Page 82 of The Dolce Vita Divas
‘Promise?’
‘Promise. When are you coming to see us?’ he said. ‘Mommy said I could ask you.’
‘I don’t know,’ I said, ‘I’ll have to see.’
‘You could come for my birthday,’ he said, ‘that’s in February. I’m going to be six.’
‘Well, maybe I will,’ I said.
‘I hope you have a safe trip,’ Raleigh said, ‘and come and visit us very soon. We have plenty of room, and Eric will be asking on a daily basis, if I know him.’
She gave me a very gentle hug and murmured in my ear.
‘Thank you, for everything. You may not know it but you have made such a difference. Come and see us, you are always welcome.’
Leo kissed my cheek, and then with a bit of last-minute fussing about boarding passes and passports, they were gone.
I wondered for a moment if I ever would travel to visit them, and then I thought yes, why not? This, after all, would be part of this new independence I had been thinking about, doing exciting things.
Then suddenly, as was usual for him, Eric came rushing back and he threw his arms around me again, making me wince a little as he crushed my sore ribs.
‘You’ve got to look after Nonno now we are going home,’ he said, ‘otherwise he won’t have anyone to talk to. And you could come to my party together. He said he would like that.’
I laughed, delighted at the prospect of doing just that with Paulo at my side.
‘We’ll see,’ I said, giving him a last hug. ‘Now hurry up, you don’t want to miss your plane.’
* * *
The following day was our last in Capri. Now that Leo and his family had gone, it seemed as though our holiday really was over.
Susie, despite our agreed talk about our newfound independence, decided she was going to spend it with Raimondo, having lunch at some delectable restaurant he wanted to take her to, high on the cliffs above Amalfi.
I had retreated to my favourite spot in the gardens and was enjoying my coffee in the company of the hotel cat, who was scowling at me from a safe distance up a tree.
‘So now that Susie has gone off for the day, I suggest we do the same,’ said a voice behind me, and I turned to see Paulo. And despite my feisty statements to Susie, my insistence that we, as mature sensible women, didn’t need anyone’s approval, my spirits raised at the sight of him, and I felt happier than I had for years.
We understood each other better than we had before. It was as though a line had been drawn in the past behind us, and we had stepped over it into whatever the future had to offer.
‘What have you got in mind?’ I asked with a huge smile.
He sat down in the chair next to me and stretched out his legs in front of him. And then he gave me a grin that was so friendly, so familiar, and somehow tinged with mischief that I felt myself relax.
‘As long as you feel up to it I suggest a boat trip. I promised you one, didn’t I? The sea is very calm. And it’s going to be a lovely day.’
* * *
The feeling that this day was really the end of something, but also the beginning of a new chapter, intensified. And although I felt rather sad, there was also something inside me that I didn’t immediately recognise. Not excitement, exactly; something deeper than that. There was something else to look forward to, a different sort of life. One for me.
* * *
Half an hour later, we pulled away from the jetty at Marina Grande in our boat – agozzo caprese, I was informed, a traditional wooden boat that would have held several people, but this time we were the only ones on board.
The captain, a grizzled, silent man, steered us expertly over the rocking water as we left the harbour, and I hoped I was not going to be seasick. That really would have spoiled the experience, but after a few minutes of concentrating on the horizon, I began to feel better.
The charm of the string of pastel-coloured houses clinging to the cliffs above us was more apparent as we went further out to sea. Other boats passed us and the ferry from the mainland bringing new visitors to the island. There were passengers waving, cheerful, looking forward to their own adventures and experiences.
How different I felt compared to when Susie and I had arrived. Then I had been so anxious, worried sick about meeting Paulo again after such a long time. Knowing that in all the intervening years I had never really forgotten him and had often wondered about him and his life. I had tried and failed to leave him firmly in my past; but now, none of that mattered. I believed in myself, and I realised he did too.
