Chapter 20

Their social lives had shrunk when his father retired from Yale where he taught European history; he withdrew to his study and his papers to write a book because he needed to stay busy. They still had friends dropping by, and all of his siblings with their kids.

There was a clatter as she dropped the phone onto the desk, no doubt to page through her date book. Then she fumbled the handset and at last spoke again.

Luca sighed in exasperation. “Mama, will you at least let me get you a cordless phone? Then you wouldn’t have to run back and forth. It’s no good for your asthma.”

“You’re fussing, Luca, Papa and I do just fine as we are. We’re too old to change our ways. Is this Sunday good for you? Sometime around three…I can make an early dinner. Papa is usually done for the day then, and comes up for air.”

“That sounds good, Mama, thank you. We’ll see you then,” he said, and after the goodbyes, he set down the phone…Now to tell Dennis

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