The Legacy (61 page)

Phillip smiles as his father joins them, putting an arm
around his shoulders. He watches his mother gaze at his father
before reaching out and softly brushing her hand back through
the graying waves. His father smiles, taking her hand, pressing a
kiss to her palm.

Witnessing these displays of affection between them each
day
makes
Phillip
marvel and know
of
a
surety
that
unconditional love never fades but continues to grow stronger
with each passing day. He supposes that is why he's never been
able to get over Mali. He continues to watch his parents.
With
one look, their eyes convey a thousand words.

“I only have one request for you, son,” Adagio says,
turning to him with feigned sternness.
“And just what would that request be?” Phillip asks with
equally feigned seriousness.
His father grins boyishly. “Don't come back here without
her.”
“You can count on it.”
“I’m glad you will be spending some time with Ingo and
his family,” his mother says with a sigh.
“I am too. It's been a long time.” He reflects on his
brother's decision to leave Italy.
Ingo
met
his
spouse
while
attending
Arizona
State
University and they decided to make their home in Phoenix.
Ingo and his wife, Erika, have a six month old baby girl. The
whole family went to see them a few weeks after she was born.
Ingo had grinned proudly when everyone declared Beth looked
exactly like him. He and his family came back to Italy for
Christmas last year and try to visit whenever they can, but his
parents still miss them. School and work take up a lot of Ingo's
time, so he's unable to come back home as often as he would
like.
“Well, hopefully there will be a wedding sometime in the
near future and we can get them back here for that,” Adagio
says.
“Amen to that,” Cisely agrees, putting her arm around
her husband’s waist and they laugh.
“Well, I promise you both I will do my best,” Phillip
assures them.

Adding a sprig of parsley and a lemon wedge to the two
seafood platters he’d just prepared, Phillip places them in the
steel pickup window under the heating lamps. He taps the bell,
feeling a familiar sense of satisfaction that comes whenever he
masters another of his father’s popular dishes.

Phillip’s love for cooking developed at an early age and
has grown steadily through the years. He spent countless hours
learning everything he could from his father. By the time he
was sixteen, his culinary skills were exceptional. Then two years
later, Adagio made him a chef in the restaurant. His father
frequently tells him how proud he is, and Phillip cherishes
every opportunity he gets to work side by side with him. In
Phillip's opinion, he has learned from and is working with the
best.

Ian and Isabelle’s playful bantering draws him from his
thoughts.
His
sixteen-year-old siblings
help
out
in
the
restaurant for a few hours two days a week, and they both work
longer
shifts
on
Saturdays.
Ian
buses
tables
and Isabelle
hostesses. Phillip smiles at the two as they wave, thinking how
valuable their family's work ethic is. His parents have always
taught them to work for what they want and not expect
anything to be handed to them. He will always be grateful for
that lesson. It makes him want to work hard for everything he
desires in life.

Including a life with the woman I love.
By the end of the evening after the restaurant is closed
and the kitchen is in perfect order, Phillip sits at one of the
tables in the silent dining area. Pulling off his chef's hat, he
rakes his fingers back through his hair and heaves a tired sigh as
his mind drifts to tomorrow and what it will bring. This is the
first time in his life he’s ever lived for that word.
Tomorrow. The beginning of my future.

Mali shifts in the cushioned chair on their covered patio,
making herself more comfortable. Combing her fingers back
through her shoulder-length, layered black hair, she closes her
eyes and ponders the turn her life has taken.

Once upon a time she had great hopes for her future, but
due to a series of turns, some of which occurred because of
poor choices, she is convinced her life is basically washed up.
At twenty-two, her life is a mess and her future will be as well.
She will never understand how she could have been so naive
when it came to men. But then again, if the guy whose name
she took had been a real man, she wouldn’t be in this situation.

But why should things be any different for me?
she questions
silently.
After all, Dad did leave Mom for what he considered a more
perfect version of a soul mate. And I am my mother’s daughter. What
comes around goes around.

Mali brushes a tear away as she thinks of Jake. From the
beginning, he had said and done all the right things, and she
had been convinced that marrying him was right. What a fool
she was. Jake’s promise to love her forever was cut short the
moment the broken windshield cut into her face.

So much for promises. They are nothing more than
words to her now.

promise comes to mind. A promise spoken by a perfect boy
and received by a not-good-enough girl. A promise entered into
by two young people who had been innocent enough to believe
in fairy tales, yet too naive to realize that fairy tales are like
elusive dreams. No matter how much you believe in them, no
matter how much you want them to come true, they simply will
never be.

Adagio
lay awake, staring up at the faint moonlight
shining on the ceiling over their bed, his thoughts traveling to
their son. He's sure Phillip had probably experienced nervous
anticipation
throughout
the
day
thinking
about
his
trip
tomorrow, and he understands. Wanting so badly for this to
work out for Phillip, he can definitely imagine what he's feeling.
Adagio knows what it is like to be consumed with love so
strong for someone, your heart is literally driven to make the
person who claimed it yours. He knows the feeling well.

He thinks back to the day he realized he was in love with
Cisely. The emotions that surged through him that day had
been intensely deep. She was all he could think about. Even as
he'd wrestled with his feelings, he'd known they were meant to
be together, and the thought of actually making her his had
been exciting and frightening. He had needed her in his life so
much, yet the thought of her rejecting him was more than he
could bear. In the end he had simply hoped for the best. And
his prayers were answered with the gift of her love.

Yes, Adagio understands what his son is going through,
and he hopes all would be well for him and Mali. She is meant
to be his daughter-in-law. He only hopes she will recognize and
accept Phillip's love, and open her heart to him in return.

Tightening his arms around his sleeping wife, Adagio
presses his lips into her hair. Closing his eyes, he soaks in her
warmth. He and Cisely have been blessed with a lot of years
together, and he's treasured every moment through both good
and bad times. He realizes he isn't getting any younger and the
years are beginning to pass quickly. Focusing on the woman in
his arms, his heart is again full of gratitude. She is his, his heart,
his soul, and the love of his life. And she will always be.

Still, sometimes he is tempted to mentally will time to
slow down. It is hard to think about being separated at the end
of their mortal lives for a single day or a single minute, because
even that would be too long. He is healthy, yes, but he is so
much older than Cisely. Even if they live until they are old and
gray, it will be her that is left alone, and even that thought
hurts. He just has a problem with separation, period. And if his
son is as much like him as he seems, his love for Mali will
surely grow to run as deep.

“What are you thinking about, my love?” Cisely's silky
voice is soft and soothing in the silence.
“I did not mean to wake you, baby,” he whispers, kissing
her brow.
She snuggles closer. “Maybe I sensed you needed me.”
Sighing, he smiles in the darkness, marveling at how
intimately and emotionally connected they are to one another.
He presses his forehead to hers. “I always need you,
amore
.”
Her hand moves to his face. “And I will always be here.
Now, what were you thinking about?”
“I was thinking about our son and his quest to win his
true love. I hope he is successful in getting her to open up and
accept his love.”
She caresses his hair, “Well, he takes so much after you, I
have no doubt he will succeed. He loves her too much to give
up. He will fight for her.”
“I am sure you are right.”
“Now,” she says, raising up and leaning on one elbow,
resting her head against her hand, “what else were you thinking
about?”
“How do you know I was thinking about something
else?” he asks, pressing a hand to her face.
“Because I know you well enough to know that your
thoughts usually consist of multiple things.” She smiles. “So,
spill it?”
He chuckles. “Boy, you can get pretty feisty at one
o'clock in the morning, can't you?” When she snorts he laughs.
“It comes with age, my love. By the time I'm seventy, I'll
be fearsome.”
“Thank you for the warning. I will make sure and be on
my guard.”
“So noted. But you're avoiding the question.”
He sobers. “I know.” He sighs. “Truthfully, I was also
thinking about getting older. Time is passing so quickly, and
sometimes I wish it would slow down a bit.” He pauses, not
wanting to say more, but he is sure she understands his heart.
“I just think about that sometimes.”

I
do
understand, more than he realizes because I have
these moments as well. Willing the thoughts away, I lean down,
kissing his lips lightly. “You know what I think? I think you
think too much.”