Home to Italy by Peter Pezzelli

Author:Peter Pezzelli
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Abruzzo (Italy), Fiction - General, Widowers, Italy, Americans - Italy, Family Life, Fiction, Romance, Americans, General, Love stories
ISBN: 9780758207685
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2004-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

One afternoon, Peppi decided to eat his lunch on the bench beneath the arbor in the courtyard. It was a bright, sunny day in early May and a brisk wind chased enormous white clouds across the sky. The factory protected the courtyard from the breeze, keeping it tranquil enough for Peppi to leaf through the sporting news in La Gazzetta dello Sport without the pages being blown about while he ate. For Peppi, one of the true delights of returning to Italy was the marvelous coverage competitive cycling received in the daily sports pages and on television. He couldn’t get enough of it. As he happily scanned the results of the latest races, it occurred to Peppi that he was itching to start riding his bike again. He took that as a sign that he was almost fully recovered.

Peppi was just about to take his first bite of his provolone and prosciutto sandwich when he heard the familiar sound of Lucrezia’s voice raised in anger. Apparently there had been some sort of mishap in the factory and she was letting everyone in the valley know about it. There ensued the usual sound of objects being tossed about and doors slamming.

Peppi put his sandwich down and waited, fully expecting that at any moment some object would come sailing through the window he had recently repaired. Instead, the back door to the factory opened and out stormed Lucrezia. She slammed the door behind her and stomped over to the edge of the courtyard where she stopped and folded her arms. Looking up to the sky, she took a deep breath and let it out with a long, weary sigh. The energy seemed to drain out of her, and like a beaten boxer, she let her arms droop down to her sides. It was then that she looked up and saw Peppi sitting beneath the arbor.

“Oh, Dio,” she sighed again.

“Trouble today?” Peppi asked.

Lucrezia shrugged.

Peppi folded the newspaper and gestured for her to sit beside him. Lucrezia hesitated for a moment, then came over to him.

“Here, have an olive,” he said, offering her the bowl as she sat down, “they always make me feel better. I don’t know why.”

Lucrezia took an olive and handed him back the bowl. “It’s the mono-unsaturated fats,” she said tersely as she nibbled on the olive.

“I beg your pardon.”

“The unsaturated fats in the olives,” she explained. “They’ve done studies on them and the omega-3 fatty acids. Somehow they interact with the central nervous system to elevate your mood.”

Peppi took a long look into the bowl. “Gee,” he mused, “I just thought it was because they taste good.”

“That’s another reason,” said Lucrezia. She finished eating the olive and tossed the pit into the bushes.

“Have another?” offered Peppi.

“No, grazie,” said Lucrezia. “I’m watching my weight.”

“Ah, even here,” chuckled Peppi before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“What do you mean?”

“The women in America are always driving themselves crazy trying to lose weight,” he told her. “They think that men want them all to be skinny like sticks, even though they’re beautiful just the way they are.

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