Page 23 of Hello Goodbye Amore

“My great-grandmother on my father’s side lived here in Rome, and she left it to my father when she passed away.

He prefers to live in Florence, so it isn’t used as much as it should be.

I telephoned ahead to make sure everything was opened up and ready for us.

” He strode toward the front door like the princeling he was and went inside.

“You have to promise me that you won’t touch anything. Okay?” All Chase could think about was Ricky breaking some priceless Etruscan vase or something.

“What are you waiting for?” Antonello called. “Come on in.”

He held the door, and they went inside. Cool air surrounded them as they entered a foyer with a small fountain and pond in the middle, the water bubbling away. Antonello led them up a marble staircase and down a hall.

“Is this my room?” Ricky asked as he stepped into every child’s fantasy. The walls were frescoed with dancing and jugging animals.

“Was this for you?” Chase asked.

“These are three hundred years old. They were done for children who grew up long ago.” He lifted Ricky and spun him around.

“And yes, you get to sleep in here.” He put him back on his feet.

“Your daddy and I will be sleeping at the end of the hall.” Once again those eyes grew dark, drawing Chase in, making him forget everything but Antonello and the way he felt next to him on crisp sheets.

Ricky climbed onto the bed, grinning. “When do we eat?”

“The kitchen is stocked, so why don’t you put on your bathing suits? The pool is out back, and I’ll meet you there with dinner.” He carried out the bags, and Chase got out Ricky’s suit before leaving him to change.

“Antonello,” he said softly, and he appeared in the doorway straight ahead.

“I have you in here.” He tilted his head to the next door, and Chase went inside. Antonello closed his door before opening the one connecting the two. “I hope this is okay.”

“It’s lovely.” He set his bag on the bed he had no intention of using. “But I need to get my suit on, and you do too, because Ricky is going to be down here as soon as he’s ready.”

“Daddy!” Ricky called.

“See?” He kissed Antonello and closed the connecting door, because if they got changed together, it was likely that Ricky would never get to swim at all.

“YOU TWO go in the pool,” Antonello said as he stood to the side in his square-cut bathing suit. “I’ll be right back.” He went inside, and Chase got in, the salt water embracing him.

“Is it cold?” Ricky asked with water wings on his arms.

“No. It’s really nice.” He smiled as Ricky jumped in the water. He came up grinning before swimming away like the fishy he was. He went to the other end before coming back, kicking hard to propel himself through the water.

He came right up to Chase, and Chase lifted him out of the water. “Catch me?” he asked, climbing out of the pool. Chase held up his arms, and Ricky jumped. He caught his son to laughter and plenty of splashes.

“I brought something to eat and drink when you’re ready,” Antonello said as he set a tray on the table. Then he tugged off his shirt, giving Chase a great view, then dove into the pool, making almost no splash. He surfaced right near them, giving Ricky a little splash and getting one in return.

Ricky swam away.

“He’s a little fish, I swear, and he has no fear of the water.” Sometimes Chase wished Ricky wasn’t so bold. But then his eagerness also meant he didn’t have to worry about getting him to take swimming lessons. He wanted to learn.

“Are there pool toys?” Ricky asked.

“I don’t know, but when we go back into the city, we can find some.” Antonello stretched at the edge of the pool, the water coming just above his waist. Damn, he was more handsome now than he had been back in college, and that was saying something.

“Mr. Nello, come swim with me.”

Antonello glided away from the wall like he was born for the water.

He lifted Ricky right out, then splashed him back in.

Ricky came up laughing, and soon the game evolved around how far Antonello could lift him.

After a while, Antonello got out of the water, and Chase joined him at the table.

Antonello poured glasses of wine and set out plates of cheese, meats, bread, and olives.

“Isn’t he hungry?”

Chase shook his head. “He won’t eat until I make him get out of the pool. I swear he’d live in there if I let him.” He got the towel he’d brought out for Ricky. “Come out and get something to eat. You can go in again afterwards.”

“But Daddy, I’m not hungry.” Ricky got out of the pool, dripping water.

Chase wrapped him in a towel. “You can be not hungry and go back in the pool after you eat.” That sounded kind of crazy even to him, but Ricky didn’t question it and climbed onto one of the chairs.

Chase handed him a piece of cheese, and he gobbled it down, then wanted more, so Chase made him up a plate, and Ricky settled in to eat.

“I thought you were having a stroke or something. You were talking gibberish.”

Chase sighed as he sat back in the plush chair. “Raising children will do that to you.”

IT TOOK another hour before Chase made a pruny Ricky get out of the pool for the night and into his pajamas.

It was still warm, so they sat outside with Ricky on Chase’s lap, quickly falling asleep.

Chase sipped from a glass of prosecco. “It sure is lovely here, and so quiet. You’d hardly know we’re in Rome. ”

“Yes. This property has been in parts of my family for a long time. The frescoes in Ricky’s room were painted for a lucky child in the eighteenth century. Other parts of the villa date to the seventeenth century, but they are hard to spot because it has been renovated a number of times.”

“So much history and so many things that have to be cared for and maintained.”

“That’s it exactly. This villa will come to me along with everything else.

But I’ll own none of it. I’ll be little more than a caretaker for the next generation, and they will be the same.

My father started the metallurgical business as an offshoot of the jewelry we’ve made for years, and that has done very well. ”

“Is that your father’s?” Chase asked. “I mean, does it belong to the family, or is it his to do what he wants with? Maybe I’m being kind of dumb, but I don’t know how things like this work. There is no generational wealth for us.”

“I suppose that technically, everything is my father’s.

He inherited it and owns it… for the family.

And since he built the metallurgy business himself, I suppose that would be his to do with as he wished.

” He shook his head. “Things don’t work that way.

Dad’s talents are at the disposal of the family.

” Antonello seemed to run out of words. “Let’s put it this way: once I inherit it, then it will be part of the legacy that I need to protect. ”

Chase got up and laid Ricky on a lounge chair, glad he had changed into dry clothes. He stood behind Antonello and ran his hands down his chest. “That sounds like a lot of expectations.”

“And those are just the beginning. It all will rest on my shoulders.” He tensed, and Chase gently massaged the muscles. Chase was just starting to understand what the duty to Antonello’s family meant, and to Chase’s surprise, he found he wanted to help, but he had no idea how.

“I need to get Ricky to bed, but I’ll be back in a few minutes.

” He positioned Ricky at his shoulder before taking him inside and up to the second floor.

Ricky easily went into the bed, barely waking before going right back to sleep.

Chase sat with Ricky for a few minutes to make sure he was truly settled before turning out the light and quietly leaving the room.

He descended the stairs slowly and exited the back of the villa, coming to a stop at the far edge of the terrace and looking down at the softly lit pool.

Antonello swam fully submerged, his sun-kissed body sleek as he glided unbroken under the water.

Chase swallowed hard as the long line of tanned skin passed in front of him.

He stopped and realized what he was seeing before taking the first steps down toward the deep blue pool, his heart pounding a mile a minute.