Chapters 50-52 Summary
Denny has a teaching job at a nearby driving school, and one day while he and Enzo are there, the owner of the school asks Denny to do him a favor. He mentions Luca Pantoni and asks if Denny remembers him. Denny says he definitely remembers Luca, whom he had over to dinner while Eve was still alive. Don then told Denny that Luca is there and wants to see the racetrack. When Denny agrees to show it, Luca asks Denny if he would like to drive his Ferrari F430. Denny is shocked. The Ferrari is worth almost $200,000 and can attain speeds around 190mph. Of course he wants to drive it. Denny’s students watch, and as he whizzes around the track, they cannot believe how fast he is going.
After Denny successfully takes Luca around several times, the car owner, who works for Ferrari in Italy, offers Denny a job. Denny thinks maybe Luca wants him to teach classes. But Luca quickly explains that he wants more than that from Denny: he wants Denny to test drive Ferrari vehicles. When Denny asks Luca why he has chosen him, Luca says that Denny is an excellent driver but there is more to it that he will not divulge until Denny showed up in Italy, having accepted Luca’s offer. Denny explains that he is at present unable to leave the country. Luca says that he knows what Denny is going through, but as soon as everything is cleared up, the job in Italy will be his.
Months drag by after that. Enzo turns ten, and his health does not improve. His body hurts every time he moves. Denny watches over Enzo tenderly and carefully. He even comes home for lunch to take Enzo outside. One day when he comes home, Denny walks Enzo down the street. They near a café and they both recognize Annika sitting outside with a friend. Enzo wants to pull away, but Denny tells him it is all right. He has something to say to the girl.
Denny first tells Annika that maybe he had done something wrong. Maybe he had led her to think that he was flirting with her when they were in the mountains. He also tells her that she is a very attractive young woman, and if circumstances had been different, maybe he would have been attracted to her and they might have developed a relationship. But she was so young and he was married, so there was no room for a relationship between them. He also tells her that one day she will fall in love as he had been in love with Eve. Then he tells her what her accusations have caused him. He wants her to know all the hardships he is going through, the most important of which is that he might lose Zoe. He does not believe that Annika really wanted that. Before he leaves, he asks Annika not to take his daughter away from him. After they walk away, Denny tells Enzo that he believes Annika heard what he was trying to tell her.
Days later, an older couple shows up at Denny’s apartment. Enzo has no idea who they were. He eventually finds out that they are Denny’s parents. Denny had been estranged from them because he did not want to take over the family farm. His father and mother had refused to talk to him since then. But his parents changed their minds when they discovered all that Denny had recently gone through. They came to see Zoe and to leave Denny some money to help pay his expenses.
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