67
They reached Kay’s farm, and Gianluca pulled up in front of the house behind Paul’s car. The place looked peaceful and still, and Julia’s throat caught to think of Courtney’s generous gift of the property and the estate. Still her headache intensified the moment they parked in the driveway.
Gianluca cut the ignition. “What a pretty place!”
“I know.” Julia managed a smile. She got out of the car, then went around to the back to get Leni out of her child’s seat.
“Wheee!” Leni began running around as soon as Julia set her down, happy to be in open space again.
“Hey, guys,” Courtney said wearily, coming out of the house. She looked drained, and Julia climbed the steps to give her a warm hug.
“You are so wonderful to give the farm to Shenandoah.”
“Thanks.” Courtney released her. “How could I not?”
Paul snorted, with a dry smile. “I can think of two hundred and twenty thousand reasons why not, but I agree with you, Julia. She did the right thing.”
“Bravissima, Courtney!” Gianluca kissed her on both cheeks, Italian-style.
Courtney smiled. “Ooh, I love when you do that.”
“I hate it,” Paul wisecracked.
“Auntie Courtney!” Leni raised her little arms, and Courtney hoisted Leni up.
“Hello again, baby girl!”
“I’m a big girl,” Leni corrected her.
“Oops, sorry.” Courtney put Leni down, then she ran off again.
Courtney brightened. “Jules, guess what, Bennie says I still have a job and they’re going to let me job share if I want. They knew they’d look like jerks if they fired me now.”
“That’s wonderful.”
Gianluca smiled. “It was fast, too.”
“Right?” Courtney’s eyes lit up. “I think Bennie roughed them up.”
Julia’s gaze fell on the bronze urn of Kay’s ashes, which sat atop the kitchen table. Her head pounded, and she swallowed hard, flashing on the vision at the funeral home.
“Okay, here goes,” Courtney said, picking up the urn. “Let’s go out to the garden.”
Julia stood with Gianluca while Leni ran off to play underneath a tree, and Courtney was next to Paul, holding the urn.
Sunshine flooded the garden, which was filled with pink primroses just beginning to bloom and peonies with their green buds still tight-fisted, as if holding their secrets.
The air smelled fresh and green, with the hint of a milder spring.
Tall brush and grasses rippled across the pasture toward them.
Julia’s head ached, and she felt newly uneasy, but she had no idea why.
“I should say a few words.” Courtney cleared her throat.
“It’s a funny thing, but everybody talks about how much grandmothers love their grandkids, but you don’t hear about how much grandchildren love their grandmothers.
Grandma Kay was my bestie, and I could see in my mother all the goodness that came from her mother. ”
Tears filled Courtney’s eyes, but she stood tall.
“Grandma Kay always said that women were stronger than they knew. She always told me that I could do whatever I wanted to do. She lived her own words, moving here and farming with my grandfather, and she loved this land and this country. She always said to me, ‘Don’t let anybody tell you that you don’t belong here,’ and when I think about it now, that was so brave of her, because nobody around her was telling that to a little Black girl from South Carolina. ”
Courtney’s lower lip trembled. “I loved her very much. She was the most wonderful woman I ever met. She nurtured everybody and everything in her life, and her garden is all about that, so I’m very honored to return her to the earth that she cultivated with her own hands.
” Courtney started to cry as she walked along the rows, bending low to bury the ashes and her note in the soil.
“I love you, Grandma Kay, and I will always love you.”
Julia’s heart went out to Courtney, who sniffled, wiped her eyes, and returned the lid to the urn.
“I’m not going to say goodbye to you, Grandma Kay, because I know you’ll always be with me, watching me from wherever you are, and loving me just as much as I love you.” Courtney hugged Paul, and he held her until her sniffles subsided.
Gianluca blinked tears from his dark lashes and placed an arm around Julia. The two of them went to Courtney, and Gianluca gave her a big hug. “Courtney, you have my deepest sympathies. Your grandmother Kay sounds like my nonna on my father’s side. Strong and good, from Abruzzo.”
“Thank you.” Courtney sighed, holding the empty urn and wiping the last of her tears from her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry.” Julia rubbed Courtney’s back.
Suddenly she found herself turning toward the house, and her gaze strayed to the window in Kay’s bedroom.
She didn’t know why she was looking in that direction.
She hadn’t been thinking about the house or the bedroom.
She felt strangely as if she weren’t in control of her own body.
Courtney handed Paul the urn. “I hope I did her justice.”
“You did, honey.”
“Thanks.” Courtney straightened, managing a smile for Julia and Gianluca. “Thanks for being a part of this, guys. I really appreciate it. I guess we should probably go upstairs and look through her things. There’s some jewelry I don’t want to leave behind. Julia, will you come with me?”
“Yes, of course,” Julia heard herself answer.
Rather, the words came out of her mouth.
But she wasn’t sure who was saying them.
Or why.