It was the summer of 1970, and Kathryn, or Caterina, which was the name he gave her, paused to look around her bedroom one last time as she closed her blue suitcase. In that instant, she knew that her world would dramatically change and she would never be the same again. After hurried goodbyes and hugs at the small airport in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, Kathryn headed for Siena, Italy, alone, where she auditioned for the opera program at l'Accademia Musicale Chigiana. While waiting to hear if she had been accepted as one of twelve international singers in the opera studio, a handsome Florentine approached her and introduced himself as Maurizio Lorenzini, tenor. As Kathryn extended her hand to Maurizio, their eyes met, and their souls merged. From that moment on, they were inseparable. They filled the summer days and nights with music and love and promised to never part. "Cara, tu sei il mio unico amore, per sempre" he swore to her under the Tuscan sky brimming over with stars: "dear, you are my only love, forever."
Some thirty-three years later, Kathryn abruptly awoke from a dream in late winter, and knew that she had to find Maurizio after all of the years that had passed. The memory of those last minutes as the train began to pull out of the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence, Italy, on its way to Rome still brought tears to her eyes and despair to her heart. Only in the last second, had Maurizio jumped down back onto the platform. The dream was so real.was there an intruder in the house, or was that really Maurizio coming back to her? Why did he look older, and why did he say those two words to her: "mio figlio," or, "my son" after that euphoric embrace? Sensing that something was very wrong, Kathryn knew that she had to find Maurizio and confront why fate, or "destino," had pulled them apart. Would they have a second chance after all of these years?