“I did.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I can’t believe it. You made another one of my dreams come true.”
“And you are my dream come to life.”
Drea sniffled. “Stop. You’re going to make me a mess.”
“I’ve felt really bad about all the time I’ve had to spend here in Philly. I wanted you to have something to focus on here as well.”
“Is that why you bought it here instead of New York?”
Nodding, I replied, “And I also wanted you to have something successful to throw in your father’s face in his city.”
Drea grinned. “I like that a lot.”
I winked. “I thought you would.”
Waving her hand at me, Drea said, “Help me up so I can see around.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Once we got her on her feet, Drea started taking in every inch of the space. “I can’t believe how perfect it is. I mean, I didn’t need something huge to start out with.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“There’s plenty of wall space along with room to do some art in the round as well as sculptures."
“I have no idea what that means, but I totally agree.”
“Art in the round is like 3-D artwork.”
Nodding, I replied, “As for a name, I was thinking The Leandro has a nice ring to it.”
Drea laughed. “Not on your life.”
“I’m sure you’ll come up with a magnificent name.”
“Seriously? I can’t even decide on a name for our son, least of all a gallery.”
We’d been round and round for months trying to agree on a name. We seemed to shoot down each other’s suggestions. I wanted something badass like Damiano or Massimo while Drea liked names with biblical roots like Matteo or Daniele.
“We could kill two birds with one stone by naming the baby and the gallery the same thing,” I suggested.
“The Divine Daniele might work.”
“I was thinking more about the Mastery of Massimo.”
“Absolutely not,” she replied before walking over to one of the exposed walls. Her finger reached out to trace what looked like writing.
“What does that say?”
“It’s kinda hard to see, but from what I can read, it’s in Italian.”
“Yeah, the building has been in the same family for years. ”I turned the light on my phone and handed it to her.
“Dare alla luceMarch 17, 1973.” Drea smiled. “I’ve always thought it was so beautiful that to give birth in Italian meant to give to the light.
“It is.”
