BooksBarbecue
Back The Woman in Red Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. Part One
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Part Two
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Part Three
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. Thirty
  38. Thirty-One
  39. Thirty-Two
  40. Thirty-Three
  41. Thirty-Four
  42. Thirty-Five
  43. Thirty-Six
  44. Thirty-Seven
  45. Thirty-Eight
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. Forty
  48. Forty-One
  49. Forty-Two
  50. Part Four
  51. Forty-Three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. Fifty-Two
  61. Fifty-Three
  62. Epilogue
  63. Author’s Note
  64. Acknowledgments
  65. Discover More
  66. Reading Group Guide
  67. Discussion Questions
  68. ESSAY FROMDIANA GIOVINAZZO
  69. Antoinette’s Sister
  70. Chapter One
  71. Chapter Two
  72. About the Author
  73. Praise forThe Woman in Red

I sat down opposite her, watching the steam rise from the tea. My heart pounded in my chest as I debated what to say. I had told this woman so much, more than I ever shared with my husband. This secret, that we weren’t actually married, was something that weighed on me. Others wouldn’t understand, and there was a risk that Feliciana wouldn’t either. That she would walk from this house and ruin the good name José had worked so hard to build. Yet, after everything, she hadn’t left. “You see,” I began, “the thing is, José and I aren’t really married.”

Feliciana gasped as she crossed herself. “But you act as if you are.”

“Because in our hearts we are.”

“But what about in heaven? You are living in sin,” she whispered before crossing herself, yet again.

“What could we do? We love each other and there was no one who would give us their approval.” Feliciana gave me a look and I felt the need to press my case. I didn’t owe her anything, and yet I wanted her to understand. “There was so much danger. We had other things to think about. How could we take time away for something so frivolous when people were dying?”

“But what about your immortal soul?”

“My soul means nothing to me.” My finger traced a knot in the wood. Why should I care for my soul when I barely believed in the faith of my childhood? My sins were many and when the time came, I knew I would not be warmly greeted by Saint Peter. But my son…what was going to happen to Menotti?

I wiped my eyes with the side of my hand as I stared into my tea. I didn’t want her to see the sudden fear that I felt. I knew she would reject me. I took a deep breath, steadying my trembling hands. “I know I will have to atone for all that I have done; of that I have no doubt. What I care about is my family.”

“Anita, what have you done?”

I took a deep breath and finally told her about Manoel. I hadn’t uttered his name since we left Laguna. Manoel. The husband I didn’t want. The man who was forced on me. I thought I had escaped him in Laguna, but he still haunted me.

Feliciana placed a warm, callused hand over mine. “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, but we have to think about the well-being of your son in both this life and the next.”

“We?” I asked.

“Yes, we.” Feliciana firmly grasped my hand. Looking at her, I saw her smile at me in a way that made me wish she were my mother. “Leave it to me. I’ll sort this all out.”

I let the tears flow down my cheeks as I reached out to embrace her.

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Eight