Chapter 14
Dante proposed on a rainy Friday evening.
Exactly three years after the night Nora first answered Salvatore in Sicilian.
He reserved a table at Sparrow.
Not the best table.
The small one near the kitchen.
Nora laughed when she saw him waiting.
“You know I own this place, right?”
Dante smiled.
“I've heard.”
She sat.
He poured sparkling water.
Fresh bread waited between them.
Nora looked at the table.
“Very familiar.”
Dante laughed.
Then his expression softened.
“Do you remember what my father said to you that night?”
“Unfortunately.”
Dante nodded.
“He called you a worthless sparrow.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“And I told him to mind his manners.”
Then reached for her hand.
“He was wrong.”
“You were never worthless.”
Her eyes filled.
“You walked into our lives and made us confront everything we'd spent years hiding.”
He took a breath.
“You taught me that courage doesn't always roar.”
“Sometimes it speaks quietly.”
“In a language everyone else has forgotten.”
Dante stood.
Then knelt beside her chair.
He opened a small velvet box.
Inside was a simple diamond ring.
He looked into her eyes.
And in the old Sicilian dialect Pietro had taught her, he asked:
“Will you walk beside me for the rest of our lives?”
Nora covered her mouth.
Then laughed through tears.
She answered in the same language.
Dante closed his eyes.
She leaned forward.
“Yes, Dante.”
He kissed her.
And from the kitchen, the staff erupted in applause.
Chapter 15
The wedding took place in Sicily.
In the small mountain village of Prizzi.
Where Pietro and Salvatore had once been boys.
The ceremony was held in a stone courtyard overlooking the hills.
Olive trees moved in the warm breeze.
White flowers decorated the tables.
Nora wore a simple ivory dress.
Dante waited beneath an arch of greenery.
Salvatore stood beside him.
The old man held Pietro's photograph.
When Nora approached, Salvatore began crying.
“You look like Elena,” he whispered.
Nora smiled through tears.
“Thank you.”
She took his arm.
And together, they walked toward Dante.