Chapter 16 centers on Tembi’s first morning in Sicily after being away for a year. Tembi wakes in Saro’s family home and remembers having lunch with him at a rural trattoria on Sicily’s north coast, where they dined on a plate of sauteed wild fennel with ricotta. She pretends that Saro is in bed with her and holds an imaginary conversation with him. Keenly aware that she has been celibate since Saro’s death, she fantasizes about having sex with him. Although Tembi’s sadness has eased with time, she still misses Saro and is not yet ready to rebuild her life. She unpacks her bags and catches up with Croce over an espresso. Croce is delighted to learn that Tembi’s parents will be visiting at the end of the month to celebrate Tembi’s birthday, fulfilling a promise that Tembi’s father made to Zoela. Croce, who has not seen Tembi’s family since visiting Houston a decade earlier, offers to put them up at a relative’s empty house on the outskirts of town. Tembi looks forward to the reunion.