The Italian Sister (The Wine Lover's Daughter, Book 1)

by Christa Polkinhorn

  Getting hungry, Sofia took a loaf of bread out of the breadbox, cut off a piece and ate it slowly. She gulped the last sip of coffee down when she heard footsteps upstairs. Julietta was up, slowly making her way down the staircase in her pajamas. Her eyes were half-shut and her long hair hung in tassels over her shoulder and into her face. Sofia could tell from the scowl on her face that her sister wasn’t in the best of moods.

  “Good morning. Want some coffee?”

  Julietta shook her head and yawned.

  “What about hot chocolate? I was going to make breakfast.”

  “Not hungry,” Julietta grumbled.

  Sofia suppressed a smile. Her sister’s bad mood reminded her of her own post-party blues. “Oh, well, perhaps later. I’m going to have something though.”

  Julietta plopped down on the sofa and brushed strands of hair out of her face. Sofia got bread, butter, and jam from the kitchen and made more coffee. She sat down at the table in the dining room.

  “You’re sure you don’t want anything?”

  Julietta shook her head. “I am going to take a shower and get dressed.”

  “Okay, that’ll make you feel better.” Sofia watched as her sister made her way back up the stairs with the slow demeanor of an old woman. “Perhaps we can do something fun afterward,” she called after her. “Go to Cecina, for instance?”

  The only answer was another grumbling noise. Sofia shrugged and poured herself another cup of coffee, ate a second roll with a piece of provolone cheese and a slice of melon. She was trying to think of something that would cheer up her lovesick sister.

  A while later, there was a knock at the door. Nicholas, all perky and cheerful, stood outside. “How are you ladies on this lovely morning?” He gave Sofia a quick hug, and motioned with his eyes toward the second floor. “How is our party-girl?”

  “Not in the best of moods, I think,” Sofia said. “Want some breakfast?”

  “Thanks, I ate at the cantina. But I won’t say no to a good cup of coffee.” He followed Sofia into the kitchen where she poured him a cup. A few minutes later, Luisa stood at the door. She came inside, smiled at Nicholas, and looked around the living room.

  “Is Julietta not up yet?” she asked.

  “Yes, I am.” Julietta came walking down the stairs. Having showered, dressed, and combed her hair, she looked refreshed and a little happier.

  “You have a visitor,” Luisa said and went to the open door.

  “Who?” Julietta squinted her eyes and followed her mother.

  Luisa motioned with her head over to the main house. Marco stood in the driveway. He was looking down, kicking at some pebbles on the ground.

  Julietta’s face tensed. “I do not want to see him.”

  “Come on. He wants to talk to you, apologize. I think it would help.” Luisa gently took Julietta by the arm. They walked over to Marco who looked up and gave a guilty smile.

  “Well, I sure didn’t see that coming,” Nicholas said in between sips of coffee. “He must be more decent than I took him for. At least he has the guts to come by and apologize.”

  Sofia nodded. “Yes, I guess so. I hope he’s not going to confuse Julietta even more.”

  “Yeah, I hope not either. Anyway, I thought perhaps we could go to town, to a movie. I saw they’re playing Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen. It should be lighthearted and fun, something to take her mind off her man.” Nicholas chuckled.

  “Great. I’ve seen it before and I loved it. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again,” Sofia said.

  “How about if I pick you girls up at six, then we’ll have time for pizza before the show?”

  Sofia nodded. “Sounds good. I hope I can convince Julietta to come.” She glanced at the main house where Julietta and Marco stood next to each other. Julietta, her arms crossed in front of her chest, looked down and Marco seemed to be talking. After a few seconds, they both walked away and turned the corner toward the front of the house and disappeared. “I guess it depends how she feels after her talk with Marco.”

  “Okay, I’ll check on you guys later. Thanks for the coffee.” Nicholas handed her the empty cup.

  Sofia went inside and washed the coffee cups, then sat down in the living room waiting. Julietta came back after half an hour and sat next to Sofia on the sofa. “Men,” she grumbled, then smiled a little.

  “So how did it go?” Sofia wanted to know.

  “All right. We talked. He said he was sorry the party got out of hand. He should have been more careful about Monica and all that.” Julietta shrugged. “He also said he did not mean to deceive me. He liked me a lot but he had a girlfriend and he wanted to be my friend.”

  Sofia put her arm on Julietta’s shoulder. “How do you feel about it?”

  Julietta shrugged again. “Okay. I mean, I still like him a lot, but perhaps I did read more into his behavior than he meant. You know? Just what you said.”

  “I’m sorry, Julietta.” Sofia hugged her sister.

  “It’s okay,” Julietta said. “I am glad we talked. At least now it will not be that strange meeting him again.”

  “Good,” Sofia said. “Nicholas asked if we wanted to go to town, have pizza and then go see a movie, Midnight in Paris, have you seen it?”

  Julietta shook her head. “No, but … well, okay, let’s go.”

  “Oh, good. It’ll take your mind off your problems.”

  Julietta snickered and rolled her eyes. Then she faced Sofia. “You know, you never told me about your love problems, your divorce and all that.”

  Now it was Sofia’s turn to sigh. “Oh, no, do you really want to know? It’s not very pleasant.”

  “Only if you are okay about telling me,” Julietta said.

  “Okay, but for that we need some comfort food or drinks.” Sofia got up.

  Juliette followed her into the kitchen. “What is comfort food?”

  “Something that makes you feel good like chocolate or apple pie or macaroni and cheese. In Italy, it would probably be ice cream or biscotti or pasta or something like this.”

  “Okay, what about hot chocolate?” Julietta said.

  “Perfect.” Sofia grabbed a can of chocolate powder while Julietta took a carton of milk out of the refrigerator. After heating the milk and filling two large mugs with hot chocolate, they sat in the living room next to the window.

  “Okay, tell me. Why did it go wrong with your husband?” Julietta brushed a milk mustache from her upper lip.

  “Well, for one thing I got married much too young. I was smitten with James and he could do no wrong. Henry warned me not to rush into it, but of course I thought I knew better. You know you always think you know better than your elders.”

  Julietta chuckled. “Yes, for sure.”

  Sofia told her how happy she had been at first, how she enjoyed working at his parents’ vineyard, but that she soon begun to notice that James was a real control freak.

  “Control freak? I love that word,” Julietta said.

  “Yes, but having to live with one is not too pleasant. Anyway, we started fighting and then one day, I caught him in bed with one of my friends. I know it sounds like a cheap movie.”

  “Oh, my God, that is terrible.”

  “Well, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. After that, I didn’t trust him anymore. We did try some counseling, but James didn’t want to or couldn’t change. So we separated and I moved back to Santa Monica to live with Henry. And finally, we got divorced.”

  “He sounds like a real verme, how do you say? Creep?”

  Sofia shrugged. “Yes, but it wasn’t only his fault. I was just too young and idealistic. I didn’t know that you have to work to keep a relationship going. I just took it for granted that everything would work out perfectly. Stupid of me. Anyway, I learned something from the whole story and perhaps James did, too. One thing he seemed to realize was that he needed to change his work. He wasn’t into winemaking; he only did it because his family expected it.”


  Julietta took a sip of hot chocolate and was quiet for a while. Then with a sigh. “I am happy you told me all this. Now, I am glad it did not work out with Marco. I am too young, too.”

  Sofia hugged her. “I agree. You have your whole life ahead of you. Focus on your studies and find out what you want to do.”

  Julietta nodded. “You know, Sofia, I am not sure I want to become a vintner or winemaker either. I hope my family understands if I chose a different profession.”

  “I’m sure they will, Julietta. You have to choose something that suits you. Because if you don’t, you won’t be good at it and you’ll be unhappy.”

  Julietta nodded, then hugged Sofia eagerly. “I am so happy you are my sister.”

  “Thank you. I’m happy too to have you as a sister.” Sofia’s eyes misted over. She cleared her throat. “What would you like to be?”

  “I am not sure yet. But I really love science. Biology or chemistry, or perhaps even architecture,” Julietta said.

  “Ah, science, just like Henry. You know he studied and taught microbiology and chemistry, don’t you?”

  “Yes, he told me.” Julietta smiled.

  “I think that’s a great idea. You’ll have lots of possibilities.” Sofia had seen Julietta’s report card. Her sister had aced all her science classes.

  Later, Nicholas picked them up and they drove to Cecina, where they had pizza at one of the trattorias and then went to the movies. The movie theater was modern and like American theaters sold an assortment of candy and soft drinks, but unlike in the United States, the concession stand served alcohol as well. They also sold popcorn but it was bagged popcorn not the fresh kind they had at home. They bought soft drinks and a bag of popcorn and found seats in the middle of the theater. To Sofia’s surprise, people here didn’t spread out over the whole theater as they did in California, where they would sit as far apart from each other as possible. Although the cinema was half-empty, other moviegoers sat right next to them. Just goes to show, Italians are a lot more sociable than Americans are. Sofia snickered. Nicholas raised an eyebrow and grinned, probably thinking the same thing.

  Another pleasant surprise was that instead of reams of commercials and previews, the movie itself began right away. Sofia was a little disappointed when she realized that the movie was shown in the English original with Italian subtitles. She’d hoped it was in Italian so she could practice the language. Since she’d seen the film before, she was able to focus a little on the subtitles.

  After the movie, they went for a drink in a nearby coffee bar and then drove home. Julietta proudly proclaimed that she didn’t read the subtitles at all and understood everything.

  “Great,” Sofia said. “At least you were able to practice the language.”

  “I really liked the guy who played the writer. So cute,” Julietta said. “His fiancée, however, was so stupid. Are all Californian men as cute as that guy and you, Nicholas?” Julietta asked, smiling.

  “No, we’re the exceptions.” Nicholas wiggled his eyebrows.

  Sofia was happy to see that Julietta was her old self again. It seemed that heartbreak Marco was slowly being replaced by “cute Californian guys.”

  Chapter 30

  A few days later, Sofia needed to drive to town to buy stationery. All through her time in Vignaverde, she had written articles for the magazine she worked for in California, describing the work and the progress at the vineyard. She’d taken along her laptop and had sent her articles including photos over the Internet to her boss.

  Sofia felt more enthusiastic about her writing since she was able to combine the physical work with its description on paper. Even her boss noticed her renewed enthusiasm and encouraged her to keep sending him her articles.

  It was an unusually muggy day. Sofia glanced at the few dark clouds in the sky, hoping it wouldn’t rain. They were in the middle of harvesting and rain could damage the ripe grapes, causing them to burst.

  It didn’t look as if heavy rain was expected though. The clouds didn’t look ominous enough and the weather forecast indicated a few possible light showers for the day and then it was supposed to clear up again.

  As she walked to the driveway at the main house to pick up her car, she saw Julietta pushing her bicycle. She was getting ready to go to school. Sometimes, her uncle or her mother drove her to school, particularly when the weather was bad. But most of the time, she rode the relatively short distance on her bike.

  “Want me to give you a ride?” Sofia asked her. “I can pick you up after school.”

  “No, thank you. I am going to Monica’s for lunch today and we will go on a bike ride after school.”

  “Okay, see you later.” Sofia waved. She was glad her sister and her friend liked to exercise outside once in a while rather than sit in front of the computer and spend all their free time with electronic gadgets as was the case with kids in United States. Not that Italian children were any less interested in electronics. Sofia was always amazed to see them walk around with their cell phone constantly attached to their ears.

  Julietta had a cell phone but her usage was limited because she had to pay for the calls with her pocket money. And perhaps growing up on a vineyard and being used to working and playing outside gave her a more balanced outlook on how she wanted to spend her leisure time.

  Sofia got in the car and drove the gravel path to the paved road, which dropped down a steep hill and then merged with the highway leading to Vignaverde.

  As Sofia approached the highway, one of the agricultural vehicles working in the adjacent field was driving slowly into the road. Sofia tapped the brakes and got ready to slow down to let the tractor pass. To her shock, her car kept going instead of slowing down. Her heart leapt and she pressed the brake again, but there was no resistance. Her foot went all the way to the floor, but the car accelerated even more down the hill.

  “My God,” Sofia screamed and kept on pumping the brake pad. Panic seized her, and she began to strip off her seatbelt, thinking she might have to jump out of the car. She punched the horn several times, hoping the tractor would stop or speed up or something. “No, I can’t lose my head.” The hand brake. She looked down and pulled the hand brake, which made the car swerve. In her panic, she yanked the steering wheel around to prevent hitting the vehicle. But it was too late. The left side of her car bumped against the vehicle and Sofia hit her head hard on the side window of the car, which fortunately didn’t break. The car turned around and hit the vehicle again, then came to a halt.

  Sofia felt an intense pain in her left arm and the blow to her head almost made her lose consciousness. Then everything became hazy. She heard a voice and saw a frightened male face look at her through the window. Someone called her name and she saw Julietta’s face, her terrified eyes. Sofia blacked out.

  Some time later, she found herself stretched out on a gurney. Around her lights flashed from police cars and a weeping Julietta stood next to Sofia and kept stroking her face. There were people who looked like emergency crews in yellow and blue outfits. She was lifted into a van. Julietta was sitting beside her, talking on her cell phone. Sofia closed her eyes again and moaned from the pain in her head and left arm. She felt a cool hand on her forehead. A few seconds later, she was overwhelmed by a feeling of nausea.

  “I’m getting sick,” she moaned. Someone lifted her head gently and turned her a little. She vomited into some kind of a bowl someone put in front of her. As she lay back down, tears were streaming down her face.

  She tried to remember what happened—the brakes, the vehicle, the crash … but why was Julietta here? She felt confused and closed her eyes again. Fading in and out of consciousness, she noticed that they had arrived somewhere and she was wheeled into a building. Her head and her left arm hurt and whenever they moved or lifted her, she moaned in pain. People in white and green coats stood around her. They began to ask her a bunch of questions in Italian, which she barely understood.

  “The brakes didn’t work,” she said to a fr
iendly but serious man whom she took for the doctor.

  He looked perplexed, then talked briefly to a woman who seemed to be a nurse. A little later, she saw Julietta beside her who proceeded to translate. She seemed to have gained some of her composure again. “What happened?” she asked. “I was just starting to drive my bike down the hill when I saw it, the tractor, and then I heard the bang and your car all messed up. I was so afraid,” Julietta’s voice trembled.

  Sofia told her about her brakes failing and that she hit the agricultural vehicle. She couldn’t remember anything after that. “It’s all fuzzy. I just know that my head and my arm hurt and I feel nauseated.”

  Julietta put her hand gently on Sofia’s forehead and explained to the doctor what she’d said.

  “The doctor said it might be a concussion. That is why your head hurts and you feel confused and sick to your stomach. They are going to take x-rays and check out your arm. I will stay here with you and I called Mamma. She was out in the fields but she will be here soon.”

  Sofia nodded. The next hour or so, she was wheeled in and out of rooms and into what she assumed were x-ray machines or perhaps MRIs. Someone gently touched and checked her arm. After all the prodding and testing, she found herself in bed in a room with Julietta and Luisa by her side. Luisa was pale but composed, unlike Julietta, whose eyes were still red from crying.

  “You have a concussion and a sprained left arm,” Luisa said. “But fortunately, the arm is not broken and you do not seem to have any internal injuries. They want to keep you here for one or two days for observation. Just to make sure that everything else is okay. After that you just need to take it easy for a while.” She took a deep breath and touched Sofia’s hand. “Julietta told me that the brakes in your car did not work?”

  Sofia nodded, then touched her head. She felt a large bump next on her left temple. The headache had diminished a little and turned into a periodic throbbing. “Yes. I stamped on the brake like crazy. Then I tried the hand break, but it was too late. I’m still confused about what really happened after that.”