"Would you come inside? I am sure any minute my mom will be here and she"ll invite you as well," Harmony said to Drake.
"I guess, yes. I don"t have the heart to decline your invitation," he said, smiling at her.
For some reason, Harmony felt like her heart skipped a beat because of the man"s smile. She didn"t know why but she was getting affected by his gestures.
"Drake!" Catalina called the man as soon as she came out of their house. "I am happy to see you, young man. How have you been?"Harmony was so surprised because of how casual her mother was as she greeted Drake. It was as if her mom was really close to the man.
"Hi, Ms. Catalina. I"m great. It"s nice to see you again," Drake said as he was smiling from ear to ear.
He went towards her mother and to her surprise, Drake hugged her so tight.
"I missed you, Ms. Catalina," Drake said as he distanced himself to her mother. "I have been planning to go back to Italy but I never really had a chance.
"It"s okay, I know that you have been so busy," her mother said, smiling widely at the man. "Shall we go inside? You came at the right time because I just baked something delicious," she said and then she held Drake"s hand.
Harmony was just looking at her mother as she led Drake the way heading to their house.
Drake looked back at her and then he smiled.
She was left shaking her head because how could her mother have forgotten about her.
Harmony walked her way to their house as she let out a deep sigh.
She found her mother and Drake in the kitchen. Her mother proudly showed Drake her baked goodies like banana bread and blueberry muffins.
She couldn"t help but smile.
"Mom, Drake needs to go home. It"s already late," she couldn"t help but say to get their attention.
"Silly, I can stay here and just let the family I am going home a bit late tonight," Drake said and he seemed so entertained on her mother.
"So, tell me," she said as she sat down on one of the chairs. "How did you two know each other?"
Drake and her mom looked at each other and smiled.
"Well, it"s really a long story but here"s the shortcut for that. I worked as a part time tour guide whenever there"s no class and one of the tourists that I had was Drake. He was so impressed by how I entertained him back in Italy and he was so fond of me because we came to the same place. That"s how all it started. So, we talked about everything under the sun until he finally needed to go back home," her mother narrated.
"I see. That sounds cool," she said and then she took one of her mother"s muffins.
Her mother was really good with baking. The goodies really look delicious.
"Mom, this is really delicious," she said as she couldn"t help herself while she was chewing the food. "Go, get one, Drake! This is a must to taste," she added as she took another one and gave to Drake.
"Wow, thank you," he said and then he could see the amusement in his eyes.
"Hey, why? What are they staring at?" She said as she couldn"t stand the way that he was looking at her.
He shook his head.
"Spill it, Drake or else this would be the last you will enter this house," she said and then rolled her eyes.
"That"s rude," her mother replied.
"It"s okay, Ms. Catalina," Drake said and smiled at her mother. "It"s just I couldn"t help but wonder how you could put all the food that we ate in your stomach. It"s flat," he added. His voice was full of wonder.
Harmony and her mom chuckled.
"Hey, that"s really, Harmony. If she wouldn"t eat that much then it"s not Harmony at all," her mother said which made her laugh.
"Thank you, mom. I really appreciate that," she said in between her laughter. "I am sorry, Drake. In this little body, I really have a big appetite," she added.
Drake nodded.
"Oh, okay! Now, I know," he said and then shrugged his shoulders.
"Go, taste that," Catalina said and pointed to the muffin that he was holding.
"Okay," he said and then he opened his mouth and took a bite. He even closed his eyes like those men in TV commercials.
Harmony couldn"t help herself but to laugh because of what Drake did.
He was really funny. Every day she felt like she was getting to know a different side of him. And, she couldn"t deny that she was getting closer to him but thankfully, she knew that she had to guard her heart."Wow, Harmony, you are right. One of the best muffins I have tasted in my whole life," he said while making his eyes wide and continued eating the muffin.
Her mother was shaking her head because of Drake"s reaction.
"You know what? You can pass a TV model for food," Catalina uttered which made all of them laugh.
"Here, have this," her mother gave each of them a glass of orange juice. "This is fresh juice and I made it for Harmony," her mother added and looked at her.
"Thank you, mom," she said.
Since she came back, she never failed to make her feel that she wanted to take care of her. She had always been there for her and she really appreciated her presence.
Catalina made extra effort to know about Harmony.
"Wow, that"s so sweet," Drake said while looking at them."I could still remember that every time we will be going somewhere in Italy, you will always say that you wish that you have your daughter with you along with your husband so they could see the beauty of the place," he couldn"t help but uttered.
"Yeah, right," Catalina smiled. "By the way, how about the two of you? How did you meet each other?"