Gage rang the doorbell again, more persistent this time as if he hadn't irritated me enough. I was hoping slamming the door in his face would have given him the message and he'd go away but no, to my great annoyance he was still here.
"Evie, please open the door," he called out.
I shook my head and started to make my way back into the family room where my mother and sister were huddled together waiting for me to come back. Like them, I was eager to resume our chick flick fest. We were in the middle of watching Only You. I must have seen that film hundreds of times, but still loved that scene where Marissa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. danced in the street as the saxophonist played Some Enchanted Evening.
I'd waited for months for this weekend. No way was I going to let Gage ruin it. Everything had been crazy busy at work, and it had been awhile since I'd made it back home. If I wasn't performing, it was all about rehearsals, rehearsals, and more rehearsals. It was a never-ending cycle. This was my first real break and block of vacation I'd had since the year began. I had miraculously managed to get close to a month off, and that was only because the first Autumnal concert was canceled due to Maria Porcello's hip replacement surgery. I had a ton of things planned, starting with tonight's fest.
"Come on, Evie. Please." Gage could sound as desperate as he wanted. The only way I was opening that door was with a priest and a bucket of holy water to douse him with.
Hopefully, if I ignored him long enough, he'd just go away. And quickly too before the pizza arrived.
"My grandmother is missing," he called out.
I stopped so sharp in my tracks I almost fell over in the hallway. I had to brace myself by grabbing onto the edge of one of the floating shelves on the wall.
"I don't know where she is," he continued. There was a hopelessness in his voice that panicked me . The panic sent me rushing back to the door.
The cold night air blew in as I flung the door open again. "Lucy's missing?" I cried.
Gage nodded. The soft amber glow from the porch light beamed down on him drawing attention to his striking blue eyes that were filled with worry. As he looked at me, his square jaw tensed emphasizing the clear cut lines of his profile.
It was my love for Lucy that made me overlook the relation to Gage. Otherwise, there was no way I'd be talking to him.
Lucy was incredibly dear to me. she was like family. Not only had I known Lucy my whole life, having lived right next door to her for most of it, but Lucy had made it possible for me to do what I'd always dreamed of. Thanks to Lucy, I was a world class violinist who played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra as one of their leads. I'd done so well that I now had my own concerts which showcased my original composed music. Lucy had made that dream possible.
"Have you seen her?" he asked breaking my thoughts. The worry in his eyes told me that this was quite serious.
"Not since this morning."
Lucy had been tending to her miniature roses when I’d gone to see her. She seemed fine then, and happy as I marveled at how her roses had always looked their best in the middle of summer.
Lucy was a very particular person. She wouldn't just go missing without a good reason.
Gage released a frustrated sigh and ran his hands through his short black hair, ruffling it even more.
"Something must have happened. Lucy's normally in bed by nine." I glanced over at the hall clock and panicked even more when I saw it was now five to ten. "What did you do?"
He eyed me with scrutiny, annoyed at the question. "Me? Why would you automatically assume that I did something?" He stood up straighter and shifted his weight from one foot to the next into a stance that emphasized his athletic physique.
I shook my head at him. Clearly, he'd forgotten who he was talking to. The years of no contact must have made him mistake me for one of those air-headed women he was used to that would believe everything he told them and fall at his feet, worshiping him for his good looks.
I was no fool. I'd known Gage since I was eight and had a good twenty-five years of getting to know this guy. Granted, for five of those years I hadn't seen him, but the point was I knew him.
Knew his facial expressions inside out. Knew his mannerisms. Knew that that guilty look in his eyes signaled he was covering up something and that hard blink he just did meant he was aware that he'd just been caught .
"What did you do Gage?" I pursed my lips together and folded my arms, staring him down.
He answered by rolling his eyes. "Good night, Evie, it was nice to see you."
Gage moved away from me and proceeded down the steps that led to the front lawn. His powerful well-muscled body moved swiftly, and with that commanding air of confidence he used when he played football.
I frowned. There was no way he was going to dismiss me like that.
I grabbed my coat off the stand by the door and ran, catching up to him as he reached Lucy's front porch. He looked thoroughly annoyed when he saw I'd followed.
"Gage, I know something happened so you might as well tell me. It might help us find her."
"Us?" His brows drew together, and he narrowed his eyes at me.
"Yes us. When it comes to Lucy, there's an us. So start talking." I squared off with him putting my hands on my hips, as if my mere frame of five feet and four inches were comparable to his towering stature of six foot seven.
He sighed slumping his shoulders, then reluctantly tilted his head, signaling me to follow him inside.
The beautiful fragrance of roses tickled my nose as I stepped in. It grew stronger when I went into the lounge which was adorned with roses in bouquets, pots, and vases. The deep pink hues of the flowers matched the wallpaper color perfectly and the rectangular shaped wall light glass shades. Lucy was obsessed with roses and had always said they were the best flowers to make you feel great about yourself.
By the wooden French doors was a tripod stand with a music sheet. From where I stood I could see the sheet was filled with hand-written musical notes, but the notes stopped towards the middle of the sheet. It signaled Lucy was writing music again. She'd stopped for a long time due to being so busy with her students. I had hoped that once Lucy retired she'd go back to composing. It looked like she was doing exactly that.
Lucy's old violin rested on the little side table near the sofa. It may have been awhile since she’d had been my teacher, but I still got excited at the thought of hearing her play. The woman was an absolute legend comparable to the greats of the past like Vivaldi, Corelli, and Paganini. I might have gone to Julliard and played for the New York Philharmonic, but I'd had Lucy, the very best violin teacher in the world.
As I followed Gage into the kitchen the first thing that caught my eye was a large box on the breakfast table marked Federal Express International.
"This is the cause of all the trouble." Gage pointed to the box, shaking his head in dismay.
I went over to it and looked inside. It was filled with letters, very old looking letters that had turned brown with age. They were addressed to Lucy Caldwell. Caldwell was Lucy's maiden name.
"It came this afternoon, shortly after I arrived," Gage continued, picking up one of the letters that had been opened. "My grandmother lived in Italy when she was younger. It was during WWII. My great grandfather was an assistant to the U.S. diplomat at the time."
My mouth dropped on hearing that. Of all the years I'd known Lucy this was the first time I'd ever heard of this. I couldn't have been more stunned, and quite surprised that Lucy hadn't shared something so significant.
"I didn't know that at all." I bit my lip.
"She doesn't talk about it. This is probably why." He sighed in frustration. "There's like a thousand letters in here, all from her first love who she thought was dead."
I gasped, and all I could do was stare at him, tongue-tied. How unreal, and completely bizarre. I couldn't imagine how Lucy must have felt when she found out.
Gage rubbed the back of his neck and adjusted the collar on his jacket before he sat do
wn on the nearest chair and slouched against its wooden back. He pulled in a breath and continued to explain. "The first letter I read was from him telling her he was alive and that he was going to come back as soon as he could and ask her to marry him. I read a few more to, but as you can see there's plenty to go through." Gage shook his head and grimaced. "She really doesn't need this right now."
He said that like it was a bad thing. "What do you mean? Shouldn't it be good he didn't die?"
"Evie, she wanted to go to Italy tonight and find him."
Of course Lucy would want to do that. It was the very thing I would have done if it had been me.
"Gage, why didn't she get these letters earlier, why now?"
He leaned across the table and retrieved a more modern looking letter that was next to the box.
"This is from the consulate in Italy." He handed the paper to me.
Dear Signora,
Our archivist found this box of letters while doing a survey of our old storage facility. The sender continued to send to us although your father had long since returned to America. These letters seemed to have been placed in the facility for safe keeping, but somehow had been misplaced with some other items of value. We can only apologize with deep sincerity for this occurrence, and for any inconvenience caused. While they are decades late we felt you would appreciate having them.
Please contact us if we can be of any assistance to you.
Warm regards,
Pierre Portofino
Chief Archivist
Poor Lucy. I could only imagine how she must have felt.
"She got upset with me when I told her she couldn't just go off to Italy. She was even more furious when I said he was more than likely dead by now." Gage frowned and looked at me as if he thought I'd side with him.
"You said that to her?" I gave him a withering stare.
"Of course I did," he replied sharply.
"Why would you do that? How could you say such a thing to her?"
Typical Gage with his lack of compassion.
"Evie, my grandmother is eighty-nine, and this guy is probably the same age or older. What are the chances of him still being alive? The letters were from the forties. It's two thousand and sixteen." He opened his palms as he spoke and looked at me askance. "Come on, even you can't bust my ass for talking straight."
I stared at him, wanting to be angry but found I couldn't. He was right. I couldn't believe that I was admitting that he was right, but he was.
"Okay, so you told her you thought he was dead?" I asked, trying to reason out what could have happened. However, the hair on the nape of my neck stiffened as realization began to dawn on me. "And that she couldn't just go to Italy?"
He nodded. "Yes, and now I don't know where she is. I've been walking around for hours looking for her. I went to the park, the supermarket, that lake house she always plays at. And nothing. There's no sign of her."
I closed my eyes and bit my lip again. Sometimes I wished I didn't know Lucy so well because right now I had an uneasy thought of where she might have gone, my nerves tensed the more I thought about it.
"She's gone to the airport Gage," I stated.
Gage straightened up immediately. "That's ridiculous. She wouldn't do that. She doesn't even drive."
"Taxi. Gage, She's gone to the airport, and if I know her she's totally on her way to Italy."
As he rose to his feet, I reached for my car keys.
* * *
My hunch was right as always when it came to Lucy.
It didn't take long to get to O'Hare International, and it didn't take long to find Lucy either amongst the sea of people moving around. It was Gage who spotted her first. She was sitting alone in the waiting area sobbing as she held her purse close to her chest. Her snowy white hair that was always neat and rolled up into a bun hung in loose disheveled waves about her tear streaked face.
I had always thought she looked great for her age. No one would ever believe Lucy was nigh on ninety. However, right now she looked her age, and her tiny, flowerlike frame looked as if the life had been sucked out of her.
My heart broke as I observed her and my emotions propelled me to Lucy's side.
Lucy looked relieved to see us but was so choked up she found it hard to talk.
"My dear girl." She sobbed catching her breath as she hugged me. Gage stood beside me looking down at Lucy, his shoulders hunched with worry.
"I'm so sorry," I told her. "Gage told me what happened."
Lucy's delicate shoulders shook as she cried harder. "My Angelo never died. He never died."
Lucy pulled away so she could retrieve another letter from her bag. Her hands shook as she handed it to me to read.
Lucy,
I'm alive. I was presumed dead because I got captured in enemy territory. I escaped with some comrades, and I'm on my way back to Italy as I write this. Wait for me. I'm going to ask you to marry me. You'd better say yes. I love you.
Ciao Bella.
Angelo
The words gripped my heart, and when I looked at Lucy I saw the wealth of pain and desperation within her pale blue eyes.
"Please help me get to Italy. I don't know how to use these things." Lucy held up two of her credit cards. That explained why she was still here.
"Grams, please come home." Gage knelt down in front of her.
Lucy glanced over at him and shook her head. "I can't. I should never have left Italy. My heart told me he was alive."
"Grams those letters are really old. Things might not turn out the way you want. I don't want you to be more heartbroken than you already are." He offered an affectionate smile.
I had never seen this side of Gage. I'd wrongly thought earlier that he had no compassion, but he seemed to be filled with it. I was also glad he didn't mention death, although he was implying it.
"Lucy –” I began, but Lucy interrupted.
"No. I won't give up on him again. I still love him." She said with deep conviction. "I feel the same and in my heart I know he's alive. Please help me to get on a plane. That is all I'm asking."
This was so hard. So very hard. I didn't know what to do, and Gage looked hopeless.
Lucy looked from me to Gage and started to cry even harder when neither of us budged.
"Evie," Lucy pulled in a breath. "When you were fourteen your teachers wanted you to stop playing the violin and focus on your other studies. Do you remember what I told you?"
I nodded, remembering with perfect clarity. It was something I would never forget.
"I told you to never give up on your dreams. I told you that one day you'd accomplish all that you wanted and people would come from all over the world to listen to you. And now they do." Her eyes widened and pride filled them, against the pain.
I dabbed at my own eyes as a tear ran down my cheek. I thought of all the concerts I'd played at, and how my spirits lifted so high, I had to look down to see heaven when I looked at my audience. There were no words to adequately describe that feeling.
Lucy looked to Gage and focused on him. "Gage when you were twelve you told me you wanted to play football for a living. I believed in you wholeheartedly, even though you couldn't catch a ball to save your life. Now look at you. You may both think of me as some crazy old lady, but my heart tells me my Angelo is still alive. Just like it told me you'd both grow up to be great people. I didn't have any evidence then. Just my heart." Lucy held the letter to my chest and offered a weak smile against the tears that streamed down my cheeks. "Please, all I'm asking is for your help to book a flight. Nothing more."
"Lucy I," I began but stopped. Gage looked over at me, waiting to hear what I was going to say. Waiting for me to tell Lucy I couldn't help.
I looked away and gazed ahead to the plasma screens on the wall displaying the arrival and departure times of various flights. Below the wall were lines of people with their luggage.
I thought about what Lucy said, and I didn't have the heart to tell her no. I just couldn't bring myself
to say the word. I also didn't have the heart to just book her a flight and put her on a plane to Italy where Lucy would certainly get lost. Lucy didn't even have any luggage aside from her purse, and the fact that she couldn't use her credit cards was alarming enough.
I pulled in a steady breath. "Lucy, you can't go to Italy."
"Evie, please," Lucy winced.
"No. You can't go without me." I smiled. Gage shot me a curious look.
Lucy pulled in a surprised breath and gazed at me.
I smiled wider and regained my usual lighthearted jovial mannerisms. "In fact, I should be offended you didn't ask me, and you knew I was in Chicago. You also knew how much I'd love to go to Italy. Just imagine all the fashionable boots they must have. All the best designers come from there." I was babbling now, like I always did when I was unsure about something.
"You'd come with me?" Lucy asked in disbelief.
"Of course." I nodded. "There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. But, we have to go home first and arrange this properly. Book our flight, pack some clothes and for heaven's sake Lucy we have to do your hair. You can't travel looking like that. You have witch hair."
Lucy laughed. "Witch hair?"
"Yes like Hocus Pocus, haven't seen a comb in centuries kind of hair. Not like Garlinda in Wicked." I joked enunciating Garlinda’s name just like they had in Wicked. That was our favorite musical. "You can't see Angelo looking like that. So, does that sound like a plan?"
To my great relief, Lucy nodded.
Chapter 2
Gage
* * *
She never failed to amaze me. I had known Evie my whole life, and she still managed to surprise the hell out of me.
She was probably the only woman to do that, and I was very interested to see just how we were going to pull this off ... whatever it was we were supposed to be doing.
Play of Love: The Gladiator Players Box Set Page 33
