Chapter One

Eighteen Years Later

Somewhere in Basilicata

I take a deep breath through my nose. There's nothing like spring. The scent of flowers is in the air and I can't get enough of it. Mother loves flowers, so I grew up knowing how to care for them and loving them with all my heart.

"Chiara, get in here!" I hear her say. "It's time for the soap opera."

I drop the watering can and I wipe my hands on my apron. Amalia is already seated on the couch popping olives in her mouth and Mother takes a seat next to her. She turns to me. "Tonight's the grand finale. We'll find out if Carlo and Flora will marry."

"Of course they will," I roll my eyes. "The protagonists always end up together." Lia throws an olive at me. Lia. I’ve always called her that.

"Don't ruin it for us. Just because you don't believe in love, it doesn't mean we don't."

"Amalia, don't talk that way to your sister,” Mother warns. Lia and I always bicker. It's inevitable. We just have different views on everything. She rolls her eyes and I take a seat next to her. I reach for an olive, but she swats my hand away.

"Go get your own. These are for me."

"How nice of you."

I get back up and I head into the kitchen. I grab a bowl and open the jar of olives Mother keeps under the sink. I put a generous amount in my bowl and I place the jar back under the sink. I look out the kitchen window and I can't help but smile. The garden looks glorious this year. The flowers are all in full bloom. All our hard work has paid off, and we worked so hard this year. I look away and move to return to the living room, but I see something move in the corner of my eye and I look back. The door of the garden shed is swinging open, and I could've sworn I closed it after getting the watering can.

"Has anyone been in the shed?" I ask.

"Who cares?" Lia groans. "Come here so we can watch this episode. If you don't want to watch it, just say so!"

I look back and frown. "I think I should lock the door."

"We'll do that later, Chiara. Come here and sit with us." Mother says. I do as she says and I sit nestling the bowl of olives between my hands. The episode starts and their eyes glue to the television, but I can't concentrate. I can't stop thinking about the shed. I'm certain I closed it, how did it open?

"Oh!" Lia squeals after the credits roll. "Don't you just love romance? Wasn't the ending beautiful, mother?"

"It was," she agrees, standing up. "Love is beautiful. It's something worth fighting for."

I look at her. "Is it really, mother? I think love is an illusion. People don't truly love each other. They love the idea of love."

Lia swats my arm. "Stop it. Mother and father were truly in love before he died, isn't that true?"

We've heard the story of how my parents met hundreds of time. They were both young and living in Venice when they met. Father invited her to dinner and afterwards they danced all night. They married after five months and moved here. My father died of a stroke eighteen years ago, shortly after Lia’s birth. Mother never remarried, she raised us on her own and worked day and night to keep this roof over our heads. After I finish studying Economics, I'll take over her duties and I'll finally take care of her and Lia for a change. I only have two semesters left. I'm so close I can taste it.

Mother's eyes cloud over at the mention of father. She nods. "Your father was a very brave man, Amalia. He loved us with all his hearts and he sacrificed everything for us. He gave his life for us."

Lia stands and wraps an arm around her. "I want a love like yours, mother. I want a man who will love me unconditionally the way father loved you. Don't you want the same, Chiara?"

I pop the last olive in my mouth. "I want to finish studying. You should want the same thing, Lia. The world isn't just rainbows and butterflies. You saw the way mother worked hard all these years. We shouldn't live the way she did. We need to do better, so we can take care of her." Deep down, I despise my father. I don't care that he died of a stroke. How could he have left us to struggle on our own? He didn't leave us a single cent.

"Blah, blah. Stop being so serious all the time. Someday you'll meet a tall, handsome man and he'll knock you off your feet. Mark my words."

I roll my eyes and I make my way outside. I walk over to the garden shed, but before I lock it I peer inside. Everything is exactly where it should be, except for the axe. I lock the shed and I go back inside. "Mother, where's the axe?"

She waves a hand at me. "I think Fabio borrowed it earlier today. Yes, that's it. He asked for it." Fabio is our next-door neighbor. Well, he lives a few kilometers away, but he's the closest neighbor we have. We practically grew up together, and we went to the same schools all our lives.

I hang the key and wash the dishes in the sink. I keep an eye on the shed the entire time. Mother walks up to me and rubs my shoulders.

"What's the matter? You're so quiet. Is something wrong? Is it your classes?"

I look into her eyes and I get the sudden, inexplicable urge to cry. I don't know why. It's something about her hazel eyes, the exact same shade as mine, that gets to me every time. There's so much suffering, and so much love as well. For us. For our home. I don't want to worry her about the shed, it's probably nothing.

"Nothing. I'm just worried about some tests. It's nothing you should be worrying about. Everything will be fine."

She takes a deep breath and looks out to the garden. I watch her expression change as soon as her gaze falls upon the flowers. "Chiara, I want you to know that I did everything I could for you and your sister. Everything. I've worked very hard to get to where we are."

"I know,” I say and rub her arm. She pats my hand and walks away from me. I dry the dishes and just as I'm about to go to my room, there's a knock on the front door. It startles me. I walk slowly to the door and open it. Fabio is standing on the other side, with the axe on his hand.

"Hey." He holds the axe up. "I brought this back."

I take the axe from him and place it next to the door. "Thank you. It's getting late, you could've kept it till tomorrow."

He shakes his head. "I know how you are about your gardening tools. I didn't want to upset you."

I laugh. "I'm not upset. It's just—.” I look at the shed, at that wooden door I've opened countless times, and the words die on my tongue. I'm being stupid. Mother probably opened it and forgot to lock it. "Nothing. I didn't see you today at campus. Where were you?"

He rubs the back of his neck. "Oh, at a doctor's appointment."

I frown. "You're never sick."

His cheeks grow red. "I had this pain in my neck, I wanted to get it checked. Turns out I haven't been sleeping well, or something like that. Bad posture."

I shake my head at him. I've known him for years, he's a terrible liar. But I don't push the matter, it isn't my place. "Alright. Do you want to come inside? There's pasta from lunch."

He puts his hands up. "No, I'm fine. I just ate."

We stand awkwardly by the door. I don't know what the matter with him is today. He's not normally like this. There's something off about him and I don't know what it is. He didn't even ask about Mother, and he always does.

He fixes his dark gaze on me. "I have to go now." He turns to leave without another word. I raise a brow at him.

"Stay safe!" I call out. He stops in his tracks for an instant, but he doesn't look back. He then keeps walking as if he didn't hear me and I shake my head as I close my door. Strange. I've known him all my life and he's never acted like this.

"Who was it?"

I turn to mother. "Fabio. He came to give the axe back."

"He didn't come inside?"

I shake my head. "No. He was acting all strange. Said he went to a doctor's appointment."

Lia storms into the room. "Who went to the doctor's?"

"Fabio."

She halts and raises a brow at me. "That's horseshit, he’s never sick."

"Amalia!"

"Right?" I say. "That's exactly what I thought. He didn't even come in or anything, and I told him we made pasta for lunch."

"Strange," Lia says. She grabs an apple from the fruit basket and takes a huge bite. She talks with her mouth full, and apple juice trickles down the side of her mouth. "You think he has a new girlfriend and he's hiding it?"

"Amalia, don't talk with your mouth full."

"No, he hasn't gotten over that other girl. What was her name, Andriana?"

"Alice,” Lia corrects. "And you're wrong. He has. He doesn't truly love anyone, because he's so busy being in love with you."

I roll my eyes at her. We've had this conversation a million times. "He doesn't love me. We're like brother and sister. We've known each other for years."

"Being like brother and sister isn't necessarily being brother and sister. He totally loves you. Am I wrong, mother?"

"No. You're right."

"See?"

I run a hand down my face and stomp to my room. "I need to finish an assignment. I'll come help with dinner soon."

"Take your time."

I finish my assignment in under thirty minutes and I email it to my professor. I'm satisfied with it. A wonderful aroma fills the house and I help Mother with dinner. Amalia is on her laptop watching an American series she loves. We dine together Lia takes over the dishes, as she didn't help at all with the cooking.

I make her favorite tea and place biscuits on a plate for her. Lia resumes watching her series and I sit with Mother in silence. She finishes off her biscuits and drains the last of her tea. "I'll go to bed now."

Lia shuts her laptop and kisses mother on the cheek. I do the same and we each go to our own rooms. We decide to sleep whenever she does, we've done it for years. My room is the smallest in the house, but I chose it because of my bedroom window. It faces the garden and I keep it open at night. I shrug my pajamas on, but I opt to wear the shorts instead of the pants. It's cool, but not cold enough to wear pants.

I turn my lamp off.

The night is serenely silent. Night birds are chirping outside my window and the night air is cool. I look out my small bedroom window for the longest time, until my eyes feel droopy. I like to think about my day, and I can't help but think about Fabio. His behavior was so strange. I want to send him a text, but I decide against it. Maybe tomorrow he'll be his usual cheery self. I yawn and shut my eyes.

I turn to my side and a strange, unknown scent invades my nostrils. It's a strong, masculine perfume. Which is strange, because we don't have any kind of perfume like that here. I crack an eye open. Suddenly, someone peels my comforter away and I open both my eyes. A man I've never seen before is standing by my bed and he's pointing a gun at me.

I scream.