Page 81 of The Singing Trees
After a pensive beat, he said, “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
As the two newly engaged lovers strolled along the sand, Annalisa accepted that they might never have a smooth ride. There would always be things like Vietnam and his family, but so be it. The alternative of not having him was worse. No matter what got in the way, nothing could stop the two of them from living out their lives together. All they had to do was have faith, because some things were as sure as the stars.
Chapter 29
ANARTISTCOMESALIVE
“So ... I got engaged,” Annalisa casually mentioned from her seat in the back of Walt’s Plymouth Belvedere. She wondered who would turn around first, Walt or Nonna.
“What’s that, young lady?” Walt asked, turning down the bouncy jazz on the radio. They were fighting Boston traffic on their way back from Logan Airport.
Annalisa leaned in between the two seats, hoping that Nonna wouldn’t lash out at her. She could smell the polisher Walt used on the shiny dashboard. “I’m getting married,” she said, the thrill of the news tickling her insides.
Nonna’s head twisted as quickly as a triggered mousetrap snaps down on its prey. “You what?”
Annalisa held up the gold band that she’d been hiding since meeting them at the gate. “Thomas proposed to me. We’re engaged.” No matter Nonna’s response, Annalisa loved feeling the words as they left her tongue.
“Congratulations, young lady,” Walt said, gifting her a smile as he turned down the music even more. “Isn’t that something, Elena?”
Walt glanced over to his girl with, most likely, the same curiosity with which Annalisa was looking at Nonna. She could easily go either way.
Nonna held a hard and straight face as Annalisa’s heart pounded. The car went so quiet that Annalisa could hear Walt’s dusty lungs working overtime. Even his regular breathing had taken on a sound like an old air-conditioning unit. Her grandmother crossed her arms and looked away, boring a hole in the dashboard.
It was all for show, though, because she then turned back with a loving, toothless smile. “I couldn’t be more happy for you,nipotina.”
Annalisa nearly let loose a floodgate of tears, and with a full heart she reached up and touched Nonna’s shoulder. “Thank you, Nonna. I’ve been terrified to tell you.”
Nonna raised her left hand. “I guess the times are changing, aren’t they? What do I know? Besides, who else will ever hold your heart like him?”
“Only you, Nonna.”
Nonna jokingly side-eyed her.
Annalisa sat back in the seat. “We haven’t made any plans yet, but he’ll be back from Asia sometime in December; then we’ll have another six months somewhere in the States. So maybe a wedding in August or so next year.”
With one hand on the wheel, Walt reached for Nonna’s hand. “That is one occasion I wouldn’t miss for the world.”
“I hope you’ll have the wedding in the Mills,” Nonna said, talking over her shoulder.
Annalisa had expected such a request. She scooted to her left so she could see Nonna’s face. “I’m thinking so, but we didn’t make any decisions. His parents don’t even know yet.”
Nonna glanced back at her. “He hasn’t told them?”
As much as she wanted to keep a lid on their engagement until Thomas returned, she knew she couldn’t do that. “We’re not going to tell his father until he gets back, but I’m going to call Mrs.Barnes and Emma today. They don’t even know that I went to see him.”
“I think telling them is the right thing,” Nonna offered, confirming Annalisa’s decision.
She looked at her ring. Though his parents’ reaction wouldn’t change how much she loved Thomas, it would be nice to have their support. “I’m sure they’ll want to do something at the club. Can you imagine the Mancusos taking over Davenport?”
A few minutes later, she said, “Hey, Walt, I’ve been thinking. How would you feel about hiring someone else to help with the shop? I’m getting back on track and taking lessons from Sharon again, and I really need to make some more time to paint. I’ve never been so motivated.”
Walt considered the idea as he putted along in the right lane. “Do you have anyone in mind? I think it’s a wonderful idea. Matter of fact, we sold half our inventory while you were gone, so it is time you get back to work. Turns out your grandmother is quite the saleslady.”
“Where do you think I got it from?” Annalisa asked, nudging her grandmother’s arm.
As Walt flipped the sign on the door of the shop, Annalisa told him she’d be down shortly and ascended upstairs with Nonna to make the call to Davenport. She needed to get it over with as quickly as possible.
After sitting through judgments of her life’s work by both Jackie Burton and Sharon Maxwell, she would have thought she had unshakable nerves, but she could barely breathe as the phone rang, thinking that her secret trip to Hawaii could detonate any potential familial relations.
