Chapter 4 - The Watch That Carried Two Lives
“She sold my father's watch?”
The question escaped before I could stop it.
Teresa shook her head gently.
“Not exactly, sweetheart. Sam gave it to Antonio. Your father wanted him to have it.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Why?”
Teresa looked toward Luca.
“Because of what happened overseas.”
Luca sat beside his mother.
“Tell us.”
She held the old album against her knees.
“Antonio once told me he went back for Sam when their convoy came under fire. A vehicle had been damaged, and Sam couldn't get out.”
I pressed my good hand against my mouth.
“Dad never told me that.”
“He was badly injured,” Teresa continued. “Antonio managed to get him away from the vehicle before it caught fire.”
Luca lowered his eyes.
“I remember Dad saying he'd been frightened.”
Teresa nodded.
“He was. He said people always talk about courage afterward, when everyone is safe. But at the time, he was terrified.”
That sounded like the Antonio I'd heard about.
Not a man who wanted everyone calling him a hero.
A man who saw someone in trouble and couldn't walk away.
“After they came home,” Teresa said, “Sam gave Antonio his watch.”
“Why would he give away something he loved?” I asked.
She smiled sadly.
“Because he said Antonio had given him more time.”
My eyes filled.
I looked at the photograph again.
Two young men.
Two ordinary faces.
And a friendship I hadn't known existed.
Luca turned to Daniel.
“Bring Vanessa downstairs.”
Daniel hesitated.
“She was packing, boss.”
“I know. I need to ask about the sale before she leaves.”
A few minutes later, Vanessa entered the sitting room.
She had removed her diamond earrings, but she was still wearing the red silk gown.
Her eyes went immediately to the photograph album.
“What is this?”
Luca stood.
“An explanation you owe my mother.”
Vanessa sighed.
“I've already apologized for the flag.”
“You haven't apologized to Hannah.”
Vanessa looked at my bandaged hand.
“I didn't intend for anyone to get hurt.”
I felt myself stiffen.
That wasn't an apology.
Luca seemed to recognize it too.
“Did you sell my father's service medals?”
Vanessa's expression changed.
“Who told you that?”
“My mother.”
She glanced toward Teresa.
“I thought we agreed they needed cleaning.”
Teresa looked confused.
“You told me Luca wanted them cleaned.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“I was arranging something special for the wedding.”
“What?” Luca asked.
“A display.”
“Where?”
Vanessa didn't answer.
Luca placed Daniel's notes on the table.
“You arranged a private sale.”
She stared at him.
“You had no right to go through my things.”
“My father's medals aren't your things.”
Her cheeks reddened.
For a moment, she looked angry enough to walk out.
Then her shoulders dropped.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I arranged the sale.”
Teresa made a small sound.
I reached for her hand.
Luca's voice was controlled.
“Why?”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Because I needed money.”
The room fell silent.
Luca stared.
“You needed money?”
She looked away.
“My mother's old dress shop is in trouble.”
I knew the shop.
Vanessa sometimes talked about it.
Her mother had opened it thirty years earlier, sewing formal dresses for women who couldn't afford expensive boutiques.
After her mother's death, Vanessa had taken over.
She'd kept the business running even when it stopped making a profit.
“I'm behind on the rent,” Vanessa admitted.
“How far?” Luca asked.
“Four months.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you'd have offered to fix it.”
“Would that have been so terrible?”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You don't understand what it's like to be the woman everyone assumes is marrying you for money.”
Luca looked hurt.
“I never believed that.”
“Other people do.”
She wiped her cheek.
“I spent years keeping that shop alive. Then I fell in love with a man who could buy the entire building without checking his account.”
Luca didn't answer.
For the first time, I understood something about Vanessa's desperation.
She was terrified of losing the last piece of her mother.
And she'd tried to save it by selling the last pieces of someone else's father.
Teresa seemed to understand the same thing.
“My dear,” she said softly, “you could have told me.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“I thought you'd say no.”
Teresa's voice trembled.
“I would have said no to selling Antonio's medals. But I would have listened to you.”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
Then she looked at the flag resting on the clean sideboard.
“I didn't think anyone still needed those things.”
Luca stared at her.
“You watched my mother dust that case every Sunday.”
Vanessa couldn't answer.
“You knew.”
His voice broke.
“And you did it anyway.”
She began crying.
But Luca didn't move toward her.
“I understand why you were desperate,” he said. “I don't understand why you thought you had the right to hurt everyone around you.”
Daniel returned carrying a copy of the sale receipt.
“Boss, the dealer sent the inventory information.”
Luca took it.
The amount was twenty-four thousand dollars.
The buyer had already paid.
The medals and watch were being held for collection the following morning.
Luca studied the receipt.
Then looked at Vanessa.
“You received this money?”
She nodded.
“And spent it?”
“Most of it.”
“On the shop?”
“And the employees' overdue wages.”
Luca exhaled.
He could have written a check without thinking.
But money wasn't the only problem.
Someone had taken a mother's memories and sold them without permission.
Then he'd allowed an innocent woman to be injured while trying to stop it.
“Who authorized the sale?” he asked.
Vanessa looked away.
Daniel pointed to the bottom of the receipt.
“The dealer was told the family had approved it.”
Luca followed his finger.
A signature appeared beneath the ownership declaration.
Teresa leaned closer.
Her face drained of color.
Luca looked from the paper to his mother.
“Mom?”
She pressed a hand against her chest.
Because the signature wasn't Vanessa's.
It was Teresa's.
May you like
Luca's voice became barely audible.
“Mom, why is your name on the paper that sold Dad's medals?”
