Читать книгу Gaining Visibility - Pamela Hearon - Страница 13

CHAPTER 6

The tour headed south to Tellaro first, giving Julia a different perspective on the town than she’d gotten yesterday from the hike in the hills above, though just as tranquil. The picturesque pink and orange houses set against the vibrant green backdrop made it difficult to imagine anything but perfect harmony behind those walls. No cancer. No infidelity. Nothing but blissfully happy couples living out their days in peaceful perfection. However, the quick stop the captain made at the spot where Percy Bysshe Shelley’s boat went down, which led to the poet’s drowning, served as a sad reminder of her parents’ death in a boating accident on Kentucky Lake.

“Every life has stormy seas,” the captain said.

The poignancy of his statement stung Julia’s eyes, and her throat burned with the bitterness of all she’d lost.

Across the gulf to the small islands of Tino and Isola, up to La Spezia, and back down to Lerici, the afternoon flew by as quickly as the Italian coastline. Fingers of the Mediterranean grasped the land deeply in places, holding it still as the world revolved around it. Quaint fishing villages rose and fell like the tide, winking into and out of view. Fishing boats with wizened old men smoking pipes. Yachts with bikini-clad beauties—mostly topless. Blue sky and azure water coming together at some indistinct point Julia wasn’t sure even existed. She felt like any moment they would be riding one of the waves into the air, and she wouldn’t be surprised in the least.

When the boat returned to shore, she realized it had been hours since she’d thought about her toe—or her life. Out on the sea, Frank, cancer, Melissa’s move, Hettie’s stroke—everything, at last, dissolved into a blue oblivion.

Relaxed and exhausted from the shiatsu massage of the wind, she returned to her room and fell asleep on a chaise on the balcony, awaking sometime in the middle of the night with a vague worry about where she would be the next night but sure Vitale’s word would be good.

She dragged herself to the bed, not waking again until a loud knock startled her. She scurried to the door as fast as her toe would allow.

Vitale.

His eyes raked down her, and he gave a cocky grin. “Buon giorno, Julietta.”

Her eyes dropped to see her designer nipples protruding through the thick camisole she’d slept in. Of course, Vitale thought they were greeting him personally. “Buon giorno, Vitale.” Although she didn’t think her scars would be visible to his casual glance, she stepped self-consciously behind the door and peered around it.

“I have the place for you to stay. Are you ready to go?”

She looked at her watch, astounded to note that it was past ten thirty. What about Italy caused her to sleep so late? She’d been living out of her suitcase since she’d arrived, so there wasn’t much to pack. “I can be ready in twenty minutes. Is the place you found far?”

He shook his head and she shut the door, wondering if he was going to continue standing there, but pretty sure there was no way she could breathe enough to move if she asked him in.

She took the quickest shower she’d ever taken, brushed her hair and teeth, and slapped on a minimum of makeup. Moving from one hotel to another didn’t require dressing up, so she slipped into a short skirt, tank top, open blouse, and the flip-flops that would unfortunately have to be standard footwear this trip.

As she suspected, when she opened her door twenty-three minutes after answering it the first time, Vitale was still standing there.

He grabbed her suitcases, obviously not even considering using the wheels. “I talk to Mario. He do not charge for your stay here because of the injury.”

“Oh, I don’t want him to do that,” Julia protested.

“It is the correct thing to do, and I borrow his car, so we must hurry. It is the Sunday.”

A bright yellow Smart car waited on the road at the front of her hotel. Julia put on her seat belt while Vitale filled the back with her two pieces of luggage.

He got in, taking off so quickly she lost the ability to speak for a minute, able only to clutch the sides of her seat and take in quick breaths through clenched teeth. But when Vitale took the road that led away from town, the threat of impending doom gave her voice back. “I thought you said it wasn’t far! Where is the room you found?”

He gave a wolfish smile and threw a sidelong glance her way. “Casa mia. You will stay with me.”