Free A Florentine Death by Michele Giuttari Page A

extended family, with the great Art Nouveau building as its epicentre, and had returned regularly every year for a week's skiing.
    Valentina was twelve that first year and Cinzia ten.
    At first, relations between the two girls had not been easy. The differences in their characters and above all in their ages, so much more obvious when they were children, had immediately caused friction between them. Cinzia, who was used to getting her own way, couldn't stand being in someone else's house, where she was no longer in charge, and Valentina did not understand why she had to be nice to a snotty-nosed kid who was so bossy and unpredictable. But their parents had been patient with them, and over the course of time they had developed a mutual tolerance, which eventually turned into genuine friendship.
    When Valentina had chosen her university course, Cinzia had managed to convince her family that, although she was only sixteen, she absolutely had to have her own space, preferably near the university, which she herself would be attending in a couple of years' time.
    The Pretis and the Robertis had put their heads together and rented an apartment for the two girls.
    At first Valentina returned home every weekend, but that had soon proved tiresome, and she'd started spacing out her visits. But she always came back at Christmas.
    This Christmas in particular, she really needed time to think. The end of her studies was approaching and she still had no idea what she wanted to do. And her friendship with Cinzia had deteriorated badly.
    In the last few months, they had done nothing but quarrel. Cinzia had not liked the idea of Valentina taking a course in Florence, even though in nearly three months Valentina had gone there no more than four times. Nor had Cinzia approved of her friendship with that American journalist. True, he was often away for work reasons and Valentina had only seen him once since their first meeting, but they kept in regular contact over the internet and occasionally by mobile phone.
    On 21 December, Valentina and Cinzia had had yet another furious row, and Valentina had decided to leave early and stay with her parents at least until Twelfth Night. She needed time to recover, and to think. What she did not know was that, instead of bringing her peace, the Christmas week would be one of torment, intensifying the passions seething inside her.
     
    'You're more beautiful than ever!' her father said as he picked her up from the station at Brunico.
    He was the same as ever. Plump, well-dressed, cheerful. And the same thing happened that always did whenever she saw him: she felt her old sense of guilt returning.

During the ride, they talked about her studies and about the latest developments at the hotel: her mother was building a gym, with sauna and massage, to replace the lofts on the top floor.
    'But we haven't touched your room,' her father assured her.
    Snow was falling and it was already dark, but there was the unmistakable outline of the great hotel with its pointed turret. All the lights were on, and their warmth reached out to greet her.
    Her mother was waiting for her, along with Carlo, the old groom, and the doorman. As they embraced her, she felt an acute sense of nostalgia.
    She walked around the ground floor and said hello to some of the guests who were playing cards or chatting in the bar as they waited for the dining room to open. Then she went down to the kitchen, where the cook was making dinner - pure Ladin cuisine - and the waiters were busy with the wines. The big room was filled with the smell of panicia, the local barley soup with ham and pork.
    The cook, who had known Valentina since she was born, cried, 'Here's my sweetheart!' wiped her hands on the dishcloth, flung her big arms around her and kissed her. 'Look what we've got!' she said, and lifted a napkin to reveal a large dish full of Valentina's favourite sweet: cranfus mori, cranberry pancakes. 'Go on, take some, there's plenty!'
    'Thanks,'