Bella Fortuna (34 page)

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Authors: Rosanna Chiofalo

BOOK: Bella Fortuna
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“Yes, that is true. She was my father's sister, and there was some bad blood between them, something to do with the inheritance of the cotton farm. I was closer to my mother's family, but as you know, they are all in Siracusa. And after my mother died, eventually the contact between them and my father and me was very little. They knew that I had gone to Virginia, and when they no longer heard from me, they thought that I had decided to stay there and make a life for myself just as my brother, Andrea, had done. I know this because, a few years ago, I traveled to Sicily and went to visit them.”
“So they were right. You did decide to stay in Virginia.”
“But not because I wanted to, Sera. There was an accident—in the coal mines. One day when I was excavating with the other miners, the mine collapsed.”
“Yes, that is one fact about your time in Virginia that I know about. You see, Salvatore, after not receiving any communication from you in over a month, the thought occurred to me that perhaps something had happened to you in the mines. After much investigating, my father learned that the mine where you had been working collapsed. But he told me that there were no survivors.”
“He must have learned of the mine collapse within the first few days after the accident when they thought there were no survivors. But after five days, when they were able to reach the area where the mine gave out, they discovered one of the other miners and me alive. I was unconscious when they found me and did not wake up until a week later.”
“I'm so sorry, Salvatore. It must have been horrible.”
Olivia regretted her earlier stern tone with him.
“Well, it would have been more horrible if I had not lost consciousness, like the other surviving miner. He told me after we were rescued that he wished he were unconscious like me so he wouldn't have to wonder each day if that was the day he was going to die alone in those mines.”
“So why didn't you call me after the accident to tell me you were alive, Salvatore?”
“I lost my memory, Sera. All I could remember was my name. I didn't even remember that I was in America. The doctors assured me the memory loss would be temporary. But for six agonizing months, I worked hard to try to puzzle together the lost fragments of my memory.”
Olivia was crying. They were both tears of sadness for all that Salvatore had endured, but they were also tears of relief. For all these years, she'd thought that either Salvatore had died or he had abandoned her. Something in her would not believe that he was really dead when her father had given her the news of the coal mine collapse. So she had chosen to believe instead that Salvatore had willingly left her. Perhaps he had met another woman in Virginia, or the thought of returning to Sicily, where there was no assurance of work, was too much for him to bear after having regular work in America.
Salvatore gave his handkerchief to Olivia.
“
Non piangere,
Sera.”
“I never believed you were really dead. I had moments when I would try to convince myself it was true, but my heart told me you were still alive. Even though my father told me the mine that had collapsed was the mine where you had been working, I made up a million excuses: you hadn't gone in to work that day; my father was given the wrong information and you worked at a different mine; you'd quit working at the mine and had decided to stay in America and find some other work; you had returned to Sicily but did not choose to find me or were living in another region; you had met another woman. Every day, I thought of a new excuse. My family was so worried about me. I hardly ate or went out with my sisters or my friends. I wouldn't even go to church or to my choir rehearsals.”
“Sera, I did come back to Sicily. Once my memory was fully restored, I remembered you. Yours was actually one of the first faces I remembered. I kept seeing your face, but I could not put a name to the face or place where I had seen you. But as my memory slowly came back, your face kept haunting me. And when I knew who you were and remembered that you were waiting for me back home, I immediately returned to Sicily. I went to Matteo's house first. I was nervous about seeing you again, especially since I knew so much time had passed since you'd last heard from me. I wanted to know what to expect when I found you. Matteo told me you'd gotten married and had moved to America.”
“You did keep your promise after all, then.”
Olivia was still crying but could not look up into Salvatore's face. Guilt washed over her. She had not kept the vigil long enough for him even though she'd sensed he was alive.
Salvatore tipped Olivia's chin up, forcing her to look into his eyes.
“I never forgot you, Sera. Why do you think I never married?”
Olivia didn't know what to say. This poor man had almost lost his life thousands of miles away from home, only to wake up and have no memory of who he was. Then he returned home to his country only to discover the woman he'd loved had married someone else.
“I'm sorry, Salvatore. I'm so sorry.”
“For what, Sera?”
“For everything. I had no right to be mad at you before.”
“You thought I'd abandoned you. Of course you had every right to be mad.”
“So why aren't you mad at me then? I abandoned
you
.”
“Sera,
sei pazza!
Stop talking so crazy! You were told I was dead. I would not expect you to wait for a ghost!”
“But I told you. I never really believed you were dead. I should have listened to myself instead of giving in to the pressure of my family and friends telling me that I needed to move forward with my life.”
“Sera, listen to me. Everything happened the way it was supposed to happen. I don't know why. Only God knows. For some reason, we were not meant to be together at that time. But we have had good lives in spite of losing each other. You met a wonderful man. Matteo assured me Nicola was a fine man who would do right by you. My other friends who either knew Nicola or knew of him through our townspeople also told me about his loyal, good character. You had three beautiful daughters with him and began a new and, from what I have heard, very prosperous business. Do not be sorry about all the blessings that you have had.”
Salvatore patted Olivia's hand.
“Believe me, I have gone over in my mind how my life would have been different had I not gone to Virginia and just stayed with you in Sicily. But now I can't picture my life being any different from the way it is. And that is because of Francesca. I returned to America after discovering that you were married. I rented the upstairs apartment in the two-family house my sister owned on Long Island. If I had stayed in Sicily, I don't know if I would have received custody of Francesca after my sister and her husband died. She might have gone to her father's brother. But he was only twenty-three and not ready to take on the responsibilities of a young child. Besides, Francesca knew me from the moment she was born, and my living in the apartment above them already made me a member of her immediate family. She was accustomed to always having me around.”
“So you have been happy even though you never married?”
“Yes. Francesca has given me so much to be grateful for.”
“So I can't believe there was never any special woman since me.”
Olivia felt her face warming up. She shouldn't have asked such an intimate question.
“There were a few nice women who were my companions. I almost came close to marriage, but none of them was special enough for me to want to marry her. I also had to take into consideration Francesca, and not all of those women were too happy about inheriting a child along with a husband.”
Olivia nodded in understanding. She suddenly realized just how much Salvatore had sacrificed for his niece. She wasn't surprised. The young man she had known and fallen in love with in Sicily was very generous. She was glad to hear that he hadn't changed.
“How about you? Is there another man in your life?”
Olivia's face returned to the crimson color it had been a moment ago, only this time it felt like she was going to catch on fire.
“Of course not. How could you ask such a question?”
“I'm sorry, Sera. I did not mean to offend you. You are still an attractive woman.”
This time it was Salvatore whose glance quickly shifted in another direction when Olivia looked at him in surprise.
“I'm sorry. I should not have gotten upset. What I meant to say is that I do not intend to get married again. Nicola was my husband. I will remain loyal to him and his memory.”
Salvatore nodded his head, but Olivia saw a pained look in his eyes. She mentally chided herself. He was probably thinking that she could remain loyal to the memory of her dead husband, but was not able to remain loyal to the memory of her first love.
“I want you to know, Salvatore, that I met Nicola two years after I'd heard that you were dead. We were married . . .”
“Six months later. I know. Matteo told me.”
Salvatore and Olivia looked into each other's eyes, and this time, neither looked away. “Life is strange—and can be cruel.”
“Yes, Sera. But it can also be very wonderful. Look, here we are together again after all these years. Who would have ever thought it?”
“But you knew I was alive and well, Salvatore. And you knew I was living in America. Did you know I was living in the same state as you?”
“Yes, Matteo had told me that you were in New York. But New York is such a large city and state. And for all I knew, you and Nicola might've eventually moved to another state or even gone back to Sicily. So many Italians I met returned to our country.”
“So you never tried to look for me here?”
“I thought about it, but then I thought what good would come of it? You were married to a good man, and I did not want to disrupt your life.”
“What makes you so sure you would have disrupted it?”
“I don't mean to sound arrogant. But how would that look to your husband? His wife's first lover returns from the dead and has come to find her? I know how much you loved me, Sera.”
Olivia had wanted to tell him since she'd arrived at Raquel's home to stop calling her “Sera,” but she couldn't. Every time Salvatore said it, a delicious warmth ran throughout her body—the same sensation she experienced all those years ago when she'd been a young girl in Sicily, falling in love for the first time. She hadn't felt that way since she'd married Nicola. “So you let me continue thinking you were dead for all these years?”
“It was for the better. You might not see that now, Sera, but in time, you will.”
Olivia glanced at her watch. It was three o'clock. Two hours had elapsed like a stroke of a magic wand. She still could not believe she was sitting here across from her first love. If what Salvatore had said was true, that there was a reason why they'd been separated, then the opposite was true as well. There was a reason why fate had decided to reunite them. But at the moment, she could not imagine why. It was just a coincidence. But as soon as she thought that, Olivia, with her strong superstitious beliefs, knew very well it could not merely be a coincidence. In fact, it was after Salvatore disappeared that she had begun feeling so superstitious. She was convinced it was Maria Occhiogrosso, one of the girls in her church choir, who had placed the
malocchio
on her and Salvatore. Ironically, Maria's last name, “Occhiogrosso,” means “fat eye,” and her eyes seemed to bulge out of her very wide and large forehead. Olivia called her “Fat Eye” behind her back. She'd also caught Maria staring at Salvatore on several occasions and trying to flirt with him. “Fat Eye” had even told her after Salvatore disappeared that he'd probably found a rich American woman and had forgotten all about Olivia.
Olivia sighed. She hated to admit it, but Salvatore was right. If he'd found her after her marriage to Nicola, it would've been a disruption. And even now, she felt his reappearance in her life creating turmoil. She could never tell her daughters about Salvatore. With that thought, she stood up and carried their empty glasses to Raquel's dishwasher.
“I should be going. It's getting late, and I promised my children I'd be back by dinnertime. We're quite busy at the shop right now.”
“Of course.”
Salvatore stood up and began pacing the room again just the way he had earlier, with his arms behind him, hands interlaced, head hung down. He stopped and looked up.
“Would it be okay if I walked you back to the subway station?”
“Thank you, Salvatore, but I will be fine.”
Salvatore nodded and resumed his pacing of Raquel's living room. He was encircling the Persian rug. Mr. Magoo was staring at him, but he hadn't budged from the kitchen where he knew more
Palline di Limone
awaited him. Olivia took two more cookies and placed them in Mr. Magoo's bowl. She then picked up her purse from the coffee table where she had rested it and gave Raquel's apartment one last glance to make sure everything was in its place.

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