Part 18 (1/2)

To anyone who knew her well, it should have come as no surprise when Lucrezia showed up for work at her usual hour the following morning. Just the same, all the workers gaped in delighted astonishment when she strode into the factory. By the time Lucrezia had made it halfway to her office, the entire staff had gathered around her, everyone smiling and trying to talk to her at the same time. Even Enzo, who only one day earlier had been praying for a miracle to delay Lucrezia's return, had tears in his eyes. They were all overjoyed that she had emerged from her terrible accident alive and well.

Fortune indeed had smiled upon Lucrezia. Other than having been frightened out of her wits, miraculously she had only a few minor b.u.mps and bruises to show from her tumble down the embankment. Still, she walked to her office at a distinctly slower pace than the one at which she normally tore through the factory. From the occasional wince and the weak smile she gave Enzo and the rest of the workers gathered around her, it was obvious that she was feeling more discomfort than she cared to let on.

”You should stay home and rest, Signorina Lucrezia,” one of the older women who worked in the factory gently admonished her. ”We can take care of things here today. Please go home before you make yourself sick.”

”Ayyy, you sound just like my parents,” Lucrezia said with a wave of her hand.

”And she doesn't listen to us either,” said Luca who had come out of his office when he heard the commotion. He gave his daughter a look of consternation and shook his head.

”Don't worry, everybody, I'm fine,” his daughter replied, rolling her eyes for the benefit of the others. ”But come on now, let's all get to work so we can finish up and start enjoying the rest of our summer!”

It was as gentle an order as Lucrezia had ever issued to her staff, but they were all delighted to obey. Just as they were returning to their posts, however, the door to the factory opened and Peppi limped inside. A round of cheers went up. Soon all the workers were mobbed around Peppi, just as they had done to Lucrezia, giving him a hero's welcome.

”I only came in to find a paper bag,” Peppi said, embarra.s.sed by all the attention. ”I want to go pick some tomatoes from my garden.”

Luca looked on and smiled. The minor delay in getting his troops back to work was a small price to pay considering the debt of grat.i.tude he owed his friend. He gave Peppi a nod and let him enjoy the spotlight for a few moments. Lucrezia, on the other hand, turned and retreated to her office without so much as a glance at Peppi. Luca was startled by her sudden departure from the scene. Peppi, however, seemed unfazed. Although he had surely seen Lucrezia's strange behavior, Peppi gave no sign of surprise or displeasure. Once the tumult died down and everyone returned to work, he found the paper bag he was looking for and went on his way as quickly as had Lucrezia.

That was the way things went for the next few days. As was to be expected, Lucrezia still went to the office every morning, ignoring her mother's advice to stay home and rest. For his part, Peppi kept himself busy as always. Thankfully, both of them seemed to be recovering from the b.u.mps and bruises they had sustained in the accident.

Still, there was something strange in the air, a feeling of tension and antic.i.p.ation like the calm before an approaching storm. Luca could feel it. He noticed it whenever he mentioned Peppi's name to Lucrezia. She would immediately clam up or try to change the subject. Not only that, but she seemed to go out of her way to avoid Peppi altogether. Whenever they encountered one another, Lucrezia barely gave him the time of day. Luca had long ago become accustomed to his daughter's inscrutable mood swings. All the same, he was appalled that she did not demonstrate at least a little sense of grat.i.tude to the man who had saved her life.

Luca might have chastised his daughter for her aloofness had it not been for the fact that Peppi seemed to be behaving in much the same way towards her. It was as if he was trying, without being rude, to avoid all contact with Lucrezia. If her name were to arise in conversation, he would inevitably mumble something inaudible before asking about the latest weather forecast or a recent bike race or any other subject. Luca noted the way he barely looked at Lucrezia when they pa.s.sed one another as they went about their daily business. Yes, Peppi would tip his cap and say h.e.l.lo as pleasantly as always, but that was all. It was as if the two of them were trying to pretend that they were complete strangers. Odder still, from what Luca could see, they each seemed quite content with this odd state of affairs.

One afternoon, after the factory had finally been closed down for the month of August, Luca decided that he had had enough of the strange situation. He had been looking out the kitchen window to the courtyard. Peppi was there, puttering around the flower beds and fussing with the grapevines. Behind Peppi, Luca could see Lucrezia through her office window. She was at her desk, looking over some papers. Her window was wide open, but never once did she look outside, nor did Peppi ever glance in. They seemed to be doing their best to ignore each other.

Luca slapped his hands down on the windowsill and turned to his wife, who was sitting at the table leafing through a magazine. ”Filomena,” he blurted out in exasperation, ”what on earth is going on with those two?”

”Can't you guess?” his wife replied without looking up from her magazine.

”No, I can't.”

Filomena sighed and laid the magazine down on the table. ”You men never notice anything. It's been as plain as the nose on your face for weeks now.”

”What has?”

Now it was Filomena's turn to be exasperated. ”Your daughter and your best friend!” she exclaimed, slapping her hand on the table. ”Don't you have eyes? Can't you see what's about to happen between them? She's a woman. He's a man. You do the math!”

Luca gazed at her pensively until the light of understanding suddenly flickered in his eyes. His jaw dropped and he turned back toward the window. ”Are you trying to tell me that my daughter and Peppi are...that those two are falling in...do you mean to say that...what are you trying to tell me!”

Filomena broke out in a smile. She stood and hurried to her husband's side. ”What I'm trying to tell you, amore mio,” amore mio,” she said, giving him a hug, ”is that it's time for you and I to get out of the way and go back to Alba Adriatica. I'll explain it all while we're on the way.” she said, giving him a hug, ”is that it's time for you and I to get out of the way and go back to Alba Adriatica. I'll explain it all while we're on the way.”

Then she kissed her husband and went to the bedroom to pack their things.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT.

It was late afternoon and the last few rays of sunlight were darting in and out of the dark clouds gathering over the mountaintops when Peppi heard the knock at the door. A hot, sticky breeze puffed through the window and the low murmur of thunder rumbled far off in the distance. A storm was brewing somewhere. and the last few rays of sunlight were darting in and out of the dark clouds gathering over the mountaintops when Peppi heard the knock at the door. A hot, sticky breeze puffed through the window and the low murmur of thunder rumbled far off in the distance. A storm was brewing somewhere.

Peppi had been sitting at the table, looking over the flower vase he had purchased from Enrico just before Lucrezia's accident. A slice of the porcelain vase shaped like a small half-moon had cracked and broken off when it fell to the street from the basket on his bike. Only the layers of paper in which the vase had been wrapped prevented the whole thing from being smashed to bits. All things considered, the damage was minor. Never one to let anything go to waste, Peppi had glued the broken piece back in place and was pleased to see that it had dried to the point where the vase could once again be put to its intended use.

There came a second, more insistent knock. Actually, it sounded more as if someone were kicking the door. For a moment Peppi supposed that it must be Luca, but then he remembered that Luca and Filomena had already returned to Alba Adriatica. He had seen them off that morning just after breakfast. At the time, it had struck him as a bit odd that they should suddenly be so anxious to leave. Then again, there were only so many days of summer. Why waste them sweltering in the mountains when you could be lying on the beach enjoying the cool ocean breeze?

”Un attimo!” Peppi called to whoever it was at the door. ”Just a moment!” He gently set the vase back down and pushed himself away from the table. Peppi called to whoever it was at the door. ”Just a moment!” He gently set the vase back down and pushed himself away from the table.

When he opened the door, Peppi was surprised to see Lucrezia standing there. In her arms she clutched two bags of groceries. A loaf of bread and the edges of a colorful bunch of flowers protruded from the top of one bag. A bottle of red wine peeked out from the other.

”Buona sera,” said Peppi, not sure of what else to say. said Peppi, not sure of what else to say.

”Out of the way,” Lucrezia ordered. ”These bags are heavy.” She squeezed past him and went straight to the kitchen. ”Go sit down,” she said over her shoulder.

”Whatever you say,” said Peppi, closing the door. ”But what are you doing?”

”What does it look like I'm doing?” she answered as she started to lay the groceries out on the counter. ”I've come to cook you dinner. You haven't eaten yet, have you?”

”No, I haven't,” Peppi admitted.

”In that case sit down and just do whatever it was you were doing before I arrived.”

”I was just fixing this,” said Peppi, gesturing to the flower vase on the table.

”Can it hold water?” Lucrezia asked.

”Yes, of course.”

”Good, then you can put these in it,” she said, pulling the flowers from the grocery bag. She handed them to Peppi, turned back to the counter, and tied an ap.r.o.n over the simple cotton dress she wore. ”They came from the gardens out back,” she said of the flowers. ”I picked them this afternoon.”

”I hadn't noticed.”

Peppi half-filled the vase with water and put in the flowers. It was, he saw, a nice little arrangement. He set it on the center of the table, pleased to note that the crack in the vase was barely visible. He turned away from the table and leaned over toward Lucrezia to get a peek at what she had brought. On the counter stood a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil, some garlic and fresh oregano and basil, two cans of tomatoes, a bag of rice, another of mushrooms, some sort of meat wrapped in white butcher's paper, lettuce, onions, a small pastry box, a package of ground coffee, a container of cream, some spices, and an a.s.sortment of other odds and ends.

”You brought so much food,” he noted.

”I didn't know what you had, so I decided to just bring everything I needed,” she replied. She turned to him and made a brief, unfavorable a.s.sessment of his appearance. ”You could put on a clean s.h.i.+rt,” she suggested before turning back to the business at hand.

Peppi looked down at his sweat-stained unders.h.i.+rt. Without a word he went into the bathroom. Once he had the door closed behind him, he filled the sink and splashed some water onto his face. Shaking off the droplets, he straightened up, took a deep breath, and looked into the mirror.

Time had chiseled some hard lines into Peppi's face, but his dark skin still had a healthy glow to it and his eyes were as clear and bright as ever. Peppi pa.s.sed his hand through the thick head of black and silver hair that nature had allowed him to keep. He was certainly no youngster anymore. All the same, he knew that he was still fit and strong. Peppi seldom dwelt on these sorts of things, but for some reason, right at that moment he felt good about himself. He also felt very nervous as he looked squarely into his own eyes.

”Be careful, old man,” he told himself. With that warning in mind, he reached for a comb and began to pull it through his hair.

The table was set and the pleasing aroma of sauteing garlic was already in the air by the time Peppi finished freshening up. Lucrezia, he saw, knew her way around a kitchen. With quiet efficiency, she worked away, slicing and chopping her ingredients as the frying pan sizzled and the steam rose off the pot on the back burner. All the while she seemed not to notice Peppi standing there watching with the towel draped around his neck. Not wanting to disturb her concentration, he turned away and slipped into the bedroom to find a fresh s.h.i.+rt and a clean pair of trousers.

”That's better,” said Lucrezia when Peppi came back out looking more presentable. ”Now go sit and read the paper. I brought La Gazzetta dello Sport. La Gazzetta dello Sport. It's there on the table.” It's there on the table.”

Peppi had already read that day's edition of La Gazzetta, La Gazzetta, but he decided not to say so. Lucrezia had obviously tried to think of everything and he did not want to disappoint her. Of course, why she had decided to go through all the bother of cooking him dinner that night was still something of a mystery to him. Certain that sooner or later she would get around to telling him, he sat down and began to peruse some of the articles that he hadn't bothered to read earlier. but he decided not to say so. Lucrezia had obviously tried to think of everything and he did not want to disappoint her. Of course, why she had decided to go through all the bother of cooking him dinner that night was still something of a mystery to him. Certain that sooner or later she would get around to telling him, he sat down and began to peruse some of the articles that he hadn't bothered to read earlier.