She thought of Edith and Martin and their whirlwind romance.

I get it now. Edith and Martin met then immediately fell in love because they had so much in common.

Alex and I have wounded hearts in common. Amazing daughters in common. Love of flowers in common. Love of Italy in common.

She smiled.

The farm in Caorle beach, the garden, cooking with his daughter, friends, and family. I get all of it now.

Family is everything, just like Alex said to me.

But he lives here in Venice and I live in New York. How could it work?

Are all things possible with God? Do I believe that? I want to believe it. Help me believe it…

She glanced out the window.

“Heading home?” the woman next to her asked.

Joy nodded without looking away from the window.

“Where to?”

“New York. And you?”

“New Jersey.” The woman, older than Joy, used a finger to set aside her white hair from her eyes. “And back to work after a two-week Italian vacation.”

“Yeah. It’s hard to leave such a beautiful place.” Joy faced her.

“Were you here on business or pleasure?” The woman winked.

“Both, actually.” Joy laughed a bit.

“Tell me all about it. We have a few hours to kill.” The woman shifted in her seat to face Joy.

“Well, it all started with a photography contest I entered . . .” Joy chuckled.

The Uber driver stopped in front of the house, lit from inside that late spring evening. Joy hadn’t been home since early April. It looked even more beautiful than she remembered. She gathered her belongings, looking forward to seeing her daughter again. Jaime had been house-sitting for her the last couple of weeks, and from the looks of the flowers and green lawn, she’d been doing a good job. Joy smiled.

“Need help with luggage?” the driver asked.

“Please.” Joy exited and stretched her back. Stiff and sore after twenty hours of flying, she felt every one of her fifty-six years.

“Hey!” Michael emerged from the house with Jaime close behind.

Joy waved. “Hi, sweetie!”

Michael grabbed her bag and wheeled it to the door as Jaime embraced Joy there on the sidewalk.

“Mom, you’re home. I’m so glad.” Jaime pecked her cheek.

Joy relaxed into the warm embrace of her only child. “It’s so good to be home, honey.” She pulled away and swept some of Jaime’s hair away from her face. “You look beautiful. So happy.”

“I am, Mom. Especially now that you’re home. Come inside. Are you hungry? There’s food. I cooked, can you believe it? Me, cooking?” Jaime laughed.

Joy walked with her arm around Jaime’s waist, relishing her voice and funny stories about house-sitting, the nosy neighbors, and making table decorations for the wedding reception.

Once inside, Joy set down her purse and bag on the bench in the foyer and exhaled. “Home.”

“It’s nice to travel, but so nice to come home again, isn’t it?” Michael hugged her. “I put your luggage upstairs.”

“Thank you, Michael. How’s your mom doing?”

“She’s hanging in there. I think the wedding has given her new hope since Dad died. A purpose, you know?” Michael shrugged.

“I’m so glad. I’ve been thinking of her . . . praying for her.” Joy squeezed his forearm. “And for you, too, Michael.”

“Thanks. It’s been difficult, but things are settling down.” He headed toward the kitchen. “All the estate stuff, banking, ugh.” Tossing up his hands, he plopped onto a barstool at the kitchen island and sifted through some papers. “Not to mention all the phone calls.”

“You’re a good son, helping your mom with all this.” Joy pecked his cheek.

“He is.” Jaime smiled. “He’s so patient.”

“So after I shower and change, we can talk about the wedding plans and everything, okay?” Joy patted Michael’s shoulder.

“Mom. It’s after midnight.” Jaime chuckled. “Come on, go take your shower and then head to bed. We’ll talk in the morning after I make you breakfast, okay?”

Joy yawned. “All right. Sounds good.”

“Michael’s staying here tonight in the guest room,” Jaime said.

“She thought she heard some noises out back and asked me to stay over.” He laughed. “Chicken.”

“Hey, I couldn’t sleep. It sounded like a thump.” Jaime narrowed her eyes. “Or a growl. Anyway, it was something nonhuman. And you were scared too.”

“I was not.”

Joy listened to them tease each other as she made her way upstairs and into her room. They sounded like best friends and so in love with one another that it made her heart warm.

Sitting on the bed, Joy glanced around the room. When she left the house back in April, she had no idea what it meant to take a chance and find adventure. Now back in her room after almost two months in Italy, her adventures dimmed in the soft lambent light of the scented candle Jaime had lit for her.

Now she’d have to start again. A new life in her hometown.

A new role as mom, confidante, and mother-in-law. Could she do it? Leave behind her old self and embrace the new?

On the dresser across the room, she spied a framed photo of her parents at Easter long ago, when she and her brother were little. Joy walked across the room and pulled open the drawer to retrieve some clean undergarments, but the photograph stopped her. The smiles on the faces reminded her of happier times.