“They aren’t aware that a donation was made in their name, but yes, when I get around to telling them, you can thank them.”
“I imagine it’s not on your priority list to talk about me right now, so don’t worry about it.”
“No, it’s not that. I just want to have a better idea of your timeline before I make a mistake and tell them too much about you while you’re here and then you’ll be forced to experience the onslaught of the Italian mother of a single son.”
“Got it. Better wait till I’m gone.” She smirked, even though she didn’t like the feeling of the words as they left her mouth.
His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket to glance down at it.
“Excuse me,” he said. “This is important.” She could hear the formal tone in this voice, the one he used when he needed to be mayoral, so she figured he might be a while. She wandered around the gigantic empty room, observing. She’d need to buy sheets, at least, but not too much else. Maybe she’d get a clothing rack to keep her things off the floor. She could get an area rug too. It might be nice to feel something cozy underfoot when she stepped out of bed in the morning. And maybe a curtain for the window to close if she needed to. She shook her head. What was she thinking? This wasn’t arealhome. She only needed sheets, a towel, a coffee cup, that’s it—likeshe was in a military bunk. Anything else was superfluous. This was a stop on the journey, not the destination.
“All good?” she asked when he returned to the room. His face was dark, as if he were turning something over in his mind.
“I need to talk to you about something,” he said, and her stomach sank. Never in the history of ever did a conversation that started out like that turn pleasant.
“OK. I can’t stay here, right? Something happened with the documents? Am I being deported?”
“No.” He smiled, light flooding back in. “I know that you don’t want to talk about your father, but I can’t lie to you, and this concerns him.”
“Go,” she said, waving her open palm in mock welcome.
“His property has been sitting there empty for thirty years and, as such, is considered abandoned. Letting it rot is wasteful and also ruining what little of the remaining buildings might be able to be salvaged. At this point, it is considered to be managed by the town and therefore can be sold by the town. Obviously an auction is a good option, but I always felt that the location and potential of the property make it a very attractive buy. So, I reached out to a private real estate agency that deals with this kind of thing and honestly hadn’t heard anything from them in three years.”
“Let me guess. Until now.”
“Just now,” he said, pointing at his phone. “This doesn’t really concern you except for one thing. I haven’t been out there since I called the agent, and now I really do need to go see what kind of shape everything is in before the realtor gets a potential buyer to visit.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“I’m not exactly asking, but I think it would be weird if you didn’t come.”
“I don’t,” she said.
“Woooo-ooo! Ciao! C’e qualcuno?” Two voices floated up to them from downstairs. Lora jumped in surprise, but Andrea smiled.
“Ehilà!” he called. “We’re coming down!” He turned back to Lora. “Will you at least keep it in mind?”
“I will keep in mind that you think it would be weird,” she said, turning to walk down the stairs.
As they descended, Giada and Vivi stood in the kitchen at the island unpacking shopping bags full of fruit, vegetables, coffee, and cheese.
“The door was open, so we come in. Unless you are busy upstairs—” Giada grinned.
“We were just looking at the bathroom,” said Lora.
“We shopped. She wanted to buy bread, but I said no because this is better,” Vivi said, pulling a round loaf of bread from another bag. “I made it today.”
“How beautiful! Thank you! You didn’t have to do this. I was going to go buy a few things later,” said Lora.
“Nooo, we’re friends! It’s normal. Remember you help me in the kitchen, so this is my turn.” Giada grinned, opening the refrigerator.
“It’s so sweet, really,” she said, feeling a tightness in her chest.
“I wish I could stay, but I really have to get going. I have a meeting with the school directors in fifteen minutes,” said Andrea. He double-kissed Giada and Vivi, leaving Lora forlast. He kissed her once, close to her ear, and said, “I’ll check in with you later.”
Lora figured that Giada would immediately interrogate her once Andrea was gone, but instead, she busied herself inspecting the mostly empty cabinets.
“You need so many things. There is a greatmercato dell’usatonear Vivi’s restaurant.”
