Chapter 23

The little boy turns around, and when he spies Vito across the span of hot sand, his eyes light up and he grins. He says a final word to the man kneeling next to him and then runs, filled with joy, toward Vito, his little feet beating hard into the wet sand near the shoreline.

His small arms are outstretched, and there is happiness, pure and simple, spread across his slightly sunburned features. That happiness feels like a gift to Vito, consuming him and filling him up.

Vito squats and stretches his arms out, anticipating the moment when the little boy will be in his arms, when he can lift him and swing him around, heading into the water with him.

Vito awakened and looked around his darkened bedroom, feeling disappointed and disoriented. Alone. His heart was in his throat, and he was torn between two emotions, joy at having the privilege of seeing them both and despair at the knowledge that he never would again.