Breathe - SAMPLE

Chapter One

Anna ground the stick down another gear, hit the gas, and wondered why in the world Jace would choose to live in such a place. Tall stands of trees thwarted any hope of seeing past the ditches on the sides of the road. She took a quick, frantic glimpse down at the directions she'd printed out, narrowly missed making a right-angle turn, and sighed heavily. Normally she enjoyed getting away, doing new things. But today her patience was at near zero and dwindling rapidly.

"Mama?"

Damn. Matteo was awake. A quick turn of her head and she saw him rubbing his eyes, his nearly-black hair flattened on one side where it had pressed against the seat. She turned her attention back to the road. "Quietly, Matteo," she whispered. "We're nearly there. Don't wake Aurelia, okay?"

"Mama, I'm hungry."

"I know, sweetie." Anna caught sight of a road sign that showed a bunch of grapes. Beneath it were the words "Two Willows Winery" and then "2 KM", and she let out a breath. Thank God, it wasn't much farther. It had been a long day.

It had been a long few months, when it came right down to it.

She pasted on a bright smile and made her voice light, despite the unease swirling around in her stomach. "Just a few more minutes and we'll be at Uncle Jace's, I promise." She'd be relieved to be at their destination...except that Jace had no idea they were coming. And she wasn't exactly sure how she was going to explain their sudden arrival, let alone ask for a place to stay. It was the height of presumption, thinking that Jace would welcome them with open arms.

The road snaked around another curve and inclined further. Anna kept both hands on the wheel to negotiate the turns. Uncle Jace, indeed. He hadn't been around more than a handful of times since Matteo's birth. He'd suddenly become so busy and important that he didn't have time for the Morellis anymore. Not that she wasn't proud of his success...of course she was. But there had been times over the years when she'd missed him terribly. She wondered why he'd kept away, and if it had anything to do with what had happened—and what hadn't—between them.

At the same time, a curl of dread spiraled through her stomach. She hadn't even given him any warning. Feeling trapped like a butterfly under glass, she'd needed to get away. Somewhere safe. In her head she knew that Jace's was the last place she should go. They had too much history. But her heart told her differently. Here she could hide for a little while. Ever since her husband's funeral she'd wanted to scream with the need to escape. And the only place she wanted to be was with Jace.

Which, of course, made absolutely no sense.

She braked and cranked the wheel around another sharp bend, cursing under her breath so that Matteo wouldn't hear. She wasn't familiar with the roads. The first hour of the drive had been quite pretty, Route 97 as pleasant as she remembered. But climbing the narrow road to Jace's new winery was quite another matter. At home she knew the vineyard like the back of her hand. But she wasn't home any more. She was here and driving toward a new life. This was only the first step, a chance to regroup. A chance to get her feet beneath her once again.

Her old life was over. Stefano had seen to that, and playing the heartbroken widow for appearances sake had taken its toll. Having to put on a false face of grief had exhausted her beyond anything she'd ever known. Because the truth of the matter was she'd been leaving him anyway. And the guilt and anguish she felt was caused not by his death, but because she thought she should feel more grief and didn't.

Another small sign announced the entrance to the winery and she turned left, nervousness getting the best of her. She hadn't seen Jace in nearly a year, not since right after Aurelia was born. She bit down on her lip as Matteo sighed from the backseat. Jace had brought Aurelia a stuffed lamb, fuzzy and white with a pink ribbon. And then he'd left again, without even visiting. She missed how they used to talk about old times, but for a very long time she'd felt he'd been putting a pleasant face on resentment. What she didn't understand was why. He'd been the one to walk away, so where had all the resentment come from?