Page 96 of Lorenzo

“I don’t know about that,” she says. “I had good times with my parents when they were alive. Mom took me to ballet class like other parents. Dad was always busy at the restaurant. What about you?”

“Similar. Except my dad was always ‘at work.’ When I was a little kid, Mom dragged me to the libraries for story hour. Karate class. Like most kids.”

“When did you find out your dad was head of the mafia?”

I shrug. “I knew it all along. It was just how I grew up,” I say, a flood of images hitting me at once.

My mother’s long, lingering illness and eventual death.

Becoming a ‘Made Man’ by putting a bullet in a man’s head.

Em doesn’t have to know any of that.

“Come on,” I say, helping her off the hay stack. “Let’s go and see Teddy.

After a few hours of driving and classic tunes, we’re at her brother’s school in the Berkshires.

Stone walls run the length of the property.

Beyond the golden iron gate, a wide gravel path leads up to a building that looks more like a country estate than a school.

It looks just the way Emily described it. All red brick and stately white columns. The kind of place that has a name instead of an address.

“Are you excited to see your brother?”

“I can’t wait,” she says, practically vibrating with excitement.

“The headmaster arranged for one of the meeting rooms they use for parent-child reunions. A guide should meet us at the front of the school.”

When Emily beams at me in gratitude, I can see I made the right move.

The guide, a too-chipper twelfth-grader, waits for us.

She shows us around the estate with so much pride I find myself wishing Dad had sent us brothers here.

Once we’re shown into the meeting room, the girl leaves. Em and I fall into a comfortable silence.

As we wait in the silent room, I wonder what the kid looks like. A replica of Em?

Possibly. Then there’s the 7-year age gap.

The question is answered for me when the door opens and her brother steps in. He has neatly combed hair the exact color of Emily’s. He wears a navy blue suit like the guide’s, and a quiet attitude.

As soon as he sees his sister, he shoots into her arms.

“Mimi! I missed you so much!” the kid says.

I smile, remember what Em said about Teddy’s first words.

“Teddy, say hello to Mr. Ricci.”

I shoot a questioning look at Em. Mr. Ricci?

“Hi there, Teddy. How you doing?”

He clears his throat. “I’m 12 now, sir. My given name is Theodore.’”

“What about calling my friend ‘Uncle Lorenzo,” Emily says to her brother. “Mr. Ricci is a very close friend of mine.”