Treasured Dreams Read Online Free Page A

all that had happened, she hadn’t thought any more of the bracelet or Nonna’s odd reaction to it.
    Until now.
    Rosalina’s stomach rolled. She had to ask Nonna. There was no way she could leave this undiscussed. As much as she didn’t want to upset Nonna, she had to know why the bracelet had affected her grandmother so much.
    Rosalina removed the sweet potato gnocchi dough from the bowl, placed it onto the lightly floured tabletop, and divided it into four portions. Nonna sat at her side, and together they rolled the gnocchi into a thick log. Nonna was quick, working with expert skill as she cut the log into bite-sized pieces and pressed a fork into each one to make corrugated indentations. Within a matter of seconds, Nonna had prepared a whole plateful.
    Before Nonna could stand up again, Rosalina seized the opportunity. She placed her flour-dusted hand on her grandmother’s wrist.
    â€˜Nonna,’ she said.
    It may have been the way she said it, or maybe Nonna had been dreading this very conversation, but when Nonna looked up at her she had fear in her eyes.
    â€˜At my engagement party, I wore a silver bracelet. When you saw it, you … you looked horrified. What was it, Nonna?’
    Nonna turned to her hands and stared at them, rubbing them together to dust off some of the flour. It was a long time before she seemed ready to speak, and this was unusual. Nonna loved to talk.
    Finally, she looked up at Rosalina with tears pooling in her eyes. ‘That bracelet was la madre di .’
    â€˜I know, Nonna; Mum gave it to me.’
    Nonna frowned and her eyes searched Rosalina’s, maybe seeking the truth.
    â€˜ Madre was on her way to hospital to have the baby. I was scared for her, and she gave me the bracelet to look after until she came home with my new brother or sister.’
    Nonna blinked up at her. ‘Your padre looked everywhere for that bracelet. Did you know that?’
    Rosalina nodded. ‘I didn’t want to give it to him. It was the last thing Mum gave me, so I hid it in the back of that picture frame on my side table.’
    â€˜With the photo of Padre ?’
    She nodded again. That photo was the only photo Rosalina had of her father smiling. He’d never smiled again after her mother died.
    â€˜Is that why you reacted the way you did, Nonna?’
    Her grandmother pursed her lips. She looked frozen in that moment, and Rosalina knew there was more. ‘Tell me, Nonna. If it’s about my mum, I want to know.’ Acidic dread pooled in Rosalina’s stomach.
    Nonna stood up and walked to the stove, her back to Rosalina. ‘It was a long time ago, Rosalina. It is not necessario to bring up such dreadful things.’
    â€˜What dreadful things?’ Rosalina struggled to her feet, and without the crutches, waddled to her grandmother. She placed her hand on Nonna’s bony shoulder and squeezed. ‘Nonna. Tell me.’
    Nonna cupped her own cheeks as if horrified by what she was being asked to do. There was a long pause before she looked up at Rosalina. Tears threatened to spill over, and Rosalina resisted the powerful urge to clutch her grandmother to her chest. She needed to be strong. She needed to know what happened.
    â€˜Sit.’ Nonna motioned with her hands for Rosalina to sit back down, then Nonna sat at her side, clutching her own hands as if trying to stop them from trembling.
    â€˜Your padre was always so busy with the vines, la raccolta, la semina, nutrimento . Then there was the grapes and the wine-making. He rarely came home. Here. Your madre was overwhelmed with six bambini .’ Nonna slowly ran her hand through the flour on the table. ‘She missed him so.’
    At the emotion quavering in her grandmother’s voice, Rosalina knew not to interrupt.
    â€˜But after many years she stopped missing him. Soon he was no longer importante. You, your brothers, your sisters were everything. It was like your padre was a