“That’s really sweet, Matteo,” she whispered. “Does your dad cook?”
“We cooked together.”
“That’s even better.” She smiled, and this time, it seemed more genuine.
The kitchen grew quiet, except for the sizzles from the pans, and the smells of breakfast started to permeate the air. She hopped down from the counter and started coffee, just like mamma had taught her.
“Can you believe this place is all ours?” she said.
I turned my face for a second, and then we looked around once more. Our eyes came back to each other, and we both smiled.
“We’ll make so many wonderful memories here, I just know it. It feels so much like home already, right?”
“Sì,” I said, mixing the eggs. “Wherever you are, that’s home to me—always.” I repeated the words in Italian. I felt it wasimportant to start teaching her the language, since she’d be around Italians more, and I wanted her to know me. Who I was.
We were quiet as I placed the pancakes on one stone platter and the eggs on another. She had grown quiet, and just as I was about to turn around and check on her, she whispered my name.
I turned. “Yeah?”
“I need a good memory to be made right now. I really, really,reallyneed it.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and so did she, like she was cold. I could tell she was frozen, but in a way that told me she was trying to keep at bay the fear and uncertainty the dream had inflicted on her, as if she thought she’d be transported back if she moved. I wanted to bring her into my arms, my strength killing her fears. But I knew that would only make it worse, somehow. She wasn’t ready to face her time in that fucking hell, and I wasn’t going to push her closer to the fire if she wasn’t. She was working toward it, even if she was going slow.
“All right, baby,” I whispered. “Give me a second.”
She didn’t even nod, just stood there, frozen. Figaro’s diamond collar glittered in the darkness as he made circles around Stella’s legs, purring. Just for that, I’d love that fucking cat forever.
The old castle had a record player. Stella had been excited about it, and I’d taken it into our bedroom earlier so she could play the old records we’d found. When Mia had stopped by to see the inside of the place, she left and came back with a stack of old records my parents had at their place.
I hauled ass upstairs and grabbed the player, plugging it in when I returned to the kitchen. I looked through the records and found one I liked, and soon, the kitchen filled with static, then the song.
Slowly, gently, I took her hand in mine and turned her to face me. It was a more upbeat song. Not something that would makeher even sadder. “My Girl” by the Temptations. Her eyes lifted to mine when I started to sing and move her around the kitchen. She didn’t know my steps at first, but she was quick to learn.
A few seconds later, she laughed, and a big smile came to her face. Mine matched hers.
She laughed. “Did your mom teach you how to dance like this?”
“Yeah. She taught us all how to dance. Even Saverio.” I grinned, thinking about how Nonno made it a requirement that all the soldiers learn how to dance, to humble them romantically. “I’m mostly going along with the beat of the song, but there’s some rumba thrown in.”
“I love this! I love your voice even more! Sing to me again.”
I did, and she fucking loved it. I’d sing to her every day, all day long, if it made her happy.
Her smile was so wide, I wasn’t sure if she could stop. My old man was known to say that if mamma caught laugh lines, he’d done something right in his life. Mamma had them. I’d be sure Stella had them too. No matter what it took to put them there.
“Will you dance with me like this at our wedding?” she asked as the song was coming to an end.
“Sì,” I said, turning her out and bringing her back close to my body. “I’ll dance with you like this for the rest of our lives.”
“Promise?” she whispered. Her eyes were vulnerable enough to make my heart ache.
“You have my word,” I breathed out, kissing her pulse. “La mia parola è buona come il mio sangue.”
“Your word is as good as your blood,” she translated. “Is that why…I mean, I could have never imagined a love like this. I don’t ever want this to end. My heart…” She refused to finish, and I understood why. It was the same feeling I had. The only fear that I’d ever known.
Life without her.
“What’s between this space.” I touched her heart, then mine. “It won’t ever end.”
