Page 52 of The Unraveling of Julia

“That said, I think if you’re careful and don’t go anywhere alone, you’ll be fine. I’ll hang with you as much as you want. You’ll be in Florence for the investigator, and I’d love to take you to dinner after.”

“Great, thanks.” Julia wondered if Gianluca wanted to be more than friends, but she would keep it that way. She liked him, but she wasn’t ready for anything more.

It was still her wedding anniversary, whether Mike was alive or not.

30

Julia didn’t get home until dinnertime, and she entered the villa and stopped in the dining room, where the table had already been set. She picked up her plates, silverware, and wineglass and took them into the kitchen, where Anna Mattia was sliding a baking dish from the oven, its top glistening with tomatoes.

“Perfect timing!” Julia crossed to her. “What’s for dinner?”

“Polentawithmozzarellaandbroccoli rabe, likelasagne.” Anna Mattia smiled, and Julia felt relieved that Anna Mattia wasn’t looking at her funny, after last night.

“Okay if I eat in here, with you?”

Anna Mattia shrugged. “You like Forlì?”

“Yes, but guess what?” Julia set the kitchen table and sat down. “We caught another man following me.”

“É vero?” Anna Mattia’s hooded eyes flared in surprise. “What’appen?”

Julia filled Anna Mattia in while she cut her a serving and placed it onto her plate, shaking her head.

“These men, they jealous your money!”

“That’s what Gianluca thinks.” Julia forked thepolentainto her mouth, aware she was eating her feelings. Luckily, they were delicious. Thepolentatasted perfectly moist, likelasagne, only lighter. “This is wonderful.”

“Grazie. Thecarabinierino ’elp?”

“They say they can’t. Not yet.” Julia ate somebroccoli rabe,wondering if she was becoming addicted to garlic, and Anna Mattia poured Chianti into her glass.

“Very bad! You stay with us tonight?”

“No, thanks.” Julia hated to put them out again. “I’ll stay downstairs, maybe in the living room. I want to look over those books that Gianluca brought.”

“I put in living room.Buon appetito.” Anna Mattia went to the sink, and Julia ate morebroccoli rabewhile she picked up her phone. The home screen showed an email notification from 23andMe. It was the results of her ancestry test; she had sent in her saliva sample before she left Philadelphia. The subject line read:Click here for your results!

Gulp.Julia braced herself, clicked, and skimmed the top line:JULIA, your ancestry composition is 98.6% ITALIAN.

“Oh my God!” Julia almost choked on her food.

“What?” Anna Mattia turned from the sink, sponge in hand, and Julia scanned the results, incredulous.JULIA, YOU ARE 98.6% Italian from the Tuscany region, going back three generations.A tiny gray sliver in a pie chart showed that the remaining percentage of her ancestry was from northern Italy.

“I’mTuscan! Three generations back, that’s mygrandparents! That could beRossi!”

Anna Mattia frowned in confusion. “So no ’merican?”

“I’mItalianAmerican.” Julia felt a thrill, as if an electrical switch had been thrown. “This is amazing! It means I actually have Italian blood.”

“You?”

“Yes! Now we know that I have Italian blood,Tuscanblood, that means Rossi could be my grandmother. But it doesn’t mean sheis. If I didn’t have Italian blood, then I would know for sure she wasn’t my grandmother.” Julia held up the phone, and Anna Mattia came over, peering at the screen. Julia pointed to the gray sliver of a pie chart. “See this?Most of my blood is Tuscan, but some is northern Italian, maybe from Milan. Maybe Rossiwasrelated to Caterina Sforza. MaybeIam, too!”

“Mamma mia!” Anna Mattia beamed, linking her fingers.

“What if Rossi really did have a child?” Julia returned her attention to the phone, scrolling quickly to the next section, which wasLIVING RELATIVES. It read,JULIA, you have NO living relatives reported.She reminded herself it meant only that none of her living relatives had been tested and agreed to disclose their results. It didn’t mean shedidn’thave any living relatives.

Julia kept reading, excited. The next section was a list of health information, and she read the highlights aloud: “Guess what, I do not have the BRCA1/BRCA2 variants for breast cancer.”

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