More Than Words: Stories of Courage Page 15

  She leaned against Daniel’s shoulder. He put an arm around her and pulled her close.

  The bird continued to sing as Charlotte Grace said her goodbyes.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Three days had come and gone since their initial visit to Daniel Morrow’s grave. Each day, Charlotte had asked to be taken there, and each day, Daniel had done so. Because of an emergency at the winery, he’d been unable to spend the rest of the time with them and had given the responsibility of getting them back to the hotel to his uncle Paolo, who spoke no English.

  Each visit was shorter than the previous one, until on the fourth day, Charlotte came only to place fresh flowers on the grave. After that, she was ready to go. Neither Daniel nor Frankie knew what had transpired for Charlotte during these visits, but whatever it was, she’d come to terms with her loss.

  Charlotte stepped back from the flowers she’d laid on the grave and glanced up at Daniel. Again, as she had done so many times before, she felt as if she was staring at a ghost. This time, she decided to mention it.

  “You know something, Daniel?”

  He smiled at her.

  “Yes, but probably not your something.”

  She shook her head in pretend disgust, although her eyes were dancing with delight.

  “Such a tease. That’s good, though. A man should have a sense of humor.”

  His grin widened, and a chill ran through Charlotte.

  “I don’t understand it…maybe it’s because we’re here in this place and it’s the closest I’ve been to my Daniel in more than sixty-seven years…but there are times when you look like him.”

  Daniel reeled as if he’d been slapped. He tried to recover his smile, but it just wouldn’t come.

  “Really,” he said.

  She nodded, then tugged at the yellow ribbon around her neck until she had pulled the locket out.

  “Yes, really. Look. This is a picture of him when he was about twenty.”

  She opened the locket.

  Daniel leaned down.

  Charlotte watched his eyes narrow and his nostrils flare. Again, she was struck by the notion that this man had secrets he wasn’t willing to share.

  “Do you see it?” she asked.

  He straightened, then momentarily looked away. When he turned back to Charlotte, she was still there, waiting for his answer.

  He put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Yes…I do see it, Charlotte. It’s a strange thing to see oneself in another’s face.”

  She wanted him to say more, but it was obvious he would not. There was a moment when she wondered if he knew something about her Daniel that he couldn’t tell. She shook off the thought as nothing but an old woman’s foolishness. How could he know anything? He was far too young.

  Charlotte tucked the locket back into the neckline of her collar and smoothed her hands down the front of her dress as they walked back to the car.

  “Thank you so much for being so generous with your time,” she said. “I won’t be needing to come back again. I’ve said my goodbyes, you know.”

  “Have you now?” Daniel asked.

  She nodded.

  “I hope they were fond goodbyes?”

  “They were as they should be,” she said, and then changed the subject as they reached the car. “Where’s Frankie?”

  Daniel frowned slightly as he looked around, but his frown disappeared as he spied her.

  “She’s over there.” He pointed to an outcropping of rock beneath some trees.

  “What’s she doing?” Charlotte asked.

  “I don’t know,” Daniel said. “But I’ll go get her.”

  Charlotte got into the car as he went to get Frankie. Just as he was walking up, he saw her drop something into her pocket.

  “Hey…I thought we’d lost you. What are you doing?” he asked. “Leaving a piece of myself behind,” she said, and pointed at the dead tree trunk.

  Daniel’s gaze immediately caught on the heart she’d cut into the bark, and the initials she’d carved inside.

  F.D. loves D.S.

  Daniel smiled as he traced the shape and words, then took her in his arms.

  “Ah, Francesca…again, you…how do you say…beat me to the drink.”

  Frankie laughed. “The phrase is, beat me to the punch.”

  He frowned. “I thought a punch was a drink.”

  She jabbed him lightly on the shoulder with a clenched fist.

  “That’s the punch referred to in the expression,” she said.

  “The English language is a puzzle,” he mused. “Still, you say what is in your heart, while I seem to fall short of doing the same. So, you carve your feelings in this bark, as you have carved yourself into my soul. I cannot think of life without you. The fact that I’ve had to be away from you so much these past three days has been a big disappointment. I had planned so much for us to do, and yet life kept interrupting.”

  “I know it couldn’t be helped,” Frankie said.

  She couldn’t think of life without him, either, but wasn’t willing to get her heart broken by saying any more. The way she looked at it, what happened to them next was up to Daniel.

  “Will you and Charlotte come to my house for dinner tonight?”

  The question both surprised and delighted Frankie. “Yes. We’d love to.”

  “If I ask, would you both stay the night, as well?”

  “Yes, so please ask.”

  Daniel started to smile. “So, Frances Drummond, then I am asking you to stay with me tonight.”

  “Yes.”

  He shook his head, then kissed her gently.

  “Tonight I have things to say to Charlotte that she might not want to hear, and I need you with me.”

  Frankie frowned.

  “I can’t imagine what they could be. She likes you, you know.”

  “And I like her, as well. Now come. I need to get you back so you can both pack an overnight bag for the visit.”

  Charlotte fussed over her clothes like a girl going on a first date, then fussed again about what to take to spend the night at Daniel’s house.

  Frankie packed her bag almost as an afterthought. She knew what she wanted to happen tonight, and if it did, a nightgown was going to be the last thing on her mind. Still, she prepared for a disappointment by packing it anyway.

  Daniel picked them up just as the sun was going down. He spoke to the hotel clerk, letting him know that the two American women would be spending the night at his home, and that, when they were ready to come back, he would return them to the hotel personally. With that, they walked the short distance up through the narrow streets to his car.

  Daniel alternated between bouts of nervousness and bouts of elation. He knew what he wanted to happen tonight, but after he revealed the truth about his family, he had no idea if either woman would speak to him again.

  The drive was brief. They arrived at his home just as the sun disappeared over the mountains, although the vineyards could still be seen, clinging to the mountainside. The winery was a distance from the house, maybe a quarter of a mile, but still visible in the fading light.

  Daniel helped both women out of the car.

  “Welcome to my home,” he said. “Come inside. Zia Maria has fixed some special dishes for us tonight and there is much for me to show you.”

  Frankie could see how anxious Daniel was, and knew that he was working up his nerve to tell them whatever it was he had to say.

  “Does your aunt live close by?” Charlotte asked.

  Daniel smiled and pointed to the small house just across the road.

  “Yes, she and Zio Paolo live right over there. Actually, she is the reason we met. She works at the hotel where you are staying. The manager gave her your first e-mail to bring to me.”

  “Really?” Frankie said. “I wonder why?”

  “Because I speak English, and because he knew we both lived near the cemetery where the American GIs were buried.”

  “Oh.” Frankie glanced at t
he house across the road again. “Will we be eating with them?”

  “Not this time,” Daniel said. “But maybe another.”

  “We leave in two days.”

  Daniel’s eyes darkened.

  “Don’t remind me,” he said, and then shook off the dark feelings.

  “Come, come, we’ll go inside now. We’ll eat…laugh…make memories.”

  Charlotte took the arm that he offered.

  “I like that phrase…making memories. It’s a good thing to do.”

  When they finished the main meal, Charlotte wandered about the living area while Daniel and Frankie carried dishes into the kitchen, then prepared coffee and dessert on a tray.

  Charlotte walked over to a massive fireplace at the end of the room and glanced absently at the framed photos sitting on the mantel.

  Reaching up, she took one down and turned it toward the lights to see it better. She was still staring at the photo as Daniel came into the room with a carafe of coffee and three cups on an ornate silver tray.

  He set it down and started to speak, then realized what Charlotte was doing. He glanced at Frankie and took a deep breath. It was time.

  “Charlotte.”

  She looked up. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears, and even though he was at the other end of the room, he could tell her chin was trembling.

  “Who is this woman and this child?” she asked.

  “Daniel, what’s wrong?” Frankie sounded concerned.

  He squeezed her hand, then let it go and crossed the room to Charlotte.

  “That’s my mother, and that’s me when I was eight months old.” Charlotte took a deep breath and shivered slightly.

  Daniel took her by the hand and led her to a nearby chair. Frankie followed, aware something momentous was happening.

  “Charlotte, I have come to care for you a great deal, and because I do, this is very difficult for me to say. I don’t want to hurt you…ever. But if the truth is to be told, I have to risk that. Will you hear me out without judging me?”

  She nodded.

  “My grandmother was seventeen years old when the war came to Europe. She was barely eighteen when the American GIs liberated Italy.”

  Charlotte gasped and reached for her locket, clutching it tightly in her hand.

  Daniel saw her fingers wrap around it and groaned inwardly.

  “She met and fell instantly in love with one of the soldiers.”

  “Danny,” Charlotte said softly.

  Daniel nodded. Frankie gasped.

  “All my life I’ve known that Private first class, Daniel Louis Morrow was my grandfather. I have lived with that knowledge with a sense of pride. But you also have to realize that he knew my grandmother less than six weeks. He was killed by a sniper before he learned that she carried his child.”

  Charlotte moaned and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes. The picture she’d been holding fell into her lap.

  Frankie leaped forward and knelt at Charlotte’s side.

  “Charlotte…sweetheart…are you all right?”

  At first there was only silence, and then they heard Charlotte sigh. To their relief, when she opened her eyes, they were clear and dry.

  “I think I’ve suspected this from the moment I saw you, then when I saw this picture, I could no longer deny the truth. Your mother is the image of Danny.” Charlotte looked up at Daniel. “You know what my first impression of you was?”

  “What?” he asked.

  “I thought I was seeing a ghost.”

  “Oh, Charlotte, I’m so sorry,” Frankie said. “I would never have done all of this had I known.”

  Charlotte grabbed at Frankie’s hand.

  “Oh dear…oh, no…you both misunderstand. This was somewhat of a shock, but not in a bad way. You see, I don’t view this as any kind of betrayal on Daniel’s part. I’m the one who turned him down. I’m the one who sent him away.” Then she did start to cry. “This is actually the best news I could have been given.”

  Daniel was so stunned, he sat down with a thump.

  “How so?” Frankie asked.

  “All these years, I’ve pictured Danny brokenhearted, then dying and being buried alone in a foreign land. Knowing that he’d found some happiness again, however brief, lifts a burden of guilt that I’ve carried for most of my life.” She looked at Daniel again. “You have just given me the best gift. Seeing you is like seeing Danny again. He’s still alive to me now, because of you.”

  Daniel couldn’t speak. He took both of Charlotte’s hands and lifted them to his face, then kissed the palm of each.

  Charlotte removed her hands from his and cupped his face, smiling through tears.

  “You poor dear. All this time you were afraid you were going to hurt my feelings. Thank God you found the courage to tell me. I wish I could make you understand what a miracle this is for me.”

  Suddenly she clapped her hands.

  “Oh! I just realized! You have family in the States. A lot of family, and most of them still live in the state of Illinois, where we’re from. This news is going to send them over the moon.”

  “Then you’re not angry with me,” Daniel said.

  “Haven’t I just been saying that?” Charlotte wiped her eyes and sat up. “I can’t wait to get home and give the Morrow family a call.”

  Daniel hugged her, then turned and hugged Frankie, too.

  Smiling, Charlotte pointed to the coffee.

  “Weren’t we about to have dessert?”

  Daniel glanced at the melted gelato. “I’m afraid it’s ruined.”

  “It’s just as well,” Charlotte said. “I have to watch my girlish figure. And on that note, if you don’t mind, I think I’d like to go to bed. This has been a long day and I have a lot to sleep on.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Frankie said, then touched Daniel briefly. “Be right back?”

  “Of course,” he said.

  A few minutes later, Frankie returned. Daniel was standing in the open doorway, looking out into the dark. She walked up behind him and touched his shoulder.

  As she did, he turned. There was an expression in his eyes that she didn’t want to decipher.

  “She’s smiling,” Frankie said. “I haven’t seen Charlotte smile like this…well…ever. It’s as if she’s a young, carefree girl all over again.”

  Daniel turned and hugged her, then whispered in her ear.

  “I want to make love to you.”

  Frankie’s heart almost stopped. She was afraid—so afraid. But not of letting him see her scars. She was afraid that if they did make love, she would die when they had to say goodbye. Still, she wanted him and these memories more than she’d ever wanted anything in her entire life.

  “Then do it,” she whispered.

  A light glittered in Daniel’s eyes, and then he swept her off her feet and into his arms.

  His bedroom was at the other end of the house, and Frankie had brief glimpses of wide hallways, low ceilings and arched doorways as he carried her there.

  The massive four-poster bed was turned back, revealing gold satin sheets beneath a red-and-gold tapestry spread.

  “Daniel! This is beautiful,” she said.

  He laid her on the bed. “No more than you are, Frances Drummond. I have been dreaming of you and this moment all my life,” he said softly. “I don’t want you to ever forget our first time.”

  Frankie’s heart skipped a beat. First time? Did that mean there would be others?

  “Love me, Daniel. Let me love you back.”

  And so the night passed in passion, until finally they fell asleep in each other’s arms. The next morning Daniel was the first to wake. He had been watching her for some time when he saw her eyelids beginning to flutter. She was waking.

  Daniel raised himself up on one elbow and looked down at her face.

  “Good morning, Francesca.”

  Frankie smiled lazily, then stretched like a cat that had been sleeping in the sun.

  “It’s
not a good morning, it’s a great one,” she said.

  Daniel smiled and nuzzled the side of her neck, raking his lips across the puckered flesh. Almost immediately, he paused. There was a moment of silence, then she heard him sigh. When he looked up at her, the smile was gone.

  Her heart skipped a beat. This is it. This is the part where he finally admits that those scars he just kissed repulse him. She braced herself for the pain.

  “I can’t bear for you to leave me,” Daniel said. “I’ve waited so long for you to come. Please love me back, Frances Drummond. Please say you will marry me and share my world and my life.”

  Frankie’s shattered senses suddenly focused. This was the last thing she’d expected him to say.

  “Oh, Daniel, you don’t know how long I’ve dreamed of someone saying those very words to me, and yet we’ve known each other such a short time. I’m afraid you’ll come to regret your offer, and I just couldn’t bear to face your rejection.”

  Frowning, Daniel shook his head and gathered her up in his arms.

  “My only regret will be if I lose you,” he whispered. “Please, don’t make me beg.”

  Frankie rose up on her elbows and cupped her face with both hands.

  “I have things to deal with back home,” she said. “I have property and—”

  “I’ll come with you,” Daniel told her. “Please say I can come with you. We’ll make it happen faster if we do it together, and…and I can meet my grandfather’s family at the same time. After that, I will ask you the same question again, and if you say yes, which I pray you will, then we can get married in your town and have a reception in mine. What do you say?”

  Frankie started to cry, but they were wild, happy tears.

  “I say yes.”

  Charlotte smirked when she was told the news.

  “I suspected it all along,” she said, grinning at both Daniel and Frankie.

  “Then, if things work out, will you be my matron of honor?” Frankie asked.

  Charlotte’s features crumpled.

  “Oh, darling, you always seem to know the very best thing to say and do. Being a part of your wedding will be the closest I’ll ever come to the ceremony I should have had with my own Daniel. I would be honored.”