“I think it’s safe to say her mindisblown.”
“Meeting them would be so odd,” she added, imagining it.
“It would be. It could be a lot of other things, too, depending on how receptive they are, right?”
“Not meeting Charlotte would be a mistake. They’d be the ones missing out.”
“We might be a little biased. Anyway, there are so many things to consider, so many unanswered questions. All she told me was that she’s going to move there for the next few months and try to write her book while getting to know her sister and determining how she can help.”
Sloane kicked the rock she’d been playing with and watched as it skittered toward the tires of her car. “So where will she stay?”
“She’s planning to rent a house.”
“On the Amalfi Coast.”
“Yep.”
“And she’s going there alone?”
“That’s what she’s telling me.”
“What’s the weather like this time of year?”
“The weather?” he echoed. “I’ve been there before in the spring. It’s gorgeous. Why?”
“How many bedrooms will she have?” she asked instead of answering.
There was a slight pause. She could tell he hadn’t expected this question. “As far as I know, she hasn’t found a place yet. I repeat—why?What’s with the weird questions?”
The uncertainty Sloane was feeling in her marriage suddenly created the desire to escape. What she needed was time—time to figure out who she was and what she wanted. Maybe, just maybe, if she went to Italy with Charlotte, she could get the separation she needed from Ben to figure out if she wanted to stay with him for the rest of her life—or how to handle her marriage if she didn’t. “I want to go with her,” she said.
“Without Ben?”
“I need a month—a month to findmeagain.”
This comment was met with silence. “Don’t tell me there’s trouble brewing in your marriage. You two aren’t considering breaking up, are you?”
“As far as I know,heisn’t.”
“But you are?”
A lump rose in her throat, making it difficult to speak. “Something’s wrong, Jules.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. If I knew, maybe I could fix it. That’s the thing. I need... I need some time to myself. To make up my mind. To regain clarity.”
“If Charlotte’s there, you’d hardly be alone.”
“Being with her would be different. It could be good for both of us. I can support her through the coming weeks, and she can help me just by being who she is. She’s always grounded me. Maybe together we can fight our way through the dark.”
He didn’t respond.
“Jules?”
“You’re scaring me, Sloane. Ben’s a good man. You don’t want to lose him.”
She lifted a hand to block the sunlight stabbing through the huge canopy of the tree overhead. It was a sunny day in Seattle—after weeks of rain—and the light seemed to warm her soul. The good weather felt like a sign, as if the universe was telling her to take a month and figure out what to do with the rest of her life.
