“That doesn’t surprise me since you didn’t eat your breakfast.”
“I know. To be going on a trip made me too giddy to eat.”
No. The truth was, Rini had been the cause of her lack of appetite. He suffered that he’d burst in last night asking for a divorce.
The car didn’t have a guidance system. Trust his wife to have brought some maps in her purse. She played navigator as they left San Vitano and entered Switzerland in the little car. Every vehicle on the road passed them, but he didn’t care. He was having the time of his life, as if they were playing hooky. The radio worked and they listened to music on the way to Scuol.
“See that railway station over there, Rini? Pull up in the parking and I’ll get us some lunch.”
He did her bidding. While he watched her run inside on those beautifully shaped legs, he realized he could read all the signs printed in Romansh and Italian. Elation shot through him he could understand both languages. Back in Rezana, he hadn’t been able to make sense of anything.
You’ve come a long way, Rini, and all because of Luna.
“Here we go!” She ran back to the car with a sack in hand. Every male head turned in her direction. Once inside the car they began to eat.
“I have to admit these are the best pies I ever tasted.”
“Didn’t I tell you?” She’d finished hers. There was nothing wrong with her appetite now. “I bought four in case you get hungry later. Here’s some Grapillon, too.” She pulled out the fruit drink for him. “It’s nonalcoholic and one of my favorites. I have another treat, but it’s for later.”
He couldn’t wait. His wife had to be the most delightful companion on earth, not to mention the most entrancing. Being next to her without touching her was becoming more and more intolerable. Once again, they were on the move. “I can see mountains ahead.”
She nodded. “They’re spectacular. We’ll be coming to Scuol soon. I used to love to ski.”
“I don’t remember doing it.”
Luna flashed him a smile. “You were an excellent skier, like you are at all sports.”
Everything she said touched his heart.
In time they arrived in the village of Scuol. “Take the boulevard to the right. You’ll come to the church that was once a monastery and turn right. My grandparents’ house will be at the end of the street.”
“Who lives there now?”
“A professor and his wife.”
Rini followed her directions until they came to the two-story chalet with flowers filling the window boxes. “What a charming home.”
“I loved it.” She pointed. “That was my room on the second floor.”
Too bad they couldn’t go inside and spend the rest of the day in bed.
“Do you want to stop and pay a visit?”
She shook her head. “No. It won’t be the same without my family there.”
He heard pain in her voice. “But I’m so glad you suggested we drive here. Would you like to run by your cousin’s home and say hello?”
“I don’t think so. This trip is for the two of us. Let’s keep it that way.”
“It means a lot to me that you wanted to bring me here. As long as we’ve come, there’s one thing I would like to see if you’re willing. It will give us a chance to stretch our legs. Afterward, we can have dinner at a restaurant close by.”
“Sounds good to me. That is, if we can manage to climb out of this contraption.”
Her full-bodied laughter warmed him clear through. “Maybe we’d better stop and reserve a room first. The bed-and-breakfast is around the corner beyond the park.”
Every house and building exuded a quaint, alpine flavor Rini liked very much. His wife had grown up here. He marveled that after marrying him she’d adapted to a new life in San Vitano. If she’d ever expressed that she’d been homesick, he didn’t know. There was a lot about her he didn’t know.
Luna took the lead and registered them before they left for the castle on the hill. “Schloss Tarasp dates from the eleventh century,” she explained. “It’s the glory of the lower Engadin. If we hurry, we might be able to hear a piece on the organ. When I was little, my grandmother told me it had two thousand five hundred pipes. I spent hours trying to count all of them.”