Page 141 of Play of Love
I shook my head at him. Clearly, he'd forgotten who he was talking to. The years of no contact must have made him mistake me for one of those air-headed women he was used to that would believe everything he told them and fall at his feet, worshiping him for his good looks.
I was no fool. I'd known Gage since I was eight and had a good twenty-five years of getting to know this guy. Granted, for five of those years I hadn't seen him, but the point was I knew him.
Knew his facial expressions inside out. Knew his mannerisms. Knew that that guilty look in his eyes signaled he was covering up something and that hard blink he just did meant he was aware that he'd just been caught .
"What did you do Gage?" I pursed my lips together and folded my arms, staring him down.
He answered by rolling his eyes. "Good night, Evie, it was nice to see you."
Gage moved away from me and proceeded down the steps that led to the front lawn. His powerful well-muscled body moved swiftly, and with that commanding air of confidence he used when he played football.
I frowned. There was no way he was going to dismiss me like that.
I grabbed my coat off the stand by the door and ran, catching up to him as he reached Lucy's front porch. He looked thoroughly annoyed when he saw I'd followed.
"Gage, I know something happened so you might as well tell me. It might help us find her."
"Us?"His brows drew together, and he narrowed his eyes at me.
"Yesus. When it comes to Lucy, there's anus. So start talking." I squared off with him putting my hands on my hips, as if my mere frame of five feet and four inches were comparable to his towering stature of six foot seven.
He sighed slumping his shoulders, then reluctantly tilted his head, signaling me to follow him inside.
The beautiful fragrance of roses tickled my nose as I stepped in. It grew stronger when I went into the lounge which was adorned with roses in bouquets, pots, and vases. The deep pink hues of the flowers matched the wallpaper color perfectly and the rectangular shaped wall light glass shades. Lucy was obsessed with roses and had always said they were the best flowers to make you feel great about yourself.
By the wooden French doors was a tripod stand with a music sheet. From where I stood I could see the sheet was filled with hand-written musical notes, but the notes stopped towards the middle of the sheet. It signaled Lucy was writing music again. She'd stopped for a long time due to being so busy with her students. I had hoped that once Lucy retired she'd go back to composing. It looked like she was doing exactly that.
Lucy's old violin rested on the little side table near the sofa. It may have been awhile since she’d had been my teacher, but I still got excited at the thought of hearing her play. The woman was an absolute legend comparable to the greats of the past like Vivaldi, Corelli, and Paganini. I might have gone to Julliard and played for the New York Philharmonic, but I'd had Lucy, the very best violin teacher in the world.
As I followed Gage into the kitchen the first thing that caught my eye was a large box on the breakfast table marked Federal Express International.
"This is the cause of all the trouble." Gage pointed to the box, shaking his head in dismay.
I went over to it and looked inside. It was filled with letters, very old looking letters that had turned brown with age. They were addressed to Lucy Caldwell. Caldwell was Lucy's maiden name.
"It came this afternoon, shortly after I arrived," Gage continued, picking up one of the letters that had been opened. "My grandmother lived in Italy when she was younger. It was during WWII. My great grandfather was an assistant to the U.S. diplomat at the time."
My mouth dropped on hearing that. Of all the years I'd known Lucy this was the first time I'd ever heard of this. I couldn't have been more stunned, and quite surprised that Lucy hadn't shared something so significant.
"I didn't know that at all." I bit my lip.
"She doesn't talk about it. This is probably why." He sighed in frustration. "There's like a thousand letters in here, all from her first love who she thought was dead."
I gasped, and all I could do was stare at him, tongue-tied. How unreal, and completely bizarre. I couldn't imagine how Lucy must have felt when she found out.
Gage rubbed the back of his neck and adjusted the collar on his jacket before he sat down on the nearest chair and slouched against its wooden back. He pulled in a breath and continued to explain. "The first letter I read was from him telling her he was alive and that he was going to come back as soon as he could and ask her to marry him. I read a few more to, but as you can see there's plenty to go through." Gage shook his head and grimaced. "She really doesn't need this right now."
He said that like it was a bad thing. "What do you mean? Shouldn't it be good he didn't die?"
"Evie, she wanted to go to Italy tonight and find him."
Of course Lucy would want to do that. It was the very thing I would have done if it had been me.
"Gage, why didn't she get these letters earlier, why now?"
He leaned across the table and retrieved a more modern looking letter that was next to the box.
"This is from the consulate in Italy." He handed the paper to me.
