“Ah yes, Vanni told me he was teaching you Italian.”
“He’s trying. I’m not the best student at the moment.”
“Of course not. You are writing, yes?”
She takes me by the hand and leads me to the table, sitting me down beside her.
“Ciao,” Giada and Veronica say in unison.
“You must forgive,” Giada continues. “My English is not so good.”
“It’s better than my Italian,” I tell her, giving her an encouraging smile. It’s then I notice they all have mineral waters, as well as espresso. “Where is Claudio?”
“Ah,” Maria says. “We sent him off for some lemons.”
Veronica frowns and mutters something under her breath, gesturing to her coffee.
“She is saying his espresso machine is not good enough,” Maria translates. “And that normally he has the lemons all cut up for us.”
“Is good for our blood,” Giada explains, splaying her palms.
I can see why Claudio said they all picked on him. They just got here and already they’re bossing him around. I have a feeling they were doing most of the yelling.
“Ah, you found her,” Claudio’s melodic voice booms. I look up to see him walking across the lawn, yellow lemons cradled in his hands. He pauses behind Giada, his eyes brightening as he looks at me. “I hope they’ve been kind.”
“They’re lovely,” I tell Claudio, giving his sisters each a warm smile.
“I see,” he says. “You’ve already joined their side.”
I laugh at the mock hurt expression on his face. The man can be completely adorable sometimes.
Maria clears her throat, and I look at her. She’s watching both me and Claudio with interest, a touch of suspicion in her eyes. I immediately press my lips together, willing my face to go blank. I know my facial expressions give everything away, and the last thing I need is for his sisters to think I have some crush on their brother.
I mean, that’s the only way I can describe it. A crush. There’s something so juvenile about the term, but it is what it is. An infatuation. I never even crushed on anyone growing up (what was the point? I could barely talk to anyone, let alone look them in the eye), so this feeling is new to me, but it’s there all the same.
But crushes go away, right? It’s just based on attraction. Eventually it will fizzle out.
I’ve decided that’s what I’ll tell myself.
“What would you like to drink?” Claudio asks me, his voice warm, his eyes still fixed on my face, ignoring whatever look Maria is giving us. “Aperol Spritz?”
I nod. “Please.”
It’s become one of my favorite drinks to have in the sun, just before dinner. Claudio says it’s an aperitivo, which is meant to open up the appetite for dinner, but I’m just in it for the bittersweet buzz. One thing about being at Villa Rosa is that I’m always ready for whatever Claudio is cooking.
Claudio heads inside to the bar with his lemons, and I still feel Maria’s eyes on me. I glance across the table at Giada and Veronica, and they are in the midst of communicating something to each other with their eyes. Then they look at me.
Uh oh. Why do I feel like they’re thinking the same thing Maria is (whatever that is)?
They never come out and say it though and soon Claudio joins us with Aperol Spritzes for both of us, plus the slices of lemons for their waters (and it turns out Veronica’s water contains vodka). We all toast to the summer and then the sisters get talking. Most of it is in Italian, with Maria translating when she can. A lot of it is just them picking on Claudio. They like to call him the “Golden Child” since he’s the only one of them that followed in his father’s footsteps and became a successful artist. There’s a lot of love there, but I can tell they don’t really take the arts that seriously.
Only Veronica has a mild interest in the arts, doing watercolor paintings of landscapes when she can. She doesn’t sell them though, despite years of Claudio trying to convince her to let his gallery carry them. She says that would take all the fun away and it would no longer be a relaxing activity to her.
“If you sell my paintings, it is a job,” she says with a dramatic wave of her hands. “It is no longer a hobby. It is no longer something I do for my soul.”
Claudio and I exchange a knowing look. I’m sure he feels the