Chapter 45
Luci
Wedding Day
W e drive through the night, the entire next day, and well into the next night. I’m in the car with Nonno then Mamma is driving her car with Nonna. I have no idea where we’re headed, but the city has turned into the country, leading us through the northern Midwest. We finally pull onto a dirt road and stop at a farmhouse lit with the lights on the porch and from inside.
“Where are we?” I don’t know anyone who would live here. Everyone I’ve ever met lived in or near Philadelphia.
“We’re in Wyoming. A safe place. A place he will never find you, find us.” Nonno would never tell me he’s afraid, but the seriousness on his face with a twinge of sadness in his eyes tells me everything he doesn’t say.
A figure in the distance catches my attention as it approaches. Their features come into focus when they open the passenger door and offer me a hand. My heart sinks when I see who it is.
“Hello, Luci. You’re more beautiful than the last time I saw you.” The boy I knew in high school with shaggy blond hair, golden eyes that still shine when he speaks to me, and a young face. I can’t believe he’s standing in front of me.
“Oh my God, Elio. How? When? Why? What?” Apparently, I can’t form a sentence at the shock of seeing him after all these years.
“Luci, let me explain. Aldo found out we were dating. When things went too far, he said we needed to break up. You needed to stay pure, and Aldo said I was a distraction. I didn’t want to hurt you, but Aldo was right, things went too far. I couldn’t handle being physically close to you, yet not having you as my own. When my great-aunt died, she left me this property. I took it as a sign to move out here after high school and escape. I promise I never stopped loving you. I know what happened, and I’m here to protect you.” Tears blur my vision when I think of the boy who broke my heart seven years ago, now a man standing in front of the passenger door.
Nonno walks over, leaning over to Elio, and whispering loud enough that I can still hear him. “There’s a larger problem, one Stella and Caterina don’t know about yet. Let’s go inside and we can figure it out.”
A problem. My problem. Of course, I’m the problem.
“Give me your hand, Luci. Let me help you.” Without looking at him, I place my hand in his and he helps me get out of the car.
I don’t know if I’m sad, shocked, angry, confused. Maybe all of them. I reach to fiddle with my engagement ring when I realize I took it off before taking the test. The stupid ring I didn’t want to begin with.
I reach up to mess with my necklace, but it doesn’t give me the same solace it normally does.
Elio notices my panic and embraces me. His hug is gentle and affectionate. The type of hug every girl wants, well, I guess every girl except me. Alessandro has never hugged me, but he has held me close. When he does, it’s rough but not aggressive. It’s passionate and sensual, the type of embrace I now crave. My shoulders shake as I weep, and Elio continues to hug me. He must think I’m crying because of the situation. In reality, I’m heartbroken about leaving Alessandro, the man I love.
“Come with me. Your family is inside and we can talk about everything. I’m here for you, Luci. I never wanted to leave you and I was so cruel in the way I did it. I want to make it up to you. This time around, I can promise you mind, body, and soul that I will be the man you deserve. You know that, right?” My mouth can’t speak, and all I manage to do is nod. Elio is a good man and I know he would be good to anyone he cares about and right now, that’s me.
Elio interlocks his fingers with mine while we walk into the house. Nonno is sitting, disappointed, while Mamma and Nonna share a look before focusing on me. Mamma is trying to put a mental puzzle together, preparing herself for the worst while Nonna is trying to stay strong for her family.
“Luci, do you want to tell everyone the mess you’re in or should I?” Nonno stares at me, waiting for an answer, but instead, I press my lips together while I shake my head back and forth, tears finally falling.
“La mia dolce nipotina. What’s wrong?” Nonna grabs my face gently between her hands, wiping away my tears. “Tell us, honey.”
“I-I can’t. I don’t want to. Please don’t make me say it.”
“Damnit, Luciana!” Nonno rarely raises his voice, and everyone in the room knows when he does, it’s serious. “She’s pregnant.”
Nonna is still holding my face as she brings my eyes back to her. “Luci, is this true?”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen.” A mix of emotions surrounds the room when I stare at their faces. Anger in Nonno’s face, disappointment in Mamma’s, sadness in Nonna’s, and shock in Elio’s eyes. Elio is the first one to speak up.
“He must have made her. There’s no way Luci would have let this happen. Tell me that’s how it happened.” His kind, hopeful eyes bore into me, waiting for the answer I refuse to give.
Mamma shares next, obviously not surprised this happened. “She let this happen. We ran into each other in a restaurant and I knew she slept with him. I wanted more for you.” That breaks my heart and I wish she would have said she’s not mad, just disappointed. That would have been better.
Nonna has dropped her hands from my face and Elio replaces hers. Similar to his hugs, his touch is gentle, filled with affection. “What I said outside is true. I’ll take care of you, Luci. This baby will be ours and I’ll raise it like my own. I won’t let this baby be raised without a father. Will you let me help you?”
“Of course, she will! Caterina was lucky to have us, but Luci needs a man to help her, not just family. Elio, you will help Luci with anything she needs, and Luci, you will let Elio help you.”
A mix of emotions flash through me at Nonno’s words, anger coming out first. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here. Nonno, you say you hate Alessandro and his family for what he wanted Nonna and me to do, but you’re the same! I don’t want anyone forcing me to be with someone.” Elio grabs me before I have a full chance to take two steps.
“Let me show you to your bedroom. You’ll be across the hall from me. You must be tired. How about we all sleep and address this in the morning?” I let Elio lead me upstairs into the room I’ll be sleeping in as I hear conversations in the background. I overhear Nonna and Mamma from the living room as I walk upstairs. Mamma is intentionally shaming me while Nonna reminds her about when she was in my position. I would have thought Mamma would be more empathetic.
“I raised her to be better than me.”
The words she says, filled with defeat and disappointment hurt like a knife to the heart. I continue listening to their now muffled voices while tears pour down my face and I muffle my cries by holding my hand to my mouth. I rush into the bedroom Elio shows me and I shut the door so he doesn’t see my tears.
He knocks once before Nonno stops him, speaking in the hallway between the door I’m behind and what is supposedly Elio’s room. Their conversation is more about what their plan is versus shaming me for what I’ve already done.
“You need to protect her. I spent years keeping the three of them away from the Leones and it still happened to my family. Be better than me.”
“I know I ruined your trust as a teenager. My biggest regret in life is letting things go too far and having to leave her. Now that I have the opportunity to have her again. I’ll do everything I can to keep her. I love Luciana.”
“Good man. We’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.”
I lay down, crying and whispering to my baby, even though he or she can’t hear me yet. “It’ll be okay, baby. I’ll get us back to your papa.”
The sun shines through the window before I realize I’ve fallen asleep. In my dazed state, the first thing I comprehend is that Alessandro’s body isn’t wrapped around me and the lack of his citrus and amber cologne. I open my eyes and my heart sinks when I wake up from what I was hoping was a nightmare.
If you had told me in high school I would be sleeping in Elio’s home, I would have said that would be my dream. Now having that as my reality, I would give anything to be back in Pennsylvania with Alessandro. My love, my fiancé, and the father to my unborn baby.