Claire Gulliver #03 - Intrigue in Italics Read Online Free

adamant. She said they couldn’t visit Florence without seeing the real David and, of course, the Accademia housed all the other works by Michelangelo as well. And the deciding factor was the Accademia was right around the block behind their hotel. Ruth said it would be easy to come out after breakfast and visit this museum before they did anything else.
    Claire watched while her mother introduced Ruth to the new friends she made in the line and then listened to their conversation as they all discussed their decisions to make the trip to Italy.
    Claire smiled to herself watching her mother. She was proud of her even though she frequently became impatient with her tendency to be overcautious. She wished she looked more like her mother. They had the same hair color as Millie’s blonde hair was now streaked with a pretty gray and Claire had her light brown hair professionally highlighted with blonde. But Millie was several inches shorter than Claire. Her shape was not model thin, but compact, and she looked well in the clothes she wore. And Millie was pretty. The age lines couldn’t disguise her beauty and her interest in people showed in her eyes and the animation on her face. No wonder people were drawn to her.
    Claire’s Great Uncle Bernie always told Claire she took after his mother, but Claire had never been comforted by any similarity to the stern faced woman in the old pictures he showed her. And when in high school she began to grow she thought she would never stop. So she was tall, slender and very strong, which was good as she was always slinging boxes of books about at the store. She always looked older than her friends, and she realized now that had probably impacted her life. She had friends of both sexes, but she had never been into the party scene, nor had she dated much. She seemed more interested in her studies, reading and then her library career than the silly activities her friends enjoyed.
    Then in her mid-thirties two things happened which drastically changed her life. First, she noticed her looks had finally come into fashion or maybe she had just grown into her features. Anyway, where as a young girl and woman she had always been aware she was not attractive, now she seemed to be. That gave her increased confidence and a burgeoning interest in style and fashion. Then of course there was the incident where she almost lost her life. She was only doing a favor for Ruth while she was away. She agreed to stop by Ruth’s house to take care of her cat. That led to a very scary few weeks, two near-death experiences and the realization that leading a cautious careful life did not guarantee longevity. Eventually that and subsequently inheriting Great Uncle Bernie’s book store led to a complete turn-about of her life. She no longer wanted to read her favorite mystery novels, she no longer was content to observe life; she wanted to spread her wings a bit, take some risk and take charge of her life.
    She shook herself out of her daydreams as she saw they were nearing the front of the line. The conversation around her was now about other special destinations in Italy. The people behind them had just spent four days on the Cinque Terre.
    They were having a great time bragging about walking the high trails between the five little villages perched on the cliffs over the sea. Actually, it did sound nice. Claire remembered Marianne Peabody had waxed ecstatic about the area she called the Italian Riviera as she flashed her incredibly beautiful slides on the screen. But Claire was more interested in seeing the art and history of Florence and Venice, so she hadn’t even considered a visit to that area. But now, listening to these fellow tourists rave about their experiences, she wondered if she had made the correct decision. Finally, they came to the front of the line and were able to buy their tickets and enter.
    The inside of the museum was a blessed relief of coolness after the long wait in the sun. They followed the