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‘Watch some cartoons?’ Chiara asked eagerly.
‘Yes, let’s do that.’ He took her hand in his and they wandered over to the couch.
As Jess got back to preparing the main course of ragu sauce to go with the locally bought pasta, Chiara’s favourite, her body swayed to the beat of the Italian music playing in the background.
Ten minutes in, Nonno reappeared, a finger to his lips. ‘She’s fallen asleep.’
‘Oh bless, she must be exhausted.’
‘As you would be, too.’ Nonno placed his hand on her arm. ‘The only regrets you’ll have in your life, bella, will be the things you didn’t do, trust me on this.’
Biting her bottom lip to stop from crying, she nodded. ‘Thank you, Nonno, I appreciate you so much.’
He kissed her forehead. ‘I know you do.’
Another knock at the door had her looking to Nonno with confusion, then racing from the kitchen to see who it was. The face she was met with almost brought her to her knees, but she grabbed hold of the door just in time to stop herself. There was a moment of hesitation as they just stood there, staring at each other.
‘Morgan.’ His name rushed out of her trembling lips.
‘Jess.’
‘What are you doing here?’ With her mind whirling, she didn’t know what else to say.
‘Visiting you.’ He smiled but it was a little hesitant. ‘Can I come in?’
‘Yes, of course.’ She stepped aside. ‘Come in, please.’
Footfalls came up behind her, and she turned to see Nonno, staring at her, his eyes wider than she’d ever seen them. ‘Nonno, this is Morgan.’
Giuseppe’s face spread into a huge smile. ‘Ah, Morgan, finally we meet, benvenuto.’ And before Morgan had a chance to work out what the word meant, Nonno did just that, and welcomed him into his arms with a firm, manly hug that was genially returned by Morgan.
‘Nice to meet you, too,’ Morgan said with a smile, as the two stepped back from each other.
A few seconds ticked by. Clearing her throat, Jess looked to her nonno.
‘I’ll go and check the cooking,’ he quickly said, by way of excusing himself.
Now on their own, Jess looked at Morgan, really looked at him, for way too long. Was he really here? Did he know about Chiara already? But how? She wanted to welcome him into the lounge room, but Chiara was asleep in there, and until she told him about her, she didn’t want to put either of them in an awkward position.
‘Sorry to be a bit lost for words, it’s just, I can’t believe you’re actually here,’ she said, finally finding her voice. ‘In my apartment, all the way over the other side of the world,’ she added, trembling to pieces on the inside.
‘It is a bit of a surprise, so I get it, Jess.’
‘A bit?’ she said with a strangled-sounding chuckle. ‘More like a lot.’
‘Yeah, about that.’ He grimaced. ‘Sorry for not pre-warning you, but I wanted a chance to tell you in person, that …’ He reached out and took her hand in his as his blue eyes searched the depths of hers. ‘I love you, and I can’t bear the thought of not being able to love you every day for the rest of our lives.’
‘Oh, Morgan, I love you, too, so very much.’ Jess couldn’t stop the sudden tears now falling. ‘But there’s something very important I have to tell you, before we talk any more about us, and how we feel about one another.’
Morgan’s expression immediately fell into one of concern. ‘What is it, Jess?’
She fought to find the right words for something as big as this.
With her abrupt inability to speak, he stepped closer to her, his expression softening. ‘I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but I love you more than anything. And I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and with Chiara, if she’ll allow me to, that is.’
This man was the most wonderful human being she’d ever met, and he loved her, deeply. Would he still feel the same when she told him? Her breath caught in her throat. She knew this conversation had been coming, but she hadn’t expected it to be face to face.
Footsteps quickly approached, halting her words, and Chiara appeared, rubbing her sleepy eyes. ‘Mum, who’s this?’ She padded towards them.
