Chapter 6 - THE WEDDING WITHOUT HIS MOTHER
“You weren't going to come to my wedding?”
Luca's voice sounded almost unfamiliar.
Teresa looked frightened by his reaction.
“Only the ceremony, sweetheart. Vanessa said I could join everyone afterward.”
Luca turned toward his fiancée.
“Tell me that's not true.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Luca, your mother has been terribly emotional about the wedding.”
“She's my mother.”
“I know.”
“Then why would she be sitting somewhere else while I got married?”
Vanessa glanced around the table.
“Because I thought a smaller ceremony would be less upsetting for her.”
Teresa quietly interrupted.
“I would have liked to see you get married.”
Luca looked at her.
“I know, Mom.”
She swallowed.
“I imagined standing beside your father when that day came.”
Her voice broke.
“After he died, I knew I'd have to stand there without him.”
She looked down.
“But I still wanted to be there.”
Luca covered his mouth with one hand.
For several seconds, he couldn't answer.
Then he moved his chair closer.
“You would have been in the front row.”
Teresa shook her head.
“I don't need to be in the front row.”
“I want you there.”
Her eyes filled.
“Even if I cry?”
He gave a small, painful smile.
“Especially if you cry.”
Teresa laughed softly.
Then she began crying again.
Luca held her hand until she could breathe more steadily.
Across the table, Vanessa was staring at her untouched champagne.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quieter.
“My father remarried when I was nineteen.”
Luca looked toward her.
She hesitated.
“My mother died when I was sixteen. Three years later, Dad brought another woman into our house.”
Teresa listened.
Vanessa continued.
“His new wife wanted all my mother's photographs taken down. She said it was impossible to start a marriage with another woman watching from every wall.”
I saw Teresa's face soften.
“Oh, Vanessa.”
“I fought her about it. My father said I needed to grow up.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“By the wedding, I was so angry that I barely spoke to either of them.”
Luca leaned back.
“You never told me that part.”
“I hated talking about it.”
“What happened afterward?”
Vanessa looked at her hands.
“I moved out. We barely saw each other for years.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Teresa asked gently, “Did taking the photographs down make anyone happier?”
Vanessa looked at her.
“No.”
Teresa nodded.
“I didn't think so.”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“I promised myself that when I got married, I wouldn't spend years fighting over somebody who was gone.”
Luca stared at her.
“So you decided Mom's memories had to go first?”
“I thought if we started fresh, there wouldn't be anything to fight about.”
Teresa shook her head.
“Oh, dear.”
Vanessa's voice became defensive.
“You don't understand. I've spent so much time feeling like I'm competing with a marriage that lasted thirty-eight years.”
Teresa looked toward Antonio's photograph.
Then she said, “You weren't supposed to compete with it.”
Vanessa fell silent.
“You were supposed to have a marriage of your own.”
The simplicity of those words seemed to unsettle her.
Luca watched his fiancée carefully.
“I believe you felt left out,” he said.
Vanessa looked at him hopefully.
“I did.”
“And I believe I should have taken your concerns more seriously.”
Tears gathered in her eyes.
“But you knew what that machine meant to Mom.”
Vanessa looked away.
“You heard her begging you to stop.”
“Yes.”
“And you picked up the scissors anyway.”
Her expression crumpled.
“I was angry.”
Luca nodded slowly.
“I know.”
“I wanted one evening where your father wasn't the most important person in the room.”
“You could have asked me for that.”
“I thought you would tell me I was being selfish.”
“Then we would have talked about it.”
Vanessa wiped her cheek.
“I didn't think you'd understand.”
Luca looked at the broken cassette.
“Now you'll never know whether I would have, because you chose to hurt my mother instead.”
Teresa reached for her handkerchief.
I had never seen Luca speak to Vanessa like that.
He wasn't trying to frighten her.
He was refusing to let her turn a deliberate act into something accidental.
Vanessa looked toward the guests.
“Can we please discuss this privately?”
Luca's expression softened slightly.
“We can discuss your feelings privately.”
Then he glanced toward his mother.
“But the harm happened in front of people. My mother shouldn't be left carrying the shame of it.”
Teresa touched his arm.
“I don't want anyone embarrassed on my account.”
Luca turned toward her.
“Mom, telling the truth isn't the same as embarrassing someone.”
A long silence followed.
Then an older guest near the end of the table spoke.
His name was Peter Romano.
He'd known Antonio since they were teenagers.
“Luca, your dad would have been the first person to tell us to stop staring and let your mother eat.”
A surprised laugh moved around the table.
Teresa smiled through her tears.
“He would.”
Peter nodded.
“And then he'd complain that the potatoes were cold.”
Luca laughed.
For the first time all evening, the sound seemed genuine.
He asked Mrs. Carter to have the dinner plates warmed.
He made sure his mother had something to eat.
And he placed the photograph where she could see it without having to reach across the table.
Vanessa remained standing.
Finally, Luca looked toward her.
“I meant what I said earlier. The engagement is over.”
Her face went pale.
“Luca, please.”
“I won't ask my mother to trust someone who knowingly used her grief against her.”
Vanessa pressed her hand against her chest.
“I know I did something terrible.”
“You did.”
“Please don't decide everything tonight.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“I've made enough decisions without listening to the people they affect.”
His voice softened.
“I'm not doing that again.”
Then Daniel returned to the dining room.
He carried a small black case.
Behind him stood a gray-haired man in a brown jacket.
“Mr. Moretti,” Daniel said, “this is Michael Hart. He's restored archival recordings for more than thirty years.”
Teresa straightened.
“Can he fix Antonio's message?”
Michael approached the sideboard.
He studied the exposed cassette.
Then he carefully lifted the loose strip of black tape.
His expression became serious.
“I can probably repair the break.”
Teresa gripped Luca's hand.
“But I need to warn you about something.”
May you like
Michael pointed toward a badly creased section near the end.
“The part that's damaged most badly may be the last words your husband ever recorded.”
