reader. She gives me a funny look, perhaps worried that I have tears in my eyes, but then again, she has tears in her eyes too, just for different reasons.
Then she comes around the table and we smile for a picture that Claudio takes of us.
“Say formaggio,” he says, grinning his perfect white smile as he peers into the girl’s iPhone.
“Formaggio,” the reader says, giggling. I just smile, staring more at him than the lens. As you can imagine, I have been saying formaggio all day. Claudio really needs to mix it up.
“Thank you so much,” the reader says. I remind myself that the name I signed was Sarah, and that I’ll try to remember her later, but of course my absent-minded brain probably won’t comply.
“Wait, wait,” Claudio says, switching to his phone. “One for us.”
The reader looks thrilled as she poses with me again, smiling. “Formaggio!”
It was Claudio’s idea. He thought that we should document every person that comes to the table and put the pictures on my website, or maybe a scrapbook or something. I don’t know anyone who makes scrapbooks anymore (I certainly don’t have the time), but the intention is good. He said since it’s my first solo signing, that in some ways, it’s my first one, and that we have to capture the memories.
Little does he know that I’ve been mentally capturing the memories for a year now. Before I go to bed at night, I take out my journal and I write down moments from the day. Every moment with Claudio, every second, is so precious to me, I can’t afford to lose any of them.
I am so in love with you, I think, staring at him with doe eyes as he steps back and lets the next person in line come through. I can’t wait to be your wife.
Ah yes. Aside from my book finally being published (publishing takes eons), another big change has happened since Claudio and Vanni found me naked in their swimming pool. We’re getting married!
He proposed only a month ago, so it’s all very fresh in my mind. It wasn’t much of a surprise, because we already knew we’d get married when I agreed to move in with him at Villa Rosa. But because of Vanni, because Claudio had been married before, we agreed to take it slow.
Even now, our wedding isn’t planned for at least another year, which is fine by me. I’m in no rush. Plus, after my book tour is over, I’ve got two books to finish by the end of the year…and it’s already August! So planning a wedding will have to take the backseat for a bit.
Though I don’t think I’ll be doing much planning, to be honest. Carla, who works at the gallery, has become one of my good friends and she, along with Maria, have joined forces and taken over the whole wedding planning thing. Sometimes Nina, my future mother-in-law, tries to get in on it too. Once a week they try to get me to answer some questions about the wedding: where do you want it to be, how many people, when do we start looking for the dress, what color scheme do you want, and so on, and so on.
Even Jana will occasionally email me things she saw in Brides magazine or something. You know, when she’s not sending me emails wondering where the book is and if I have to ask for another extension.
Some things never change.
Speaking of Jana, while I’m nodding at the next reader while they talk to me, trying to figure out the spelling of their name, I see Jana squeeze along the side of the line, Vanni in tow. She had just taken him to a museum, I’m assuming, because he’s carrying a huge bag that says The Science Museum, which I am sure is crammed with things I won’t understand.
They go right up to Claudio and start talking, and Vanni opens the bag to show his father what he got.
My heart swells at the sight. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy coming into a fractured family like this, but if anything, we’ve all grown closer because of it, and Jana has gotten more involved with Vanni. I’m sure there’s a part of her that feels intimidated by me, which is a weird thought, since I’m usually intimidated by her, as both Vanni’s mother and my powerhouse agent. But Claudio’s theory is that she feels her role in Vanni’s life might be slipping,