In time she would leave again and take her son with her. They would start a new life, but they would both always remember their time here.

When she reached the bedroom on the end, right across from her own, she paused in front of the closed door and pressed her hand against the painted wood.

Everything was about to change. She didn’t know where they would end up, but as of this minute, her world had been tilted on its axis. Until this morning she’d wondered if her son would be interested in inheriting Marcelli Wine and the acres of vineyards around the house. Now, apparently, he might be next in line to inherit a whole country.

She opened the door and stepped into the colorful, toy-filled bedroom and smiled as her son sat up.

“Good morning, sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?”

“Mommy!” Danny held out his arms.

When she plopped down on the mattress, he climbed into her lap and leaned his head against her chest. Automatically she picked up his treasured stuffed tiger and handed it to him. He held it close while she wrapped her arms around him and rocked him back and forth.

“We have a busy day,” she said softly. “So many things to do. Grammy M and Grandma Tessa have finished your costume.”

He looked up at her and grinned. “For my play?”

“Uh-huh. I think maybe later we should practice your lines again.”

“I know ’em.”

She smiled. He knew his three lines about as well as any other child in his preschool class. Which meant the play would consist of a lot of parental prompting and giggles from the kids.

Danny snuggled close. She breathed in the scent of him, knowing she could find him in the dark by smell alone. He was her child and her world. From the moment she’d found out she was pregnant, she’d known it would always just be the two of them. Well, as much as it could be the two of them, given her extended and loving family and the fact that she lived in the same house as her parents and both grandmothers.