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

too?”
    “Yep. Mine too. And Aunt Nina’s and Aunt Julietta’s. She was your great-grandmother.”
    He smiled then. “She was great.”
    “Yes, she was.” Johanna hugged him closer. Gio, still young enough to enjoy shows of affection, snuggled into her.
    “Aunt Jo?”
    “Hmm?”
    “If Gram was your gramma, who was your mommy?”
    She tried not to stiffen, but failed for a split moment she could not take back. Her nephew didn’t seem to notice. Johanna told him, “My mommy died a long time ago, buddy.” I think. “But I have a picture of her. Would you like to see?”
    He nodded. Johanna looked over her shoulder. She could hear Emma and Nina in the kitchen with the boys. Julietta was still in her office, working. Pulling the locket out of her shirt, Johanna clicked it open.
    “See? That’s her. Carolina. She’s your mommy’s mommy.”
    Gio picked up his head, looked closely. “She looks like you.”
    Johanna laughed. “I look like her,” she said. “Your mom does too, a little. Don’t you think?”
    “My mom?” Gio scrunched up his face. “My mom looks like my mom.”
    “You’re right. She does. You feeling better now?”
    “A little.”
    “You want some cake?”
    He smiled.
    “Go on.” She nudged him and he took off down the hallway to the kitchen. Johanna groaned to her feet. All these days keeping the locket to herself was about to be revealed, and she still wasn’t ready to share it with them. Soon. Not yet. But when she reached the kitchen, Gio was face-deep in a piece of cake and her sisters barely acknowledged her arrival. More stomping on the porch sent Johanna back down the hall. Charlie’s kids came barreling in, Charlotte bringing up the rear.
    “Hey, Johanna.” She slid her scarf from her neck. “Remember me?”
    “Of course I do, Charlotte. You’ve grown a bit.”
    “Just a bit.” She laughed. “You look exactly the same way I remember you.”
    “Do I?”
    Charlotte nodded. “Dad’s right. You’re as pretty as a pixie.”
    “That’s enough out of you, young lady.” Charlie gently shoved Millie and Tony into Charlotte, who winked at Johanna and took them to the kitchen. Johanna pressed hands to her face. Pretty? Her eyes were too big and her chin, too small. At least her nose was properly proportioned even if it was perpetually freckled. She took Charlie’s coat from him and hung it on a hook.
    “Did you really say that to her or is she teasing me?”
    “She’s teasing me. But what if I did?”
    “I’d say thank you.”
    “Then you’re welcome,” he said. “Will’s still at work, but he’s going to come by around four, if it’s okay.”
    “Of course. If anyone can manage to eat later, we’ll order from D’Angelo’s. Cookies and pizza, Julietta will be in heaven.”
    She gestured him ahead of her, admiring the sway of his shoulders the way a man might a woman’s hips, and those she admired as well. Johanna let the chills shiver along her skin instead of rubbing them away.
    “The skinny kid sure did fill out nicely, didn’t he?”
    Johanna spun, hand to her chest. “Emma, I thought you were in the kitchen.”
    “Look at you blush.”
    “I’m not blushing.”
    “He does have a nice butt. Not as nice as Mike’s though.”
    “Mike’s ass is mighty fine.” Johanna tweaked her sister’s side. “I always thought so.”
    “Johanna!”
    “Oh, now who’s blushing?”
    Emma poked her back, and then they were laughing instead of squealing, heading down the hallway to the warm and bright kitchen where all the children stood at the counter, just as Johanna imagined.
    She stopped short. Her vision blurred. She blinked. A sensation like joy, like fear, wriggled through her. Already, Charlotte was inspecting little hands to make sure they were clean. Johanna remembered Charlie telling her his eldest was studying for a degree in early child development. She was tall and thin, just as her father had been at her age, but elfin in a way fair, redheaded