Page 62 of Vita Mia

“Amen,” Giovanni said.

Eve went straight into his arms. He stood and she straddled his waist with her arms locked around his neck. He carried her back down the hill. He held tight to her to make sure she felt safe. In doing so he found the strength to have faith in her healing and his.

***

TWO MONTHS LATER

Mondello, Sicily

“Are you ready?” Giovanni asked.

“Can I take this blindfold off now?”

“Un momento.”

Mirabella stood perfectly still. Her husband slowly untied the knot of the blindfold at the back of her head and removed it from her eyes. It took only a blink or two for her vision to clear. She felt as if she were transported in time. Villa Mare Blu had been restored. Even down to the lavender flowers that bloomed on the bushes around the perimeter of the place. She put her hands to her mouth in shock. How did he manage to do so much, so fast?

Giovanni circled his arms around her waist and held her close. He kissed her cheek. “We can move in anytime,” he whispered.

“I can’t believe this. It looks like it used to. Is the beach house—Serenity?”

“Yes.” Giovanni replied. “Serenity is back.”

“Wow? With everything going on how did you pull this off?”

Her husband opened his mouth to explain and her excitement couldn’t contain her. Mirabella went inside to see for herself. From the Spanish mosaic tiles on the floor to the melon colored walls, he had done the impossible. The layout was exactly the same. The furnishing a bit more modern but the place even smelled like home. Mirabella went upstairs to the rooms, to the bathrooms; she went back downstairs to the kitchen, to the terrace and entertainment room. She couldn’t find a single flaw. Giovanni let her have the happiness. Since her return from Verona and their move into Sicily she didn’t sleep or eat much. All of her energy went into the children.

“I want to show you the beach house,” he said.

“We need to bring the kids here, Gio. Eve would be so much better. What if we bring them tonight? Is their grocery here?”

“Bella...”

“Eve will remember the good times. And I know she’ll start laughing more. Even today I heard her laughing with her cousin Annabelle. Shocked me so much. This is what she needs.”

“I was thinking we stay the night, and we bring the kids tomorrow?” he kissed her hand. “What do you think?”

The thought of leaving Eve and her babies behind even for a night made her queasy. But she didn’t tell him. Since they left Chianti he had to return to his business affairs and she was dedicated to motherhood. Additionally, she had little Lorenza back in her care. There was no time for each other. Together they walked out of Villa Mare Blu to the beach with her thinking over his proposal.

The contentment they shared was to be savored. It had been absent from their lives for far too long.

“Thoughts?”

“Let me see the beach house first,” she said.

“You’re going to be surprised,” he chuckled. The sea air was warm and inviting as the sun. Mirabella’s hair kept covering her face from the constant breeze. Her hand stayed in his and she walked at his pace.

“Nico is in Aspara now,” Giovanni said and the news cut through her celebratory thoughts.

“How is he?” Mirabella asked, though she already knew the answer.

“Different. Same way I was when I thought I lost you. Empty.”

Mirabella glanced over to him.

They walked in silence. There was no simple answer to the Nico dilemma. But she knew there was something that her daughter and their close friend needed. “He should see Eve.”

“Why?” Giovanni frowned.

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