Page 11 of The Strength Of A Woman

I’m not that lucky, am I?

My ears perk up as more words float in my direction.

Whoever is talking around the corner of the house must not know the direction of the wind.

Or they do, and take precautions like those little blocks of unintelligible words.

Words spoken in a quiet voice, quiet like a whisper.

Meant to disrupt a sentence.

I’m trying hard to recognize the voices.

It’s a woman for sure, but I can’t tell who she is, and then I realize she’s talking on the phone.

Oh, bummer. That’s why her words don’t make much sense.

“Of course. It sounds good.”

Oh… The affected yet obsequious tone. The fawning. The ingratiating manner.

That could only be one person.

Flavia.

Maybe she’s talking to her husband. When was the last time I heard her talk like that? Hmm. Never?

Her conversation comes to an abrupt end, and I sag against the windowsill, displeased that my efforts rendered no results.

It’s probably her husband. She was talking to her husband.

I’m waiting for a miracle, like her phone to ring again, and her silly self to let out something of importance to me.

Instead, her footsteps move away from me, pulling the plug on my holding out hope.

My attention wanders away when I hear a blend of voices again.

This time, her voice is accompanied by a low, baritone tone. A man. My grandfather. Giorgio speaks evenly as if delivering instructions.

Too bad that I have no idea what the instructions are all about.

Please don’t tell me they’re plotting against her husband now.

He might not be the greatest male who’s ever walked the face of the earth, but he’s no interloper like them either.

Perhaps that’s the problem.

A few seconds pass as I listen to the deep hum of my grandfather’s voice when Flavia inadvertently turns up the volume, and I distinctly hear her next few words.

“He’ll be there.”

The words must have made an impression on my grandfather as he speaks a little louder as well.

“Are you sure?”

“I just spoke to hisConsigliere.”

My legs almost give out from under me.