Dante's Dilemma (a Dante Legacy Novella)

Dante's Dilemma (a Dante Legacy Novella) by Day Leclaire

Book: Dante's Dilemma (a Dante Legacy Novella) by Day Leclaire Read Free Book Online
Authors: Day Leclaire
Perhaps she could plant a few vital seeds that would persuade her mother to change her mind. With any luck, those seeds would take root and flourish. “If my wedding is causing you so much stress, we can always cancel it,” she suggested.
    “Cancel?
Per carità!
Don’t you dare suggest such a thing,” Maria replied with a sharp edge. “Have you any idea—” She turned abruptly away, but not before Julietta caught the telltale glint of tears.
    She eyed her mother with concern. Her mother rarely cried. If anything, she was always the calm center in the middle of the family storm. “Mamma? Do I have any idea… what? What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing.” Maria groped for one of the chairs tucked beneath the scarred kitchen table, and sank into it. “Nothing at all.”
    Julietta hastened to set aside the vegetables she’d washed and joined her mother. “That’s not true. There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?” She gathered her mother’s work-roughened hands in her own. For an instant, hope filled her. “Does it have to do with my marriage to Tito? Is there some reason why I shouldn’t marry him?”
    “No. No, nothing like that,” Maria said, crushing the burgeoning bud of hope. “It’s your marriage to Tito that will save us.”
    “Save us,” Julietta repeated. Alarm streaked through her, along with a deepening dread. “Save us from what, Mamma?”

 
    Chapter Six

     
    Maria straightened in her chair. “That’s your father’s business,” she said primly. “And soon,
grazie a Dio
, Tito’s.”
    Julietta fought through her confusion in an attempt to find a logical explanation. “You said my marriage would save us. Is this about the vineyard? Is there something wrong with it?” She frowned. “I thought
Babbo
wanted to sell because the work had become too much for him.”
    “And so it has.” But she refused to meet Julietta’s gaze. “Forget I said anything. It will all turn out well once you and Tito are married.”
    “No, I want the truth. What will turn out well?” she pressed. “Why is it so important for me to marry Tito?”
    “It’s none of your concern, Julietta,” her mother insisted. “Now, let it go.”
    “You don’t understand. I can’t let it go. Not now.” She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the coming battle. “Mamma, I don’t want to marry Tito. In fact, I was going to discuss it with you and
Babbo
later today. We’re… we’re not suited.”
    Her mother turned deathly pale, her hand fisting around her crucifix. “You can’t back out, Julietta. You mustn’t.”
    “Why?” she demanded. “What’s going on?”
    She didn’t think her mother would answer. Then her face crumpled, and helpless tears slid down her cheeks. “You know we’ve had a few bad years, all on the heels of recovering from the toll the war took on us. There was the frost. Two years ago that horrible drought that shriveled all the grapes. Then last year… The blight took half the harvest.”
    “But it’s looking good for this year, isn’t it?”
    Maria nodded, though it offered little reassurance. “Unfortunately, your father was forced to borrow money to get us through the winter. The money is due soon. If it’s not repaid, we’ll lose the vineyard.”
    Dread pooled in the pit of Julietta’s belly. “We don’t have the money to repay the loan, do we?”
    “No,” Maria whispered. “We’ve done everything possible to keep it quiet, in case Tito caught wind of our problems.”
    “He doesn’t know?”
    “No,” Maria repeated, her voice sharper this time. “It’s important we keep it from him. We need him to marry you.”
    “So he’ll buy the vineyard and the debt can be repaid?” Maria nodded, exhaustion carving deep lines into a face whose beauty had faded before its time. Julietta sat beside her mother in stunned silence. “Why can’t you just sell the vineyard, outright? Why must I marry him?” she finally asked.
    “Because after our debt is

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