Hazel was thrilled when Dean showed up at the house only a few hours after he'd left for the day. He smelled delicious and was clutching a bunch of droopy wildflowers in one hand. He thrust them at her when she opened the back door. “Can you come out and play?” he asked, giving her a lopsided, knee-buckling smile.

How could she resist? His jet black hair was still damp from his shower and the tiny curls at the back were dripping water over the collar of his cream, linen shirt. He was wearing jeans today, and the leather sneakers on his feet were so white it looked as though he'd never worn them. He followed her glance down to his feet.

“Ah yes,” he said, holding his foot out for perusal, “Stella stole my shoes. Who knew there was such a thing as white shoe polish? Anyway, wanna come out and dirty them up with me?” Hazel could think of nothing she would like more. She nodded and stepped forward to take the flowers from his hand and he grabbed her wrist and leaned forward for a kiss. If she thought his smile was knee-buckling, his kiss could bring her to the floor. His other arm snaked around her waist. “Careful there, baby,” he said as she gave him her weight. “You don’t want to get that pretty dress all dirty.”

She’d known he would come. Since their picnic on the river they'd spent almost every moment together, either working on the house or wandering the streets of Borgotaro. She'd pulled her favorite silk dress out of the closet, hoping to wow him tonight. It was a halter with a plunging neckline and a maxi skirt with a long slit among the loose folds of fabric. It floated around her, giving occasional tantalizing glimpses of a strong, brown leg. She reached behind her and dropped the wildflowers into a glass of water standing next to the sink.

“Let’s go!” she said. “Take me out on the town.”

She'd fallen in love with Borgotaro. She loved the constant murmur of the lyrical language forever humming in the background. It was like having your favorite music on all day. She loved the gangs of teenagers that wandered the streets, hanging all over each other like lovers, popping in and out of the bars to buy iced tea and cigarettes. She loved to slowly wander along the main street every evening after dinner. She could sit at a table nursing a glass of prosecco for hours, people watching, even without understanding what they were saying. Everything was better with prosecco. She rarely saw anyone without a smile on their face, and why wouldn’t they be smiling? The sun was shining, their families were around them, they had a home and good food and that was enough. There didn’t seem to be any ambitious striving, or backstabbing or stepping over people to get to the next level. Why bother with the next level when right here was so nice?

“Have you heard from Liz?” Dean asked. They were close to the bottom of the hill now, about to cross into town and grab a drink before wandering into one of the local restaurants. She had a hankering for a Napoletano pizza. She couldn’t resist the anchovies.

“No, I haven’t.” Her brow furrowed. “What do you think is taking so long? I thought she’d be as eager as I am to take care of this jerk.”

“It might be hard for her,” he said. “She might be worried about her own job.”

“Yeah, I guess. I suppose I would be too.”

“I know it’s important to you. You must love your job.”

“I do love it,” she said, but then felt a flicker of apprehension run through her stomach. “At least, I think I do.”

“You think you do?” Dean laughed, “Why are you so anxious to save a job you only think you like?”

They had arrived at Odissea now and Dean moved to a table on the patio. He pulled out a chair for her then moved to the door, motioning for a drink. Loris knew them well by now and would bring them both a glass of prosecco which they would sip while they chatted and watched Borgo go by.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about that.” She didn’t tell him she’d spent the past two nights thinking about it. “Promise not to laugh?”

Dean looked at her and chuffed, “As if I could ever laugh at you. Of course I won’t laugh.”

“I think it’s my Dad,” she said. “Remember how I told you I still write him letters?” He nodded. “Well, it’s as though I use the letters to reassure him I’ll be successful. So he can be proud of me. I’ve realized that everything I do I’m always wondering if it would make him proud of me. He was such a great man; you know? At least Indigo says he was and I remember some. I want to make him proud.”

Dean gazed at her quietly for a few minutes. When he looked at her she felt understood and, dare she say it, loved? He had a way of assuring her with only a glance that he was there with her, in that minute, one hundred percent, and that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. He went to speak and then stopped and looked down at his glass that Loris had placed on the table in front of him.

“What?” she nudged his calf with her foot under the table. “You think that’s dumb, don’t you?” He looked up and gave her a reassuring smile which was mirrored in his seafoam eyes.

“I do not think that’s dumb, Hay! I think it's admirable. Listen,” he stretched his arm across the table and grabbed her hand in his, “I know that your dad would be immensely proud of you. Look at what you have accomplished! You’ve taken care of your nutty, but lovable, mother all these years. You’re independent with a successful career. You’re taking this time to renovate a house. You’re amazing Hazel. I just don’t think you need your dad to tell you that - even if he is only telling you in your head.”

She smiled, blushed and brought her glass to her lips. No one had said anything like this stuff to her before in her entire life. The feeling it gave her was addictive. She felt safe, appreciated, understood. But also very, very confused. What was going on between her and Dean, and what were they going to do about it? She changed the subject. “I saw you getting dragged down the hill by Atillio today. What did he want?”

“You saw that?” he banged his hand on the table. “Damn, you were standing at the window in your towel, weren’t you… and I missed it!”

“I’ll have you know I wasn’t in my towel. I was just out of the bath and it was steamy and hot so I dropped my towel. But the window was all steamed up, so I felt comfortable standing there completely naked.” She gave him a cheeky grin and then felt his shin rubbing hers under the table.

“Atillio was taking me for a walk and trying to persuade me to become an investor in Borgotaro.”

“An investor? How?”

“He wants me to buy Hotel Roma”

A frisson of excitement ran through Hazel. Could she ever admit to him that she had imagined the same thing? The two of them, running the hotel, staying in their sweet little cocoon of Borgotaro. No - she could never tell him. He'd probably laugh.

Hazel laughed, “Ridiculous! Famous movie star gives up his career to move to a sleepy Italian mountain town and run a hotel! What is he thinking?”

Dean’s calf stopped rubbing against hers and he downed his prosecco and stood up. “You’re right, pretty lady! Why would a movie star do something so crazy?” He grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s go find a pizza!”