Dario’s mom steps out with a bag on her arm. “That Charlie is not at all what I expected.”
“How do you mean?” Dario asks.
“The tattoos and the hair and the optimism in his eyes like your father had,” she says, a happy-sad smile on her face. “He surprised me.”
“He surprised me, too,” Dario says. “In a good way.” He smiles to himself, thinking about his blue-haired boy back in the barn house talking to his family about their inevitable engagement.
“Absolutely, in a good way.” She takes his face in her hands. “Now remember, the world is never as cruel as our minds convince us it is. Be kind to yourself and don’t forget tobeyourself.”
“I’ll take the note,” Dario says, borrowing the language they use in the opera world when the director gives a fix.
“When you need me, please call. You’re never too old to need your mother. No role is more important than you, sweet Dario. Always know that. Ti amo.”
“Ti amo, Mamma.” He kisses both of her cheeks before closing the car door behind her.
As soon as the black car rolls away, a swelling sense of relief hits Dario, which only escalates when he turns back and discovers Charlie standing barefoot at the gate.
Dario rushes to his blue-haired American and poorly attempts to lift him up and spin him around. “All went well?” he asks, setting Charlie down before they tumble into the garden and ruin their clothes in the mud.
“All went, but I’m not sure I would say well.” Charlie nervously toys with Dario’s tie.
“What happened?” He stills Charlie’s hands with his own. They shake slightly.
Charlie sighs out the weight of the world. “My dad wasn’t very receptive. I think, after everything that went down with my uncle, he is leery when it comes to windfalls and people with money. He won’t accept it. At least not right now.”
“Why don’t I get him on the phone? I would be happy to talk with him and make my intentions known.” Dario is undeterred. In the boardroom, he learned by example from his grandfather how to crack even the toughest nut. Whether through flattery or mastery, everybody could be charmed. Maybe he wasn’t all that dissimilar from Emilio in that way.
Charlie bites his lip, shakes his head. “That’s just it. He does want to meet you. He just wants to meet you…in person. On their turf.”
The sandcastle of Dario’s hopes and dreams gets swept away by the rising tide. “My birthday is in three months,” he says.
They should be ring shopping and setting a date and figuring out how to turn the Amorina museum into a ceremony space, the Tasting Room into a banquet hall.
“I know, but my dad said he’d have no part in our marriage if he didn’t meet you in person.” Charlie’s gaze falls to the grass. “My family means the world to me. I can’t go through with this without their blessing, and I can’t get married without thempresent.” In the light, Charlie’s hair almost takes on a deeper, sadder shade of blue, an ocean that Dario could drown himself in.
“I would never ask you to.” Dario imagines a frowning Charlie on their wedding day, looking to his side of seats and not seeing anyone there. He knows how he would feel if his mom missed his big day.
Aside from his mother, Paola, Gabriele and, begrudgingly, Emilio, who else would he invite? Violetta and her family, of course, but he wouldn’t say they were close. There are business associates and press people who will attend at the behest of Amorina executives, but he doesn’t count them among his own.
The Moores may be his key tomore. More loved ones, more family, more people to entrust and care for and look after. The way Charlie has described them, he will take to them easily, just as he’s taken to Charlie. He shivers to think of what impression he has already made on them given this elaborate ruse to find him a spouse.
“Did you tell them about my agoraphobia?” Dario asks.
“Of course not,” Charlie says. “I wouldn’t tell something that personal without your permission first. And I would never ask you to fly an ocean away when I know you’re not feeling up to it.”
“Right.” The impasse sizzles hot between them. Was this week all for nothing?
“I still have my ticket home for tomorrow. I can go. It’s no trouble,” Charlie says with leaden voice, “I’m sorry if I wasted your time.”
Dario reaches out for him, imploring. “No time with you will ever be wasted, Charlie Moore.”
Charlie, teary-eyed, kisses him. In that kiss, he scrounges up the strength to rebuild the sandcastle. His great-great-grandmother never gave up on Amorina despite all the manysetbacks. He refuses to give in, to back down. He will fight this. Even if the thing he is fighting is himself.
“I will find a way to get there,” he says, determined. “After this week, I’ve been reminded that the world is big, and if I continue to let my life get small, I will fail Amorina and I will fail myself. I’ve been meaning to get to America sooner rather than later anyway.”
“Dario.” His name from Charlie’s mouth is loaded beyond belief. A projectile soaring through the air that he deflects.
“Charlie,” he says, letting Charlie’s name morph into a butterfly flitting on the breeze. “I am going to go to Pennsylvania and meet your family. I don’t know how, but I know when—before my birthday—and I know why—because…” He hovers over the words that sit sugar-cube-sweet on his tongue before ultimately deciding to trust himself. “I’m falling for you, Charlie, and I want this to work.”
