“You see, there’s still life in this old dog,” Beppe taunted, as Dante hit another ball into the net. Keen to finish and find Floriana, Dante focused, pulled it together, and finally beat his father 6–4. Beppe was gracious in defeat because there was no shame in that score. He shook hands with his son, patting him firmly on the back. “I hope you are as impressive in the boardroom as you are on the tennis court.”
“I’ll do my best,” Dante assured him.
“I’m sure you will.”
Then Beppe noticed Zazzetta slinking through the olive trees towards them. “What now, Zazzetta?”
Dante left them together, talking in low voices, their heads together like a pair of thieves. He found the girls by the pool, but there was no sign of Floriana. “I came on my own,” Costanza explained when he asked after her. Dante noticed a new confidence in her deportment, the way she stood with her back straight and her gaze steady.
“Did she not want to come?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her,” Costanza replied carelessly.
Dante frowned. “Well, Good-Night wants to see her,” he said, striding off towards the steps built into the rock. If she didn’t come on her own, he would go and get her.
24.
Dante climbed into his silver Alfa Romeo Spider, a present from his father on his return from America. Good-Night jumped onto the backseat and sat, tongue out, ready for another adventure. With the roof down and the wind raking through his damp hair, Dante roared between the cypresses towards the gate. He was astute enough to notice a change in the air around Costanza. It was no coincidence that Floriana hadn’t come to the party and wasn’t invited with Costanza today. She was being deliberately excluded. Well, he’d show them. He gripped the wheel determinedly and drove down the coast towards Herba. In a few minutes he was driving up the cobbled stones between the ancient buildings, waving at the locals who stared at the beautiful car in wonder.
He parked right outside Floriana’s building on Via Roma and rang the bell. When no one appeared, he rang it again. Finally, the doleful voice of an old lady was heard on the other side. “All right, all right, I’m coming. Be patient.” The door opened, and the round face of the woman Dante took to be Signora Bruno squeezed into the crack. When she saw Dante, she recognized him at once. His eyes were, indeed, the color of a tropical sea. She opened the door wide and smiled sweetly.
“I’ve come for Floriana. Is she here?” His gaze strayed into the courtyard.
“No, she left about half an hour ago.”
“Do you know where she went?”
“I assumed she went to see you.”
Dante’s face darkened with frustration. “I don’t suppose she walks up the road.”
“Of course not. She takes the shortcut through the poppies.”
“Thank you, signora, you’ve been very helpful.”
“Signora Bruno,” she said, introducing herself. “I’m like a mother to Floriana. Have been ever since Loretta disappeared with the child’s little brother.”
Dante was astonished. “Floriana has a little brother?”
“Had a little brother.”
“She never said.”
“Well, she wouldn’t. It’s too painful, and children have a way of blocking out the nasty things. God only knows what’s become of them now.”
“That’s unspeakably cruel to choose one child over the other. What sort of woman could do that?”
“A very selfish one. I don’t suppose her tomato man wanted an older child. Little Luca was very sweet, and Floriana worshipped him.”
“What was the name of the tomato seller?”
Signora Bruno noticed the determined glint in his eyes and put a podgy hand on his arm. “Don’t go there, Dante. I know you want to put it all right, but you can’t. They are long gone. If Loretta wanted to come back and find her, she could, at any time. She knows where she is. But she doesn’t want to, does she? It is better that Floriana forgets about the past and concentrates on her future. She’s a bright, resourceful young woman. It’s only a shame that her mother can’t see her now, because she’d be very proud of the person Floriana has become, in spite of all the obstacles.”
“She’s lucky to have you, signora.”
“I know.” She waved away the compliment. “I’ll reap my rewards in Heaven, no doubt about that.”
Dante drove back up the road, his mind full of Loretta’s malice and the tomato man who lured her away. He’d give anything to find them. The truth was that he could find them. All he had to do was ask Zazzetta, and it would be done. He didn’t doubt the capability of that shady man. But perhaps Signora Bruno was right. What good would it do? Why rake it up and cause Floriana to feel rejected all over again?