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“You have the rest of your life to live, Vinny. Make it your own. And if you ever become a father, then you have the power to be different.”
“Come here, baby.” I pull her up by her arm and hold her to my chest. “I’m sorry. No, you didn’t deserve that. I wish I was there to comfort you when you needed it.”
“You are now,” she murmurs against my neck.
I rub circles on her back and she tightens her arms around me. “And you’re comforting me, dolcezza,” I whisper into her hair, closing my eyes and breathing her in.
Chapter 25
Lexi
My phone goes off for the second time and I pat around me on the bed to find it.
“Hello?” I answer groggily.
“Lexi? It’s Lindsay,” she says, a desperation in her voice that has my eyes flying open.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m so sorry. Something happened at the deli.”
“What? Is my grandfather alright? Did he fall?”
“No, he’s fine. But the work on the bathroom caused an unforeseen event to occur.”
“Lindsay, what are you trying to say?”
“The toilet and sink were taken out because the new ones were arriving today, but a pipe burst overnight, and the entire place is flooded.”
“What?” I breathe, words failing me.
“I don’t know what happened.” She’s panicking. “Everything’s ruined. The new flooring, furniture, the refrigerated display cases, and I don’t even know about the kitchen yet.”
“Where’s my grandfather?”
“He’s here. When I arrived, he had already called the plumbers to get the water flow stopped.”
“He didn’t call me,” I say throwing the covers off. “Why didn’t he call me?”
“I don’t know. I found out when I got here and knew I had to call you when I saw you weren’t here.”
“Thank you. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
I throw my phone on the bed and quickly brush my teeth, wash my face, and get dressed in whatever I find first.
Vinny left early this morning to go to a meeting or something, and I fell back asleep. I didn’t think I’d wake up to this.
When I pull up to the deli, I see Lindsay and nonno standing in the parking lot out back, and I run up to them, hugging my nonno.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“There was nothing you could do.” He’s defeated. I can see it in his eyes and in the slump of his shoulders.
“That’s not the point.” I go to look inside, by nonno grabs my arm to stop me.
“Don’t.” He shakes his head.
“Here, nonno, have a seat.” I walk him over to a folding chair he keeps outside for breaks, and have him sit. “We’ll figure this out. It’s all going to be fine. I figured it out after the break-in, and I’ll figure it out now. I’m going to call the insurance company to see where we go from here.”
