Billionaire Flawed 1(119)

She sighed softly with a smile. “I think so, Joe. I want to be.”

“Then we will be. Let’s go take care of our little ones together. I...I can see we are going to have a good future.”

Minnie could only look up at him. From the first moment she’d seen him, she’d hoped he was Joe, coming to get her, even if he did have a baby in his arms. That certainly didn’t bother her. He gave off the impression he would love her completely.

And she had no doubt she would give him the same in return. She expected great things.

And great things were coming her way.

She smiled as she let Joe lead her inside, where they would find the baby, Ruthie, and head home.



THE END





An Italian in the West – A Clean Western Historical Romance

Cosa farò ora?

Angelica’s mind was whirling. Her thoughts were dark and heavy as she repeated the Italian phrase over and over in her mind. Cosa farò ora? Cosa farò ora? What do I do now?

Her father’s death had caused a complete upheaval in her life. He was all she had in this world, especially in this foreign land that she wasn’t used to and didn’t understand all of the time. She was only now learning to speak the language.

How could this tragic event have occurred so soon after their arrival in America? And now what would she do? She buried her face in her hands, soaking her gloves with her tears. They arrived originally in New York but had only stayed there for a short time. Her father had not like the climate there, so they migrated south to the rolling hills of Virginia. It had only been a few months since then. She had just started learning English these last few weeks and had been training almost daily with Lilly, her only friend in this small town. Lilly was a fiery, red-headed girl from Ireland with a quick wit and a sharp brain. She’d had no trouble learning to speak like Americans do and seemed to fit right in. Lilly had taken a quick liking to Angelica, and they were always together as a result.

Angelica wasn’t having an easy time of it, though. Her Italian accent was strong, and she moved from speaking English to Italian in the same sentence, disrupting her speech pattern and only allowing half of her sentence to be understood.

To make matters worse, Lilly had never stopped informing Angelica of her outstanding beauty. She never failed to mention when a young man was eyeing Angelica, not realizing that her friend didn’t want the attention. Lilly was jealous that Angelica got the kind of attention she did, but she refrained from being rude about it. She was playful when she mentioned the looks her Italian friend always got.

“I wish I was as beautiful as you are, Angel.” Lilly was fond of saying. “I would already be happily married with children.”

“You are a bambina, too young for such,” Angelica replied.

“You’re never too young for the attention of men. And I wouldn’t say that twenty is too young. In fact, far from it.” Lilly would sigh and pat her wavy red hair, fluttering her eyelashes at the same time. Her green eyes always flashed with energy and she had a ready smile on her face. Angelica thought she was the beautiful one and would tell her so. Lilly just laughed at that.

“Truly, you are bellissimo, Lilly, amica mia.” She would say.

“English,” Lilly would respond. “You need to speak in English!” Then she would laugh and retrain Angelica how to say “my friend” instead of amica mia. Lilly didn’t really mind that Angelica mixed her words up. She was relieved to be able to use some of the knowledge her grandmother’s husband had bestowed on her, bless his soul. She crossed herself in remembrance of him every time she thought of him, a habit she’d picked up from her Irish-Catholic mother.

When Angelica felt small hands wrap around her shoulders, she knew it was Lilly. She instinctively pushed herself against her friend, her tears nonstop. “Cosa farò ora? Mio padre è morto. Sono sola. Sono sola…”

“Ssshhh.” Lilly consoled her hugging her tightly. “You aren’t alone. I’m here. I will help you. We will figure out what to do. I’m so sorry, Angelica. I’m so sorry. Shh.”

Angelica moaned loudly, lowering herself further, her head nearly on the back of the pew in front of her. Lilly put her hand on her friend’s head and pulled her over so that she was holding her against her chest. She began to rock forward and back, gripping her friend as warmly as she could.

Angelica was comforted when Lilly began to sing softly to her a sweet tune she had never heard before but sounded like the brush of angel’s wings on her hurting soul.

“Now come is my departing time,

And here I may no longer stay,