Finding Angelo (The Wine Lover's Daughter, Book 2) Read Online Free

country.
    “At first, things seemed to work
out. Angelo did fine for a while, but soon he kept slacking off and got tired
of the heavy work. He wanted money and success without putting in the effort.
Finally, I had enough and fired him. From then on, he kept doing odd jobs
whenever something came up. Then he met Elvira.”
    “His wife,” Nicholas said. “I do
remember her. She was really nice.”
    “Yes,” Martin acknowledged. “She
was wonderful for Angelo. I’ve never seen him care that much about a person.
And this inspired him to work harder. See, Elvira was a primary school teacher.
She had steady work and made decent money. Angelo’s pride was at stake. He
didn’t want her to be the only breadwinner. So he came back and asked me to
take him on again. We were really busy at the vineyards, and I thought it would
work this time. And it did … for a while.”
    “It was all thanks to Elvira.”
Maria ate the last bite of her dessert, then pushed her plate away. “But Angelo
began to work odd jobs on the side again. We suspected it was illegal work, but
we weren’t sure. And then tragedy struck.”
    “Elvira? I remember she died,”
Nicholas said.
    Martin cleared his throat. “Elvira
was killed in a car accident.”
    “How terrible,” Sofia said.
    “Yes,” Maria said. “Angelo was
heartbroken. I’ve never seen him so desperate.”
    “Problem was, he felt guilty for
her death. And in a way he was.” Martin’s voice sounded angry. “They had an
argument, and from what Angelo mentioned later, it was about his jobs. They
were fighting. Apparently, she took the car and drove off to visit a friend of
hers at the coast. She must have been very upset and perhaps distracted. She
lost control of the car and drove it over a cliff.”
    “Oh, no.” Sofia exhaled.
    “It was horrible. After that,
Angelo seemed to disintegrate. He kept to himself and a couple of weeks later,
he disappeared.” Martin raised his hand and dropped it again on his knee. “I
didn’t even notice it at first. We tried to keep in touch but he completely
withdrew.”
    “Didn’t you say they lived in the
house we live in now?” Nicholas asked.
    “Yes, for a while,” Maria said.
    “The next thing I knew,” Martin
continued. “I received a note from New York from Angelo. It consisted of about
three sentences and said he had to disappear for a while. He was okay and not
to try to find him. I was angry at him … for everything. For spoiling his
chance at happiness with Elvira by obviously getting involved in shady business
again. For withdrawing completely and disappearing.”
    “We tried to find him,” Maria
continued. “We called our relatives in New York. They said he had stayed with
them for a while, but then left. We don’t really have much contact with the
family in New York. One of Martin’s cousins was a bad influence on Angelo.
Well, I guess I may be somewhat unfair. Obviously, it didn’t take much to get
Angelo off the straight path.”
    “So you didn’t hear anything
further from Uncle Angelo?” Nicholas asked.
    Martin shook his head. “No,
nothing.”
    Nicholas caught Sofia’s pensive
look. He gently touched her face. She gave a quick wistful smile.
    “This is just so sad,” she said.
“A brother lost for such a long time. It breaks up the family.”
    Maria and Martin observed her
quietly. Nicholas felt she was thinking of her own sad family story, her
mother’s early death of a drug overdose, her father’s secret double life.
     

Chapter 5
     
    Sofia was sorting through a box of
kitchenware and utensils Maria had left her. Since Sofia and Nicholas had lived
in a small apartment for the last few years, they hadn’t accumulated too many
things and were now grateful for a few hand-me-downs from the grandparents.
    A couple of months ago, they had
moved into the charming old house that belonged to Martin and Maria. Several
members of the Segantino family had lived in the house over the years. Sofia
loved