CHAPTER TWENTY

“What does it taste like?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is it good?”

“Delicious.” Savannah chewed slowly. “What did you get?”

“Pasta. Decided to throw my diet out the door.” He smiled.

“You diet?”

“Like a teenage model.” His expression was so serious that Savannah didn’t know how to respond. He laughed. “My father was heavy. I don’t want to be that big.”

“Oh. My mother was slim. My daddy was thicker, and that combination gave me my shape. Although I would like to have smaller breasts and bigger calves.”

“You’re perfect.” His eyes bore into hers.

Shrugging off the blush in her cheeks, she cleared her throat. “Did you know your mother at all?” She took another forkful of her dish and placed it in her mouth. It was incredible. She had to remember what it was called to be able to tell people about it.

“Not really. She was killed in an accident when I was young. After my father passed, my uncle and aunt raised me until she passed.”

“That was good for you.”

He put a forkful of pasta in his mouth. “When I got older, he told me that Charlotte begged him to take me. There was another uncle that I could have gone to, but she wasn’t having it.” He missed Charlotte. Her death a few years ago had been hard on him and his uncle. She had made such a mark on him that even now he saw her influence in everything from his cooking to his clothes to how he decorated his house.

“I’m glad that you had someone to help you. So many children are stuck in orphanages and foster care.” She paused. “You ever think about having more children.” She pulled the meat apart with her fingers and dipped it in the spicy sauce next to her plate.

“I want a lot of kids. If it were up to me, I’d have at least ten.”

“I cannot imagine you finding a woman ready to oblige you.” Savannah smiled at him.

“I’m quite convincing. Besides, once they see how good a dad I am with Izzy, they will be begging me to procreate with them.”

“How romantic.”

“What about you? Any more?” He wiped at his mouth with the cloth napkin.

“I always wanted at least four. Two of each, preferably. But by the time I got to Nicholas, their father and I were done with each other.”

Dwight placed his hand over Savannah’s. “That can be a pretty sore subject. Let’s talk about something else.”

*****

Dwight stood out on the balcony. He had hidden the ring away. The restaurant was the perfect place to profess his love to her, yet he snorted at the corny idea. They were in Italy for Pete’s sake. It had to be something to remember. He felt a presence near him and turned just in time to see Savannah approaching.

“That shower was heavenly.” She stood next to him and peered over the balcony. The streetlights cast a golden glow over the quiet streets. From somewhere nearby, the sound of rushing water reached them. The stars, visibly brighter in this part of the sky over Italy.

“I was looking at the traveler’s guide in the room. They have a ton of interesting museums and things. We’ll be busy for the next six days.”

Dwight nodded. Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of that? The point now was to find one that was the most appropriate. “We can start early. Have breakfast at one of those side cafes and make our way around town.” He reached and pulled her closer to him. “Of course, I’m going to have to put up a fight to convince myself to get out of the bed that you’re in.”

Savannah walked towards the balcony door pulling Dwight after her. “Perhaps if we went to bed early enough, we’ll have the energy to get up.”