Page 33 of Sunrise By the Sea

‘I got your parcel!’

‘I see!’ The woman was grinning broadly.

Glancing behind her, Marisa saw all the tins laid out on the countertop.

‘It must have cost a fortune to send.’

‘Yes, it ate in very heavily to the money I had to spend on designer clothes for the Christmas ball at the Duke of Lombardy’s.’

‘Aren’t you a little old to be sarcastic?’

‘Oh yes, you go to so many balls.’

Marisa grinned. It was strange. Her grandmother was as snappy as ever, but somehow, she’d got used to it. She wasn’t so freaked out any more. She thought about Anita and what it said in the book. Repeat the thing you’re scared of . . . until you’re not so scared. But talking to Nonna was easy. It was everything else in the world that was difficult.

‘Well. Go on then!’

‘Go on then what?’

‘Tell me at least you have an onion.’

‘If you think for one second I’m going to cook with you standing there shouting at me, you are very wrong about things.’

Her grandmother folded her arms.

‘I will watch and not say anything.’

‘That is not possible for you.’

‘It is completely—’

‘See, you’re at it.’

Nonna made a zipping noise with her mouth and sat back with her arms still folded, pulling a cardigan around herself, even though Marisa had looked at the weather forecast and it was a balmy twenty-six degrees in Imperia that morning.

She moved self-consciously towards the countertop and dug out one of the rather ageing onions she had ordered online when she’d first moved, thinking optimistically it would get her cooking again. It had not, when it came down to it, and they had sat there in the dark cupboard beside the sink, like a reproach.

She selected one of the knives from the holder. They had never been used. Everything here was so new.

‘What kind of knife is that?’ came from behind her.

‘I don’t know. Ssh!’

‘Well, you can’t cut anything with that knife.’

Marisa sliced through the onion, far away from the tips, just as her grandfather had shown her, long ago, to avoid crying.

‘That’s too far down to cut an onion! You are wasting half an onion.’

‘I am going to hang up now,’ said Marisa.

‘But you can’t do this alone!’

‘Well, I’m going to give it a try.’

‘Just put me on mute.’

‘But then you look like one of the muppets.’

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