Page 20 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca

“True. Tell me more about Luca.”

Gabriela wrapped her other hand around the outside of the mug, warming her fingers some. She should be home getting ready for trick or treating tomorrow, but she really needed to talk to someone.

Her first year on the island for it and couldn’t wait to hand out the candy.

“I’m putting him late thirties, I think. I could see right away he’d had a ring on his finger not that long ago, and I thought maybe he’d gotten divorced or something.”

“So it had to have happened recently?” Justine asked.

“Two years ago. I was surprised to hear that. It just told me how hard it had to have been on him.”

“That’s sad. I can’t even imagine how I’d feel. What happened to her, do you know?”

“I was bad and spent a few hours looking him up. I knew where he was from. He said she’d died in a fire while he was at work one night.”

“That’s terrible. They didn’t have smoke alarms or anything?”

“That’s the thing. They did. There was no power, so they weren’t working. I’m assuming they didn’t have a backup, I don’t know. I don’t think of those things. It said that she had candles lit and had taken a migraine pill and was sleeping. One of the candles she’d had lit must have caught fire. The article said she’d died from smoke inhalation.”

Gabriela wasn’t sure they’d post anything else if that wasn’t the case.

“That’s even worse,” Justine said. “I’m assuming they didn’t have children? I hope you aren’t going to say anyone else died in the fire.”

“No kids listed and he said he came here alone.”

She saw a picture of Zoe Brewer. Cute, petite, thin and muscular. She’d owned a yoga studio.

Made her wonder if Luca did yoga. He didn’t seem the type to her, but what did she really know about him?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing more than how he handled his job on the first day.

Or that he laughed at her antics.

Not even antics, just her personality.

He seemed to get her when few others did.

Could be why she got nosier and asked things she rarely did.

And what did she get for her inquisitive nature?

Sadness.

So that meant he’d be off limits.

Not that she thought there could be more, but hey, stranger things could happen.

He’d appeared single. She was.

But the fact that it took him two years to remove a wedding band said he might still be grieving.

She couldn’t get involved in something like that. She had enough drama in her life when it came to men.

“That’s really sad,” Justine said. “How did he seem after he told you?”

“I don’t know. I was too busy hoping that I wasn’t going to choke on my dinner and then say something insensitive or crack a joke.”

“You’d never do that.”