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thought they couldn’t even discuss it outside of private chambers.”
    “They can’t,” Edwards said, “which is why I never asked about the fellowship.”
    “What did you talk about?”
    “Apartments, mostly,” he said. “Length of lease. That was very important, as far as I was concerned. I was just curious if, in his opinion, the director thought a one-year lease was a better way to go than a short-term one.”
    “Follow all the rules but do so in as flexible a way as possible,” Kate said. “I’m pretty sure that’s one right out of your playbook.”
    “It was one of theirs, really,” Edwards said, his eyes still focused on the crashing waves. “If I abide by any rules, they are the ones your parents taught me. And the ones I’ve done my best to teach to you.”
    “I haven’t been able to sleep much since I applied for the fellowship,” she said. “I can only imagine how happy they would be right now if they were standing here with us.”
    “This time for you in Florence is a turning point, Kate,” he said. “It will allow you to take your work to an entirely new level. I’m not just being complimentary when I brag to friends about your abilities. You’re very talented. And now we’ll see those talents put to their proper use.”
    “I was just hoping to barhop and take in the sights,” Kate said, smiling. “And maybe even latch onto one of those cute Italian guys whose only goal will be to break my heart.”
    “Then we’re both on the same page,” Edwards said, quick to return the smile. “Just remember, cute Italian guys are often joined at the hip by stern Italian mothers who are not quick to warm to the notion of theirsons being swept away by beautiful young women. Or any women, for that matter.”
    “Does your cliché about Italian mothers hold true when it comes to their daughters as well?” she asked.
    “Just as much,” Edwards said.
    “So your affair didn’t work out?”
    “We didn’t allow ourselves the chance to work it out,” he said. “It was no one’s fault, really. There are dozens of reasons why love affairs come skidding to a halt, and they all seem important as they happen. But as the years pass, you realize how foolish those reasons were.”
    “Have you kept in touch with her?”
    “Not initially,” he said. “It’s a series of stages. First you want to be with her every single moment of every single day. Then, after the breakup, you decide a cooling off period would be best, and before you know it fifteen years have gone by. And then, one day, with no particular motive, you pick up a phone and there’s a voice on the other end that still brings a smile to your face and, if you’re at all lucky, a friendship begins to develop.”
    “Still, none of it could have been easy,” Kate said. “I’m the same age you were when my parents died. But instead of being allowed to go off on your own adventures, you were burdened with a four-year-old. You deserved an entirely different life.”
    “I haven’t missed out on one single thing,” Edwards said. “And if I have regrets, it’s for the times when my work forced me to be away from you and our home. You were alone a lot more than you should have been. It’s one reason I made sure you were kept plenty busy, hoping that all those activities in some way would help ward off any bouts of loneliness.”
    “Do you miss not having a family of your own?”
    “You are my family,” Edwards said, “as were your parents, and that makes me one very lucky man. And now here we are, the four of us, together again.”
    Kate bent down, her knees resting on the wet sand, and laid the flowers atop a wave. She watched as the foamy water pulled back, dragging the bouquets in its wake. She stood, moved closer to the professor and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’d say the four of us make a pretty formidable family, don’t you think?”
    He put an arm around her and the two turned away from the waves and began a