Chapter 25
Giovanni
“Well, this has been a delight.” Mamma puts the cards back in the box before standing up with a huge smile on her face. Having just destroyed us at UNO, she’s as smug as ever.
I raise an eyebrow. “A delight for who, exactly?”
“I didn’t even know it was possible for someone to win that fast,” Tessa mumbles.
“Now, now. You won’t stay sad for too long, because we have a special treat for you. Tesoro, Papa went to the alimentari earlier and got your favorite dessert.”
My face heats, knowing exactly what Mamma’s going to say next.
She claps her hands excitedly. “Gelato!”
Tessa chokes on a sip of water and starts coughing beside me. Mamma screams in horror, dropping the box of cards she was holding. She rushes to Tessa’s side, squatting down on the floor. “Oh mio Dio! Are you okay? Is it another reaction?”
Tessa points to her throat, signaling that the water went down the wrong pipe.
“I didn’t put nuts in the crostata, Gio, she must have eaten something in your car. A delayed reaction,” Mamma accuses, pointing a finger at me. “You did this to her, and now you’re just sitting there! Get the pencil!”
“Calm down, Mamma,” I say evenly. “What pencil?”
“Oddio, Gio! The stabby pencil!” She fists her hand and punches it through the air a few times in a stabbing motion.
“She’s not having a reaction, Mamma,” I reassure her, gently rubbing Tessa’s back.
Or maybe she is having a reaction. But in this case, I am the tree nut.
Mamma frantically gestures, waving her hands around. “What do you mean? Look at her! Aiuto!”
Tessa swallows hard and finally stops coughing. Her voice is hoarse as she apologizes. “I’m so sorry, Maria, the water just went down the wrong pipe.”
Mamma flushes beet red. “Oh. Okay. What a relief. If you nearly died twice in my house…” She swats at me. “You should’ve told me it was just the water. My heart!”
“I feel terrible for scaring you,” Tessa replies.
Tessa seems fine now, but I haven’t stopped rubbing her back. It’s like my hand is programmed to comfort her. Leaning back a little, she relaxes some of her weight onto my palm.
Mamma straightens and takes a deep breath, giving Tessa a couple pats on her head.
“I’m just glad you’re okay. Though, I don’t think I should have any sugar right now.
I need to lay down after all the excitement.
We’ll have gelato tomorrow.” She grabs Papa’s hand and starts walking toward their room.
Tessa stands up, and I follow suit. We’re both standing and staring in silence, the air between us feeling electrically charged.
In a move that would be barely perceptible if I wasn’t paying close attention, I notice her hand lift ever-so-slightly.
Not even letting one millisecond pass, I intertwine our fingers.
We walk down the hallway together, neither of us willing to break the hold—or the silence—even though no one’s around. I’m not sure of the reason behind the private affection, but I don’t want to ask. As long as she’s letting me hold her hand, I’m agnostic to the why behind it.
As I twist the doorknob to my bedroom, she pauses.
“Hey, Giovanni?”
“Yeah?”
“I know we said we’d talk later, but… Can it be tomorrow?”
My stomach sinks in disappointment. I rub the spot in between my eyebrows and nod. “Anything you want, Tessa.”
“Thank you.” She releases my hand and follows me into the bedroom.
As we wordlessly take turns changing and washing up, the silence grows louder. So loud, that I wonder when it’ll become impossible to ignore.