Chapter 24
GIOVANNI
Standing outside our family home in Sicily, I feel as though I’m seeing it for the first time through Meggie’s eyes.
It has always been home to me, more than the apartment in New York City will ever be.
But now I can appreciate its whitewashed walls, the red-tiled roof, the vibrant snapdragons and clematis fighting for attention around the porch, the smell of olives and lemons and the salty tang drifting in from the sea.
“Gio, it’s beautiful!” Meggie faces me with her sparkling green eyes. “I can’t believe this is where you grew up.”
“Can we go inside?” Amber is already on the porch, Bella close to her heels, as the door opens and the housekeeper appears.
Giulia chuckles as Amber narrowly misses colliding with her legs, and crouches to stroke Bella’s head, the pup immediately drawn to the promise of treats if she behaves herself. Raising her head, her gaze settles on Meggie and her face lights up with a broad smile.
“Welcome.” She stands up. “Come inside, Meggie. There’s homemade lemonade in the kitchen.”
Meggie glances at me and I nod for her to go ahead.
With every day that passes by, Meggie’s aura is becoming more golden.
She is a flower blooming even in the early stages of pregnancy, like petals opening up to reach for the sun.
When I mentioned coming to Sicily for the summer, she questioned me leaving the business for so long, when she and Amber have already taken up so much of my time, even though I could see the eagerness in her smile.
But Enzo can manage without me for a bit longer, and I still don’t think she realizes that when it comes down to a choice, her happiness will win every damned time.
Meggie takes Nikki’s arm, and they head inside while Sandro hauls our luggage from the trunk of the car.
By the time I’ve carried our suitcases to our rooms, Nikki is resting in one of the guestrooms, and Meggie and Guilia are chatting like lifelong friends in the kitchen, a half-full pitcher of lemonade on the pine table.
Outside, Amber is playing with Sofia and Leo, the three of them taking turns to toss a ball for Bella in the shade of the lemon trees.
I hope this summer will help them to heal too. They still don’t know that their mom isn’t coming back for them, but this is as much their home as it was ours when we were growing up, and children are resilient. Amber has taught me that more than anyone else.
The children bound through the wide-open doors that open onto the terrace, breathless, cheeks flushed with the late morning heat and trying to keep up with the puppy’s relentless energy.
“Uncle Gio!” Sofia finds three tumblers from the kitchen cabinet and fills them with lemonade from the pitcher. She hands drinks to Amber and Leo then guzzles half the liquid in her glass before setting it down and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Did Mom come back with you?”
Her gaze travels to the interior door, waiting for her mom to appear at any moment. Leo watches me from behind his lemonade, eyes dark and solemn.
Bianca hasn’t spoken to them.
“Your mom has been busy.” I cross the room and take a beer from the fridge. “Have you met Meggie? We’re staying for the rest of the summer.”
Two pairs of eyes find Meggie across the room with Giulia. Only Leo’s eyes linger on me as though trying to hear what I’m not saying. The boy is intense like his mom too.
“Can we go to the beach after lunch?” Sofia’s eyes are bright and eager.
“Yes! I want to explore the beach,” Meggie answers first. “So does Amber, don’t you, sweetie?”
“Can Bella come too?” She bends down and picks up the dog, whose pink tongue darts in and out to lick Amber’s face as if it might secure her passage to wherever it is her favorite human is going.
“We can swim out to the rock,” Sofia suggests. “It isn’t far.”
“Yes, it is,” Leo says.
“You don’t have to come, Leo.” Sofia scrunches up her face like her brother is the most irritating person on earth, and I’m reminded of me and Bianca when we were kids. “Just because you can’t be bothered to climb when we get there.”
My earliest childhood memories are of Bianca controlling our games by accusing me of being childish or mean if I didn’t go along with what she wanted, and I wonder if her daughter has inherited the attitude simply by mimicking her mom’s behavior.
“I want to see the rock,” Amber joins in.
“It’s too far for you,” Sofia says now, causing Amber’s mouth to droop at the corners.
“Well, maybe Sofia and I can swim to the rock first and check it out.” Meggie smiles. “While Amber builds the biggest sandcastle ever.”
“I’m good at building sandcastles,” Sofia says, and I wonder if Meggie realizes that she is being manipulated into spending time with her rather than Leo.
I needn’t worry. Meggie smiles at the boy and asks, “What would you like to do, Leo?”
He shrugs. “I like going to Latomie, to the quarry.”
“Ugh, that’s boring.” Sofia is already looking to Meggie for validation.
“I’d like to see the quarry,” Meggie says gently, and my chest swells with love for her.
She is going to be the best mom to our twins, and I don’t know how long I can hold back on the surprise I have for her now that we’re here.
It already feels as though she belongs here, as though she has always been a part of this family, as though my family home was saving a spot just for her, knowing that she would arrive when she was ready.
“First though—” Meggie claps her hands excitedly “—who wants to show me around the house?”
“I will.” Sofia’s empty glass is already on the table, and she is heading for the door.
“Leo, would you like to come too?” Meggie smiles at the boy in that way she has that makes people feel as if all her smiles are for them alone. “I’m sure Amber and Bella will join us.”
The boy shakes his head. “I’ll stay here, thank you.” Bianca has taught him to speak to his elders with respect.
Meggie kisses my cheek as she walks past, closely followed by Sofia, Amber, and Guilia clucking behind them like a mother hen. Giulia is more than a housekeeper, she is the beating heart of this home, the all-seeing eyes, and the wise owl whose sole aim is to keep the family intact.
When their voices and footsteps fade upstairs, Leo says, “She isn’t coming back, is she?”
He knows. He’s a bright kid, and as much as I want to protect him from the truth, I won’t lie to him. He deserves better than that. He deserves better than warring parents who would sacrifice each other without a thought for the effect it will have on their children.
“No, she isn’t coming back.”
He swallows. “Do you know what happened to my father?”
“He…” How do you tell a kid that their dad is dead, especially when you’re the one who pulled the trigger?
“He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“I’m sorry, Leo.”
“Why are you sorry?” He is dry-eyed, although I didn’t miss the crack in his voice. “Mom always said he would get killed one day. What’s going to happen to me and Sofia?”
He and his sister might bicker the way siblings do, but I see it in his eyes and the set of his shoulders: he’ll look out for her no matter what.
“You will always have a home here. You and your sister are Sabatellis. La mia casa e la tua casa.”
“We’re not though, are we? Our name is D’Angelo like our father.” He is trying to be brave, but the cracks are widening, and soon there will be more light getting out than there is getting in.
I leave my beer on the table, cross the room, and pull him into a hug. I expect him to resist and am pleasantly surprised when he doesn’t. Within moments, his shoulders shake with the emotions that he has been clinging onto since I last saw him.
I wait for him to let it all out before releasing him and dipping my head to meet his gaze. “To me, you are a Sabatelli. Do you understand what that means?”
He nods without speaking, his eyes moist now.
“I promise that I will always look out for you and Sofia. You are family, Leo, and family always comes first.”
He swipes his eyes with his thumbs and sniffs loudly. “What about school?”
“I’ll sort it, Leo, you have my word. But I do want you to promise me one thing.”
“What is it?” He won’t commit until he knows what it is. Sensible.
“That you’ll have fun this summer.” I smile, and it’s reciprocated with a half-smile. “It’s years since I’ve been to the quarry. Can you still explore the caves there?”
“Yes, I’ve seen bats nesting there too. I’ll show you where to find them when we go.”
Upstairs, I can hear Sofia telling Amber that she’s trying to dress a doll in the wrong clothes in the playroom, the dog yapping at them for attention. The familiar sounds of home, and ones that I never knew I missed until now.
I find Meggie standing by the window in my childhood bedroom, peering out across the olive groves at the turquoise sea in the distance, the ceiling fan rotating the air slowly around the room.
She turns around when she hears me and smiles. “I love it here, Gio. It’s so…”
“Peaceful?” I cross the threshold.
I could scoop her into my arms, carry her to the bed, and rip her clothes off her in a heartbeat. But we’ve only just arrived, and her excitement is contagious, and I’m eager to show her the island I call home.
Amber squeals as Bella runs off with the doll she was trying to clothe, calling out, “Come back!” as she chases the dog around the playroom and back down the stairs.
Meggie grins. “Maybe not peaceful, but it is stunning. How can you bear to spend so much time away from here?” She doesn’t add in a city crammed with more than eight million people.
“I don’t think about it.” It’s the truth. When I’m back in the city, it’s like closing one door behind me and opening the one ahead.
“Well, can you think about it now? Please?”
“What are you saying?”