Read Online Seeking Carolina by Terri-Lynne Defino - Free Book Online

of this evening, like a snapshot lodged inside. If she vanished again for another eight years, he’d have it to pull out, to remember, to cherish. And if she didn’t vanish—Charlie’s throat constricted. His skin prickled and his body warmed—if she didn’t, he would be able to look back on this moment as the beginning of the best part of his life.
     
     

Chapter 4
     
    Nine Ladies Dancing
     
    Does she know her fingers travel? That they brush unconsciously? Against that thing she hides? The thing that belonged to Florentina — new-wife, on her way to America? To Fiorenza — maiden aunt, teaching rich young women in New York City? To Fia — dancer, dead before her time? And to Fabrizzia — inventor, brought to America to work with a famous man, his love for her a secret he took to his grave? She doesn’t, of course. Always a creature of impulse, of emotion first and thought when convenient. My wild girl. My Johanna. The story changes, but the wish remains constant. A secret kept. Unclaimed. And waiting.
    * * * *
    Johanna rearranged all the ingredients on the counter. Again. She had enough sugar, flour, chocolate chips, butter and brown sugar to fuel CC’s for a month. But did she have enough eggs? Reaching for her phone, the locket still hidden under her shirt tickled against her skin. She pressed a hand to it, to the fluttering there.
    “Relax,” she told herself. “It’s just baking with your sister’s kids.”
    And Charlie’s.
    She feared saying his name aloud, as if to do so would curse whatever was happening between them. Their date—not dinner with a friend—had been the kind of magical Johanna thought existed only in schmaltzy movies. They were easy together. Natural. As if they’d been together all those years yet still barely knew one another and had all the time in the world to learn.
    She dialed Emma’s number, hung up again and hurried through the big house, to the front porch where her nephews were already stomping snow from their shoes. The six dozen eggs in a bowl on the counter would have to be enough.
    “It smells like Christmas in here.” Emma kissed both Johanna’s cheeks. “Did you start already?”
    “Just a cinnamon bundt to nibble on while we wait for cookies. It’s still warm.”
    “The same one you sent up last Easter?”
    Johanna nodded.
    “Move aside, boys. Mama wants some cake.”
    Johanna helped the boys off with their coats and hung them on the hooks behind the door. “Leave your shoes outside,” she said. “Then the snow won’t melt and make them all soggy.”
    “Can I have some cake, too, Aunt Jo?” Ian asked.
    Johanna ruffled his dark hair. “As long as your mom says okay.”
    “Thanks.”
    And off he ran through the house he obviously felt at home in. Henry was right behind him, already calling for his mother’s permission. Little Gio, only five and often left behind, was still trying to pull off his snow boots.
    “Want some help?” she asked. He looked up and nodded, his lip trembling. Johanna consoled him. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of cake. Your brothers won’t eat it all.”
    Gio dissolved into tears. Johanna gathered him in and he buried his little face in her shoulder.
    “Hey, buddy. What’s wrong?”
    “I miss Gram.”
    Johanna felt her own tears build. Since her dinner with Charlie, she’d barely thought about her grandmother, and the real reason she was in Bitterly. Gram had raised her, but the eight years being away took her out of Johanna’s everyday. For Gio, his brothers, Emma and Julietta, her death was not just sorrowful, it was earth-shattering.
    “I miss her too, buddy. We all do. But it’s going to be okay. You have your mom and dad, your brothers, and your aunties who love you so much. And don’t forget your dad’s parents, and your Uncle Scott. Lots of little boys don’t have so much family nearby.”
    Gio sniffed. He raised his head. “Mommy told me Gram was her gramma, too.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Yours