Page 47 of The Unraveling of Julia

“Ouch.” Julia knew the feeling.

“But it’s behind me now. She wasn’t the love of my life, and my broken engagement is another event in my personal history.” Gianluca shrugged. “If I may say so, Italians don’t deal with their emotions the same way as Americans. We don’t diagnose our feelings, like illnesses. You may call your feelings anxiety or PTSD or whatever you wish, but really, simply, you’re sad. You’re very sad.” Gianluca held out his hands, palms up. “Please, if you would, put your hands in mine.”

Julia did, reluctantly, and his palms felt warm and soft. She realized she hadn’t been touched by a man since Mike, and somehow the skin-to-skin contact made her emotional. She didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything.

“You miss someone you loved very much, and since he died in a terrifying way, in front of you, you’re afraid to do things, to go out, to explore, to have fun, to be free. You’ve lost your peace of mind. It’s normal and reasonable. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes.” Julia did, and it lifted her burden a little.

“We experience powerful emotions, they’re as human as breathing and they change over time. They wax and wane—”

“Like the moon,” Julia interrupted him, and Gianluca nodded.

“Yes, like the moon, the tides, the seasons, all of the natural world. Your feelings will change and you’ll move through sadness. It’s just too soon.”

Julia’s throat thickened. “You think it explains Caterina, today?”

“Yes, that, too. I don’t know why you’re feeling her, but maybe you’re simplyfeelingmore, since you’ve gone through so much. Maybe you’re more intuitive now. Maybe she reallyisshowing you the way. You say you had a vision, maybe you’re more visionary than before. Who knows?” Gianluca smiled softly. “In my belief system, it’s entirely possible that Caterina is guiding you, for a reason we don’t know and can’t know. So you’re not creepy or crazy for feeling it, or her.” He squeezed her hands, let them go, then took a silly bow. “End of lecture.”

Julia laughed, feeling better. “Good talk.”

“I agree. I’m enjoying getting to know you. Sorry, I go on and on.”

Julia thought,The gift of gab, but didn’t say so. “That’s so Sagittarius of you.”

Gianluca laughed, then glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late, and we should move on to Caterina’s other castle. It’s in Imola, another town on the way home.”

“Okay.” Julia turned to go, and her gaze fell on the traffic rotary on the street. She spotted a white Fiat parked among a few other cars, then wondered if she’d seen it before. She didn’t know why it mattered, butshe couldn’t ignore it.

“Hey, do you see the white Fiat down there?”

Gianluca squinted, shading his eyes. “Yes.”

“We passed one on the way here. The driver was smoking a cigar.”

“That’s a Fiat 500, a common car. Why?” Gianluca blinked, and Julia saw no reason to hold back anymore.

“Do you remember when I was being followed at the Uffizi? You said you thought he wanted to ask me out? I don’t think that’s what it was.”

Gianluca frowned. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know, but a man in a black ballcap was following me.”

“Was the Fiat driver the same man?”

“No, the Fiat driver was stockier and older. He has a mustache and smokes cigars.”

Gianluca blinked. “So you think two different men are following you?”

Julia knew it would sound nuts, even to him. “Maybe?”

“We’ll check him out outside.”

Julia agreed, and they headed for the exit.

But by the time they got downstairs and crossed the drawbridge, the white Fiat was gone.

27

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