me being “normal.”
The speech therapist changed everything for the better, though. I came out of my shell, just a little, just enough to get through high school relatively unscathed, enough to have a friend or two. My father, well he didn’t change toward me at all. I’m still terrible at public speaking, which is why I relied so heavily on Robyn during our book events, and if I’m especially nervous or stressed, I tend to slip back into old ways.
And even though being here is not my fault, I still feel like I’m a burden to Jana’s ex-husband and kid.
I don’t know how long I sit on the edge of the bed, repeatedly smoothing out the wrinkles in my dress like it’s a nervous tic, wishing Robyn was here to take charge of the situation, but eventually I know I have to go downstairs and talk all this over with Claudio. At least no cops have shown up in the meantime.
I cautiously open the door and step out into the hall, and then quietly latch the door closed behind me. The door to Vanni’s room is shut. The last thing I want is to be asked more questions. He seems exceptionally bright and his English is perfect and his accent not as thick as his father’s, but even so I’m unsure how to act around my agent’s somewhat secret kid.
Is that what this is? I think to myself as I quietly go down the stairs, holding on to the railing as I go. Is Jana trying to keep Vanni and Claudio a secret? Why?
“There you are,” Claudio says.
He gets up from one of the couches and comes over to me. “I was getting worried. Here, have a seat. Did you want a coffee?”
I do want a coffee, badly, and I know he’d probably make one from the espresso machine, but I don’t want to be more of a bother than I already am so I just shake my head. “No, thank you.” And then I sit down on the couch.
He pauses by the staircase. “Are you sure? I’m making one for myself.”
Well, in that case. “Okay. Sure. If you’re having one. I don’t want to be a bother.”
He tilts his head as he studies me, and even from across the room I can feel the weight of his gaze. “You’re not a bother. You’re just a mysterious stranger I found in my pool. I’ll be a minute.”
He goes down the stairs to the kitchen, and I immediately exhale when he’s out of sight. Funny how a room can feel completely different depending on the circumstances. Yesterday I was marveling at this living room, the sculptures, the stenciled roses on the walls, feeling like a guest in a hotel given free rein. Now I feel like I’ve broken into someone’s home.
I hear the whir of the espresso machine from downstairs, and it’s not long before Claudio appears with two coffees in hand. He places both on the giant coffee table and I take an appreciative glance at his forearms and biceps, tanned and muscled in all the right ways. He must work out. A lot.
He sits down in a plush white armchair across from me.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get the right amount of crema,” he says, gesturing to my coffee as he raises his to his lips. “The machine needs to be fixed.”
“It looks great,” I tell him, and it does look like the perfect espresso. I take a tentative sip and close my eyes in appreciation. I know the caffeine is going to make my poor heart skyrocket even more but it’ll be worth it. This is divine.
“Now, Ms. Harper,” he says, and I open my eyes to see him leaning back in his chair casually, dark eyes focused on me. “How about we start from the beginning?”
I clear my throat and get right to it. “Right. Okay. Well, as you know, I’m a writer. But more than that, I’m a writer on a deadline. There’s a difference between the two. It’s a pretty important book—the book that can make or break my career, and I signed with Jana because of this book. But it was only a proposal. I made the mistake of selling the idea and the outline before the book was done. Anyway, it’s a new genre for me and of course Jana is my new agent, and I just need everything to go right. I’ve been struggling with writer’s block for a while, and Jana suggested