“Aunt Lola,” I barely got out.
Maggie Beautiful nodded. “A reminder of fate, and how out of control these men are when it comes to the women they love. Life will be life—even stronger than a Fausti.”
“The thing is,” Scarlett chimed in, “lately…I feel out of sorts. Broken. When it comes to…whatever it is that makes me feel. Maybe it’s a gift from above—not being able to feel everything has made me more comfortable—but on the other hand, I’m more paranoid too. What if Ishouldbe feeling something? All this time, even if I struggled with figuring out what was going on, I felt so much, and now…” She snapped her fingers. “Just about gone. The feelings come and go in huge waves.”
“Yeah, unless it comes to Brando,” Maggie Beautiful said.
“That’s true,” she whispered. “My connection to him hasn’t lessened at all.”
“Maybe it’s menopause,” Maggie Beautiful said. “It can change all sorts of things. I was reading an article about a best-selling author the other day. Her fans were wondering why she just stopped writing. She said when menopause hit her, it just about erased all her creativity. That must be so awful.”
“Perhaps.” Scarlett shook her head. “But Luca isn’t looking to me for answers like he was before.”
“And Eva, that gorgeous woman, hasn’t had any dreams.”
They both looked at me.
“That leaves me,” I whispered. “He thinks I’ll be able to foretell the future for him—or warn him if something feels off.”
Scarlett nodded.
Maggie Beautiful squeezed my hand. “I’m going to get checked out. That way we know for sure.”
“Still,” Scarlett said, “life is not guaranteed. When you asked him for the favor, it made him superstitious. Like you asking called forward something dark.”
My eyes locked in the distance, on Ermanno, who was staring at me. I couldn’t seem to look away. It wasn’t him I was seeing,but a future that seemed more uncertain than ever. “It won’t make a difference,” I whispered to Maggie Beautiful. “Scarlett’s right. Your request of him, plus what happened with Aunt Lola and how Uncle Tito is doing…your husband is going to want answers. If Scarlett can’t feel and Eva is dreamless…that leaves me. The thing is, though, I haven’t had the urge to write. And that’s how I usually work my feelings out. I found that out for sure on the island.”
No one said anything, and then I grasped Maggie Beautiful’s hand.
“Is it true…do you think Luca would…help Uncle Tito get home to Aunt Lola?”
I could feel her stare on my face, and finally, I met her eyes. They were glossy with tears.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I do. It would be what Tito wanted. And one thing I know for sure: when Luca feels an action is worth the cause, he’ll do it without flinching, because he believes in it.”
So that meant, if he’d be willing to do that for Uncle Tito, he’d expect someone to be willing to do that for him, if his wife left him first. Maybe Scarlett couldn’t “feel” like she had before, but we both shivered at the same time, knowing wherever we were headed wasn’t going to be an easy path. Not when Luca was possessed by the thought of his wife leaving him.
“Are you all right,SignoraFausti?”
My eyes dropped down to Ermanno, who looked like he might run and tell Rocco there was a problem. I wrapped myself up tighter in my soft sweater and plastered on a fake smile. Scarlett and Maggie Beautiful did the same.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice the only thing betraying me. It cracked. “Just thinking about that road up ahead.” I nodded to it.
It was rough looking terrain. We were close to the outskirts of the property. The closer to it, the wilder it became.
“Let’s go the other way, then,” Maggie Beautiful said, turning his shoulders around. “No use in making our life harder than it already is.” She sighed. “Candy bowls for everyone when we get back to Ari and Rocco’s place!”
The only one who cheered was Ermanno.
Chapter 23
Stones and Ripples
Rocco
The echo of revving dirt bike engines reverberated inside of my skull in memory as I gazed out the window of my father’s office. My sons, Amadeo and Ludovico, along with my nephews and nephew by marriage, Saverio, were riding this day.
My eyes, though, were on my wife.
