a deli to buy some wine and a bag of Italian sausage and egg pies.
He looked over at her. “Having a good time?”
“This is the best. Can you imagine how much fun we would have had if you’d been able to drive us around years ago?”
“I’ve tried hard not to imagine what joy that would have been. In truth, if I’d driven off in a car with you, no one would have seen us again. My father knew that if I got behind the wheel of any car, I’d disappear.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. Like you told me, you’d never leave your mother.”
He squeezed her thigh. She remembered everything.
“When did you learn to drive?”
“After I got to New York and bought my first car.”
“What kind?”
“A white Sentra, perfect for a college guy. I have pictures I’ll show you.”
“I want to see and know everything that happened to you.”
“We’ve got the rest of our lives, Gemma.”
She didn’t respond, but he wasn’t worried. She’d come with him and today was only the first day. They whizzed along, chatting and eating. They explored Puglia before coming to the medieval town of Polignano a Mare, scattered with white buildings.
“Oh, look, Vincenzo. This whole area is built on sheer cliffs.”
“This is where we’re staying tonight. Years ago the guys told me about this place. I’ve been anxious to see it ever since.” He turned in to the Grotta Palazzese Hotel built from the local stone. “We can’t see it from here, but there’s a cave restaurant below where we’re going to eat tonight.”
“I’ve heard about it. I can’t wait to see it! A real cave.”
“Yes. Seventy or so feet above the water. Let’s check in and get our room, then walk around some of those narrow streets until we get hungry.”
* * *
Gemma’s heart raced when Vincenzo asked the concierge for a key to their room. Except for the night she’d crept up to his room all those years ago, and last night, she’d never been in another man’s bedroom.
There were several couples checking in. She wished she could be nonchalant about their situation. After they reached their room and closed the door, Vincenzo put their bags down and pulled her into his arms. They kissed hungrily.
“Relax. It’ll get easier.” He knew everything going on inside her. “Go ahead and freshen up.” She passed the queen-size bed on the way to the bathroom. This was all so new to her, she had to pinch herself.
Before long he took her out to play tourist. She had the time of her life as they meandered through the ancient streets hand in hand. No woman they passed could take their eyes off Vincenzo. One of the clerks in a tourist shop fell all over herself to get his attention.
But he’d fastened his attention on Gemma. He constantly teased and kissed her all the way back to the hotel, where they dressed for dinner. In their youth they’d had to plan every move to be together so no one would find out. It had been as if they were caged. Little could she have imagined a night like this with him. To be free and open to show their love was intoxicating.
A cry escaped her lips when they went down the steps to the limestone cave restaurant below. In the twilight, the individual tables had been lit with candles. The whole ambience had a surreal feeling with the warm evening breeze coming off the Adriatic.
They were shown to a table for two and served an exquisite meal of prawns and swordfish. She looked into his silvery eyes. “You can hear the water lapping beneath us. This is an enchanting place.”
“The guys were right. You can’t find a more romantic spot anywhere in Italy.”
“I agree. A restaurant without walls. It’s incredible.” Near the end of their meal, the waiter came over. “No more wine for me,” she said. “One glass is all I can handle.”
Vincenzo declined a second glass, too. “Shall we take a little walk before going to bed?”
The thought of being with him all night sent a wave of delight through her body. “I’d love it.”
An hour later they returned to the hotel and headed for their room. Vincenzo waited for her to get ready for bed. While he was in the bathroom, she climbed under the covers, dressed in the only long nightgown she owned. She wasn’t quite as full now, but the food had stimulated her. She doubted she’d be able to sleep at all lying next to him.
He entered the darkened room in his robe and opened the window to let in the sea air. When he got into bed, he turned on his side toward her and drew her around so she faced him.
“Do you know that since we’ve been together again, all we’ve done is concentrate on me? I want to talk about you. I want to hear everything that happened to you from the morning you had to leave the castello.”
She tucked her hands beneath her pillow so she wouldn’t be tempted to throw them around his neck. “That was the worst moment of our lives. Mamma was so quiet I was frightened. We left with Bianca and her mother in a taxi early in the morning. At the train station in Milan, we all said goodbye. They were going back to Bellinzona in Switzerland, where their family came from.”
He let out a groan. “So that’s why Dimi couldn’t find her, either.”
“I cried for days. Bianca and I promised to write, but it didn’t last very long, because they moved again and one of my letters came back saying return to sender.”
Vincenzo stroked her hair with his free hand.
“As for Mamma, she at least had her sister and niece in Florence. They offered us a home over the bakery. I loved them and we were very blessed, really. She was able to work in the bakery immediately to start earning money.”
“Thank heaven your aunt was so good to you. I’d give anything to make it up to your mother for the pain. Not only couldn’t I protect my own mother, I couldn’t do a thing for yours.”
Gemma heard the tears in his voice. “Please don’t worry about it. My aunt knew Mamma had to use the Bonucci name so your father couldn’t track her down. Everything worked out.
“On our first weekend there, Mamma took me to the cemetery to see my papà’s grave. I never knew him, so all I could feel was sadness for that. But for the first time in years, I watched her break down sobbing. I’d been so fixated on my own problems, I never realized how much she’d suffered after losing my father.
“Their married life had been cut short and she didn’t have any more babies to love. My selfishness had caught up to me and I determined to be a better daughter to her from then on.”
“You were the best, Gemma! I was always impressed by how close you were to her. How did you end up going to cooking school? You never talked about it to me. I didn’t know that’s what you wanted to do.”
“I didn’t, either. I assumed I’d to go college.
