Be Brave With Me

Chapter Twenty

On their first morning, it was a soft shake of her shoulders.

On their second, a raised voice and making as much noise as possible on his way to the shower.

On their third, he stripped away their comforter and held it hostage.

Every morning, the poor guy tried his best. To no avail.

Theo had always been the better morning person between the two of them. No matter how hard he tried every morning, she simply burrowed her head deeper into her pillow and mumbled something about how he needed to learn to take a hint before waving him off. In the end, he always took off alone and let her get back to sleep. For the past three days, she hadn't gotten nearly enough of it.

Who could've known that their summer jobs entailed getting up at five o'clock every morning? Who would've thought they'd end up in some Italian mountain village helping out a tiny Italian nonna and her grandson with their family business? Kitchen duty, taking care of one thing or another, running around all day to serve and pamper the guests. Not that she wasn't used to early mornings and long hours, but usually... she was the one being pampered during all of it.

These days, though, she was the one skidding into the kitchen half an hour late. Mascara all over the place, a messy bun gracing the top of her head. "I'm here, I'm here. I'm sorry, Nonna. Mea culpa. Where do you need me?"

She might happen to be familiar with every trick in the book to make her manicure last as long as possible. But that didn't mean she wasn't game to chip her nails if there was work to be done.

Theo turned to her from his spot at the sink, a smug grin on his face. "So you did wake up in the end, sunshine! It was the missing blanket that did it this time, wasn't it?"

She poked her tongue out at him. "Will you please ask Nonna what I can do for her?"

Theo tossed an apron in her direction. "Today is arrival day. We get a bunch of new guests, most of the old ones leave after breakfast. There's still a ton of prep to do."

She nodded and went to gather a bowl from one of the high shelves.

Nonna intercepted her like a promising rookie cornerback drafted in the top ten. "No, no, Aurora. Tu sai perché."

"Oh, come on, Nonna. Please. I promise I'll be more careful this time."

Granted. Yesterday alone, she had ended up with more shells than raw eggs in her bowl, burnt herself on the bread oven, dropped not one but three dishes that had shattered into a million pieces on the stone floor.

Nonna had banned her from kitchen duty after the last broken dish. For all eternity - according to Theo's rough translation.

Grumbling under her breath, she let Nonna usher her out of the kitchen. If she could only explain to her that it was her inexperience that made her flustered and her flustered state that made her clumsy.

She, clumsy! Of all things!

If Nonna only knew she used to float across every important catwalk on this earth. If Nonna only knew...

... Aura was sure the old lady wouldn't give a damn.

Her old life, her status, her name - it had no meaning up here in Ravello.

Which was exactly what she needed right now, she reminded herself. A chance to prove herself as just Aura - not The Aurelia Carmichael, dipped in fame and scandal these days. Just Aura - who had no idea how to crack an egg. Just Aura - sleep deprivation, burn marks, and a bruised ego included.