32
Lago di Como, 2010
The sun hadn’t been up long, and Ruby was having coffee on the terrace, enjoying the fresh morning Tivano breezes from Valtellina and the north. Her mind was full of Niccolò. She could scarcely believe he was alive and living on the shores of Lake Como. And that their love had endured the distance of time.
Sipping her coffee, she watched the early ferry cut through the water from Varenna to Bellagio. The morning bells of Chiesa di San Giorgio tolled in the distance, and the scent of honeysuckle drifted on the breeze, just as on the day they’d married.
Knowing that Niccolò was alive, Ruby had hardly slept. Adrenaline surged through her, and she felt the years melt away.
Watching the golden orioles flitting among the trees, Ruby smiled. Before they had parted last
