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

look.”
    After a moment, she heard his
footsteps on the stairs. Nicholas was back from working at the winery together
with his grandfather.
    He kissed her on the head and
knelt down next to her. “What’s this?” He pointed at the box.
    “I’m cleaning out the storage room
and I found a box that seems to belong to Elvira or Angelo. Most likely Elvira,
since these are women’s clothes.” She picked up the notebook and handed it to
Nicholas. “This was in it.”
    He took it from her and turned it
around. “Is there a key?”
    “No, I didn’t find one,” Sofia
said.
    “I’m sure it’s easy to break
open.” Nicholas began to fiddle with the lock.
    “Shouldn’t we ask Grandpa and
Grandma first? It doesn’t belong to us.”
    Nicholas stood up. “If it belongs
to Elvira, it may be important. It may say something about Angelo. Of course,
we’ll give it to Grandpa. But let me see if I have something to open it without
breaking the lock.”
    Nicholas went downstairs and came
back up with a tiny screwdriver with a thin blade. He stuck it into the keyhole
of the diary, jiggling it a little. After a few attempts, the lock sprung open.
“Not much of a security device,” he murmured.
    He opened the book and began to
page through it with Sofia peering over his shoulder. They read the first
entry, then glanced at each other, stunned.
    “It does belong to Elvira,”
Nicholas said. “And here she writes something about Angelo.” He handed the
diary to Sofia.
    “My God,” Nicholas said. “This may
tell us something about what happened back then,” Nicholas said. “You’re right,
we better tell Grandpa and Grandma. What else was in the box?”
    Sofia looked up. “A photo, I think
it’s of Angelo. And a bunch of envelopes. Must be letters.”
    Nicholas examined the photo. “Yes,
this is Great-Uncle Angelo. Wow. That’s how I remember him. He had these black
eyes that seemed to burn you when he was angry. Fortunately, he wasn’t angry a
lot, at least not at me. I liked him.” Nicholas smiled. “I hope he’s still
alive and okay. I’d love to see him again.”
    Sofia pulled out the bundle of
envelopes. The rubber band broke when she tried to pull it off. It was
obviously old. She opened one of the envelopes. There was a piece of paper in
it, a letter. Sofia began to read, then stopped. “These must be letters from
Angelo to Elvira. Look at the signature and the date.”
    “Oh, my … this was in 1988, you’re
right, this is from Angelo. Let’s take this to Grandpa and Grandma.” Nicholas
looked at his watch. “They’re probably having lunch.”
     
    “Definitely my brother.” Martin stared at the photo. “This
must have been before they got married. He still had longish hair. He cut it
short later.” He handed the photo to Maria and picked up the diary, paging
through it. Maria looked over his shoulder. Nicholas and Sofia stood next to
her. Sofia leaned over, trying to catch a glimpse.
    “Boy, this is amazing. Thanks for
finding this.” Martin glanced at Sofia. “This may be a treasure … not in the
usual sense, but it may help us find out what happened to Angelo.
    “I’ll read the diary and then you
can have it as well. We also have to give it to George Silver.” Martin opened
the book again and began to read quietly.
    Sofia hoped he was a fast reader.
She was really curious about the diary.
    “Well here is something.” Martin
raised his head. “As I suspected, my no-good brother was involved with a bunch
of criminals.”
     

Chapter 6
     
    Maria sighed. She had hoped her husband would find something
positive in the diary, but that had been wishful thinking. She felt sorry for
him, knowing that he was torn between love for his brother, sadness at having
lost him, and disappointment in him and the way he had conducted himself.
    Martin slapped the diary on the
table. He looked upset. “This is going to be difficult reading.” He paged
through the book. “Fortunately, it’s not too