Carter sat down on the front step. He opened the envelope and, much to his surprise and delight, found within an assortment of brochures and guidebooks to Italy. He eagerly took one out and flipped it open.The book contained a pullout map of Rome showing the location of the Vatican, the Colosseum, and other places of interest. Another book showed the sights of Venice, and a third was about a museum in Florence.There were many others. It was a wonderful collection. As he sifted through it all, it occurred to Carter that, other than finding Elena’s hometown on the map and intensely studying the Italian language, he had done next to nothing to prepare himself for where he would go and what he would see on his journey through Italy. Sheila had been right—these books would indeed come in handy.

Carter smiled. It was a very thoughtful gesture on her part, and he felt a warm sense of gratitude glowing inside. Standing, he looked over to the Mahoneys’ house, hoping he might knock on the door to say thank you right away, but from the darkened windows it appeared that everyone had already turned in for the night.

Carter felt a stab of regret. If he had come straight home from practice as planned, he might have been there when Sheila came by. Now he would have to wait until their paths crossed again before he could thank her. There was of course no guarantee of this happening any day soon. Lately he saw very little of his neighbor, and when he did, she seemed every bit as squeezed for time as he. More than likely Sheila was just as wrapped up in the preparations for her year in France as he was in readying himself for his trip to Italy. He stood there for a time, wondering what he should do. He supposed that he could call her on the telephone the next day to say thank you, but for some reason this idea made him a bit apprehensive. He puzzled over the matter a bit further until he decided in the end that, if all else failed, he would simply write a note of his own to her and leave it in her mailbox.Till then there was nothing else to do, so with a yawn he collected his things and went inside to see how much of Pirandello he could read before he dropped off to sleep for the night.

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 20

“Prendiamo un piccolo intervalo?” said Giancarlo.

“Si, d’accordo,” agreed a relieved Carter.