Chapter 46
“What?” Lorenzo says, his mouth full of cake. “It’s delicious.”
“Idiota!” Violetta chastises, hurrying over to him. “The first bite was not for you!”
Lorenzo looks down at his fork in confusion, and then the strangest thing happens. Just for a moment, his entire being goes perfectly still. His face changes ever so slightly, awash with a look of bewilderment that melts a few seconds later into an expression of tenderness and adoration.
“Lorenzo?” Nonna says sharply, clapping her hands. He does not even blink. He is staring fixedly into the distance, smiling so broadly it looks as though his heart will burst with joy.
“What’s happening?” Alex whispers beside me, still filming. We stare at Lorenzo. I am teetering between intrigue and alarm.
“Do you think the cake worked?” I pause. For a few seconds, no one moves. And then Lorenzo blinks once and looks around in puzzlement.
“Che é successo?” he asks. What happened?
Nonna stands in front of him, hands on her hips, scolding him in rapid-fire Italian. She barely comes up to his shoulder, but she is brimming with exasperation. “What happened is that you ruined everything! Idiota! Can’t you see we were all waiting to take the first bite? Imbecille!”
And then the most extraordinary thing occurs. Lorenzo sets down his fork, swoops Nonna up in his big, beefy arms, and gives her a firm, smacking kiss on the lips. “Bruna,” he says, setting her down gently again. “You are a beautiful and amazing woman, and I am in love with you.”
Nonna is so astonished she cuts off mid-tirade and just stares at him in shock.
Her maroon lipstick is a little smeary and she wobbles slightly in her sensible pumps.
He steadies her with one hand, looming over her with a fierce tenderness I’ve glimpsed before. Aha, so I was right! He does love her!
“I see now I’ve been a fool to wait this long. I have loved you since Carlo died,” Lorenzo tells her earnestly in Italian. “I love you still. We don’t have much time left, but what we have, I want to spend with you…as your husband. Bruna Costa, will you marry me?”
My jaw drops and Alex and I exchange dumbstruck looks. She is still filming the entire thing on her phone. “Did he just propose?” she whispers. I nod.
“What’s happening?” Drew asks beside me, confused.
I have only ever seen Nonna at a loss for words once before, the day my father died. This is definitely a happier occasion. She puts a hand to her hair, smoothing a strand back into her tight bun. She looks dazed.
“Well,” she says stiffly. “I…I have to think about it.” She looks up at him and I swear she blushes. “Thank you, Lorenzo,” she says with an air of shaken dignity, and then she carefully walks past me down the steps and disappears into the house. No one says anything for a moment.
“Cavolo!” Nicolo exclaims, looking impressed. “The cake actually works?”
Violetta gives a long-suffering sigh and puts down her fork. “Not for us, not now,” she says bitterly. “The first bite is gone.”
Alex looks disgruntled. “Now what?” she asks. “Since Zio Lorenzo ate the first bite of cake?”
“I think you can stop filming. I’m guessing that’s all the excitement for today,” I tell her. Then I turn to Violetta. “I’m sorry,” I say with a sigh. “We can make another cake. We can try this again.”
She waves a hand dismissively. “It is what it is,” she says with resignation.
“Maybe it is best we do not see our happiness in advance. Maybe it is enough just to breathe each day.” She stands and motions to Nicolo.
“Come, Nico,” she commands. “I am tired and I want to go home now. I must rest a few minutes before we go to Verona for my appointment.”
Reluctantly, Nicolo follows her, offering her an arm as she descends the stone steps. He glances back at me, his eyes straying to Drew and then away. He doesn’t say anything, but his jaw clenches. I glance down at the ground, not sure where to look.
“I got all of that on film. It’s going to be gold,” Alex crows excitedly, coming up to me. “I bet we pick up a ton of new followers from this. People are going to love it.”
“That’s great,” I murmur, but my eyes keep going back to Drew. What is he doing here? Lorenzo is now the only one sitting down at the table, tucking into another big slice of the cake.
“Excuse me for a minute,” I tell Drew. “I’ll be right back.” I head over to Lorenzo.
“I’m sorry, picolina,” he says as I slide into the chair next to him. “I didn’t know the first bite was special.”
I am aware of Alex hovering over my shoulder. I suspect she might be filming our conversation.
“It’s okay.” I pause. “We can try to make the cake again, if I can convince the others to give the recipe another chance.” I feel a little shy asking the question on my mind. “Zio, what did you see? When you took the first bite?”
His face breaks into a smile as warm and big as the sun.
“It was nothing out of the ordinary,” he answers in Italian.
“Bruna and I were sitting at the kitchen table having a coffee as we often do. But we were holding hands, and she was wearing a new wedding ring.” He shrugs.
“We are old and the years we have left may be few,” he says contemplatively, “but I cannot think of life without her. After all, it is never too late to love.” Then he takes another big bite of cake and chews with relish.
I glance at Alex, who lowers her phone and gives me a look of pure astonishment.
“No one is going to believe the cake actually works,” she murmurs with a touch of awe. “I bet this will go super viral.”
I’m puzzled as to why the cake worked for Lorenzo at all.
He wasn’t even part of the cake preparation process.
But regardless of that apparent fluke, it appears that the cake did show Lorenzo a glimpse of the future, which is more than a little astonishing.
I hope we get to try the recipe again, now that we know it really works.
Leaving Lorenzo to his cake and Alex sitting across from him, fiddling with her phone, I head back to Drew. He looks a little shy. “Was that what I think it was?” he asks. “The whole cake thing?”
“If you mean did you just see an elderly Italian man accidentally take a bite of magical cake and see a vision of the happiest moment of his life, then propose to his dead cousin’s wife who he’s secretly been in love with for decades? Then yes.”
“Wow, cool.” Drew looks impressed. He glances toward the courtyard where Keith is talking on his phone.
“Hey, Keith, I’m going to hang out here with Jules for a while, talk to her about the thing,” Drew calls out, giving me a little sideways look. “If that’s okay?”
“Sure, of course,” I say immediately. What is the thing he’s going to talk to me about?
My heart skips a beat. Is it good news about the show?
Keith gives him a little nod and a thumbs-up.
He pauses his conversation for a moment and calls back to Drew, “I’m going to head to our hotel.
Text me when you’re done and I’ll send the driver for you.
” Keith disappears into the back of the sedan, and we watch it drive away.
“Want to see the farm?” I offer, gesturing toward the rutted lane leading up into the oldest part of the olive groves.
“Sure. Lead the way,” Drew replies, gazing around at the picturesque scenery. I keep my eyes firmly on him. I’m determined to get some answers.