The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans Page A

breasts and long, thin legs. She had high, narrow cheeks, and her hair was pulled back, falling over one shoulder. She was lying on her side next to a small boy, her eyes fixed on the novel she held. The child lay on his stomach, crashing his toys together in combat.
    Just then the woman looked up. Ross could not look away. Though she was as beautiful in form as any woman he had ever seen, it was her eyes that struck him most profoundly. She had beautiful, hazel eyes—the sad, fawnlike eyes of the fiorentina . Like a Botticelli painting.
    Anna waved. “Ciao, Eliana, buona giornata.”
    “Ciao, Anna,” the young woman returned in a friendly voice.
    The woman looked from Anna to Ross, and they shared eye contact, but she quickly turned her attention back to her book. Ross turned away, though out of politeness, not desire. He wanted to stare at her as he might a painting, and perhaps just as intensely. Beauty took time to properly digest.
    Anna whispered something to Luigi, which, after a few moments, he shared with Ross as well.
    “She says that besides herself, this woman will be your only neighbor. She has only the one boy and he is very quiet. So you need not be concerned about the noise.” Then Luigi added, “I think there is something wrong with the child. He has some sickness, I believe.”
    Ross looked back toward the child but found himself staring at the woman again.
    “She is a pretty woman, no?” Luigi asked.
    Ross turned away, slightly embarrassed at being caught staring. “Sì,” he said.
    Anna began talking again, pointing out the distant boundaries of the property. Luigi translated, though unnecessarily. “This is a working fattoria. The Ferrini family is well known in Chianti for their olive oil. They also have good wine. A premium wine. I have tried it. But they are not famous for it. You can try some and decide for yourself if it is good. She says that if you decide to rent you are invited to join them at the vendemmia —the grape harvest in October.” Then he added, “It is really a great thing. They have a big feast afterward.”
    “Great,” Ross said, not fully digesting what had been offered. He was still distracted by the woman by the pool.
    “So what do you think?” Luigi asked.
    Ross stirred. “About?”
    Luigi grinned. “About the apartment.”
    “Of course. When will it be available?”
    “You are decided?”
    “Sì.”
    Luigi looked surprised. “I think soon. I will ask. When would you like to move in?”
    “Immediately.”
    “Adesso,” Luigi said to himself. He spoke to Anna, then told Ross, “She says it is ready, but she still needs the cleaning lady to go through it. Also she needs to get some new sheets for the bed.”
    “Is that everything?”
    “There is a lease that needs to be signed. Along with the matter of the deposit.”
    Ross looked out over the landscape. Here was every seduction the countryside offered. “Go ahead and prepare the paperwork. How much of a deposit does she need?”
    “She was asking for the first month’s rent and an additional five million lire, but I think that it is too much. I think four is better.”
    “Four will be okay,” Ross said though he didn’t really care. He had already made up his mind.
    “I will ask her.”
    There was an animated exchange between Luigi and Anna, with escalating voices and broad hand gestures. All he could hear of it was Luigi’s calm voice, “Signora . . . Signora.” For a moment Ross thought it might turn bad and he considered intervening, but then the voices stopped and Luigi returned, smiling as if nothing had happened. “She says that four will be fine.”
    Ross laughed to himself. If only business in America had been so straightforward, he thought.
    “We can come back tomorrow and sign the papers.”
    Ross nodded his approval. “I’ll need to wire some money. Do you have a bank account number for her?”
    “It will be on the contract. I will call you with it.”
    Ross looked around the