2 #2
“It’s our villa,” Julia corrected him, meaning it. She’d inherited the property and a windfall of three million euros, which she put into their joint account. Gianluca earned a good living, and she didn’t mind the disparity in their finances, though it bothered him from time to time.
“Your name’s on the deed.”
“Still, that’s a technicality.”
“Not to my father.”
“Do you want me to put you on the deed? I’d be happy to, you know that.” Julia knew there were potholes in their relationship, which they avoided without saying so. She didn’t know if that was called love, marriage, or denial.
“No, I don’t need to be on the deed, I’m just explaining.
” Gianluca shrugged. “In any event, I thought it might be nice for us if they lived in the cottage, and easier for them, too. They’re getting older.
” A flicker of sadness crossed his face.
“My uncle’s death got them thinking, and I don’t want to look back with regret.
Leni would love it, too, don’t you think? ”
“She would.” Julia knew her daughter loved her grandparents, who were great with her.
“So? What do you think?”
Julia braced herself. “Honestly, I don’t know. Leni’s easier than she used to be, and the renovation is finished. We can go it alone more, don’t you think?”
Gianluca frowned, disappointed. “We’re a family, Julia. I don’t want to see them less because I need them less. You love them, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“So then what?” Gianluca raked his fingers through his hair, and Julia saw the conversation was going south.
“Look, it’s hard to decide something this important right now. Can it wait?”
“Of course. We’ll sort it when you get back.” Gianluca pursed his lips. “Let’s get to bed. Your flight is early.”
The bedroom was dark, and the night air felt cool, but Julia was wide awake.
She flashed on Courtney’s grandmother lying dead on the floor, then Mike’s murder that awful night.
She reexperienced the same horror now, feeling unsafe, unmoored, and unraveled all over again.
She knew it was PTSD, but a diagnosis didn’t help her sleep.
She didn’t think journaling would do the trick, either.
She shifted onto her right side, her thoughts roiling.
She could still hear Courtney’s scream echoing in her mind.
She checked the clock on her phone, irrationally worried she’d miss her flight.
Gianluca snored softly, having fallen asleep after they’d made love, tenderly reaffirming their bond, both sensing without saying so that their marriage was about to be tested, not only by her trip but by his wish to move his parents in.
Julia gave up on sleep, getting a better idea.
She slipped out of bed, unplugged her phone, and padded downstairs in her oversize Notre Dame T-shirt, then left the villa and went out back.
The Tuscan night caressed her as softly as black velvet, and the moon glowed, a shadowed orb in a starry sky.
She turned on her phone flashlight to light her way across their patio and down the stepping stones to the vineyard, which lay nestled in a valley encircled by hills, protected from the wind and the elements.
The air felt warmer at the lower elevation, and she breathed in the scents of verdant young vines and tilled earth, natural fragrances as layered as the notes of a perfume.
Birds flitted above her, and insects buzzed around her.
She felt herself relax as she walked through the vineyard to a secret spot in the middle, around a beautiful well that was original to the property.
The well was hewn of alberese stone native to the region, its gold and brown hues muted by the dark.
The well was where Julia always came when she needed peace of mind.
She switched off her flashlight, put her phone on the well, and closed her eyes in the moonlight.
For her, the well was a so-called “thin” place, a term the medium Helen Davenport had taught her, which meant a place where the line between the physical and the spiritual world thinned to a veil.
Last time, she’d been surprised that it helped her find her biological grandmother and solve the mystery of her own identity.
Julia exhaled slowly, quieting her mind, and felt herself bathing in a moonbeam.
A sweetly organic dampness emanated from the depth of the well, and she placed her hand on its wide rim.
Its stones felt gritty, cool, and solid under her palm, and she focused on the rock, centuries old, unearthed from this very land.
She imagined it connecting her to time itself, unspooling backward to the Renaissance and earlier.
She visualized the water filling the well from the spring flowing under her feet, nurturing the rich, fertile earth in these hills from the beginning of time.
Suddenly Julia’s reverie was broken by her phone screen brightening. She worried it was a text from Courtney, so she picked it up, but it was a notification of her horoscope for the day ahead:
Buckle up, Cancer! There’s a rocky road ahead! You’re entering eclipse season, the period between the lunar eclipse on March 14 and the solar eclipse on March 21. Major challenges are on the way. You’re ready, but only if you believe you are.
Julia swallowed hard, troubled. She didn’t check her horoscope as much as she used to, but she never lost sight of the stars and their hold on her. She knew there was more to this world than met the eye. Her premonition was proof.
Julia pocketed her phone and headed back to the villa, more troubled than before. She couldn’t deny that tomorrow morning, she was embarking into the unknown.
I’m not going there to solve a murder, she’d told Gianluca.
Julia knew now that hadn’t been true.
But no matter what, she was going.