The House by the Cypress Trees

by Elena Mikalsen

  “Kensington? Isn’t that rather fancy?”

  “Pricey, not fancy. We had property left to the family.”

  “Your family has a vineyard in Italy and property in Kensington. You went to Cambridge. How rich, exactly, are you? You are not one of those lords related to the Queen, are you?” Julia asked.

  “I told you. Everyone in England is the Queen’s relative.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think so. Are you?”

  “Very far down the line. My grandfather on mother’s side was Lord Selton and, somehow, related to the Queen. That makes my mother Lady Margaret.”

  “Are you a lord?” Julia turned to him, her eyes wide.

  “No, the titles don’t pass through women. I’m just Daniel. And she didn’t have a brother, only a sister, so the title will die.”

  “Are you in line for the throne?”

  “Heavens, no. Having a mother with a title doesn’t mean being in line for the throne. Although I suppose if four or five hundred people perished in a plague, maybe I could have a shot at it.” Daniel laughed.

  “I hope Mia is all right. Check your phone. Maybe you have texts,” she said to Daniel, but his eyes were closed now and Julia heard rhythmic breathing. She smiled. He looked peaceful and worry-free. He could use rest, she guessed.

  Daniel. What was she going to do about him? Ridiculous thinking—she didn’t need to do anything about him. He was simply giving her a ride. Although now he wasn’t. He broke the car. So what was his relationship to her now? Well, it wasn’t like she could hitch a ride from anyone else. He had offered to let her stay at his sister’s vineyard, or farm, whatever it was. Should she take him up on it? She would need one more day until her reservation in Florence. So two more days with Lizzy. Doable.

  Julia wrapped her fingers around Daniel’s and closed her eyes. She was tired and needed to sleep, but something in her didn’t want the night to end. Only a few more hours in this car with this wonderful man and her sweet puppy and no responsibilities. She’d worry about her life tomorrow.

  Chapter 11

  Daniel woke as the first light poured in through the windows, the night shadows dissipating. Julia was missing from her seat. He looked around, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. She was in the back, asleep, curled up on the seat like a little child, with a palm under her cheek, her dog nestled by her stomach. When did she move?

  He felt like such a git for forcing her and the puppy to be stranded in the middle of nowhere. He hadn’t burned out a clutch since he was fifteen and Gian let him race that old truck on the farm.

  He got out and stretched. The dog lifted its paws to him on the window, and he let it out to do its business, opening the door quietly so as not to wake Julia. He kicked a few rocks down the hill and watched them tumble through the grass and bushes while the dog busied herself in the grass.

  There were still no messages on his phone. Didn’t Mandy realize he was worried sick? Maybe Mia was all right. He was glad he was bringing a dog to her. It’d surely make her smile. He put Lizzy back in the car, tucked in next to her still-sleeping rescuer. Bloody hell—how was he going to explain Julia’s presence to everyone? It would be challenging enough to convince Julia to part with Lizzy.

  Daniel pressed Mandy’s name on his phone and waited anxiously for his sister to answer. Voicemail. “Oh, come on,” he said, kicking more rocks down.

  He heard the sound of an approaching automobile behind him and whipped around. Maybe he could beg for a ride for them.

  “Hello, brother.” Mandy lowered the window and waved at him. “Give me a second to park.”

  He ran to the car. “How is Mia?” The sinking feeling in his stomach was back.

  “The operation went well. They had to clean out the infection from her tummy. The scan showed her appendix had burst and there was pus everywhere. But they think they removed it all.”

  Mandy fell into his arms, lifting her face to him. He saw her eyes were wet. “She couldn’t tell me. She just kept vomiting.”

  “I’m terribly sorry I wasn’t there.” He stroked her back and head, feeling sorrier than ever but also relieved. “When is Mum coming?”

  “This afternoon. I’ll take you home, then return to the hospital, and Gian will drive to get her.”

  “Why don’t I go to pick up Mum and you sleep?”

  “I can’t sleep. You don’t know what it’s like to watch your child dying, Daniel. And now she has all these tubes and machines… I shall never sleep until I have her home safe. They say it will take a while yet for her to recover. She needs antibiotics.”

  “I can help in whatever way you need.”

  “Where is your American?”

  “Sleeping.” He turned his head toward Julia in the back seat.

  “Wake her up. We need to go.”

  “I told her she can stay with us for one night until she goes on to Florence.”

  “I don’t have time to care for guests.”

  “You don’t need to care for her.” He flexed his fingers. Only Mandy would cause such a rollercoaster of emotions in him.

  “Fine.”

  “Do I leave the car here?”

  “Gian has a man he’ll call this afternoon. It will be towed to a garage until the rental company can come pick it up. Just get your luggage in.”

  “My trip has been such a disaster, you can’t even imagine,” Daniel said.

  “Yeah, well, I’m managing my own disasters here,” Mandy said, opening the trunk for him.

  He loaded the suitcases and saw Julia coming out of the car, letting her dog out.

  “You must be Daniel’s sister,” Julia said to Mandy.

  “Amanda Paccaloni,” his sister said with a nod.

  “How is your daughter?”

  “She has made it fine through the operation, thank you.” Mandy’s eyes welled up with tears. “But I must get back to her, so I would appreciate it if you both hurried and we could get on.”

  “Of course.” Julia looked at him, then picked up the dog, who was finished with her business, and climbed into Mandy’s car.

  “It’s only about thirty kilometers from here. I really am sorry you had to sleep on the side of the road,” Mandy said.

  “It was like camping,” Julia said, giving Daniel a smile.

  His chest warmed. So he hadn’t imagined last night. They did play a strange get-to-know-you game that seemed entirely too intimate to him today, in the daylight. And he remembered falling asleep, and the feel of her fingers touching his. A shiver went up his arm, stirring something inside him. He shook it off. Today would be about Mia. He couldn’t afford to be selfish.

  He sat in the front next to his sister and tried to enjoy the winding ride through the hills and into Greve. It had been a while since he’d been there.

  “I’m sorry, but I have no time to show you around,” Mandy said as they entered Greve.

  “It’s fine. I understand,” Julia said. “I won’t impose on you long, only tonight. Tomorrow I’ll leave for Florence.”

  “Only one night? Why make the trip, then?”

  The briskness of Mandy’s words reflected on Julia’s face. In fact, she had gone pale as Daniel turned back to look at her.

  “I had trouble finding a place to stay with a puppy.”

  “Mandy, she rescued it in Rome and hasn’t been able to find a place for it. I’ve been trying to help her, but I broke the car,” Daniel said, smiling at Julia and petting Lizzy on the neck. Lizzy lifted her head gratefully.

  “Are you planning to take it to America?” Mandy asked.

  “No, I need to find a home for the puppy in Italy. I haven’t quite thought it through, with the trouble we’ve had getting here.”

  “You can leave it at La Casa delle Nuvole. We’re full of dogs. One more is well enough.”

  “La Casa delle Nuvole?”

  “The house in the clouds,” Mandy explained. “You’ll see it in a minute.”

  “Is this it? A house? It’s more like
a palace.”

  “This is it. It’s not really a palace,” Daniel answered.

  “And this.” Mandy pointed to the rows of vines to her right. “And this.” She pointed to the left. “And that, and over there, and there.” She pointed all around them.

  Julia looked at Daniel with raised brows. “How large is your estate?”

  “About three hundred hectares.”

  Daniel looked away, avoiding any more looks from Julia, but he felt a light slap on his shoulder.

  “Daniel said it was a just a vineyard and a farm,” Julia said.

  “Well, it is. We do organic farming, tomatoes, aubergines, herbs, plums, peaches, strawberries, cherries. We raise chickens, goats, and cows, and make cheese. And there’s a vineyard, of course. A restaurant and agriturismo. There’s a great deal of work—it doesn’t run itself.”

  “I’m sure you are very busy. How do you manage it all?”

  Mandy huffed. “I don’t do it alone. We have staff. We employ about twenty people. And there’s Gian and my aunt and Gian’s very large family, all of whom help. This estate supports many people. It would support Daniel as well, if he wished, as he owns half. But he insists on staying in cold, miserable London.”

  “Not all of us are meant to live in nature, dear sister.” He looked back at Julia. She was quiet, holding the dog tight to her. What was she making of all of this? He hadn’t meant to lie to her. There was no easy way to explain all of this. He’d tried.

  Mandy stopped in front of an iron gate and clicked the remote to open it. “You’ve gone automated now,” Daniel observed.

  “Well, you have to modernize somehow.”

  The car drove slowly up the cypress-lined gravel road, and the house revealed itself to the passengers. Daniel had forgotten how large it was. He wondered if inside it still looked the same as he remembered from when he stayed there last, on a brief summer holiday on his way to Ibiza. He should’ve stayed longer that time, cherished his time with family, but he was always in a hurry to get somewhere.

  “Francesca will show you to your rooms,” Mandy said, not getting out of the car. “I’m going back to the hospital.”

  “Wait, I want to go too,” Daniel said.

  “Not as dirty as you are. And you said you’d pick up Mum. You can go with Mum later. I have to go. Gian will be back in an hour, and you can take his car and run to Firenze to the airport. Clean up and have breakfast, all right?”

  The car sped away, leaving them in the driveway, before Daniel could protest any further. “Well, that’s my bossy older sister,” he said. “She is not always this cold. She must be anxious about Mia. Please forgive her.”

  “Oh, there’s nothing to forgive.” Julia looked around. “I’m really sorry to intrude. You have a family situation. Sounds like you have a busy day ahead of you. I’ll be out of your way. Just show me where to stay.”

  “You are not in my way.”

  “I am. You have to pick up your mother and visit your niece.”

  “I’ll manage. What did you think of Mandy’s idea?”

  “What idea?”

  “About Lizzy staying here?”

  Julia’s eyes showed terror. “I don’t know. I thought it was kind.”

  “She wasn’t just being kind. It was a real offer.”

  “I will think about it.”

  “I don’t think you have many other options.”

  “No, you are right, I don’t.”

  “Daniel, mio amore,” a familiar woman in a blue dress with flowers ran out of the door to his left, wiping her hands on an apron, rushing to hug him. “Finalmente sei arrivato!”

  “Francesca, I’ve missed you so much. Julia, this is Gian’s aunt, Signora Francesca Paccaloni. This is Julia Ramos. She is an American friend who will stay with us tonight.”

  “Julia, pleased to meet you.” Francesca gave Julia a tight hug. “You stay longer, okay? And this your dog, okay? You are hungry? I make good breakfast for you. Sit, sit.” She ushered them to a terrace overlooking the valley and hurried back to the house.

  “No, Francesca, wait.” Daniel gestured to Julia to follow him. “We must get to our rooms first and settle in. We’ll have breakfast later. Can you show us where Mandy wants us? We spent a night in the woods. I must get cleaned up.” He pointed at the dirt on his pants for good measure.

  Francesca looked him over with raised brows, then gave a knowing look to Julia and smirked.

  “No, it’s not like that,” Daniel said as he noticed Julia blushing. “Oh, just show us the rooms, please.”

  Francesca walked them through the kitchen to the main hallway and up the stairs to the guest rooms.

  “Are we staying in the hotel?” Daniel asked.

  “Your lady is. You are staying with family.”

  “Thank you,” Julia said. “I’m very grateful.”

  Daniel carried her suitcases to a third-story cheery room with a large bed and a sloped ceiling. Julia ran to the window and looked out at the terraced garden below. “The view is gorgeous. Look, Daniel.”

  “I’ve seen it.” He smiled. “I’m glad you like it.” He set the suitcases down. “I must shower and see my niece.”

  “I won’t be in your way. I shouldn’t even be here.” She turned to him, looking nervous, the dog clutched tightly to her chest.

  “Nonsense. I invited you. I want you here,” he added. He took Lizzy gently out of her arms and set her down on the rug by the bed.

  “I don’t belong here, Daniel,” she protested.

  He touched her fingers lightly. “But you do. You are my guest. I owe you for getting you stuck in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Oh, yes!” She rolled her eyes. “That was just awful, being trapped in the hills of Tuscany with all those fireflies and wine. My friends won’t believe this nightmare of a tale.”

  He laughed and, still laughing, closed the door behind him and followed Francesca to the family’s wing.

  “Lei è bella,” Francesca said.

  “Yes, she is pretty. But not a girlfriend.”

  “Pity.”

  He gave her a look. “She is an American. Just a guest.”

  “Okay.” Francesca nodded to the side.

  “She is a tourist.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m here to see family.”

  “Okay.”

  “Go make me some breakfast,” Daniel said, hugging his old friend and planting a kiss on her forehead.

  Francesca laughed but tapped her temple with her finger and turned around.

  “I’m not stupid,” Daniel called after her as she left.

  Was he? Did he need to reevaluate the situation with Julia? They had one more night for sure. Yet he had to pick up his mother, visit little Mia, help Mandy, talk to Gian. He’d be lucky to have five minutes to spend with Julia. It was out of the question. It was impossible. Their paths could no longer cross.

  Chapter 12

  Julia sat down on her soft bed in this Tuscan house in the clouds but felt as if she had fallen off her very high fantastical cloud. Last night in the tiny car on the side of the road with Daniel was—magical. Maybe it was the wine and the stars and the fireflies. Now she was alone, banished out of the family part of the house. Put in her place as a temporary and very insignificant guest.

  Of course—what did she expect? That Daniel would continue to treat her as anything more than a stranger passing through his life? She certainly didn’t mean to treat him as anyone special.

  If only the ache in her chest would stop reminding her of the way it felt when his fingers brushed against hers or his eyes looked at her as they had last night.

  She filled the bath and soaked herself in the lovely oversized tub, from which she could see the hills through the small window as she inhaled the scent of the lavender bubbles.

  When she got out, a tray of food was waiting for her by the bed. Julia was starving. She wondered if Daniel had had anything to eat. He must’ve rushed out to see his niece as soon a
s he could. He’d been so worried.

  “What about you, Lizzy? Are you hungry?” She put a piece of pastry in her mouth and then fed a few pieces of ham and cheese to the dog.

  The guest room was gorgeous, befitting the palace it belonged to. Terracotta tiles on the floor with a plush blue rug Lizzy already claimed as her own. Large windows framed by blue curtains, overlooking the gardens. Whitewashed exposed beams on a sloped ceiling.

  Julia’s ring tone echoed through the large room. She checked the caller ID and picked up the call, her heart thumping with joy. “Papi, I didn’t think I’d hear from you.”

  “Well, I told Alicia I’d better call and check on you. You are not used to being on your own, mijita.”

  “Alicia? Who is Alicia?”

  There was silence on the other side. She held her breath.

  “Alicia is one of your tías,” he said slowly.

  “I don’t have an aunt named Alicia. I know all my aunts very well. I also know how you sound when you lie. How long has Alicia been around?”

  “Not long.”

  So that’s why Dad really moved away. To get a new wife. To hide a new wife. “Oh, Dad,” she whispered. “I’m not sure what to say.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s too soon. Everyone said I had to wait a year.” He cleared his throat. “I hope you understand one day.”

  “I didn’t mean to judge. I understand.” Her chest squeezed tight. Who the hell was Alicia?

  “That’s all I ask. I love you. Please don’t doubt that. How’s it going over there? Did you find Giulia yet?”

  She sighed. “Not yet. I left Rome, but I’ve had some hiccups.”

  “Oh, yeah? Well, good, anyway. I’m glad you got to get out of Texas for once. You’ve been cooped up here all your life caring for everyone. It was time for you to think of yourself and have some adventures.”

  “I didn’t mind taking care of you. I could keep doing it.”

  “You didn’t, but I need my own life.”

  Tears slid down Julia’s cheeks. “Dad—”

  “I didn’t mean that, Julia.” Dad seemed to choke up on his words too. “I miss you and your mother. You are my daughter, no matter what other parents you have out there in Italy. Don’t forget that. I just mean—I don’t need you staying behind helping me. You need to go out on your own and have fun and live your own life.”