Ross waited until the group had mostly dissipated before he approached Eliana. She waited alone in the doorway, eyeing him timidly.

“Hi,” she said softly.

His voice was guarded. “Hi.”

“You probably never thought you’d see me again.” Her eyes betrayed her uneasiness. “Or maybe you just hoped you wouldn’t.”

Ross’s thoughts ranged too wide for a concise answer, so he just remained silent.

“I wanted to bring you something. I had to leave it out front. It’s the portrait.” She spoke nervously. She forced a smile. “I didn’t think the guards would take well to me walking around the gallery with an oil painting in my bag. It took longer than I thought it would. And Maurizio’s been home a lot more lately. So I couldn’t work on it as much as I’d like.”

Ross’s mind reeled with questions, but he held back. He wanted to ask her why she hadn’t returned his calls. And why she had come back, when he was finally starting to accept her absence. “I . . .” He stopped himself. “Just thank you.”

The silence stretched into awkwardness and Eliana smiled to keep from crying. She had never seen him this way before.

“I was wondering if”—she looked down, gathered her courage—“well, if maybe we could talk.”

“I’ve been trying to talk with you for weeks.”

She looked down, ashamed. “I know. I’m sorry.” She suddenly felt foolish for coming to him. She had abandoned him. What kind of a reception had she expected? She exhaled and again forced a smile. “Well, you have people waiting. I just wanted you to have the painting. I left it at the front desk, where they rent the headphones.”

“How’s Alessio?”

Her lower lip began to tremble. “He’s been okay. He asks about you all the time. Yesterday he asked if you could come to dinner. He misses you.” She paused, looked into his face. “So do I.” Her eyes began to moisten. “I’m sorry, Ross. I’ve . . .” She stopped herself, no longer daring to look into his eyes. She put her hands in her pockets, brought out her leather gloves and put them on as she waited for his response or rebuke, hoping for one of them, hoping for anything but his silence. Still Ross said nothing. She looked up again. “I’m sorry I hurt you. You deserve better.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Goodbye.” Then she turned and slowly walked away. She was past the door onto the landing when Ross called after her,

“Eliana. Wait.”

She turned around and he saw that her cheeks were already wet with tears.

“I’ll be finished in about a half hour. We can meet in the café on the second floor.”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Too emotional to speak, she nodded in agreement and walked off to wait. Ross watched her go, then went off to finish his tour.

CHAPTER 29