I smiled at the children that walked by. They waved at me through the window and I waved back. Mothers smiled at me. Husbands that walked by nodded their heads. Locals stood out on the street, flooding the corners of the city with their music.
It tickled my funny-bone whenever they rolled their eyes at the tourists passing them by.
People pulled out their cameras and took pictures of everything. People posed for all sorts of group pictures as I peeked down at my laptop. My student still hadn’t logged in yet. She had ten more minutes to sign on before the freelance website charged her for the session anyway. I liked that tutoring policy. Twenty-four hours to cancel. But if a student missed a session without cancelling, the tutor still got the full amount for the missed session.
I’d made half my traveling money that way.
I drew in a deep breath as the café brewed more espresso. I basked in the afternoon sunshine two thousand miles from home. I closed my eyes, taking it all in. And as I leaned back into my chair, I heard my laptop ding.
Signaling that my tutoring session had ended.
“Guess we have the rest of our day to ourselves.”
I smiled as I opened my eyes. I looked over and saw Clint close my laptop. He sat down across the rounded table from me and smiled, holding his own cappuccino in his palms. Then a plate sat down in front of me from one of the baristas behind the counter.
Holding, just for me, a buttery croissant with drizzled chocolate on top.
“For you, beautiful,” Clint said.
I grinned. “My hero.”
He sipped his drink. “So, what do you want to get up to today? You don’t have any more tutoring scheduled, right?”
I shook my head. “Nope, that was my last session. I hope they’re all right.”
“That happens pretty often, doesn’t it?”
I shrugged. “As long as I get paid, I guess.”
He smiled. “I really think we should try that restaurant we saw on the other side of town. We don’t have too many more nights here before we pack up again.”
“We need reservations for it. You think they’ll take us on such short notice?”
“I’m sure it couldn't hurt to place a call. I’d like to try and get a table up on that rooftop. The locals tell me we can see all of Rome from up there.”
I smiled. “That sounds fabulous. Can you give them a call?”
“Sure thing. You know, after I chow down this croissant.”
I giggled as he picked his up and shoved it into his mouth. I shook my head as I sipped my drink, watching him lick his fingers. A week and a half in Rome didn’t feel like enough time. But I couldn't wait for our next stop. Naples, Italy. Where I had booked us a tour of Pompeii and a place to stay in a quaint Air B&B with a view of the ocean.
Half price, since someone cancelled last minute.
My eyes fell back out the window as Clint pulled out his phone. I heard him talking to the restaurant as I relaxed into the back of my mind. In my own thoughts. Convincing Clint to travel with me hadn’t been as hard as I expected it to be. And with his stepmother already on my side of things, swaying him took almost no effort. Mom wasn’t happy, of course. But I was working on letting things with her slide. As Clint kept reminding me, my mother wasn’t my child. It wasn’t my responsibility to take care of her.
And if she couldn’t support what I needed to be happy, then she didn’t deserve the same courtesy.
“Good news, beautiful. The restaurant has an opening up on their rooftop tomorrow evening.”
I nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Which leaves our evening tonight open for our enjoyment.”
I grinned. “Mmm, sounds delightful.”
“Rae.”
I slowly looked over at him. “Yeah?”
He held out his hand. “Come here.”
He wiggled his fingers and I slipped my palm against his. I watched his grasp take over my hand as I set my drink down. I sighed heavily. He always knew when thoughts of my mother took over my mind. And as my stare found his, he nodded.
“She’s going to be okay.”
I sighed. “I know. I know she is.”
“She hugged you tight before we left. That’s a good sign.”
“I don’t know. I just wish--”
“Things can’t be different, Rae. But they can get better. Trust me, this traveling will do you both some good.”
I smiled softly. “It’s already doing me a lot of good.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Oh, that reminds me. How’s the book coming along?”
He blushed. “It’s fine.”
“Come on, Clint. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. How’s your writing? You got up pretty early this morning. Did you have a dream you wanted to jot down?”
He paused. “I wanted to catch the sunrise in order to be able to accurately describe it.”
“Will I be able to read some of it soon?”
“Once I can get it edited and written down cohesively, yes.”
“So, no to the immediate future.”
“But yes to eventually. Gotta look on the bright side, gorgeous.”
I snickered. “Well, I can’t wait to read it. You’ve killed me with that cliffhanger you left me on.”
“Patience, baby. Patience will be your friend with this.”
My laptop dinged again and I furrowed my brow. I faced forward and opened my laptop before a massive smile crossed my face. I had reviews pouring in from everywhere. So many people leaving such kind things about my ability to help them learn English. Payments came through, doubling the number I had this morning. I had enough money to push through a second payment. Another dump into my bank account that would more than cover our journey to Naples twice over.
“I take it something good happened?”
I snickered. “Pay day is always good.”
Clint paused. “Wait, you’re getting paid again?”
“Uh huh.”
“Didn’t you just get paid?”
I tapped the ‘enter’ key before closing my laptop.
“So long as I have a certain amount of money in my account on the site, I can dump it into my bank account at any time without penalty fees. I just hit that threshold, so my second payday of the week should be in my account come tomorrow morning.”
He smiled brightly. “I’m so damn proud of you.”
I grinned. “I’m proud of your stepmother going after your father the way she did to get you extra money for this traveling.”
He chuckled. “She’s nothing if not persistent.”
“How did she even go about that anyway?”
“I mean, it’s pretty simple. She kept calling him until he picked up. And when he hung up on her, she called his lawyer. Essentially, he gave her the money to shut her up.”
I giggled. “I take it no one knows about your book.”
He shrugged. “I’m giving it time.”
“Giving it time? You published the first book in your series two weeks ago, and it’s already been downloaded ten thousand times.”
“I mean, half of those were freebie giveaways.”
“But that’s still five thousand downloads at regular price.”
“Are you saying I should feel bad about taking my father’s money?”
She scoffed. “Hell, no. Not at all.”
“What I’d like to do is make my father’s money stretch before I start sending it back over to Cecilia in chunks. You know, half for me, half to help her out. Because she didn’t have to give me the entire sum to travel. I would’ve been okay on even a third of it.”
“You’re a good man, Clint.”
“And you’re a good woman. I’m still not sure how I wound up with someone like you.”
I smiled. “You throw it down good in bed.”
He grinned wildly. “Whatever it takes, I guess.”
I threw my head back in laughter before I closed my laptop again. When I opened my eyes, I saw a small gift bag sitting on top of it. My laughter died down as I looked at the beautiful white bag, tied shut with a pretty purple bow.
“What’s this?” I asked.
Clint licked his lips. “I, uh, saw this in a window when I went up to buy the croissants. I figured you should have it, Cleaver.”
My eyes flickered to his. “Cleaver, huh.”
He winked. “It’s cute, for a dorky girl.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha.”
I snatched the gift up and tugged at the bow. But when I gazed down into the small bag, I gasped. I looked up at Clint as he smiled at me, then I reached into the bag to pull it out.
It was a beautiful silver necklace with a charm dangling on it. A quill, of all things. It shone in the sunlight of Rome as tears rushed my eyes. I looked over at Clint and he got up from his chair. He came over and held out his hand, beckoning with his fingertips.
“Let me put it on you. See how it fits.”
I dropped it into his palm before gathering up my hair. And as he clasped it around my neck, he trailed his fingers over my shoulders. I shivered at his touch. My eyes fluttered closed as his lips fell against my ear. He kissed me softly, chuckling as goosebumps flooded my neck. And as I licked my lips, he massaged my upper arms.
“For the budding English nerd. I guess quills can be used for doodles and such, too.”
I giggled as my head fell back, but he promptly stopped me in my tracks. He cupped my cheeks from behind me and let his lips fall to mine. I slid my hand through his hair. I bent backwards, trying to press my lips deeper against his. Our tongues collided. I found myself in a completely different world. He smiled as he released my lips, neither of us caring about who might be glancing our way.