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He parked the car at the lake’s edge and got out, looking out at the water. There was a bench down on the shore, and he started to make his way down to it, but he stopped halfway there when he saw that it was occupied.
The occupants were a young woman—probably in her late twenties—and a little girl who looked to be about five or six. She was holding a cup of gelato and taking huge bites with the little plastic spoon while the woman smiled fondly at her.
The little girl looked over her shoulder and noticed Adriano. “Mama, who is that?”
Adriano was surprised to hear her speaking English—and surprised, too, by the accent. “You’re Americans,” he blurted out, forgetting for the moment that he hadn’t intended them to know he was watching them.
The mother looked back at him. She put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, obviously cautious, but she also smiled at Adriano. “We’re from Wisconsin,” she said. “We’re here on a vacation with my husband and my parents.”
“That’s exciting.”
“Are you American too? Your accent…I can’t place it.”
“I grew up in Italy, but my mother was from Chicago,” he told her. “These days, I divide my time between here and the States.”
“Oh! How interesting,” she said, smiling. “Do you want to come and join us?”
“You don’t mind?”
“Oh, not at all. There’s plenty of room. Please, sit down.”
Adriano nodded, walked over, and took a seat, carefully leaving a respectful distance between them. Even if he hadn’t been so inconveniently hung up on Amy, even if he had been sure he was ready to pursue an encounter with another woman, he wouldn’t have chosen her. She was pretty, but she was married and had a young daughter with her. He was respectful of all of that.
“Olivia, would you like to say hello to the nice man?”
“I have ice cream,” Olivia said. “It’s stapashio flavor.”
Her mother laughed. “Pistachio,” she corrected.
“That’s the best flavor,” Adriano agreed. “My name’s Adriano.”
“I’m Kendall,” the woman said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“How are you finding Lake Como?” It was such a wonderful relief to be able to talk to someone—anyone—about something other than Barks-Howard’s that he was considering sitting here with the two of them for the rest of the day, if they’d allow it. He would have liked to pretend that everything that had been on his mind lately wasn’t an issue, to focus entirely on something else, like this little girl and her gelato cup.
“We’ve loved our trip,” Kendall said. “It’s our first time visiting Italy. We’re going to go to Rome for a week when we’re finished here.”
“Oh, you’ll love Rome. It’s one of my favorite cities in the world.”
Kendall nodded. “I’m excited about it. I think it’s one of those places everyone should probably see in their lifetime.”
“I completely agree,” Adriano said.
He hesitated. The way she’d said that—it’s one of those places everyone should see in their lifetime—that had really affected him. He was almost sure the idea of a lifetime meant something very different to her than it did to him. When it came to the idea of things you needed to do before you died, he was on a timetable.
And if he could prolong that time…wouldn’t that be worth it?
Was there anything he wasn’t willing to give up?
“How is it traveling with such a young child?” he asked. What he really wanted to know was what it was like to be a parent—what she thought of it, whether it was overly challenging, whether the rewards made it all worth it. But he didn’t feel he could ask those kinds of questions to a woman he had only just met.
Kendall seemed eager to talk, though. “Olivia loves to travel,” she said. “I’m very lucky. And I always feel that experiences are better when they’re shared with loved ones, don’t you?”
In all honesty, Adriano couldn’t say that that phenomenon was one he’d had much experience with. His parents had been distant when he was growing up, and they had both died years ago. He had never had any close friends or relationships of the kind she was talking about.
A child, though… He wouldn’t be the kind of parent his own father had been. He would treat his child as if he actually wanted them around, because hewouldwant them around. And Kendall was right. Life experiences would definitely be enriched by having someone to share them with.
He imagined going to Rome, looking at the Colosseum or the Trevi Fountain, and seeing the wonder he always felt at those landmarks mirrored on his child’s face.
