Page 30 of The Unraveling of Julia

“Should you call Susanna? I’m sure you could have a session on FaceTime.”

“I don’t need one.” Julia wished she’d kept the nightmare to herself. She should’ve known it would worry Courtney.

“Maybe you’re jet-lagged. Hydrate and get on their schedule.”

“That’s probably it,” Julia said, hoping to convince her. “I’m super tired and hungry. It’s lunchtime here.”

“Is yourcookmaking it for you?”

“Yes. Her name’s Anna Mattia.”

“Just remember your bestie. I knew you when you didn’t live in a haunted villa.”

“Very funny.”

“Boo!”

“This looks great!” Julia grinned down at a beautiful bowl of a tomato-and-bread stew with a sprig of fresh basil on the top. She welcomed eating her feelings after the conversation with Courtney.

“We callpappa al pomodoro.” Anna Mattia smiled, standing beside her. “Tomat’, garlic, bread, basil, salt. Piero’s mother make, now me.Buon appetito.”

“Thanks.” Julia scooped some into her mouth, and it was absolutely delicious. The tomato was fresh and tart, with the perfect amount of garlic, and the rough bread made it chewy. “This is so good.”

“Grazie.”

“Please, stay. I want to talk to you.” Julia pulled out a chair, and Anna Mattia sat down, turning to her. “I was in town this morning, and Franco told me Signora didn’t treat people well.”

“Eh?” Anna Mattia lifted a disapproving eyebrow.

“He says they didn’t like her, so they don’t like me. I saw it from the baker, the pharmacist, and the lady in the dress shop.”

“Leonora? Abitch!”

Julia chuckled. “Still, did Rossi slap the grocer’s daughter?”

“No! A lie! They are jealous ’er money. They are jealous’er.” Anna Mattia frowned. “They are jealous me and Piero, we ’ave money, apartment, car. When Signora come ’ome from town, she cry. They make fun.” Anna Mattia leaned closer. “Signora, think they watch, they follow. She think they want tokill.”

“Rossi thought they wanted to kill her? Like the doctors?”

“Sì.She say they ’ave knife. At night, she see.” Anna Mattia gestured to the vineyard. “Piero, me, we go, we look. Nobody.”

Julia tried to understand. “She imagined they came to kill her? Here?”

“Sì, yes. Signora mind is wrong. They tease, so I go to town.” Anna Mattia’s face fell, and Julia remembered that Anna Mattia had cried at Rossi’s funeral.

“You took good care of her.”

“Sì, yes.” Anna Mattia nodded. “I love.”

“I know.” Julia felt touched. “I told him I wasn’t ready to sell the villa. My friend Courtney thinks I should sell. What do you think?”

Anna Mattia shrugged. “You decide.”

“But tell me what you think.”

Anna Mattia hesitated. “The villa is… a lot for a woman, alone.”

“Signora Rossi was a woman alone.”

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