“Excuse me?”
“You’re not from the pastry shop?”
“No, sorry, I’m a friend of Lucas’s, and I need to talk to him. Could you tell him Maya’s here?”
“Tell who?”
“Lucas.”
“Lucas is my grandson. He’s a good boy.”
I sighed. I had a bad feeling that this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. “He is a good boy. But I was wondering…”
“Just a moment.”
The light on the screen went out.
I stuck my hands in my pockets and waited, feeling the cold soak through my clothes, and every time I exhaled, a cloud of vapor escaped my lips. I jumped nervously, walked back and forth. Time passed, no one opened up.
A minute went by. Then another. Then another.
He wasn’t coming.
Sad, disappointed, I turned and walked toward the taxi. At least I’d tried. I’d failed. And I was frustrated, and I could have broken down then and there. I wished I’d done something earlier. But I’d tried.
Then the gate opened.
“Maya?”
I turned, almost terrified. Lucas was there on the sidewalk looking at me. He was wearing a knit sweater, a button-down shirt, and chinos. He looked too formal. I could see he’d started growing a beard, and his eyes looked tired. I must have been the last person he was expecting, but I didn’t see any sign of happiness in his face.
“Hey,” I whispered.
“Hey.”
“How are you?”
“Getting by,” he said. “What about you?”
“I’m good.” I motioned toward his house. “Big party tonight?”
“It’s my birthday,” he said hesitantly.
I was so nervous, I didn’t know what to say, but I managed to get out, “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s funny, we’ve talked about so many things, but never about when our birthdays are. Mine’s in April.”
He sucked in a breath, and his eyes lit up with fear, suspicion, doubts, confusion. “What are you here for, Maya?”
I had been chilly on my way there, but now I was burning hot: in my cheeks, my hands, all over. “I wanted you to know I’m going back to Sorrento. Giulio and Dante came to see me. We’ve worked things out, and they want me to go back there. To stay.”
“They’re in Madrid?”
Still feeling insecure, I responded, “Yeah. They want me to tell you everyone at the villa misses you.”
“They could have called me,” he said almost scornfully.
