Page 261 of Vita Mia

Nico smiled.

“I saw mum in Paris three weeks ago. Come inside. Don’t make me go back in there alone.”

“I can’t. I was supposed to drop you off.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Go inside. Talk to your mother. She has some good news to share.”

“Where are the twins? MiaBella?”

“With Catalina in Palermo. Go, I’ll come back tomorrow.”

Eve stared at Nico for a moment unsure of his mood. She then shrugged. It made no difference. She was only on her winter break. Soon she would be back in Paris. They all would be. Nico got her suitcase from the back of the car. He wheeled it over to her as she put on her backpack. She gave him a kiss to his cheek and he smiled.

“I’ll call you tonight. You know I’m going to be bored. I got to tell you about this boy that likes me.”

“I told you no boys,” Nico groaned.

Eve laughed. “Jealous?”

He winked. She pulled the suitcase along to the front of Melanzana and glanced back once to see him back out of the long driveway. The place was as she remembered it as a child. Even the flowers looked the same. It had been two long years since she last visited Italy or Sicily. When her mother moved to Paris, Zia Catalina and Zio Domi both visited with her cousins often. They had holidays in Paris. They started new traditions, yet her mother often found ways to travel back to Mondello. She understood for her mother Papa’s ghost would always remain. Eve remembered a terrible fight she had with Gianni over the television remote control once when she was visiting them in their Chateau on break from school. He called her stupid. Told her she hated her own family. And that’s why the family hated her too. That Papa was in Cuba and he never mentioned her name.

It was a strange thing to say. But her family was far from normal.

“Mum?” Eve said as she opened the door. “Mum, I’m here.”

Eve pulled in her suitcase and left it at the door. She shrugged off her backpack. She could smell something delicious cooking. She smiled. The memories of her being an explorer in Melanzana surfaced. The days of her fishing with Uncle Rocco surfaced. She could even remember Belinda braiding her hair in Capri. Memories she rarely conjured now comforted her. She assumed it came with her growing up and maturing.

“Mum? Where are you?”

“She’s at the beach house,” a man spoke.

Eve turned.

Standing before her was a man who looked so much like her father. She stepped in back in shock.

“Ciao piccola, it’s me. Papa.”

“Papa?”

Giovanni smiled.

“I know it’s a shock. It’s hard for me too. But I’m here.”

Eve ran to him and threw her arms around him. Her head swam and she felt faint but she clung to him.

“Papa!” she wailed and a tidal wave of tears exploded from her. He hugged her. It was impossible. She couldn’t conceive it. But he was real. He was there.

“Papa, how? How is this possible?”

“I have a lot of explaining to do. First let me look at you.”

Eve stared up at him as tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. “You are so beautiful. You remind me of my mother.” He kissed her brow.

“But we thought you were dead! All this time! Does mummy know? Does she?”

“I’ll explain. I promise.”

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