Return to Me

chapter 23


Present Day, Arles, France

The evening was glorious, the sky clear and moonlit. The beautiful old Roman amphitheater of Arles was filled to capacity, the entire audience on their feet, wildly cheering and clapping.

Beneath the spotlight, Gigi stood on the center stage, surrounded by her fans. Dressed in a gorgeous, Grecian-style gown of blue silk, she smiled and curtsied. Horace, clad in a toga, bowed to the crowd, then turned to Gigi and went down on one knee, his hand to his chest in the ancient Roman way. The audience erupted with approval.

The air wafted over them, warm and pure, hinting of ancient stone and thyme. Gigi reached out to Horace, loving the way her ruby and diamond wedding ring glittered in the light. He grasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as he rose to stand beside her.

Horace grinned his crooked grin and said to her in Latin, “Remember, sister, we must never do this together in the baptistery in Ravenna.”

She laughed as the lights dimmed and moonlight glinted off their flutes: hers golden, his silver. The audience grew silent, their anticipation palpable.

It was time for their encore, their new, chart-topping duet, the magical “Ode to Lovers.”

Gigi’s mood shifted and tears sprang to her eyes, as they always did when she played this tune. Placidia and Athaulf. The memory of their love would be preserved for all time in this glorious, soaring melody.

She looked out and spotted Magnus and their children in the first row. Six beautiful young adults and their very own three-year-old, Galla Augusta. Dark curls and beautiful, blue eyes, the image of her father. Galla rested in the lap of Gigi’s mom. Her dad, Lucius, Vana, and Jack sat beside them. Her heart lifted. All had come here to share this moment, everyone with her, safe and happy.

Gigi smiled to them and then moved toward a metal bowl near the edge of the stage. She placed a piece of paper in it — the score of “Ode to Lovers,” signed by her entire family — then struck a match and lit it.

She stepped back, and as she and Horace began to play, the smoke rose before them, up to the stars.

She locked eyes with Galla’s daddy, her Roman, her love for all time.

Quintus Pontius Flavus Magnus.

And she felt the world in his returning gaze, the whole world, and the promise of what was to come.