She Loved in Silence, Left in Silence Chapter 08

She Loved in Silence, Left in Silence Chapter 08

His head jerked up. A tear slid down his cheek. “I went out and bought you calcium pills! I heard pregnant women get deficient!”

I thought of the paper bag he’d pressed into my hand at my front door, and something twisted painfully in my chest.

“If you’d been there. If you’d reached out and grabbed my hand, maybe I wouldn’t have fallen. If you’d come to the hospital with me, maybe I wouldn’t have had to face it alone. But Enzo-when I needed you most, you were laughing it up with the Corleones. I don’t need you anymore.”

His mouth hung open. Not a single sound made it out.

Cold sweat rolled down his forehead in heavy beads.

He stretched a trembling hand toward me toward the hem of my coat-but his fingertips stopped in midair, as if he no longer had the right to touch me.

I turned and pulled open the SUV’s door.

Dante walked back around to the driver’s seat.

The door shut. The wind outside cut off in an instant.

In the rearview mirror, the dark figure kneeling under the lamppost shrank smaller and smaller.

The car was uncomfortably silent.

Dante turned on the radio. Something soft and slow. The tension in the cabin eased a little.

“Sorry. You had to see that.”

He glanced at me, then snapped his eyes back to the road. “Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He paused. “Are you okay?”

I answered him-and answered myself. “I’m fine. It’s over.”

For the next month, I deliberately avoided every place Enzo might show up.

Work. Tasting sessions. Walks with Oreo. Life was quiet. Full.

Until that night, when Dante’s restaurant was previewing the new menu.

I’d just reached the front door when I saw a familiar silhouette crouched on the steps outside the

glass.

Enzo. In that black trench coat, badly wrinkled now. Like he hadn’t ironed it in weeks.

His jaw was rough with stubble. His eyes were sunken. He’d lost so much weight he looked like a different person. He was clutching a huge cardboard box, stuffed full of baby things-tiny clothes, tiny socks, a set of bottles.

When he saw me, he jolted to his feet.

The contents of the box scattered everywhere.

“Vera ” His voice was a wreck. Like he hadn’t had a sip of water in days. “I’m begging you. Tell me the baby’s still there. You were just trying to hurt me. Right?”

He stumbled toward me. I instinctively stepped back.

Dante materialized at the right moment, planting himself between us. “Mr. Enzo. This is private property. Please leave.”

Enzo stared at me, eyes shot through with red. “Vera. Please. Don’t lie to me. I went to the hospital. They wouldn’t let me see your records. I know it was my fault. I shouldn’t have just stood there that day.”

Then he dropped to his knees.

The crack of his kneecaps hitting the concrete was sickening.

Inside the restaurant, every diner stopped mid-bite. Faces pressed against the window.

“Every night I dream of a baby calling me Daddy. I bought a crib, but I don’t know how to put it together. Vera. Please. Tell me the baby’s still here.”

“Enzo.” My voice was steady. “Do you remember what you said? You said the women chasing you were all better than me. You said I’d never find anyone after you. You said your family would never accept me.”

His whole body shook. Tears poured down, splashing onto the pavement. “I was wrong. I know I was wrong. I already told my parents-I’m not going through with the Corleone marriage –

“It’s too late.” I crouched down in front of him, meeting him at eye level. “That baby isn’t coming back. And neither am I. You picked your family. So go run your family business.”

Dante held an umbrella out to him. “Mr. Enzo. It’s going to rain tonight. Be careful on your way

home.”