The Lombardo Family

Flying Into The Wind
South Beach
The Lombardo Family

The Lombardo family of South Beach and The Crossing has money, connections and power. They are philanthropists, power brokers, and frequent guests at parties and celebrity events across the archipelago. They also enjoy, suffer, use, or simply ignore rumors of plots, revenge, and even murder (some of which are true).  

The immediate family consists of Don, Tony, and their much younger sister Camilla, presented from right to left in the portrait above.  Don was a renowned surgeon, a good if distant father, and something of a minor playboy after the death of his wife Ellen. 

Don lived a quiet life after retiring. He attended upscale dinners at upscale restaurants in the company of lovely and literate women of a similar age and enjoyed himself until he died a natural death. He was considered a solid if sometimes eccentric member of the family.  People said he visited the Gate Rock in the south more frequently than seemed reasonable given the Rock's location by the Garden. Nobody in the family was buried there after all.

He never remarried, truthfully because he never found anyone to replace her and his devotion was real and lasting. His son, whom he named Gabe, pretty much raised himself with the not entirely unexpected results considering the family he was born into.  

Don’s younger brother Tony, seated on the left in the portrait and at his desk here, wrote historical fiction which sold reasonably well. He married, divorced, and fathered one child - Rafe - with a woman named Eden Westover.  After the divorce and the catastrophe that followed, he left South Beach and was rumored to have taken up with someone the family called ‘the red-headed woman’.  He never returned even to see his son. 

Eden Westover, elegant and highly educated, presented herself in South Beach as the daughter of a foreign-born mystic of sorts, whatever that meant.  She brought a best friend to town with her, a woman named Ellen, who coincidentally and surprisingly married Tony's brother Don.

The resemblance between the two women was strong, and they laughed and joked that they were actually sisters.  After Ellen died in childbirth the gossip about sisters stopped, at least publicly.

The marriage between Tony and Eden however was a disaster that ended in Eden’s violent death. 

Camilla was pleased to take credit for the ‘accident’ even though Eden’s own son Rafe was primarily responsible. Camilla and Rafe's cousin Gabe (Don's son) were enthusiastic accomplices. No one in the family ever regretted the death.  No one ever accused anyone in the family of any involvement.  No family member, mysterious father etc., ever showed up to ask what became of Eden, or the friend or sister for that matter.

Some say Eden floated all the way south and came to rest against the Gate Rock. Some say she floated inside the Gate Rock itself.  Some say the two friends sailed together to the Rock, although this fell into the mystical category.

Nobody in the family says anything at all.