Chapter 16: The beginning of the end

Capo d’Orlando, Sicily – July 21st, 2020

Isabella and I spend the rest of the day by the pool, until the sun starts to set on the horizon, and it gets too cold to just chill in a bathing suit.

“I want to order pizza.”

I look up from my book to where Matteo is sitting by the edge of the pool, his legs in the water.

“Yes, please.” Isabella groans. “I’m so hungry I could die. Where are you ordering from?”

“I know a place.”

Matteo and I make eye contact for a moment, before his eyes drift back to the screen. A few seconds later he starts talking to someone in Italian, so I zone out and try to focus back on my book.

The pizzas arrive twenty minutes later and we sit down at one of the tables on the terrace.

“What time are people arriving tomorrow?” he asks me then with his mouth half full.

“I don’t know, I guess around seven or eight? Might be sooner.”

We eat our pizzas in peace after that, and then decide to watch a movie before going to bed. We’re all tired from sitting in the sound all d