didn’t feel the same way?” Rosa questioned as she watched Katelyn turn away from her. She didn’t answer at first; it hurt too much. Katelyn had convinced herself that, after spending eight glorious weeks with her, he had felt the same way she did. Why he had a change of heart, she didn’t know.
She told Rosa how he persuaded her to allow him to take her to California for her college visit. No one was the wiser because Kevin and Sylvia had taken a lengthy two month honeymoon and Jake was away at the summer camp he ran, for at risk youth. None of the people in her inner circle were aware of the relationship developing in their absence.
“Gianfranco came with me to register for classes and I kept hoping that he would whisk me away and take me back to Italy with him. He had ample opportunity to do just that; the last weekend we spent together there were times that I caught him looking as if he wanted nothing more. But there was always something that held him back. I was desperately in love and he was basically telling me, it’s been fun, but it’s over. He told me he had to go back to Italy and that there was a chance he might never return.” Her face felt damp as she relived those awful moments over and over again in her head.
Rosa handed Katelyn a tissue from the table and ordered her to take a sip from the fresh glass of wine she had just handed her. “Sometimes things aren’t always as they seem. Maybe he had reasons for leaving you back then. Did you ever ask him why he left?”
She didn’t look at Rosa but she felt her friend studying her closely. “I didn’t ask. I was too afraid of what his answer would do to me. It was better for me to believe that his leaving had nothing to do with how he felt about me. When I found out that I was pregnant, a few weeks after he left for Italy, I didn’t dare tell him. I wanted him to stay with me because he wanted to stay. I didn’t want to be that woman, the one who trapped him into a relationship he didn’t want and would later regret.”
“Is that why you left California and came back to New York, because you were pregnant with Jenny?” Rosa asked.
“Yes, Kevin was really great through that whole phase of my life. He offered to let me move in with him and Sylvia but I didn’t want to go to Montana and I couldn’t do that to them. They were newly married and I needed to learn to raise my baby on my own. Kevin and I had agreed before I left for college that it would be best to sell our parent’s home; we did, just before I left for school. I was shocked when Kevin handed me the proceeds from the sale; he said it would see me through my rough times. He didn’t want me to quit school and he didn’t want me to struggle. The money from the sale of the house and some other money my parents left me not only paid for school but allowed me the freedom I needed to be a good mother.”
Rosa had always known that Katelyn and Kevin had shared a special bond but she had more respect for the man after hearing this story. Kevin Donavan was a great guy in her book and if he weren’t already married she would have tried to snag him herself.
“All that time your brother never suspected that Gianfranco was Jenny’s father? What about Jake, he was around you all the time; didn’t he try pressuring you into telling him about Jenny’s father?” In fact, Rosa was surprised that the man she had come to know in Jake hadn’t figured it out for himself at some point. Jake was a great guy too, he was around a lot, so Rosa got to know him pretty well. She had always believed that he was hiding some deep secret of his own and told Katelyn as much.
“You seem to be forgetting that they weren’t around that summer to know that Gianfranco and I had been seeing each other. As far as they knew, Gianfranco had gone back to Italy directly after the wedding and I had enrolled in summer classes in California. It was easy to keep my secret from them. Kevin and Jake assumed that
She told Rosa how he persuaded her to allow him to take her to California for her college visit. No one was the wiser because Kevin and Sylvia had taken a lengthy two month honeymoon and Jake was away at the summer camp he ran, for at risk youth. None of the people in her inner circle were aware of the relationship developing in their absence.
“Gianfranco came with me to register for classes and I kept hoping that he would whisk me away and take me back to Italy with him. He had ample opportunity to do just that; the last weekend we spent together there were times that I caught him looking as if he wanted nothing more. But there was always something that held him back. I was desperately in love and he was basically telling me, it’s been fun, but it’s over. He told me he had to go back to Italy and that there was a chance he might never return.” Her face felt damp as she relived those awful moments over and over again in her head.
Rosa handed Katelyn a tissue from the table and ordered her to take a sip from the fresh glass of wine she had just handed her. “Sometimes things aren’t always as they seem. Maybe he had reasons for leaving you back then. Did you ever ask him why he left?”
She didn’t look at Rosa but she felt her friend studying her closely. “I didn’t ask. I was too afraid of what his answer would do to me. It was better for me to believe that his leaving had nothing to do with how he felt about me. When I found out that I was pregnant, a few weeks after he left for Italy, I didn’t dare tell him. I wanted him to stay with me because he wanted to stay. I didn’t want to be that woman, the one who trapped him into a relationship he didn’t want and would later regret.”
“Is that why you left California and came back to New York, because you were pregnant with Jenny?” Rosa asked.
“Yes, Kevin was really great through that whole phase of my life. He offered to let me move in with him and Sylvia but I didn’t want to go to Montana and I couldn’t do that to them. They were newly married and I needed to learn to raise my baby on my own. Kevin and I had agreed before I left for college that it would be best to sell our parent’s home; we did, just before I left for school. I was shocked when Kevin handed me the proceeds from the sale; he said it would see me through my rough times. He didn’t want me to quit school and he didn’t want me to struggle. The money from the sale of the house and some other money my parents left me not only paid for school but allowed me the freedom I needed to be a good mother.”
Rosa had always known that Katelyn and Kevin had shared a special bond but she had more respect for the man after hearing this story. Kevin Donavan was a great guy in her book and if he weren’t already married she would have tried to snag him herself.
“All that time your brother never suspected that Gianfranco was Jenny’s father? What about Jake, he was around you all the time; didn’t he try pressuring you into telling him about Jenny’s father?” In fact, Rosa was surprised that the man she had come to know in Jake hadn’t figured it out for himself at some point. Jake was a great guy too, he was around a lot, so Rosa got to know him pretty well. She had always believed that he was hiding some deep secret of his own and told Katelyn as much.
“You seem to be forgetting that they weren’t around that summer to know that Gianfranco and I had been seeing each other. As far as they knew, Gianfranco had gone back to Italy directly after the wedding and I had enrolled in summer classes in California. It was easy to keep my secret from them. Kevin and Jake assumed that
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