The Legacy (35 page)

Cisely and the band begin playing a medley of love songs.
She is lost in the music, her silky voice resonating through the
hall, and it is obvious to Adagio that everyone is touched by
how beautifully she sings. Pretty soon, the floor is filled with
couples dancing to the soft ballads. He smiles as he watches
her. Glancing to his left, he grins as a few of the older teenage
boys cease talking, instantly mesmerized by Cisely, and he is
again thankful to be her husband. Turning heads is something
she definitely does often, yet she never seems to be aware of
how she affects other men, only how she affects him.

Adagio makes his way to the front with his eleven-yearold partner who is wearing an infatuated grin as she looks up at
him. Smiling slyly at Cisely, he winks. He watches her smile
widen and wonders if she will be able to get through the song
without laughing. When she does finally finish up the set, she
informs the guests that she is taking a break, which brings some
disappointed sighs, but she promises to continue in a few
minutes. Approaching him, she slips her arms around his waist.

“It looks like you sure made a little lady’s day,” I say,
smiling at him. “Stepping out on me, huh?”
Adagio pulls me close. “Are you jealous?” he whispers
close to my ear.
“Maybe.”
“Well, when she asked me with that adorable little smile
of hers, I couldn't say no.”
“I suppose not. But I could hear her sighing above the
music. She was like putty in your hands.”
“I can assure you that I only have eyes for you,
amore
.
Besides, she is not my type.”
“Oh really?” I continue toying with him. “What, Mr. St.
John, exactly is your type?”
He tightens his embrace. “I am holding my type right
now.”
“Good answer,” I say and he chuckles softly.
Velma and Ted hired a young man in their church to play
music in between sets. The next song he chooses is one by
Marc Anthony. As the familiar tune fills the reception hall,
Adagio's
eyes
meet
mine
and we
smile,
our
expressions
melancholy. It is the song we danced to years ago at my
wedding reception when I married Ingo. Memories of that day
rush back to us both. It was the first dance I had ever shared
with Adagio, and the fact that I had just married his best friend
makes this moment even more sentimental.
“Come,
amore
,” he says, leading me out on the dance
floor. Grinning, I eagerly follow.
Adagio and I share a great love for dancing. We go
dancing quite a bit, and sometimes we even dance at home with
the boys. Ingo has learned a lot of good moves from watching
us, and though Phillip’s rhythm still needs a little work, it never
stops him from joining in the fun with his own special talent of
bouncing around.
After the song ends and before I begin another set, we go
to check on the boys in another room down the hall and find
them both very content, coloring with several other children
attending the reception with their parents. A couple of the
young women from Velma’s church have volunteered to keep
an eye on everyone.
“How are you doing?” I ask, kneeling down between
Phillip and Ingo.
“Fine, Mama,” Ingo answers. He holds his drawing up
and Adagio and I tell him how beautiful it is. Caressing his hair,
I watch him as he continues to color, his concentration deep.
“Look at my picture, Mama,” Phillip says, holding his
drawing up for me to see. “I drew a dinosaur.”
“That is a wonderful picture, honey,” I say, ruffling his
wavy hair. He grins and kisses my cheek, then his father’s.
“Can I hang it in my room when we go back home?”
“Sure you can,” Adagio answers. “As a matter of fact,
why don’t you both save your pictures and we can frame them
when we get back to Italy.”
“Okay, Papa,” the boys respond together.

We stay with the boys a few more minutes before heading
back to the reception hall. We take our time, walking slowly,
enjoying being close to one another. Before entering the hall,
Adagio pulls me aside, holding me a moment.

“I don't think I am ready to share you again just yet.” He
smiles. “You know, we could . . . What is that American
phrase? Oh, yes. We could blow this joint and take a drive
through the country or something.”

“More than a little.” He brushes my hair back and kisses
my ear.
“A drive does sound pretty nice. Tell you what. You hold
on to that thought and I promise you, after this last set of
songs, I’m all yours.”
“All right,” he whines. “I guess I will just have to wait.”
I laugh, but I can hear the longing in his voice through
the teasing. He kisses me before reluctantly releasing my hand.
I smile and head back up front.

When Cisely returns to the piano, Adagio takes in all the
anxious faces in the crowd. He's so proud of his wife for
continuing to cultivate her talents by sharing them with others.
She has even begun teaching Ingo and Phillip to play. Ingo
doesn't show much interest, but Phillip is a natural, almost a
prodigy. Adagio figures he must have gotten the musical gene
from Cisely, because he definitely enjoys singing and playing
with her.
Cisely starts the next set of songs with one that has
become hers and Adagio’s personal love song. Eyes shining,
she begins to sing Lara Fabian’s emotional ballad,
You’re Not
From Here
. As her silky voice caresses the lyrics, Adagio closes
his eyes, letting his mind drift back to years ago when she first
sang the song to him for his birthday. He remembers the tears
he’d swallowed back because it stirred his emotions for her so,
and he could feel how deeply she loved him as she sang.
Even now, emotion churns inside him as he listens to the
words. Smiling, he lets his thoughts drift to memories of last
night.

The daughter of one of Velma’s friends had offered to watch the
children at the hotel and give Adagio and Cisely a chance to go out for a
while. They gratefully took her up on her offer. They went to dinner, then
took a drive through the city. Adagio loved again exploring the place of his
wife’s birth. Cisely pointed out more places of interest and they revisited
some of the places she used to spend a lot of time.

One of those places was the botanical gardens
at the university.
Since the weather was comfortably warm, they decided to stop there and
take an evening stroll. They kept an arm around each other as they walked
though the winding paths, admiring the beautiful flowers and landscaping.
Cisely told him the place brought back a lot of memories for her. She’d
spent a great deal of time there contemplating her life and where it was
headed.

“I used to come here a lot to think because it was so peaceful.”
“What kinds of things did you think about?”
She sighed, her eyes becoming distant. “Just about the different ways

my life had changed. Before giving up the party life, I never really felt
worthy of much of anything because of how I was living. Nor did I ever
think about the future. Nothing in my life seemed to be important, except
surviving and finding my next drink or fix. I didn’t have any aspirations
at all, and you never would have found me in a place like this. Even after
I changed I still didn’t feel that my life was worth much because of all the
mistakes I’d made. I was pretty lost. All I could see in my future was
loneliness.” She paused in her thoughts, her eyes holding a subtle sadness at
the memory. “I discovered this place one day when I was taking the bus to
see a friend and immediately asked the driver to stop. It was as if . . . it
was calling to me. I came to love coming here after that because I almost felt
like God lived here, and it made me want to be here, to feel Him near.
Back then, I never felt as close to Him as I did when I came here.” She
chuckled. “Sounds kind of silly, huh?”

“It doesn't sound silly at all. I am sure He really was here for you,
and He probably kept pulling you here. You needed this place and the
peace that you felt here. There are times we all need such places.”

They continued to walk in comfortable silence. After a few moments
he turned to find Cisely gazing at him intently. “What are you thinking
about,
amore
?”

She smiled. “Oh, I was just remembering our wedding day and how
happy I was to finally be your wife.”
He also smiled, remembering the joy he felt when they were married.
Stopping on a small wooden bridge, he drew her into his arms. “I needed
you in my life so much. I was tired of being alone, of never having anyone to
come home to or share my days and nights with.” He sighed, looking into
her eyes. “I can honestly say the day we married was the happiest day of my
life, because it changed my life forever.”
Her eyes grew misty. “For me, too. You were, and still are,
everything I could ever want.”
“And having you makes me the most blessed man in the world. I
can't imagine not being with you.” Touching his lips to hers, he kissed her
slowly.
She finally drew back and looked into his eyes, a slow grin
spreading across her face. “Tell me again when you first knew you loved
me.”
He leaned back against the railing, pulling her firmly against him,
smiling as he thinks about the moment he lost his heart to her. “Well, it
was something that happened slowly, but the moment I truly realized I
loved you was the day I came in from the kitchen to let you know lunch
was ready. You were standing in front of the living room window deep in
thought. I remember quietly gazing at your profile, unable to move. You
looked so beautiful just standing there.” He paused, softly caressing her
lips. “I remember my heart pounding so hard, it was hard to breathe. Then
you turned and looked at me and smiled, and in that moment, you claimed
me, heart and soul.”
Cisely pressed her face against his neck and sighed, and Adagio
sensed the warm memories washing over her as she remembered that
moment.
“You know,” she said, “the look in your eyes at that moment
nearly took my breath away.”
Smiling, he tightened his embrace. “You took my breath away by
looking at me as well.” When she drew back slightly and met his steady
gaze intently, he grinned and said with warmth, “Yes, just like that.”
“I'm glad I still have the same effect.”
“And you always will,
bella
. Now,” he said, kissing her brow,
“tell me again when you first realized you loved me.”
“Okay,” she drawled. “I guess it is only fair.” She laughed at his
boyish grin. “Well, my love for you grew over time, too, but the moment I
truly knew I loved you was the morning of the day you came over and
proposed. I was standing in front of the window again looking out at the
city, and I started thinking about you. Only instead of fighting it, I gave in
to it. I had only been lost in my thoughts of you for a few minutes when I
suddenly remembered the very day you stood in the doorway of the living
room the week before, staring at me. I remembered the look in your eyes
and how it made me feel.”
She caressed his face. “The memory of the way you looked at me
affected me so much, it intensified the feelings I already had for you, and I
knew I was fighting a losing battle. I saw the longing in your eyes. I knew
the feeling because I felt the same that day and every moment after that.
That's when I knew I truly loved you, and my heart was no longer my
own.”
Adagio closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers a
moment before tightening his embrace and kissing her passionately. At that
moment nothing else in the world existed. Just her. He finally pulled back
and looked into her eyes, relishing the feel of her warm breath on his face.
His entire being was full of longing for her. “
Devo amarlo,
” he
whispered. He pressed his mouth lightly to hers and again whispered the
words in a raspy voice.
“I need you, too,” she whispered back. She kissed him once more
and without another word, took his hand and led him back to the car.
When they got back to the hotel, the children were already in bed.
They thanked the sitter and Adagio paid her. After she left, he went to the
bedroom and found the room lit only by the moonlight shining through the
opened curtains. Cisely smiled at him through the darkness. “I thought
since we don't have any candles, this will have to do.”
“It is perfect.” He undressed and carried her to the bed, and they
made love as the rays of the moon filled the room and surrounded them.
Adagio’s thoughts return to the present and he again
gazes at his wife, longing to hold her in his arms.