I figured he’d introduced me when I heard my name and received her attention.
Her cool and papery hands took mine, and her rheumy blue eyes roamed me from top to bottom. I smiled a greeting, unsure what to say since she wouldn’t understand anyway.
Seemingly satisfied, she turned back to Xavier and motioned to a pathway that led through an opening in the cloister wall.
“She suggests we walk to take in the view,” he told me.
“You both go ahead,” I told him. “I’ll follow.”
He acquiesced with a grateful smile and offered Sister Maria his arm, and they began a slow stroll.
As soon as they turned away, I took a moment to gather myself. His meeting was with a nun? Honestly, I did not understand this man. But everyone we’d interacted with, apart from that creepy Morosto character and his father, seemed to put Xavier on a pedestal. If I wasn’t half gone over this man, discovering he was secretly funding some foundling orphanage run by nuns would seriously put me over the edge. Who was I kidding? I was already hanging over the damn edge. I was in so much trouble. My chest swelled watching his tall muscular frame, and let’s not lie, incredible rear-view, as he leaned down and attended to a tiny old woman. Who was this guy?
I followed them around the more recently built, cream stuccoed side of the chapel and up a set of rocky stairs toward a statue of the Madonna that rose high and white against a blue sky. They didn’t seem in a hurry. They chatted and laughed. I occasionally got the feeling I was mentioned. Especially when Sister Maria asked him something, and he grew very quiet and pensive.
Then suddenly, I wasn’t thinking of them.
I gasped.
We’d reached the top of a stone path and Notre Dame de La Serra revealed its biggest secret. It had been built overlooking the entire citadel and miles-long bay of Calvi. My breath caught as I took in the overwhelming view that ranged from the rocky outcrops plunging into the bright blue ocean, over the incredible ancient citadel walls of the city, and over a rolling valley. A turn to my left showed one could also see the towering boulder-strewn mountains behind us. It was spectacular.
I dragged my eyes away to look at Xavier a few feet to my right, only to find him looking at me over the top of the small nun’s head, watching my reaction.
I dropped my mouth wider than it already was in a non-verbal expression of wonder.
He grinned.
Sister Maria said something to Xavier and shuffled a bit farther down the path, leaving us together.
“Amazing,” I said.
“I knew you would love it.”
He gestured down the hillside. “That’s the Vallé Réginu.”
“I have no idea what that is, or why it’s important, but this is amazing.” I looked back over the bay and pointed. “The water is so light blue there.”
He leaned close, pressing his arm to mine. “It’s shallow in the bay.” He pointed to the left of us where a jagged peninsula thrust out into the dark blue ocean. “That is called La Revellata. Parts along the edge are extremely deep. There are caves and grottos and tiny beaches too. I’ve heard it’s good scuba diving.”
“It’s breathtaking.”
My hands were laid flat on the stone wall barrier in front of us, and Xavier’s warm hand covered one of mine before plucking it up and bringing it to his lips. He stared at me.
As beautiful as the view was, I found it hard to let go of his look until the polite cough of a small nun reminded both of us of her presence.
She turned toward the sea, but not before I saw her knowing smile. She said something to Xavier, and he turned back to me. “Sister Maria said that you are welcome to go into the main chapel and look around. We will return in a few minutes after we conclude our meeting.”
“Oh, of course. Thank you for showing me this.” I took a few steps back and reluctantly let go of his hand. My chest was full, my heart-racing. I rounded the corner down the first few stone steps and stopped to take a breath.
Love filled me like a sudden hurricane, as if I’d opened the final window in my soul, swirling through my insides and robbing my breath.
I think I just fell the last step to in love on top of this mountain.