The Look Of Hope

Chapter 37: Lemons And Blueberries

As Bobby's plane took off, meanwhile in Italy, Mary continued to be astonished at the Italian villa. The villa itself is nestled in the Sicilian countryside, with picturesque views of the rolling hills leading to the backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea. Unbelievable! You can even see sheep grazing in the distance. And this is with Mary standing on the aged pastoral balcony, from the master bedroom. As if that isn't enough, no, the villa is much like the Main House back home. It's massive, complete with formal Italian gardens outside the front entrance. 

The villa also has incredible architectural details. Stone floors, traditional tiled ceilings, arched windows, brick fireplaces, oversized wooden shutters, and thirteen bedrooms. Who needs thirteen bedrooms? Apparently her two aunts. And then you walk outside in the back and straight away you see an infinity pool with views of the lemon orchard. Off to the side of it is a wisteria vine-covered arbor, surrounded by gravel flooring, leading to the actual covered patio with old-world bricks. On the patio are a brick-fired oven and outside dining table (that is already set mind you). 

As ornamental and rustic as the villa is, it's also modernized and updated. The kitchen is to die for, along with the master bedroom and bath. Huge soaking tub and a massive shower, she may never leave this room. She asked the staff to set up a crib in the bedroom, for Grace. The home didn't have a crib, so members of the staff went out to buy one (along with other baby items they knew the house would need). But Mary didn't know this. Before she went to sleep, she sunk into the soft mattress, downy pillows, and luxurious bed linens. Her eyes closed and didn't open again until the next morning.

She had fallen asleep at four-thirty yesterday afternoon and didn't awaken until eight in the morning. Grace did much the same, as not a peep could be heard from her. When she did wake up, her heart missed Lydia and Bobby. But here she is. 

Since the crib wouldn't be set up, until today, she had placed pillows around Grace (on the bed). Peering at her baby girl, she saw she was wide awake. So she got up to get a fresh diaper, new clothes, and baby wash. She took her daughter to the bathroom and cleaned her. After that, she fed and Mary placed a wall of pillows around her, while she bathed herself. Once mother and daughter were clean and fresh, Mary put her baby in the wrapper and went downstairs. 

Breakfast was almost as good as Verbena's is. Ms. Francesca is the cook and keeper of the estate, while the family is away. Mary wanted to get into her good graces since she now owns the villa. Ms. Francesca took to her and Grace right away. After breakfast, she showed them around the grotesquely huge house. 

Even though the villa is much too large for her taste, there's no denying its appeal with the gorgeous rustic charm and grand stature. It has much to be desired. When the tour was finished, Ms. Francesca informed her the estate lawyer would be coming over after lunch. Her aunts had detailed to him that ownership of the estate, property, and contents there-in would be transferred to Mary's name. She thought it great that he's coming over, as they can discuss the lemon fields. 

Seeing how there's plenty of time before lunch, Mary decided to walk out and around the property. She put a cute sun hat on Grace, some baby sunscreen, did the same for herself, grabbed her sunglasses, and out they went. The sun is much brighter here than in California. Much hotter and dryer too. First, they admired the pool area. Landscaped with Italian cypress trees, and beautiful Italian shrubbery, it's incredible. The two of them will definitely get some use out of this later.

Following a stone walkway, there is a paved path leading out to the lemon fields. Funny enough the path itself is enclosed by tall lemon trees. You can see lemons loaded down on the branches. Reaching up and plucking one of them off, she couldn't believe the size of it. Larger than her hand, and probably Bobby's, these lemons are gargantuan. Holding it up to her nose, she inhaled the scent of citrus. "Look, Baby! It's a lemon and it smells so good. Here you smell." She held it up to Grace's nose, who wasn't interested at all. She was resting her head on her Mama's chest.