“I know a place,” he said.
Viv grinned. “Let’s go then.”
“You sure?”
She considered it, and found she was. Santo wasn’t a stranger, he was Felipe’s brother. Her gut told her he was someone she could trust, and over the years she’d learned to rely on her own intuition. She wanted to spend some time with him, more than she could remember ever wanting to spend time with anyone else in her entire life.
“I’m sure.”
Out on the street, Santo put his leather jacket around her shoulders and steered them a couple of blocks over to a late-night diner. They ate pie and drank espresso, and in the space of the next two hours they fell as much in love as it’s possible to with someone you’ve only met for the first time that night. She sensed his loyalty and deep dependability, and he admired her free spirit and lust for adventure. They saw in each other things they felt were lacking from their lives. “Don’t you mind having to stay in this one place forever?” she asked, having heard how he was next in line to take over the family gelato business.
“My place is behind the counter at Belotti’s.” He sounded surprised she’d even consider it as a negative. “It might not be for everyone, but it suits me just right.”
“But not Felipe?”
Santo laughed, a deep roll in his chest that made Viv want to lay her head against it. “What do you think?”
“That he’d have the place closed down within a week,” she said. “He’d go out and leave the gelato machines unmanned until the entire place overflowed with it, and then the entire street, and then the entire city would disappear under a gelato flood. And all the kids in New York would have to come outside with spoons and eat and eat until it had all gone again.”
“I quite like the idea of the whole city blanketed in Belotti’s vanilla,” he said.
“And strawberry, and chocolate, and banana,” she said.
He shook his head as he stirred his espresso. “We only make vanilla.”
She sat back on her bench seat. “Ever?”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. The best vanilla you’ll taste in your whole damn life, good enough to be the only flavor you’ll ever need.”
She sat back and crossed her arms, still wearing his jacket. “I guess I better try it for myself, hadn’t I?”
“Come tomorrow,” he said. “First thing.”
“Rock stars don’t do first thing,” she laughed. “I’ll come after lunch.”
* * *
—
AND SHE DID. SANTO spotted her at the end of the line snaking out of the painted glass door the next afternoon and hurriedly untied his apron, begging the rest of the day off from his father as he filled a tub with vanilla and grabbed neon plastic spoons. His father didn’t object; Santo never took a sick day or asked for time off, and frankly he was pleased to see a flash of spontaneity from his youngest son. Maybe he’d have thought differently if he’d known the reason behind Santo’s sudden departure; he and Santo’s mother held Maria and her family in high regard, and although it was early days, they were all hopeful it would be a match, in time. As it was, Santo disappeared out of sight and presented a laughing Vivien with the tub of gelato, much to the disgruntlement of the rest of the line.
“Rock stars don’t stand in line,” he grinned, steering her quickly away down Mulberry Street.
She held the gelato up and studied it. “Am I about to have my mind blown?”
Santo watched as she dug the translucent lime-green spoon into the tub and took a huge mouthful. No half measures for this girl—he’d realized that much last night as he’d watched her perform, and then again afterward when she made fast work of her slice of pie and most of his too. Life at full tilt was not a pace he was accustomed to, and he’d been in a constant, joyful tailspin ever since she’d taken his hand in the club last night. He watched with pleasure as her eyes rounded and she came to an abrupt halt on the sidewalk.
“Bloody hell! Santo,” she gasped, then laughed, delighted. “You were right. Flood the city with this stuff, New York needs you.”
He shrugged, thrilled that she loved it. “I told you it was the best.”
She ate another huge spoonful, then held some out to him.
“I already know what it tastes like,” he said, laughing and shaking his head.
“Yeah, but not when I feed it to you,” she smiled, holding it out with her head on one side.
Santo saw the challenge in her blue eyes, the intoxicating boldness of her, and after a moment of hesitation leaned down and took the gelato from the spoon. She slid it slowly out of his mouth and watched him swallow.
“Well?”
“I didn’t think our secret recipe could be improved on,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows. “And now?”
“Now I know there’s one thing in the world that makes it even better,” he said slowly, enjoying her answering smile.
“You’re cute, Santo Belotti,” she said.
He felt a flush climb his neck. No girl had ever called him cute in his entire life, and his name sounded brand new in her English accent.
“Want to go see a movie?” he said.
“Now? In the afternoon?”
“Sure, why not?”
She frowned. “I don’t know,” she said. “Because movies are for best?”
“For best? You mean, like, for a special occasion?” Santo laughed, surprised. “Movies are for any time.”
He noticed clouds cross her eyes as she thrust the half-eaten gelato back into his hand. “Maybe for you.”
“And today, for you too,” he said, trying to understand what he’d got wrong. “My treat.”
“Can we watch St. Elmo’s Fire?” she said.
He pretended to deliberate, even though he was always going to say yes. He’d have watched paint dry for the chance to sit beside Viv in the cinema for a couple of hours.
“As long as we can get popcorn.”
She wrinkled her nose in the way he was already coming to recognize as one of her little quirks. “Go on, then, you’re on.”
* * *
—