Chapter 13 From the Ground Up #2
I lifted a brow at him, and in response, he lifted my leg and kissed a trail to my thigh, before doing the same to the other leg.
I breathed out, thinking we could do this forever.
A cheeky grin was on his face, though, and I knew he had something up his sleeve.
He reverently set my foot down, like it was made of glass, and then stood to his full height and gave me his hand to take.
I did, and together, we headed to the kitchen.
It bustled with people.
We sat at the dining room table, and after breakfast was served, we walked hand in hand to a garage of sorts on the property. Rocco opened the door as if he was a game show host, and he had a prize hidden inside—one that I’d won in the game of life.
“My car! Apple Blossom!” My hands went to the metal of her hood, and after I gave her a nice tap, I turned to my husband. “You had my car brought here!”
He nodded, giving her a tap too. “You appreciate…her, so I do.” He opened the driver’s side door and then lifted me up, setting me inside.
“You want me to drive?” I caressed the wheel.
He laughed. “Sì. Let me see what you have.”
It was my turn to grin. “I’m the best driver. Just you wait and see.”
“I have seen—when we were on Aria Island.”
“What did you think?”
“I think one should refrain from judgment until they are in the passenger seat.”
“Fair enough.” I cracked up.
He shut my door, and for a second, it felt as if I was breathing in memories. The scent of my Nonna drifted past my nose—a floral smell with a touch of citrus—along with my perfume and maybe a touch of beignets from the last time we’d had them together.
I smiled, remembering how Nonna had wiped my shirt, complaining how I should’ve known better than to wear black when we had them.
I should’ve known better, but at the time, I didn’t care.
I was with my grandmother, making memories—a memory like the one I was currently cherishing.
My husband opened the passenger-side door, and as easily as he had set me in the seat, took his.
Right away, she started up. I looked at him.
He shrugged. “I made sure all was right with her before she made her trip over the ocean.”
“I love you, Rocco Fausti.” I leaned over and kissed his lips, resting my head against his after. “Have I told you that lately?”
“Tell me again.”
“I love you, Rocco Fausti.” I breathed out. “My husband.”
We sat that way for…however long…until a donkey brayed somewhere in the distance. I grinned and so did he. Then he kissed me and nodded toward the wheel.
“Eager to get somewhere?” I put her in reverse and backed out of the garage with ease.
Rocco pointed in the direction he wanted me to go. “Follow the road until you can no longer. I will give you directions from there.”
“That sounds ominous.” I grinned.
He turned the radio on, and the last song Nonna and I were listening to played: “Glory of Love” by Peter Cetera.
Rocco nodded. “The Karate Kid.”
“You know the movie?”
“You sound surprised, Amora.”
“You caught that, huh?”
“Caught it and am holding it.”
I laughed even harder, then sighed. I shrugged. “Didn’t seem like you’d enjoy American movies.”
He lifted his hand, making a so-so gesture. “I cannot claim to love them. I prefer the drama of the opera; however, Romeo is a cinephile. He has quite the collection of movies.”
“Ahh,” I breathed out. “This is why he calls Scarlett ‘Sissy.’ I remember now. He knew a few lines from Urban Cowboy.”
“Sì.”
“What?” I grinned. Couldn’t stop. The look on my husband’s face was one I’d never seen before. It was like he was disappointed or…something.
He waved a dismissive hand. “He is ridiculous at times.” His face scrunched after he said it, like he was remembering something his younger brother did that fell under the heading “ridiculous.”
I wasn’t sure what it was, but I exploded with laughter. “Romeo will be Romeo.” I laughed even harder, and after a second, my husband’s face softened, and he started laughing too.
I almost flew down the hill when he brought up our time on the island, and how shocked Romeo was when he had thrown a nut toward Juliette’s open mouth for her to catch, and instead of getting his wife, he got Rocco on the forehead.
The entire table had grown quiet. When Rocco had played along, opening his mouth for his brother to try again, I thought the entire table might be frozen in shock—even in the extreme heat.
The memory made me sigh, and we talked the entire way to Piedmont, which Rocco called Piemonte, about four hours from Tuscany.
He directed me the entire time, and I found it…
rather challenging to drive in Italy. It was much different than driving in the states.
And even then, I didn’t do much of it. If I could walk it, I did, since New Orleans is a condensed area.
Rocco seemed impressed with my driving skills, though, even if I scared myself a times.
Maybe that was what it took to hang with Italians on the road.
An immense amount of bravery, or as Nonna sometimes called it, foolishness without brakes.
I definitely wasn’t going as fast as Rocco usually did, so even if Piemonte was only four or so hours away from Tuscany, it took me much longer.
Rocco didn’t seem to mind, though. He was patient, maybe because we were talking the entire time. Finally, I asked him what we were doing in Piemonte, which he told me was close to the Italy/Switzerland border.
He gave me a cheeky grin and wink. “We are almost there, curious kitty.”
Speaking of kitty, I felt bad for leaving Pisolino at the royal winery in Tuscany. He wasn’t that kind of cat. He was more street smart. So, whatever our business in Piemonte, I didn’t want to leave him alone the entire night.
Maybe he’d get used to servants, but…the thought made me kind of jealous. Pisolino was mine. I wanted to feed him and take care of him. I’d vowed it to him before we left the island.
Rocco directed me deeper into Piemonte, and close enough to our destination, he directed me up another rising peak, almost reminiscent of the one in Tuscany with its lines of cypress trees, and on the slanting hills, more vines plump with swollen grapes.
As Apple Blossom easily took the height of the hill, we became silent, and even though my husband was holding on to the overhead bar, he seemed content.
And when “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” by The Miracles began to play, I turned up the volume on the radio, remembering how much Nonna had loved the song.
She was a huge Dino fan, but she loved music in general. She loved to hum.
Maybe because Rocco noticed how much I loved to sing the song, he began to sing with me.
Even though his voice was perfect, and quite honestly, intimidating, we still became a duet, and when we finally reached the end of the road in a cloud of dust, it felt like maybe we had climbed to heaven together.
Not only did dust cloud the car, but actual…fog, which reminded me of clouds that had made their way down to the ground and were eager to touch us.
Once the dust cleared, and the fog began to cover the car, and a gorgeous apricot colored villa appeared out of it all, all I could do was stop and stare.
This high up, the views of the slanting rows of grapes would be spectacular.
The villa…farmhouse…whatever its title was…
was a… home. So different from the estate.
I was never surer of anything in my life except for the feeling that the man next to me was mine—per sempre.
We had climbed to heaven together.
I knew it was fog, but I preferred to call them clouds as they drifted past the house, as if they were floating in heaven.
The bright house pulled my eyes in, along with the green shutters and a door that matched the color of the cypress trees.
The windows were square. The door was rounded, with a light-colored brick surrounding it.
A few cement steps were before the door.
“Are we in heaven?” I whispered.
“Is this your idea of heaven, Amora?” My husband’s voice was whispered, but with that rasp that made goosebumps appear on my skin, as if I could physically feel it against my flesh.
It was then that I realized he had turned the radio off, and his eyes were on me.
My eyes slowly left the vision in front of me and met his.
What I found made me breathless. The guilelessness in them stole the air from my lungs.
I would never be able to claim my husband’s eyes were innocent, but in that moment, he was being completely vulnerable with me.
Like he was giving me a gift he’d never given another woman before, and he was waiting to see if I’d accept it from him.
A gift that meant the world to him. Something that, maybe, in another’s eyes wouldn’t be worthy of the love he felt for it.
Tears came to my eyes. “Sì,” I whispered, “but only as long as you’re with me.”
He reached over, drying my tears with his fingertips, then rubbing them against his lips. “You. You are my heaven. I understand this now. How a man feels he can get into the gates of heaven by the love of his woman alone.”
As Apple Blossom was accustomed to doing, even though her radio had been shut off, music began to play again.
“Nothing Can Change This Love” by Sam Cooke.
At first, it had creeped me out when it happened, and I had even been thinking about taking her in to get her “bug” fixed, but I never had the chance.
In that moment, I was never so thankful for her quirk.
Rocco leaned in, and after he kissed each of my eyes, he whispered in my ear, “Fate is at work—this is why this song plays now.”
Before I could respond, he cleared his throat and got out of the car. I didn’t even have a moment to catch my breath before he opened my door and slid me out of the seat. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and after he took the steps with ease, he opened the front door.
He gently set me down, though his hands came to my hips. He stood behind me, and whispered in my ear, “Tell me, where are you, Amora.”
We both knew it wasn’t a question. It was a statement that would echo inside of our hearts for eternity.
There was not even a second of hesitation.
Only pure conviction and trust—a decision that had been made for me even before I realized there would be this life-altering moment.
Like when I’d said yes to Rocco, we both knew we’d be together beyond our lives.
It was the love my husband spoke of, and how strong it was between us.
Something that could never die.
And this, I thought, is why we have faith, why we believe that we shall always live in love.
That was how meant to be this moment felt to me. This place…this place was a physical manifestation, representation, of who we were for each other, who we became together.
“Home,” I whispered. “Finally. I am home. Heaven on earth. With you.”