The Search for Lily Myers ✓

50 | Gave Me Something to Lose

Amelia could taste the salt air on her lips and hear the nearby rumble of waves gently crashing onshore. Despite the cold, she'd thrown open the French doors to her balcony to let in the ocean breeze while she unpacked the clothes from her suitcase to hang them in the closet.

They had woken up early in the morning to depart Florence and although it was a sad goodbye, she was equally excited to see what the rest of their trip had in store for them. She'd gazed out the car window at the rolling hills of Tuscany, the tall cyprus trees against the blue sky. It was a clear day, the sun streaming through the glass and warming her face.

This time, they'd gone another hour or so south of the Rome airport to the beautiful little coastal town where Robert and Teresa's parents lived. Amelia would have expected it to be a tourist trap based on its geographical location alone, but they explained to her that its rockier beaches compared to the surrounding areas and the winding roads one had to take to access it by car helped keep it rather secluded. That, and it truly was primarily just a residential area, a little harder to navigate if you didn't speak any Italian at all but a wonderfully relaxing place to unwind if you did.

They had gotten into town in time to have lunch with Henry's grandparents, whose home was just a five-minute walk from the Airbnb the eight of them were staying at. They'd cried tears of relief when they saw Lily safe and sound and the sight of it was enough to make Amelia herself get misty-eyed. But Lily wasn't going to let them cry over her for very long, not when it was such a happy day and she finally got to introduce them to the boyfriend she'd been blabbering on about for two-and-a-half years.

Then, of course, there was Amelia. She was a little bit shy about being introduced, feeling like she hadn't done much to earn her invitation other than just happening to be dating Henry at the right time, but she was welcomed like she was part of the family. She wasn't sure what—if much of anything at all—Henry or his parents had told them about her, but she was relieved that her presence was received well.

And she certainly didn't have to be the center of attention. There were an overwhelming amount of different conversation topics that could be had when they only got to see their children and grandchildren for a few days every couple of years like this. Even so, lunch wasn't drawn out into an overly-long endeavor. Rob and Teresa's parents had decided to come with them to Rome as well, which was going to give them several more days to spend together, and they understood that everyone was a little worn out right then from the car ride and being on their feet for the better part of four consecutive days while they'd explored Florence.

This sliver of the trip had been designated specifically for rest and relaxation, and because most of them were introverts and there were no particular tourist attractions to visit, this was also a prime opportunity to spend a few hours by themselves or in a smaller group if they needed to decompress from all the socializing. There was no itinerary for the next couple of days whatsoever, but they had decided to stick to a buddy system for everyone's peace of mind. Even in a place as tranquil as this, there was no forgetting entirely what they'd just gone through back home.

Amelia had no idea what she wanted to do for the rest of the afternoon once she got settled into her room, but she enjoyed the feeling of not being in any rush. She imagined that once she was unpacked, she would probably ask Henry to take her to see the ocean, which must have been a very short walk away considering that she could get a glimpse of it from her balcony.

She wasn't sure what anyone else was up to other than that Robert and Teresa had both stayed behind at their parents' house a little longer to keep catching up with them, but when she poked her head out her bedroom door, she giggled at the sight of Liam hauling Lily's very large suitcase up the stairs. The majority of the effort seemed to be not in carrying the weight itself but in making sure he didn't accidentally scuff it against the walls—it was a rather bulky piece of luggage and the stairwell was rather narrow. Lily herself was nowhere to be seen, but he answered the question that was dangling on Amelia's lips once he set the bag down.