“My favorite was Naples. We only stayed a few hours, but it’s the place my parents were born and met, so it was special.”

“We go there for a few hours also. I had an aunt who came from Florence, so I’m looking forward to the visit. Where else did you go?”

We compared notes on our itineraries and the waiter brought the drinks. Time flowed effortlessly as we chatted with an easy camaraderie, like we’d known each other forever. He spoke of his three grandchildren and his four daughters with a pride I understood. He opened up about his family—how his youngest lost her boyfriend in a car crash and suffered from PTSD; how the middle child took years to conceive before finally adopting newborn twins; and how his wife had been taken by lung cancer even though neither of them had ever smoked.

Something shifted and allowed me to open up with this stranger who felt like a friend. “When I first asked Frannie to go to Italy, she said no. She runs her own advertising agency, and it keeps her busy. I’ve watched her relationship with Allegra get worse year by year, and I thought a trip would give us the time we needed to bond again. Then Allegra got caught smoking pot and was arrested. Frannie finally agreed to get her away for the summer.”

He whistled low. “Tough. The drugs are hard with this generation—they’re everywhere and there’s peer pressure. Has the time together worked out?”

“A bit. The first week, Frannie worked nonstop and Allegra refused to speak to her. It felt like the same dynamics as back home. But this past week, something changed. My daughter put her phone away, and I see my granddaughter opening up a bit. Of course, there’s also a boy.”

“There’s always a boy,” Milton said with a laugh. “The question is—is he a nice boy?”

“Very. Frannie had Allegra via a sperm donor.” I still winced when I said it aloud, even though I’d gotten used to it and thanked that man every day for the gift of my granddaughter. “So Allegra struggles a bit with her place here without a traditional family.”

“Makes sense. How old?”

“Eighteen.”

He nodded. “Eighteen is such a sensitive age. They’re supposed to know what they want to do for a career and suddenly be an adult just because of a number.”

“Exactly.” I gave another sigh. “I watched Allegra when she was a baby so Frannie could work. I think my daughter resents our close relationship. And growing up, Frannie was much closer to my husband, Jack. Somehow, we lost our way and haven’t gotten it back. I don’t know, it’s kind of a mess between all of us.”