Lessons Learned

Stubborn.” When Summer lifted a brow, he grinned. “Hard in the head and so determined to be the best. Qualities I’ve always found strangely appealing in a beautiful woman.”
    “Merci, mon cher ami,” Summer said dryly. “Then where’s your problem?”
    “You’d trust me.”
    She looked surprised, then moved her shoulders as though he’d said something foolish. “Of course.”
    “She can’t—won’t,” Carlo corrected. “Juliet would find it easier to give me her body, even part of her heart than her trust. I need it, Summer, as much as I need what she’s already given me.”
    Thoughtful, Summer leaned against a crate. “Does she love you?”
    “I don’t know.” A difficult admission for a man who’d always thought he understood women so well. He smiled a little as he realized a man never fully understood the woman most important to him. With any other woman he’d have been confident he could guide and mold the emotions to his own preference. With Juliet, he was confident of nothing.
    “There are times she seems very close and times she seems very detached. Until yesterday I hadn’t fully begun to know my own mind.”
    “Which is?”
    “I want her with me,” he said simply. “When I’m an old man sitting by the fountains watching the young girls, I’ll still want her with me.”
    Summer moved over to put her hands on his shoulders. “Frightening, isn’t it?”
    “Terrifying.” Yet somehow, he thought, easier now that he’d admitted it. “I’d always thought it would be easy. There’d be love, romance, marriage and children. How could I know the woman would be a stubborn American?”
    Summer laughed and dropped her forehead to his. “No more than I could know the man would be a stubborn American. But he was right for me. Your Juliet is right for you.”
    “So.” He kissed Summer’s temple. “How do I convince her?”
    Summer frowned a moment, thinking. With a quick smile, she walked over to a corner. Picking up a broom, she held it out to him. “Sweep her off her feet.”
     
    Juliet was close to panic when she spotted Carlo strolling down the corridor with Summer on his arm. They might’vebeen taking in the afternoon sun on the Left Bank. The first wave of relief evaporated into annoyance. “Carlo, I’ve turned this place upside down looking for you.”
    He merely smiled and touched a finger to her cheek. “You were on the phone.”
    Telling herself not to swear, she dragged a hand through her hair. “Next time you wander off, leave a trail of bread crumbs. In the meantime, I’ve got a very cranky cab driver waiting outside.” As she pulled him along, she struggled to remember her manners. “Did you enjoy the show?” she asked Summer.
    “I always enjoy watching Carlo cook. I only wish the two of you had more time in town. As it is, your timing’s very wise.”
    “Yes?” Carlo pushed open the door and held it for both women.
    “The French swine comes through next week.”
    The door shut with the punch of a bullet. “LaBare?”
    Juliet turned back. She’d heard him snarl that name before. “Carlo—”
    He held up a hand, silencing any interruption. “What does the Gallic slug do here?”
    “Precisely what you’ve done,” Summer returned. Tossing back her hair, she scowled at nothing. “He’s written another book.”
    “Peasant. He’s fit to cook only for hyenas.”
    “For rabid hyenas,” Summer corrected.
    Seeing that both of her charges were firing up, Juliet took an arm of each. “I think we can talk in the cab.”
    “He will not speak to you,” Carlo announced, ignoring Juliet. “I will dice him into very small pieces.”
    Though she relished the image, Summer shook her head. “Don’t worry. I can handle him. Besides, Blake finds it amusing.”
    Carlo made a sound like a snake. Juliet felt her nerves fraying. “Americans. Perhaps I’ll come back to Philadelphia and murder him.”
    Trying her best, Juliet nudged him toward the cab. “Come now, Carlo, you know you don’t want to murder Blake.”
    “LaBare,” he corrected with something close to an explosion.
    “Who is LaBare?” Juliet demanded in exasperation.
    “Swine,” Carlo answered.
    “Pig,” Summer confirmed. “But I have plans of my own for him. He’s going to stay at the Cocharan House.” Summer spread her hands and examined her nails. “I’m going to prepare his meals personally.”
    With a laugh, Carlo lifted her from the ground and kissed her. “Revenge, my