Chapter 13 - THE PROPOSAL BENEATH THE LEMON TREES
Alessandro proposed two years later.
In Ravello.
Beneath the lemon trees of the old family garden.
The estate had changed.
The rooms once filled with secrets were now open.
The family archives had been preserved.
And the property had become a cultural foundation supporting music education.
Isabella helped organize the visit.
She pretended it was simply a family dinner.
I should have known better.
When I stepped into the garden, strings of warm lights glowed between the trees.
A violinist played the lullaby my mother had written for me.
Alessandro stood beneath the largest lemon tree.
He looked nervous.
Which was almost funny.
“Sophia.”
I smiled.
“Yes?”
He took my hands.
“When I first heard you speak Italian, I thought the past had come back to haunt me.”
His eyes softened.
“But you weren't a ghost.”
I laughed through tears.
“You were the beginning of a future I didn't know I could have.”
He lowered himself onto one knee.
“Will you marry me?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
My mother began crying.
Alessandro laughed.
May you like
And the garden filled with applause.
For the first time in generations, the Ricci family celebrated something without fear.
