Rose smiled ruefully as she watched Bea trying to catch a ball Luca tossed to her. ‘I couldn’t do it. I had to resort to bottles.’
‘I remember how upset you were about it,’ said Charlotte. ‘She tried so hard to be the perfect mother,’ she told the others.
‘You succeeded,’ said Harriet, waving a hand towards Bea. ‘Just look at the result—oops, she’s fallen over.’
Rose surged to her feet but Dante was first to scoop up his daughter and make anxious enquiries.
‘Down, Daddy,’ she said crossly. ‘Want to play!’
Dante obeyed, and exchanged a wry grin with Rose as Bea returned to the ball game. ‘It is hard to stand back, yes?’
‘Unless they’re bleeding you leave them to it,’ Harriet advised, and Mirella laughed.
‘It took me a long time to learn that.’
‘Are you taking notes, Charlotte?’ asked Rose.
Her friend smiled contentedly. ‘I’m just enjoying the moment, love. To have you and Bea here like this is just wonderful.’
‘Mamma thinks so, too,’ said Mirella. ‘She has worried much over Dante, but now he is happy, Mamma is happy. I am happy, too,’ she added, sniffing hard.
‘So when are you going to marry him, Rose?’ asked Charlotte bluntly.
‘There’s a lot to consider before making any decisions. For one thing, I have to sell my business first.’ And far more vital than that, before she said yes she needed to be sure that Dante wanted her as his wife rather than just the mother of his child.
‘Just put it in the hands of an agent—the house, too.’
‘First I need to talk with my mother—and your father, too.’ Rose grinned suddenly. ‘I was most impressed with your mother, Mirella. She didn’t turn a hair when Bea told her my mother lives with Tom in his house.’
Mirella laughed. ‘She was so delighted her new granddaughter was talking to her, yes?’
Rose nodded. ‘Though to be fair to Charlotte’s father, he’d marry my mother tomorrow.’
‘Perhaps Grace will finally agree if you marry Dante,’ said Charlotte.
‘Not “if”, Charlotte, “when”,’ said Dante, coming to join them. ‘For me it could be tomorrow, but Rose is making me wait.’
‘What for, Rose?’ demanded her friend as Mirella and Harriet rushed to settle a squabble among their offspring.
Charlotte’s question was hard to answer. Here in Fortino, surrounded by Dante’s warm, hospitable family, Rose experienced an urgent longing to become part of it. Grace would understand; it was what she’d always wanted for her girls. ‘We’ve only just got together again,’ she said lightly. ‘Give me time to get used to the idea. I’ve been running my own life—and Bea’s—for quite a time, remember.’
‘But there’s a man here who will gladly help you with that if you let him,’ Charlotte said. ‘Right, Dante?’
‘With great pleasure,’ he agreed, and smiled fondly as he watched Bea playing with the other children. ‘She is a delight. I still find it hard to believe I am her father—’