“Kurt, this is my younger son, Blaine. Blaine, this is our guest, Kurt, from America.” Blaine smiled again and held out his hand to Kurt.

“Nice to meet you,” Blaine said. Like his brother, Blaine had a soft British accent. Kurt took his hand in his, taking a deep breath as their skin touched.

“You too.” They shook hands and Cooper poured himself, Bianca and Blaine each a glass of wine. Kurt was suddenly aware that he was still holding Blaine’s hand when he awkwardly reached his free hand over his arm to accept the glass from Cooper. “Oh, I’m sorry!”

“It’s all right, Kurt.” He chuckled as Kurt finally released his hand, taking a long drink of wine. Kurt sat quickly back in his seat and downed what was left of his drink. Cooper laughed at him, offering the bottle of wine. Kurt held his glass out and Cooper emptied what was left into it. “What brings you to Montelunato?”

“I signed up for a bus tour of Italy and jumped ship yesterday. My plane doesn’t leave until the day after tomorrow and the bus was getting a little uncomfortable for me. Montelunato seemed like a good place to unwind for a few days,” Kurt answered, his voice tinged with sadness. He was avoiding the real reason he was there but he didn’t want to get into that with a family of strangers.

Dinner was risotto dotted with mushrooms and sweet peas that Bianca said Pietro grew in their garden out back and the most delicious lamb that Kurt had ever tasted. They sat around the table even after the meal was over, laughing and drinking together and Kurt felt at ease for the first time in over a week. After what he guessed was his fifth glass of wine, he yawned and stretched. Even though he had napped that afternoon, the long day of walking through the winding cobblestoned streets had worn him out. He rose and began to clear his plate and Pietro’s, intending to say thanks by washing the the dishes before he went to bed.

“No, no, Kurt! You are our guest!” Blaine stopped him, gripping his hand as Kurt reached for Pietro’s plate. “We’ll never have any business if the word gets out that we make our customers earn their keep!”

Cooper laughed and swatted Kurt’s and Blaine’s hands away. “It’s my turn to do the dishes anyway. Go, relax. It’s your vacation, Kurt,” Cooper reminded him, taking Kurt’s plate from in front of him. Kurt sighed defeatedly and bid them all good night before returning to his room and collapsing on his bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.