Usually, the morning started with excited chatter, lots of coffee, and planning for the day. This morning, there was a deep silence, and Frannie and Allegra seemed lost in their thoughts. The weight of their pain and my unspoken secret lay heavily on my chest.

I’d gotten my wish and experienced the trip of a lifetime. My daughter and granddaughter had fought their way back to each other. There was no cliché happy ending, but they’d laid the groundwork for something better, if they both kept working on it. I’d have to help. But first, I needed to fight my own battle.

There’d been more blood today. The ache and pressure in my stomach had become insistently more painful. I’d been stubborn and wanted to keep this trip on schedule, knowing how important it was to all of us, and not wanting an illness to distract anyone. But it was time to tell them. The moment we got back home, I’d schedule the doctor’s appointment and share everything.

I wondered if Frannie would try to keep seeing Enzo. I wondered if Allegra would keep in touch with Ian or if Ian would go through with his plan to enter the seminary. Love did strange things to a person’s plan, as did God. Whatever happened, both men had served their purpose well here.

They’d shown my girls they were worthy of love exactly the way they were.

“Are you sad to leave?” I asked them both, needing to disrupt the heartbreaking silence.

Allegra shrugged. “It’s time to go home.”

Frannie sighed. “I’m sad. I’m a bit reluctant to let real life intrude again. I’ve enjoyed our trip together.”

I noticed Allegra’s face soften at her answer. “Yeah, me too,” she admitted. “Are you going to see Enzo again, Mom?”

I cocked my head to better listen to her answer. We hadn’t had time alone to really discuss her relationship. I just knew Enzo had brought out the best in my daughter. “I don’t know. He talked about trying to do the long-distance thing, but it seems crazy. Of course it wouldn’t work.”

“It could,” Allegra said. “If you both wanted it and committed.”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. I’m sure once I’m out of sight, he’ll get on with his life, I’ll go back to work, and it’ll be just a beautiful memory.”

Allegra slammed down her juice cup and glared. “Why does it have to be like that? Because it’s easy or reasonable? Or because you want to go back and bury your head in work again, so you don’t have to deal with real shit?”