Chapter 23: Resta

Gianna stood up when she saw us.

Her suitcase fell over on the step, and she left it there.

Her coat was soaked at the shoulders, and her makeup had run and dried.

She looked like the girl who used to fall asleep on our dorm couch with her shoes on.

"I'm not here to ask for anything," she said.

"You've said that before," I said.

"I know. This time I mean it."

A horn tapped twice in the lot, and Bridget's Civic pulled up with its headlights on us.

She got out, leaned on the door and looked at Gianna for a long time.

"I'm just here for the ride home," she said. "Pretend I'm a lamp."

Gianna almost smiled.

"Dante left on Saturday," she said. "He took his clothes and the good knives and he didn't leave a note."

She pressed her lips together.

"The restaurant's still closed. My name is on the lease, and I owe the landlord four months. My mother changed her number."

"I'm sorry," I said, and I was a little surprised to find I meant it.

"Don't be. I earned it."

She wiped her face with her wrist.

"I came to tell you the truth, because I'm out of other things to give you."

Luca shifted on the step beside me.

I didn't look at him.

"Go ahead," I said.

"He never meant to marry you."

Nobody spoke.

"He told me in January, in the restaurant's walk-in."

"Told you what?"

"He'd get through the wedding and wait for the gifts to clear. After the honeymoon he'd say he wasn't ready."

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