Ariana looked at her quizzically for a moment before returning her gaze to the vacant shop space. “Maybe some silk scarves with unique prints, a few simple designs. Casual wraparound dresses made of beautiful silk.” A smile curved on her lips. “Palazzo pants, halter tops, short shifts. Fun luxury.”
Ruby smiled and nodded. “Intriguing thoughts.”
“Oh, Aunt Ruby. Did you have this in mind all along?”
“Not at all,” Ruby replied, laughing. “Perhaps it was destiny.”
“And do you believe in destiny?”
Ruby gazed across the lake toward the bell tower in Varenna. “Crazy though it seems, I still do.”
After they ate, and Ruby had finished both glasses of champagne that Lorenzo had brought to the table, she motioned for him. When he joined them, she asked, “Lorenzo, darling, do you know anything about that sweet little shop next door that’s vacant?”
“You’re lucky. The owner is at another table.” Lorenzo gave a convincing act of surprise. “Shall I get him for you?”
“My goodness, imagine that,” Ruby said. “We’d love to talk to him and see the space.”
While Lorenzo hurried to another table, Ariana turned to Ruby. “Really? You’re going to tell me this was a coincidence?”
Ruby winked. “Absolutely. I’ve long believed in synchronicity.”
Lorenzo returned with a man he introduced as Cesare Gatti. Ruby invited him to join them and asked him to tell them about the shop space.
“Would you like to see it?” Cesare asked.
“Indeed, we would.” Ruby beamed at Ariana. “What luck.”
After they finished lunch, they walked next door to the vacant space. Cesare opened the door for them.
“This space was last used as a fashion boutique,” Cesare said. “It was very successful until the owner sold it to another person.” He shuddered. “The new owner had absolutely no sense of style, so the shop closed in six months.”
“I don’t think that would be a problem for Ariana,” Ruby said with confidence. She watched as Ariana walked the length of the small shop, scrutinizing the dressing rooms, the mirrors and shelves, and the decor.
While Ariana paced off the space and reeled off questions for the property owner, Ruby gazed from the front windows. Ferries and boats crisscrossed the lake. It was a happy sight, and people were clearly enjoying themselves on this sunny day. As Ruby gazed across the lake, the distant bell tower that rose above the cathedral in Varenna drew her attention.
Ruby recalled the happiest day of her life. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could still see the look of love in Niccolò’s eyes for her. She could smell the white roses that he had chosen from the garden for her bouquet, and she could feel the blush-pink silk dress on her skin.
Pressing her hand against her heart, Ruby relived the emotion of that day. The love they shared had never died. And no other man ever compared to Niccolò. Was that the perfection of young love, or had he become perfect in her memory with the passing years?
Her wedding had been like a sweet dream. Ruby might have been naïve, but she’d fallen in love. That entire summer in Italy existed in her memory as if captured in a crystal orb.
Ariana stopped beside Ruby, jolting her from her memories. “This could be such a charming shop,” Ariana said. “And you couldn’t ask for a better location. With the café next door, the foot traffic from other shops, and the fresh breeze off the lake with a view that just goes on and on.” Ariana sighed. “If only my life was different.”
Ruby put her arm around Ariana’s shoulder. “What if it could be?” she asked, her words catching in her throat. If she couldn’t rewind her life and run it in a different direction, at least she could help Ariana change her trajectory.
She had watched Ariana for years; she’d seen the joy sucked from her soul. No job was worth that. “My darling girl, you have the power to do whatever you want. All you have to do is believe that you can.”
Ariana rested her head on Ruby’s shoulder. “Is that what you did when you decided to buy the Villa Fiori?”
“That’s what I’ve always done,” Ruby said.
Or was it? How many times had Ruby replayed parts of her life, wondering if she had done everything in her power? Yet nothing good ever came of examining decisions already made. The only thing she could change was her future.
And now she was back on the shores of this beautiful lake where she had been united with the love of her life, if only for a brief time. She had never regretted the magic that she and Niccolò had shared here.
If Ruby were going to die, it would be with a view of the little church’s bell tower outside of her window and Niccolò’s name on her lips. She would end her life where it had really started.
Each of those days was suspended in her memory like a perfectly faceted prism that shimmered with the radiance of love. Ruby smiled. The love they had shared was her most precious possession; that which had flowed from their union she would cherish until her last breath.
Watching her, Ariana frowned. “Are you alright?”
Ruby blinked back tears forming on her lashes. “Of course, I am, my dear.” She pressed her pinkie finger to the corner of her eyes. “I’m an actress; I’m dramatic by nature.”
“Allow me,” Cesare said, handing her a pressed handkerchief.
Ruby accepted it, and she noticed the look of surprise on Ariana’s face. “Such a lovely gesture, isn’t it?” Not many men carried handkerchiefs these days.
Glancing down at it, she saw the initial N embroidered on the fine cloth. Why would Cesare be carrying this? Ruby dabbed her eyes and handed it back to him.
Here on Lake Como, reminders of Niccolò were everywhere. Were they mere coincidences or perfect synchronicity?
Chapter 19
Rome, 1952
* * *
Blinded by tears, Ruby pawed through her purse to find the lire to pay the taxi driver. “Grazie,” she mumbled, fumbling at the door handle.
The driver hurried to open the door and help her, but she shrugged him off. She didn’t want anyone’s help; she only wanted to be left alone. Still in shock over the argument between Niccolò and his father just minutes ago, she staggered through the darkening night toward the small inn where she was staying. Hot tears trickled down her cheeks, and she angrily brushed them away.
The pensione owner, a kind middle-aged woman who’d helped her settle into Rome, looked up from her desk at her in alarm. “Mio Dio. Signorina Raines, stai bene?”
Searching for words, Ruby sliced her hands through the air. “Niccolò, finito.”
The woman’s face crumpled in sympathy, and she reached out to Ruby.
Anxious to shut out the world, Ruby shook her head and rushed toward the staircase. She stumbled up the dimly lit steps, her anguish escalating with each riser until she reached her room.
With her heart breaking over Niccolò and his father’s rejection of their marriage, Ruby flung herself onto the bed in her room at the pensione. In the dark, she clutched the half of the silver heart she wore and sobbed into the pillow, her stomach twisting in on itself in agony.