Guilio was so excited. She was, too, but when it was over, joy would go out of her life.
By the time Lucca had got up on Wednesday morning, Annabelle had already left for his father’s villa. Lucca knew the homecoming party was a mixture of business and pleasure. He supposed Guilio had involved her in some way, but he was disappointed she hadn’t told him her plans for today. He’d wanted her to go shopping with him, but it was evident he wouldn’t be seeing her until the party.
Over the last few days she’d been preoccupied, even elusive at times. Much as he appreciated what his father was planning for him, he would be glad when it was over. With her no longer doing photo shoots for his father’s ad campaign, Lucca was excited to spend whole days with her. Among many things, he wanted her opinion of where would be the best place to add another room on to the house.
At noon Fortunato came by to pick him up so he could buy a new suit. Since his nephew had recently got his driver’s license, he jumped at the chance. After lunch at a teenage hangout, they did some shopping.
Lucca hadn’t had a new suit in ages. He didn’t like to wear them unless he had to. Guilio despaired of his son’s preference for casual clothes. Tonight Lucca decided to surprise him and show up wearing something his father would approve of. Annabelle had never seen him in a suit, either.
Fortunato told him to go the whole route—new shoes, tie, shirt. The works. By the time they got back to his house, Lucca was tired. He hid the pain from his nephew. But when Fortunato drove off with the assurance that he’d be back later to pick him up, Lucca took some painkillers to ensure he got through the evening without anyone suspecting something was wrong.
Annabelle would know, of course. She noticed everything. He’d missed her so much he was half out of his mind.
“Hey, you look all right,” Lucca teased his nephew when he came by for him at six.
“Yeah? You look spiffy yourself.”
“Thanks. Your parents don’t mind my borrowing you once in a while?”
“Of course, not. I heard Mama tell Papa maybe I’d stay out of trouble now. When are you going to go looking for a car?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out what kind I want.”
“Can I go with you?”
“Sure.”
Fortunato grinned. “I want a sports car some day and race it along the Corniche. I love driving.”
“And girls.”
“Yeah. That, too.”
Lucca chuckled and pushed him gently on the shoulder. “You’re all right, Fortunato.”
“She’s going to be there tonight. I can’t wait.”
Neither could Lucca.
When they reached the villa, it turned out Annabelle was nowhere to be found. After a while her no-show made Lucca feel as if he’d been punched in the stomach.
The family welcomed him en masse, as did the staff from the plant his father had invited. He gave Maria an extralong hug. Guilio worked his way through the crowd and embraced him. His eyes reflected pure pleasure when he took in Lucca’s new suit.
“Now that you’re here, we can get started. We’re going to begin in the screening room before we have dinner out in the garden.”
Lucca sensed something big was about to happen. His father was actually acting nervous, which wasn’t like him at all. He followed him through the villa to the room his father had added on many years ago. He needed his own place to work and view his designs on a theater screen. This evening the room was packed with at least sixty chairs. Enough to accommodate everyone.
“You sit here, Lucca.” Front row center.
As the others filed in, Lucca felt the hairs lift on the back of his neck. What in the devil was going on?
His father stepped back. “Tonight is really a twofold celebration. It represents two dreams of mine that have come to pass. The first is that my son Lucca would survive the war and come home for good one day.”
Hushed cries of surprise and happiness broke out from the family seated around Lucca.
“The second has to do with the first. You see, I thought he wouldn’t be coming for a visit until August. But he surprised me, forcing me to move up my timetable two months for the surprise I’ve been planning in his honor for over a year.”
What?