68
Julia entered the bedroom behind Courtney, looking around.
There was nothing odd here, and she didn’t know if she’d get a vision, or why, nor did she know if she welcomed or dreaded one.
The room was the way they’d left it, with the mattress askew and yellow coverlet on the floor.
The dresser drawers hung open, and Kay’s clothes lay on the rug amid toiletries and a broken bottle of perfume, its floral scent faintly wreathing the air.
Courtney puckered her lower lip. “Jules, you’re so nice to do this.”
“Of course, honey.” Julia answered, realizing she was speaking as herself again, which she couldn’t explain.
“The main thing is the jewelry. I don’t want to leave anything here that has sentimental value.
I’m not ready to pack up the house just yet.
We’ll come back with boxes and do it later.
” Courtney crossed to the black-lacquered jewelry box, which still lay on its side atop the bureau, its contents scattered.
“Now that we’re alone, we can catch up. I had a great talk with Paul for, like, the first time in a long time.
I think we needed to sit down and talk. We decided to go to counseling. ”
“That’s really great.” Julia felt tentative without knowing why. She got the urge to make herself useful and started muscling the mattress back into place on the boxspring. “I’ll put things back together.”
“Thanks.” Courtney kept going through the jewelry. “I really don’t think his jealousy was his being competitive with me. I think it was grief about Mike. He lost his way since Mike died. I think it’s like a delayed grief, and depression.”
“I agree.” Julia picked up the bedclothes, smoothed out the coverlet, and set it back on the bed with the top sheet. “I thought the same thing. We talked about it, did he tell you?”
“Yes, and he said that you really helped him, so thanks for that.” Courtney sorted bracelets and necklaces into piles on the bureau. “Paul’s been having a hard time, and I didn’t get it before. I was thinking about you so much and everything you were going through.”
“So was I.” Julia made the bed, which felt oddly right, as if she were restoring Kay’s world order, despite her death.
“I even talked to him about Alex. I know the two of them had some back and forth, and I still can’t believe that Paul even tried to hit Alex, but Paul really was grateful that Alex did everything he could to save me.
I think he admired Alex, just like I did.
Like everybody did. You saw the turnout for his memorial service.
It was amazing. He was amazing.” Courtney shook her head, then inhaled slowly.
“It’s awful, so much death. Him and Soroya, both. ”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Julia felt a pang, then picked Kay’s underwear off the floor and returned it to the top drawer, which she knew was the right one.
It was only common sense, after all. She put her underwear in the top drawer at home, and so did most women.
Then she closed the other drawers, so the dresser looked like it should again.
“Alex was such a great guy, and he was so committed to doing good, like Grandma Kay.” Courtney sorted a third pile of brooches. “What about you and Gianluca? You two seem like you’re in a better place.”
“We are. We worked it out.” Julia picked up Kay’s deodorant and other toiletries, then put them back on the dresser.
“Gianluca told Paul you were going on a honeymoon. That’s good.” Courtney kept sorting jewelry. “What did you decide about your in-laws?”
“They’re going to live with us half the year.” Julia picked up the shards of the broken perfume bottle, then dropped them in a wicker wastebasket beside the dresser.
“A compromise, I like it. Look at you, showing maturity.” Courtney started putting jewelry back in the box.
“One last thing, we can’t go so long without seeing each other.
I won’t be working my ass off anymore, so we can fly over and invade your guest cottage.
I want to spend more time with you guys and Leni. ”
“Totally, I agree.” Julia found herself looking at the floorboards, noticing that there was a slight stain where Kay’s perfume had spilled.
She flashed on the bloodstain downstairs, for some reason.
She didn’t understand why her mind had put those two things together, but instinctively, she took a tissue from a box on the dresser and knelt to clean any residual perfume.
She swiped the stain, and a trace of concentrated perfume appeared on the tissue.
She breathed in its scent with a pang, still sitting on her haunches.
She didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to get up for a moment.
She looked over and wondered what was under the bed, which was covered by a matching dust ruffle.
“Okay, I’m done.” Courtney turned from the bureau, some jewelry in her hands. “What are you doing down there?”
“What’s under the bed?” Julia blurted out.
Courtney shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Can we check?”