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.Why are you so interested in my personal life?”“Most Sicilian women your age are married.That’s all I’m saying.”“In America women marry late and sometimes not at all.Women can be whatever they want.They can live alone or with a partner.Marriage isn’t essential for happiness.” If I really believe that, then why did I make such a terrible mistake by rushing into an engagement? “Maybe you have a more traditional idea of marriage and family.”“Not me.I know things don’t always work out.As you see, my sisters are all happily married with children, and no doubt my brother Cosmo will also settle down one day.That leaves me.”“You mean you’ve given up on marriage?” she asked.“Marriage is not in the cards for me.Tonight you saw family life at its best.No arguments, no disputes.Everyone was relaxed and having a good time.We’re good hosts and you’re a good guest.We tried to show how wonderful family life in Sicily can be.And it can.Make no mistake about that.“Now they’re sitting around the table talking about the crush, the fermentation, the bottling and the advertising campaign.There’s rehashing of past harvests, going back one hundred years or more.It can get very tedious.It’s worse when the conversation turns personal.‘Don’t give up, Dario,’ they’ll say.‘There’s the Benvolio girl who’s looking for a husband.What about Maria Del Popolo? Or Angelina Spano or…’ All I mean is we live in a small world here where everyone’s involved in everyone else’s life whether they want them to be or not.”“As someone who has no family, it doesn’t sound so bad,” she said.In fact, she’d be willing to accept a little interference in her personal life in exchange for a group of relatives and a small world.She was relieved when they stopped talking about marriage and family and started a game of tennis.But first there was a dispute about who was playing on whose side, and Dario repeated that all the kids wanted to play with her.“I thought you were their favorite uncle.”“I am, but you’re the new girl in town.How can I compete with that?” he asked, a half smile on his face.She didn’t know what to say to that.Just the hint of his smile had her feeling as though she’d just had the rug pulled out from under her, if they had rugs on tennis courts.It was so unexpected.Is that what the kids did to him? Made him relax and feel young again, even though he said he didn’t want to spend time with his family?Though she hadn’t played for a long time, she managed to get in a few good shots that went past Dario.The children clapped and he looked mildly surprised each time she did it, but the next time he hit back with such force she didn’t have a chance to return it.If she’d doubted his competitive nature before tonight, she had no more doubts.Perhaps he had the same impression of her.She didn’t like to lose, on the court or in the vineyard.When they pronounced the game a draw, Isabel and Dario walked back to the house behind the children who ran on ahead.“You’re not bad.Where did you learn to play?” he asked.“In high school.I took a tennis class.First time I’d ever been on a court.It was fun.It came sort of naturally.The teacher loaned me a racket and taught me a lot.She said I had a good stroke.”“I’ll second that.”“She encouraged me to try out for the school team, but then I had to move.My new school didn’t have a tennis team.And I didn’t have any equipment.”“Did you move often?”“All the time.I had to go wherever a family was available to take me in.”“That must have been difficult.”“Not really,” she said.“It was interesting meeting the different families, attending different schools, making new friends.” That last part was a lie.It was so difficult making new friends every school year, she had finally stopped trying and spent her free time studying and her lunch hours in the library because she knew she’d have to win a scholarship if she wanted to go to college.“I suppose you’ve lived here all your life.”“I spent some summers away playing sports, even a summer at tennis camp, though you wouldn’t know it from my game tonight.Then I went to university in Milan and studied finance.But I knew I could never live there.This is my home.”“Your sister said they haven’t seen much of you lately.”“I’ve been busy,” he said shortly.“It doesn’t mean I don’t care about them.I thought they understood that.”“Family ties are important in America too, it’s just that I didn’t have any.Which makes it easier for me to move across the ocean and make my home here.” It didn’t mean she wasn’t envious of him.Who wouldn’t be? Still, she owned a house and a vineyard, and he wouldn’t hear her complain.When they returned to the house, lights were glowing from every room.Framed in the windows were various family members.Isabel felt a wave of homesickness wash over her as if she had a home to be homesick for.She missed being a part of a home and a family, no matter how happy she was to have a house at last.She blinked back a sudden tear, grateful for the darkness falling.She couldn’t let Dario see even a hint of sadness or envy.She’d been called a crybaby too many times until she learned to control her emotions.No matter how bad the insults or the abuse she’d suffered, she’d learned never to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her cry.“I promised to say goodnight to the kids,” he said.“Then I must leave.Come with me if you like
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