweet little sister. “She just had a way about her that was calming. She possessed a maturity far beyond her age. My parents and brother had a tendency toward drama, often overreacting to even the most mundane events. Chloe was even-keeled and serene. She took things in stride and gave great advice.”
Humor in his voice, he said, “So it was just your brother and parents who were dramatic?”
Angela laughed. “Okay, me too.
“And Chloe gave great advice. She give you any?”
“Absolutely. In fact, Chloe was the only one in my family who knew I worked for LCR. I never told my parents or my brother because I knew how they would react. And Noah feared they could be targeted if any of his enemies knew, so I kept it to myself.”
“But not Chloe?”
“She didn’t know for a long time but one day we were talking about our dreams for the future. Chloe wanted to be a teacher, like Papa. She used to play schoolhouse with her friends…she was always the teacher. Anyway, she asked me what I wanted to do.”
“And you told her you wanted to be an LCR operative?”
Pain seared her heart and tears threatened again…that dream was dead. Chloe would be so disappointed in her. Unable to verbalize her answer, Angela nodded.
“And what was her reaction?”
“She was surprised but pleased, too. I think she saw me as some kind of superhero.” She snorted softly. “Little did she know.”
As if she hadn’t just touched on a painful subject, Jake said, “And your parents? What were they like?”
“Mama was sweet, wise, and self-sacrificing. Papa was temperamental, loving, and had a great sense of humor.
“To Mama, family was the most important thing. Despite the fact that she didn’t want to leave the States and come to Paris to live, she did it for my father and our family. I was only ten but I remember how sad she looked when we arrived, as if she’d lost her best friend. Papa tried to make it better for her, reassuring her that she would soon love France as much as she loved America. I don’t think she ever did but she adjusted eventually. And she did whatever she could to make sure her children never forgot that part of their heritage.”
“How’d she do that?”
“Family dinners were a big thing for the Delvecchio’s. You could miss breakfast and lunch but you never missed dinnertime. It was served promptly at six o’clock. If you were late, you had to pay a price.”
“Like what?”
“Hmm. Like naming the past presidents of the U.S. Sometimes you could get by with just naming the fifty states, reciting the Preamble to the Constitution or the Pledge of Allegiance. If you were really late, it was the Gettysburg Address or you’d have to sing the national anthem.” She giggled as she added, “We all suffered when that happened since not one of us could carry a tune.”
She remembered one particularly controversial mealtime. “Papa was an educator and was usually all for such discipline but one day he was fifteen minutes late and Mama made