Page 33 of Nantucket Reflections
Suddenly, the two of them were laughing and crying at once. It felt like ages till either of them could get a word in edgewise, and when they did, they shrieked with giggles again. Alessandra felt she was going to burst with love for this woman. She thought she might die right now.
“Your father is watching the news,” Sophia said spontaneously.
“Oh?”
“News about New York,” Sophia said. “News about a certain mural that someone painted last night.”
Alessandra’s smile filled her face. “What are they saying?”
Sophia was quiet as she listened to the news in Italian. “They’re saying it’s her best yet.”
“Is that so?” Alessandra’s voice cracked.
“It is,” Sophia said. “I think it might be, too.”
It was the first time Sophia had acknowledged Alessandra’s work to be anything worthwhile. Alessandra’s eyes spilled tears. Although she’d promised herself she wouldn’t tell anyone about the diagnosis, she realized that it couldn’t go on like this. As time passed, she needed someone else to notice the heaviness of her days. It was a brick lodged next to her heart. Before she could stop herself, she whispered, “Mama, I need to tell you something.”
Immediately, the air between them sharpened. She heard her mother move from the living room to another one, probably the study, where she closed the door behind her. There was so much her father couldn’t take. “What’s happening, honey?” she asked.
“It’s back, Mama,” Alessandra breathed, and as she said it, the weight was lifted, and it felt like she might float away.
Her mother began as she thought she would, with no-nonsense pursuit of survival. “Chemotherapy again,” she said, then listed an entire string of foods they were supposed to eat and non-medicinal practices they could pursue and various documentaries she’d read about, documentaries that might guide them to better healing. “We can do it together,” her mother said, convincing herself, her voice brightening. She was no longer sorrowful about her own situation. She’d thrown herself completely into caring for her daughter.
“It won’t work this time, Mama,” Alessandra whispered, feeling a stab of regret.
“Radiation. Hormonal treatments. It’s 2021. There is bound to be a way forward. Doctors have all kinds of things to do,” Sophia said. “And I’ll cook for you! Nothing else matters but the way we treat our bodies. I saw a special about another woman who was given three months to live, and she drank tea with thyme leaves in it every day, three times a day, and…” Her mother’s voice shook.
Alessandra suppressed another sob.
It was when Alessandra couldn’t speak, couldn’t respond to Sophia’s terrifying list of potential treatments, that Sophia finally realized how serious this really was. “That’s why you were at Dr. Vincento’s that day,” she said finally. “You haven’t told anyone either.”
“You’re the first,” Alessandra whispered.
Her mother sniffed and sniffed. “You should have told me that day.” There was accusation and anger in her voice.
“I didn’t want to put you through any more pain,” Alessandra said.
They were quiet. She could feel her mother’s adrenaline and peril. She thought of her plane ticket for two days from now, her plans to go to the many world-famous art museums and restaurants during her stay here, her hope to eat several more slices of NY-style pizza. But now that she’d come here and done what she’d planned to do, now that the mural was on the wall and being discussed in her hometown, she saw no reason to remain here, wasting her time. She had so little of it left.
Her family was in Positano. She needed to be in Positano.
As her mother breathed on the other line, trying not to cry, Alessandra got on the internet and rescheduled her flight for later that day. She wouldn’t sleep a wink, not in the United States, not when she should be sleeping next to Federico, down the road from her parents’ place. Not without Elena down the hall.
ChapterEighteen
July 2025
Positano, Italy
It was the day after the family party with Sophia, Marius, and Gregor, and Julia and Charlie decided to enjoy the sea a little bit, renting two beach chairs at a local beach club and swimming in the teal waters. The beach was lined with cliffs and beautiful deep green trees, and the servers who walked to and fro along their beach chairs were all handsome and twenty-something Italians with dark hair and secretive eyes. Julia ordered an Aperol Spritz, and Charlie opted for a light beer. They swam as far away from the beach as they could until they were out in the open water, in full view of what looked to be thirty-plus sailboats, floating in the water as their owners drank champagne or dozed on board.
It was an entirely different vibe from a Nantucket beach day, especially given the fact that Julia actually felt like she was on vacation. Charlie forbade her from looking at her email or texting with Nicole, and Julia tried to pretend that none of the stress withA Journey into the Nightwas happening, that her publishing house was just as healthy and successful as ever.
Once, she bit her tongue to keep from asking Charlie what they would do if the publishing house went under. What could he possibly say?We’ll get through it, like we’ve gotten through everything else.She knew he would say that, and she knew it was correct.
Still, she was on the hunt for Lucia Colombo. She needed the truth.
When they returned to the apartment that late afternoon, Charlie took a shower, and Julia finally checked her text messages to find several from Gregor, who was excited.
