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Nancy gave Janine a side-eyed look. “He called me a woman of a certain age.”
Janine laughed. “We’re all women of certain ages. I don’t even know what he means by that.”
Nancy laced her fingers through Janine’s. “Gosh, I’m so glad I never…” She trailed off.
“You never did?”
“No.”
Janine nodded, grateful for that, as well. Had Nancy slept with Kostos, she knew Nancy’s shame would have been amplified.
“I thought I was too old to let men manipulate me like that,” Nancy said. “I thought I’d moved on to the next phase of my life. And oh, Janine. You should have heard the stuff he said to me about Neal. He said all the right things.”
“I’m sure he did.” Janine sighed.
“Tell me I’m not an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot in the slightest.”
Maggie appeared at the bottom of the staircase, having been upstairs, taking a nap. “Did I hear the cops again?”
“They were here,” Janine said, explaining what they’d come to say. Maggie wrinkled her nose.
“I’m so sorry, Grandma.”
Alyssa was, yet again, out with Nico— wandering through alleyways, sailing through canals, or eating delectable food. Janine sensed that Alyssa was trying to lap up the last bit of their dreamy days in Italy and forget what had happened with Kostos. Nico was a welcome distraction.
“What do you say we fly home in a few days?” Janine asked Maggie. “Grandma and I were just looking at flights.”
Maggie puffed out her cheeks and sat across from them in the living room. “I feel way more pregnant than I did when we first got here. I don’t know how Alyssa is moving around so well. I want to go back to the Vineyard and sleep till the baby comes.”
“That makes sense,” Janine said.
“Alyssa will be sad to leave her Italian boyfriend,” Nancy said sadly.
Everyone was quiet for a moment, recognizing the weight of what Alyssa was giving up. This was the first man worthy of Alyssa’s love. He just happened to live thousands of miles away.
“She’ll find someone else,” Maggie said softly, speaking to the floor. “I did, even when I thought I never would.”
“She has you and the babies,” Nancy offered. “I’m sure that’s enough love to go around for now.” But she didn’t sound like she was sure.
* * *
For the next several days, Janine didn’t see much of Alyssa. She swept in and out of the Italian villa, headed to meet Nico, to hang out with his friends, or to go on brief sailing expeditions, each time exploring further into the turquoise blue. Janine, Nancy, and Maggie missed her, of course, and would have loved to have her with them— but they understood her needs. Maggie’s pregnancy had taken a turn, and she required much more sleep than normal, frequently opting out of Janine and Nancy’s Venice explorations or museum visits. Now that September was here, the city had shifted, and autumn could be felt with each breath, lingering at the edge of the heat.
“Isn’t it interesting? We came all this way to distract the girls from missing Lucy,” Janine reminded Nancy. “And now, back home, we’ll need to find a way to distract Alyssa from missing Nico.”
“It’s a blessing and a curse to have so much love,” Nancy agreed, her voice slightly brighter than it had been immediately after Kostos’ arrest. Janine strung her arm through her mother’s, wandering there beside the Grand Canal, still as captivated as ever by its beauty.
Janine contacted Francesca, Eva, and Teresa’s lawyer to explain what had happened. Teresa’s lawyer asked, “Is this you giving up on Teresa’s game?” And Janine said, “I believe so.” To this, the lawyer said, “I’ll make the appropriate arrangements after you’ve left. Everything that was meant to be yours will now go to charity.”
Janine sensed this was the right way forward, anyway.
One day before their flight back to Martha’s Vineyard, Alyssa and Maggie were in their bedrooms, packing, when there was a knock at the door. A shiver of fear raced up and down Janine’s spine. She wasn’t sure she wanted to answer it, fearing Kostos and his wrath. But when she did, she found Nico on the front stoop, gasping for breath. His face glistened with sweat.
“Is Alyssa here? She’s not answering her phone.”
“Yes? She’s upstairs. Alyssa?” She stepped back to allow Nico to enter, and he stood in the foyer of the old house, staring at the staircase, until Alyssa walked down, holding her stomach.
