“No, no. I just mean he seemed more resentful of things once I moved into the house. Even though it was only for a short time, I think he had a problem with that. I just can’t imagine he’d hurt her, though. If anything, I got the feeling his problem was with you, Mr. Stone.”
“Have you tried calling her?” Daryl asked, easing the tension around us only slightly.
“No,” I answered, shaking my head. “Only texts.”
“What the fuck is with your generation? A phone is for talking. You know, with your voice? You think she wants to hear from you through misspelled words? She wants to hear you, man. Call her.”
Maybe he was right. I took my phone out and pressed 1. Her phone rang, which was a good sign. At least I could still believe it was turned on and still with her. By the fourth ring, I’d all but given up on her answering, but then I heard her voice so full of sadness say my name.
“Tristan.”
I turned away from Daryl and Varo and walked behind the car. “Nina, I’m sorry. Please tell me where you are so I can come to you.”
“No, not this time, Tristan. I needed you to tell me the truth and you broke your promise. I can’t do this anymore.”
Her voice was barely more than a whisper. I pressed the phone hard to my ear to hear her, even as I dreaded her next words. “I know I messed up. I know. But you don’t know the truth. I need you to know that.”
With tears in her words, she spoke the worst thing I’d ever heard. “You’ve made sure I can live a comfortable life. Not happy, but secure. I just can’t do this with you anymore. Maybe if I’d been brought up in your world, but I wasn’t. I’m still that middle class girl, no matter how much the clothes I wear or the house I live in costs.”
“Nina, don’t hang up! Tell me where you are. Let me explain. Don’t let everything we’ve been through mean nothing,” I pleaded, knowing I had only the slightest chance of changing her mind.
“I can’t. I love you, but we’re just no good together. Goodbye, Tristan.”
“Nina! Nina!” I screamed into the phone, but it was no use. She was gone.
Hanging my head, I struggled to know what to do next. I had no idea where she was, and she didn’t want to see me anymore. To her, we were over.
“Tristan, what did she say?” Daryl asked behind me, but I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t admit I’d finally lost her. “Tristan, did she tell you where she was?”
I shook my head and turned to face him and Varo. “No.”
“Then we can use the GPS tracking software to find out.”
“What? I don’t have that on our phones.”
Daryl smiled and for the first time since I returned, stopped pulling on his damn beard. “I’d hoped she would willingly tell you where she was, but when love doesn’t do the job, technology can. I had it installed on her phone right after you left. I figured that way if she was ever in trouble, we could find her.”
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “You’re not kidding? Then show me how the hell I find out.”
Slipping his phone out of his pocket, Daryl tapped his finger on the screen a dozen times and turned the screen to face me. “Time for a little trip. Better get that plane of yours revved up.”
I leaned forward to read the words in front of me.
Venice, Italy.
Daryl grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Don’t you love technology?”
“Damnit, Daryl. I should have you put that on my phone.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Tristan
I left Varo at the hotel and set out to find Nina, unable to track her down to any specific place in Venice after she turned off her phone. Unsure of where to begin, I let my feet take me back to the one place in the city other than our hotel room that meant anything to me.
The Piazza San Marco.
It was midday by the time I reached the square. Tourists milled about snapping pictures from every vantage point possible as artisans and vendors hawked their wares to eager buyers. I paced every inch of the piazza, my eyes scanning every arch and hidden corner, but I saw no sight of her.
This place was haunted with memories of a time when Nina and I were happy. I wanted to believe we were happy then. Maybe we’d never truly been happy because I’d never been completely honest with her. If so, I was to blame for any sadness she’d felt because she’d been with me.
I could change that, though. I had to believe that or my being there in that place where I’d finally realized I could tell her how much I loved her was all for nothing.
Hours passed as I sat watching families move through the square, parents chasing after young children who hopped and skipped on their way over the stone pavers oblivious to the flocks of birds they disturbed as they played. The sun traveled in its natural path across the sky until I’d sat there long enough to see the last rays of its light as it began to set behind the Museo Civico Correr. Nina had told me about the museum’s paintings, in particular one that even though it had been painted centuries ago showed the city as nearly the same as it stood today.