He’d managed to spin something awful into something beautiful. I couldn’t quite grasp all the emotions and thoughts flooding my brain, but I knew I’d be looking at things in a different way—through his eyes. I struggled to respond in a way that made sense, but he suddenly gasped and pointed toward the sky. “Look.” He jumped up from the table and went to the edge of the terrace. I followed.

A glowing, bright orange sliver of light crept slowly over the horizon. The color emphasized the gorgeous hues of the rooftops and the dusty darkness of the sky. Inch by slow inch, the full moon revealed herself in all her glory. I held my breath at the sheer beauty before me, as if a gift had been bestowed on a limited number of viewers hanging out on a rooftop in Florence. The color intensified and seeped into an almost fiery red as it reached full height and breadth, an angry, moody moon claiming dominance over the stars and sky and sun.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” I whispered, not wanting to break the quiet hush that overtook us.

Without a word, he took my hand. Slowly, he raised it to his lips and pressed a kiss into my palm. I stilled, afraid to move, afraid to speak, wanting only to be held by a man who was never meant to know more of me. I wanted to study and trace each line of his palm, and his sinewy wrist, and his hair-roughened arm, but I did nothing. And then his gaze crashed into mine, his eyes a dark, intense blue I could drown in. “I have to tell you something, Allegra. It’s not fair to keep it from you.”

“What is it?”

“I feel things for you. At first, I thought it was just friendship. Now that I’ve finally committed to the seminary, I figured there were no challenges left to fight. I dated through college, had crushes, kissed girls, but no one got inside of me. To my heart.”

I held my breath, waiting for the rest.

“Until now.”

I bit my lip, fighting my need to reach for him. “I’m confused. I’m feeling things for you too, but what can happen between us? You’re going to be a priest. We only have a week left. Should we even try to figure something out that can never work?”

“I don’t know. I should probably stay away from you and keep things simple. But how can I walk away from a gift? That’s how I feel about you. I’m happy when we’re together. Hey, I’m happy if I can look across the room and see you at the table, laughing, having fun. It fills me up inside.”

I groaned, trembling at the intensity, the truth of his words slicing through me. “I never felt this way either,” I admitted.