One Italian Summer

Adam thanks Katy for going to Naples with him, and he kisses her on the cheek again. After showering, Katy gets ready and wears her mother’s silk dress, which makes her feel good: “It fits perfectly. It was my mother’s” (173). Marco tells her that she looks beautiful, and he confides in Katy that Nika is frustrating him with her desire to sell the hotel.

This reminds Katy about a time with her mom when she disagreed with her parents’ decision to have her father retire. Carol told Katy that she was not part of their marriage and that her and her husband were doing what was best for their partnership. In that moment, Katy felt left out of her parents’ lives.

Carol and Katy run into each other outside the hotel, and Carol invites Katy back to her apartment for dinner. Carol compliments Katy’s dress, and on their way to Carol’s apartment, they stop at a bodega for groceries. Carol speaks Italian, which shocks Katy. Katy feels as though she knows very little about her mother outside of their household.

In Carol’s apartment, Katy discusses her mother’s death, and she asks young Carol about her mother, who died when she was young.