Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100605 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100605 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Oh, great. Thank you. My name is Allegra Bianchi. I’d like to speak to Antonio Fanelli. I’m calling regarding a letter I received about an inheritance from my grandmother, Sophia Bianchi.”
“Ah, yes. Mrs. Bianchi. The best torta di ricotta e spinaci in the world.”
I smiled. My grandmother always brought a homemade ricotta and spinach pie with her whenever she was going anywhere. I guess law firms were no exception. “Yes, she was an amazing cook.”
“Let me get Mr. Fanelli for you. He’s on the other line, but he can hang up.”
“Oh, uh, that’s not necessary. I can wait or he can call me back.”
“You’re calling from America, yes?”
“I am, but—”
“Then he can hang up. His wife, she calls too much anyway. Hang on.”
She put me on hold, and I thought about how different things were at my firm—or my ex-firm, I should say. No one came to visit with homemade baked goods, and the receptionist would never interrupt a partner on a call with his wife to speak to a random client.
A minute later, a deep voice came on the line. “Ms. Bianchi?”
“Yes, hello.”
“I take it you received my letter.”
I was glad he spoke English. “Yes. To be honest, I was surprised. I assumed my grandmother would’ve left everything to her sister.”
“We spoke about her sister, but she was adamant that she wanted you to receive everything. She mentioned that you two spoke every Sunday morning, and that you were often still at work from the night before. I don’t think she intended for you to inherit only her home and land. I think she was hoping you’d inherit a different pace of life.”
I sighed, half smiling. “She always did have a way of getting people to do what she wanted.”
He chuckled. “I went to visit her at home to deliver the will I’d prepared, and when she opened the door, she handed me a colander and a broom and instructed me to catch a lizard she’d named Sergio who kept scaring her in her vegetable garden. I spent an hour chasing a reptile while she sipped limoncello from a lawn chair and watched me, wearing dark glasses. When I finally caught it, she made me drop it off in Cortona, at the base of her sister’s property. They weren’t speaking at the time.”
I laughed. “That sounds like my grandmother.”
“We haven’t done a valuation of any sort, but I would imagine all that land is worth three or four million euro.”
“All that land? Doesn’t she just own the little plot her antique shop is on?”
“No, Ms. Bianchi. Your grandmother owned close to forty hectares, around one hundred acres, of the surrounding property in Tuscany. Much of it is leased, so it produces income.”
Wow. I had no idea.
“I imagine it won’t be easy to put your life on hold for three months,” he continued, “with your work and all, but it’s definitely worth your while.”
It would be a lot easier now than it would’ve been a week ago… “Actually, I may be able to make it work.”
“Excellent. When you figure out your plans, please let me know. We should meet to go over next steps. I also have a set of keys to the shop, but your grandmother said you’d know where to find her hidden spare.”
I smiled. “I do.”
“Okay, then. I look forward to your arrival.”
Chapter 4
Allegra
GREAT. NO SIGNAL, no shade, dead car, and I’m going to pee my pants any second.
I walked around my stalled rental and searched for cell service along the narrow shoulder of the road, holding my phone to the sky as I went. Nothing. Not even a single bar.
A patch of olive trees on the other side of the highway caught my eye. If I was going to have to put my thumb out for a ride or ask a fellow traveler for help, I probably shouldn’t be wearing urine-stained white pants. So I scanned for traffic coming from the left, then right. Finding the road empty as far as I could see in both directions, I ran across and ducked into trees, muttering to myself as I went. “I cannot believe I’m doing this. I haven’t gone to the bathroom outside since my parents forced me to go camping when I was seven, and I wound up with a tick on my ass.”
This had been the trip from hell already, and I hadn’t even gotten to my final destination. Sort of went with my last few weeks.
Just as I crouched down to empty my bladder, the quiet of the Italian countryside was interrupted. Bzzz. Bzzz. At first, I thought it was a bee, but as the noise grew louder, I realized it was one of those scooters that were so popular around here. Shit. Shit! I was still relieving myself when it idled to a soft putt-putt next to my car parked across the street.