Summer in Sorrento by Melissa Hill Read Free Book Online Page A

hand.
                  “ Pressure, from your wife ?” she queried.  She knew some men did n’ t wear a wedding ring.  “ Or your girlfriend ?” she added coyly.
                  But Jacob shook his head and took another sip of his Peroni.  “I’ m single ,” he smiled, his eyes involuntarily and briefly appreciating the cleavage that Camilla had been intent on showing off.  “ It was my sister actually.  She lives in Boston, but she has been here for about a month, helping out.  She insisted that I get my ass over here . ”
                  Maia grimaced.  “ So your father is badly ill then ?” she commented gently.
                  “ H e’ s been dying for years ,” Jacob said, bitterness creeping into his voice.  “ But Adriana, my sister, said this time i t’ s for real.  He has cancer . ”   Maia exchanged a glance with Camill a— where their conversation had been somewhat easy going, awkwardness had now crept in.  “ Sorry, I do n’ t mean to come across that way.  I t’ s just, my dad and I do n’ t get along . ”
                  Maia pondered what to say next.  “ You do n’ t have to talk about it if you do n’ t want to . ”
                  Jacob thanked Camilla as she placed a chicken breast and pasta on his plate and offered him salad and garlic bread.  He picked up his fork and sat silent for a moment, as if figuring out whether or not he did want to speak.
                  Finally, he took a deep breath .“ My mom, sister and I, we moved to New York when I was four, Adriana was seven.  You see, my dad, he had left my mothe r— and she found that she did n’ t have a bunch of options here in Italy as a single mother.  So she took us and left.  He did n’ t fight her on it.  And he started a new famil y— just like that, like we had never existed.  But my mom, she was just responsible for rebuilding her entire life, with two little kids, in a foreign country, all by herself, she worked as a cleaning lady, scrimped and saved, did everything she could for us, just to get b y— he never helped.  Hell, he could barely even be bothered to send us birthday presents . ”   He took a bite of his meal and his eyebrows rose out of appreciation.  “ This is great, seriously - fantastic ,” he said to Camilla, who looked as proud as punch at his compliment.  “ Anyway my mom always did well by us, and since I have been an adult, I have always been intent on paying her back, for all of her sacrifice s— I bought her a townhouse in Brooklyn, she wanted something with a yard.  I make sure she always has what she needs and more.  But him, well, I do n’ t have a lot of patience for him.  Real men do n’ t leave their wives, abandon their families.  Tha t’ s just how I feel . ”
                  Maia put her fork on her plate as she considered Jaco b’ s admission.
                  “ So your sister is closer to him, yes ? ” Camilla ventured.
                  Jacob nodded.  “ Adrian a’ s always been a more forgiving person.  But I suppose that she also remembers some of the happy times with him.  She was older than m e— I just do n’ t remember him being anything other than a jer k— and my mo m’ s struggle, after he left us, tha t’ s always been forefront in my mind.  Adriana thinks that she convinced me to come over here out of some sort of dut y— but I ca n’ t say that I did for that reason . ”
                  Maia finished chewing the food in her mouth and swallowed.  “ So why did you come ?” she asked tentatively.
                  Jacob seemed to consider his answer.  A beam of sun suddenly entered from the kitchen window, striking the table where they sa t— fading in its light against the pale pink backdrop of the summer sky.  “ I suppose I came because I wanted to show him I am