"Ouch!" Peppi winced, pulling his arm away. "That stings."

"That's what you get for listening to my father instead of to me," she chided him. "Now be still while I clean this or you'll end up with an infection."

While she continued to scold him, Lucrezia meticulously picked out the bits of gravel that were imbedded in Peppi's skin. When she finished, she took a cloth napkin and used it as a bandage to cover the wound. Then she ordered Peppi to stay there and relax while she got him something to eat and drink.

Filomena watched with keen interest as her daughter fussed over Peppi. She let her gaze alternate between the two. Lucrezia was giving him an earful, but in that way that women do only to men they truly care about. For his part, Peppi was offering no resistance whatsoever to all the attention.

It was a very interesting situation.

Luca, meantime, was not paying any attention at all to the scene unfolding behind him. "You were saying," he said to his wife, interrupting her ruminations.

"Never mind what I was saying!" Filomena exclaimed, giving him another whack. "I've got more important things on my mind right now." Then she took her husband's arm and led him over to the blanket where she would be able to keep a closer eye on things as they developed.

That night, after they had left the madness of the Giro behind and returned home, Luca drove Peppi and the two women into Sulmona for dinner to celebrate their adventure on the mountain. After a hearty meal and a few carafes of wine, they all went for a stroll around the city's piazza. It was a cool but pleasant evening with a soft breeze drifting down from the mountains. As always on a Sat.u.r.day night, the piazza was filled with people, young and old alike. In the middle of the piazza a statue of Ovid kept a contemplative watch over the proceedings. At the feet of the Roman poet sat a group of teenagers singing love ballads along with a young boy strumming the guitar.

Luca was in fine spirits as he ambled along, talking nonstop with Peppi about the Giro. "You know, some might say that the Tour de France has more prestige," he was saying, "but the Giro has more of the soul, the real spirit of cycling."

"What makes you say that?" asked Peppi.

"Don't let him get started," said Filomena, walking with Lucrezia a few steps behind. "He'll bend your ear for the rest of the night if you let him."

"But it's true," said Luca, coming to a stop. "You know yourself, Filomena. Tell Peppi about the day we all went to watch Andrea from Introdacqua the last time the Giro came through here."

"You tell him," sighed Filomena, rolling her eyes for Lucrezia's benefit.

"You had to see it," Luca began. "The group let Andrea pedal up ahead so that he could stop and say h.e.l.lo to all his family and friends who had come out to watch him race. They do the same thing sometimes in the Tour when the race goes through a rider's home town. But what's different about the Giro is that this time all the riders ended up stopping, not just Andrea, because Filomena and some of the other women had baked a load of pastries for them. It was incredible: almost two hundred guys on bicycles pull over and start gobbling down all the sweets they can get their hands on. Even the guys on the motorcycles and the race commissars grabbed a couple! Then one of the racers pedals off with a tray of cannoli and starts serving them to the other riders as they went along. It was great! You just don't see that sort of thing in any other race-only the Giro."

The four of them continued their walk until they came to the edge of the piazza. Just across from it was a little park where they sat down on the edge of one of the fountains. Peppi leaned over and smiled when he saw the brightly colored fish swimming about in the pools. Lucrezia turned in time to see the smile on his face.

"What is it?" she said, looking with him into the pool.

"I was just remembering when I was a little boy," said Peppi. "My parents used to bring me here sometimes and I would always get soaking wet trying to reach in and catch the fish."

"How sweet," said Lucrezia, still gazing into the pool. "You must have been so cute."

Peppi made no reply, but simply smiled and stared with her at the tranquil water.

Filomena, meantime, jumped up, took Luca by the arm, and tugged him away from the fountain.

"What are you doing, amore mia amore mia?" he said to his wife as she made him walk with her down the path by the other fountains in the park.

Filomena looked back over her shoulder to see if Lucrezia and Peppi had even noticed that they had left. "I'm doing whatever it takes," she said firmly. Then she smiled, coiled her arm around Luca's, and the two walked on together.

Left to themselves, Lucrezia and Peppi sat by the fountain chatting about the day's adventures. It was a good long while before either noticed that Filomena and Luca had disappeared. Peppi finally turned and looked about to see where they might have gone to.

"I wonder where your parents are?" he said.

"Don't worry about those two," said Lucrezia, "I'm sure they haven't wandered far."

She regarded Peppi for a moment before reaching out to touch him lightly on the elbow. "How is your arm feeling, by the way?" she asked, sounding concerned. "That was a nasty fall you took today."

"It's a little sore," Peppi admitted, flexing his arm, "but not too bad. Thankfully I received some very good medical attention after I made it to the top of the mountain. You would have made a very good nurse," he added.

"A nurse?" Lucrezia replied, feigning indignation. "Why not a doctor? Are you a chauvinist?"

"Oh no, never," said Peppi. "It's just that-"

"Just what?" said Lucrezia. She looked quite pleased with herself for having made him squirm a bit.

Peppi caught the mischievous gleam in her eye. "Doctor or nurse, you would get along very well in America," he said with a chuckle. "Over there the women don't let men get away with anything either."

"And why should they?" she replied smugly.

Peppi could only offer a shrug in response. Lucrezia gave him a nudge to show that she was just teasing him, and they both laughed.

"So tell me," she asked, "do you miss America?"

"Sometimes," Peppi answered. "I lived there most of my life, so I left a lot of myself behind, if you know what I mean."

Lucrezia leaned forward and rested her chin upon her hand. "I would like to visit America someday," she said. "Do you think you would ever go back?"

"To live? No," said Peppi, shaking his head, "I don't think so."

"How about just to visit?"

"Eh, who knows?" he shrugged. "I doubt it, but then again it wasn't so long ago that I would never have imagined coming back here. But for the moment, I'm very happy right where I am."

"So am I," she said.

Lucrezia looked out to the other side of the park where a pair of young lovers had just sat down together on a bench. The two, she saw, were off together in a blissful world of their own and before long their arms were entwined in an impa.s.sioned embrace. It was a tender scene that stirred something within Lucrezia, an old yearning that she knew still lived in her despite her best attempts to push it from her consciousness. She let slip a sigh and looked back at Peppi. By now, he too had taken notice of the couple. As he watched them, Lucrezia let her eyes study the rugged profile of his face. Just then Peppi broke out in a smile and his eyes became aglow with a merriment that she had never seen in them before. There was something irresistible about it and she found herself smiling too.

"What is it?" she asked him. "What's so funny?"

"Those two over there should be more careful," Peppi said, nodding at the couple, who at this point were kissing each other quite dramatically. "The way things are going they might both wind up needing dental work."

"Hey, sometimes love hurts," joked Lucrezia.

"Yes, I've heard that," laughed Peppi, "but they say it's still worth it."

As he said this, Peppi turned back to face her and for the first time the two gazed directly at one another.

"So they say," said Lucrezia, her eyes meeting his.

Peppi returned her gaze, unsure of what it was he saw in her eyes-and of what she saw in his. Lucrezia lifted her hand and, for a hypnotic moment, he was certain that she was going to touch his face. The moment pa.s.sed quickly, though, and Lucrezia came back to herself. Looking a bit fl.u.s.tered, she stood and gave his shirtsleeve a tug.

"Come on," she said, "let's go find my parents before they get lost somewhere."

As Peppi stood he saw a brilliant full moon rising over the mountains in the distance. At the sight of it he gave a sigh of his own. "Che bella notte," "Che bella notte," he said. "What a beautiful night." he said. "What a beautiful night."

"Yes, it truly is," said Lucrezia.

Peppi smiled and gave her a nod. He let her slip her arm through his and together the two strolled off into the moonlight.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

One day, after the three frenzied weeks of the Giro had pa.s.sed and June's warm weather had settled in to stay, a letter came to the post office in the village addressed to: after the three frenzied weeks of the Giro had pa.s.sed and June's warm weather had settled in to stay, a letter came to the post office in the village addressed to:

Signor PeppiIl MulinoVilla San Giuseppe

By this time the men in the local post office knew that Peppi was the American who lived in the apartment above Luca's factory; they tucked the letter in with the bundle of business correspondence that would be delivered to the factory later that morning.

Peppi was out back working in the gardens when Lucrezia came out with the letter.

"Peppi, you have some mail," she called.

At hearing her approach, Peppi stood and brushed the dirt off his hands and knees. "From America?" he said, wiping his hands on his trousers.

"No, Pescara."

"Pescara?" said Peppi. "Who's sending me letters from Pescara?"

"Open it and see."

"Please, you do it for me," said Peppi. "My hands are a mess right now."

Lucrezia opened the envelope, pulled out the engraved card inside, and began to read. "It's a wedding invitation," she announced.

"To whose wedding?" asked Peppi, now totally perplexed.

"Let's see...two people named Loredana and Claudio."

Peppi scratched his head, repeating the names to himself. Then he suddenly remembered. "Of course, Loredana and Claudio!" he exclaimed. "Now I remember. Who would have thought?"

"Who are they?" asked Lucrezia.

"Two young friends of mine. I met them on the train," said Peppi. "When are they getting married?"

"In three weeks."

"And they want me to come," mused Peppi. "That's nice of them to invite me. But my word, they only just met this past winter."

"Remember, this is Italy, Peppi," said Lucrezia, looking over the invitation. "Things happen fast when people fall in love here."

Peppi nodded. "I guess so."

Lucrezia tucked the invitation back into the envelope and handed it to Peppi. "So, will you go?" she asked. "The sh.o.r.e at Pescara is beautiful this time of year."

Peppi shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"But why not?"

Peppi walked over to the bench beneath the arbor and sat down. "I don't know," he said with a shrug. "Anna and I were married in June. Our anniversary is coming up soon."

"I didn't know that," said Lucrezia. She walked up beside him. "May I?" she asked, gesturing to the bench.

"Of course," said Peppi, dusting the spot off for her.

Lucrezia sat next to him and gazed past him into the distance for a time without speaking. In her eyes Peppi could see the colorful reflection of the flower beds behind him.

"Francesco and I were married in July," Lucrezia said wistfully. "Don't ask me why we waited till the middle of the summer. Even now I don't know why. Mannagia Mannagia, it was so hot that day! Our anniversary will be coming up soon too."

"Should I start to measure the window panes again?" asked Peppi.

"No, you don't have to worry about the windows," replied Lucrezia, swatting him on the arm with the back of her hand. "But I think you should go to the wedding. It would be good for you."

"I don't know," said Peppi, "I'm not sure if I'm ready yet for that sort of thing again. And don't forget, I don't even have a car to drive there. Besides, I'd feel funny going all alone even if I did."

"Hmm," sighed Lucrezia. "I know what you mean."

Peppi stared at the envelope. "Then again, maybe I should go," he said thoughtfully. "I haven't been to ma.s.s since Anna's funeral. It's probably time I went."

"Weddings and funerals are the only times I go to church these days," said Lucrezia.

Peppi nodded to show he understood. Patting her shoulder, he stood and tucked the invitation into his back pocket. Then he walked away toward the flower beds.

"So, what are you going to do?" said Lucrezia.

"Well, for now I'm going to finish weeding the garden," he replied. "Then I'm going to take a nap. I'll worry about the wedding later on."

That evening after dinner, Peppi walked up to Luca's house to watch the news, something he liked to do once or twice a week. In truth, Luca and Filomena would have welcomed him every night if he wanted to come, but Peppi didn't like to intrude too much. As he strolled up the path, it occurred to him that in addition to going back to church on a more regular basis, it was probably about time he bought himself a television for the apartment. He made a mental note to look into it soon.

When Peppi came in, Luca and Filomena were in the living room. Filomena was just turning the television on while Luca read the newspaper. He looked up from his reading and gave Peppi a nod.

"Any good news?" said Peppi.