or birds were dropped off with special nursing needs, she took them to the west wing of the palace. Nicco had remodeled several of the rooms into a kennel to board the sick or injured wildlife during their convalescence.
If the animal or bird could be saved, Callie brought them back to health. Then they were freed to live in the huge preserve with its giant trees, greenery and small fresh water lakes donated to the public by Nicco’s younger brother Enzo, the ruling prince of the House of Tescotti.
Though Ann’s agent had given her a hard time about her former willingness to do anything to get noticed by a talent scout, she wasn’t sorry she’d entered for the Who Wants to Marry a Prince? benefit.
In begging Callie to take Ann’s place at the last second because of an emergency, her sister had ended up married to the elder Tescotti prince who’d renounced his title so he could lead a normal life. Callie and Nicco were now a divinely happy working couple with a precious daughter and two pets they doted on.
Ann wanted that same kind of happiness. After being around them again last night, she realized she needed to end it with Colin. He had many wonderful qualities, but the fire simply wasn’t there. To go on seeing him would be cruel. For both their sakes it was time to end it.
Only one man had ever made her feel she was about to go up in flames, and he’d been able to accomplish that by simply looking at her with those silvery eyes. But he was the kind of man who set every woman’s heart on fire. A rogue she’d instinctively known was not husband material.
She may have made a lot of mistakes in her life, but getting involved with Don Juan incarnate wasn’t one of them, thank heaven!
While she stood there on the path wondering how to tell Colin the truth so it would hurt him the least, Valentino forged ahead. He knew exactly where to find his mistress. Chloe followed wherever Valentino went, prancing like a deer.
“Come on, Anna. We’re going to have to hurry to catch up with them.”
Halfway to the lodge she saw a dark head peer around the trunk of a massive chestnut tree. It was a boy of olive complexion and curly black hair who couldn’t have been more than eleven or twelve. He was too thin for the worn-out white T-shirt and baggy pants he was wearing. His solemn black eyes swallowed up his piquant face.
Intrigued, she called out “Buon Giorno!” in her best Italian. Ever since her sister’s marriage, she’d been studying the beautiful language on the side. If Callie was already speaking it fluently, so could she in time.
Her greeting must have frightened him because he disappeared behind the tree without saying anything. He was supposed to stay on the path. No doubt he’d come to the preserve without supervision. Taking it upon herself to investigate, she let go of the stroller.
Before she could reach him, he darted off in another direction, making it impossible for her to catch up to him. As she turned on her heel to get back to Anna, she saw a small black basket with a lid at the base of the tree. It wasn’t like any workmanship she’d ever seen.
Curious, she picked it up and lifted the lid to see inside. As far as she could tell it was a baby squirrel, but it lay so still she had no idea if it was alive or not.
Had the boy come on his own to the preserve hoping for someone to help save it?
She looked all around for any sign of him. Except for the sound of birdsong and insects whirring about, nothing moved.
Tucking the basket under her arm, she walked over to the stroller and continued pushing it to the hospital.
Instead of entering the lodge through the main entrance to the waiting room, she went around to a private side door used by hospital personnel. It opened to an entry way leading into the surgery.
“There you are!” she spoke to the dogs as she opened the door for them to enter. The swinging door to the surgery had a window. She saw Callie over at the sink.
Ann tapped on the glass. When her sister spied her, she came out to the hall with a smile wreathing her face.
“All my favorite people!” She scratched the dogs’ heads and gave her sleeping baby a kiss. Then she lifted her head to look at Ann. “What have you got under your arm?”
With a brief explanation about the boy, she handed her sister the basket. “Obviously he was too shy to come all the way to the hospital. I hope it’s not too late for the squirrel.”
“I’ll check it right now.”
“While you do that, I’ll take everyone home and start dinner. You did say there was chicken in the fridge.”
“Yes. Nicco loves it roasted with carrots and potatoes.”
“Mom’s old recipe?”
Callie nodded.
“That’ll be a cinch.”
“Put Anna in the swing so she can watch you. I should be home in time to feed her.”
“Okay. Let’s go everybody.”
After leaving the lodge, she pushed the stroller back to the palace. The dogs raced on ahead, reminding her of horses who knew where the stable was and couldn’t wait any longer for their oats and water.
Almost to the steps of the west wing, she thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Something told her the boy had been following them, which meant he’d seen her drop off the basket at the hospital.
She felt a little tug at her heart. The squirrel couldn’t be his pet because it was still a newborn. No doubt he had visions of raising it until it was full grown and would follow him around.
Through Callie, Ann had learned that people developed attachments to all kinds of undomesticated animals like iguanas and wombats. A squirrel didn’t sound nearly so strange, especially if a boy’s playground was the woods.
Growing up in farm country, Ann and Callie had been enamored of everything from baby chicks and calves to new foals. But if something went wrong with one of them, it was Callie who always wanted to doctor them.
Ann was a little squeamish in that department. One of her favorite pursuits was to spend time in her bedroom with their family dog. It was there she made up little plays she performed in front of him. He had to be a better audience than any human as he sat there watching and listening in adoration while his tail moved back and forth on the floor.
Good old Jasper. First he’d died, then their dad, then their mom. The home she and her sister had once known and cherished was gone.
With a heavy sigh she hurried inside with the dogs to take care of Anna and start dinner, very much aware that this was Callie’s home, Callie’s and Nicco’s. Ann needed to make one of her own.
The problem was, you needed the right ingredients to come together at the right time and place.
So far that hadn’t happened. Maybe it never would…
Getting closer to thirty every day with no man in her life she wanted to be the father of her children, plus a short-lived acting career in serious jeopardy, Ann realized she needed to do something about her situation.
If she were careful,
