Page 187 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8
‘My parents were coming to Milan to visit me. They were taking me for lunch...they wanted to talk. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it. I’d just finished university and was starting an internship in Milan.’
‘They wanted you back here in Lucca?’
‘In part. But I think it was more to discuss why Sev and I were not talking. We’d had an argument a few months before that.’
Susie nodded. ‘Gio showed me the wedding photo.’
‘Yeah...’ He gave a resigned half-laugh. ‘I’m not getting into that, but...’
She saw Dante reach for the wine he didn’t much like and take a sip, then put down his glass.
Then she felt his fingers come back to her own. And even if neither was really one for holding hands, possibly they were on ice-cream nights...as well as on days when they discussed their worst moments.
‘Rosa had a specialist doctor appointment in Milan—that’s why she was with them. She wasn’t coming to lunch...’
There was an edge to his voice when he spoke about Rosa, but Susie said nothing, just listened when he gave his sad conclusion.
‘They crashed just after take-off.’
‘How did you find out?’ she asked, imagining him waiting in a restaurant. ‘Did you guess something was wrong when they didn’t show?’
‘No, I got a call from Christos. He said I had to get back here. They didn’t know how bad it was, but I think he knew...’
His hand felt like ice—so much so that she wanted to hold it tighter, to warm it, but she dared not move, scared that he’d pull his hand back or stop talking.
‘We all came here, waiting for news. Gio’s reaction was dreadful. He collapsed, and seemed to know straight away there was no chance they’d survived. Sev was in the Middle East... The guy had to fly back not knowing if anyone had. I told him there was still hope...’ He gave a wry smile. ‘I’d seen the wreckage, the fire, but I really thought there might be a chance they’d got out. They hadn’t, of course.’
‘How do you...?’ She swallowed. ‘Sorry, stupid question.’
‘How do you cope with something like that?’ He asked the stupid question for her. ‘Gio took to his bed—perhaps for a year. Sev went back to work a week after the funerals. I don’t think he’s stopped working since.’
‘And you?’
‘I was practical—calling people, sorting the funerals, seeing the lawyers, going through the wills...’ He gave a dark smile. ‘That said, I was up before dawn every day, scouring the accident site.’
‘Looking for what?’
‘Something.’ He took a breath. ‘Anything.’
‘Did you find anything?’
‘Not really. In the end I hired a specialist company—they had tools to comb the hillside. They salvaged a couple of small things.’ He raised his eyebrows, as if surprised that he’d said that. ‘I’ve never told Gio or Sev that anything was found.’
‘Can I ask why not?’
He shook his head and it was left at that.
The gorgeous, lazy afternoon had turned sombre, at least for Susie. Dante, though, was talking normally to Christos as she put on her coat. Then she realised that this must be his normal—that he lived daily with all the sadness she’d felt hearing his story. No wonder he couldn’t bear to come home...
‘For you,’ Christos said, handing her a beautiful basket of all the wines and cheeses she’d especially liked, and some truffled honey too.
‘How gorgeous!’
‘Susie’s bringing her parents here in a few weeks,’ Dante said as they left—only Susie wasn’t so sure now, wondering how it might feel to be here without Dante.
It was a forty-minute drive back through the hillsides, and Dante looked out of the window this time—at the De Santis winery as they passed, and the church where Sev and Rosa had married...where Rosa now lay.
She heard the whir of a window closing and saw the divider between them and the driver was now shut. Dante’s hand came to her hair. She turned fully around and was met by desire.