Rome is Where the Heart is: An uplifting romantic read, perfect to escape with (From Italy with Love Book 1)

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘Yes,’ Kate replied, the ground seeming to fall away from her. Perhaps it was the fact that she hadn’t yet had breakfast, but she suddenly felt weak and sick.

  ‘I didn’t want to tell you until you got back but then Lily said you might see it on Facebook, even though I know you don’t use it all that much, or someone else might tell you before we got a chance to and that really wouldn’t be on. So I thought it was better to just get it out in the open. So you can have time to process it before you come home. And while you’re still chilled and happy on holiday where things won’t seem so bad, even though it might not be that chilled right now. But, you know, you have had a date. . . actually, possibly two dates. . . and you met Jamie, of course. . . So it doesn’t seem as if Matt is having all the new life and you’re not. . . Kate? Please say something because you’re making me worried here.’

  ‘Who is she?’

  ‘I don’t know her. . .’

  ‘But you know who she is?’

  ‘I think she’s younger than us. . . about twenty-five.’

  ‘That makes me feel better,’ Kate said, unable to clip the sarcasm in her tone. ‘I love hearing he’s swapped me for a younger model that he wants to have babies with. What’s her name?’

  ‘Tamara. That’s all I know.’

  ‘She’s local?’

  ‘I’m not sure but I think Stockport – at least, somewhere that way.’

  ‘Hmm. And how long has he been seeing her?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’m sorry, Kate. . . I wish I hadn’t told you now.’

  ‘Forget it; I was just being curious, but what difference does it make to my life who she is?’ she replied in as level a voice as she could muster. ‘Matt can do whatever he wants.’

  ‘I know but the baby—’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. If we’d had kids then I’d be stuck as a single mother, which would be horrible.’

  ‘You don’t mean that,’ Anna said.

  She was right; Kate didn’t mean it at all. She had longed for kids, just as Lily had, and Anna knew that. Matt knew it too. Had he valued their marriage so little that he’d refused to give her the one thing she felt would make her complete, and yet within six months of their separation had got another woman pregnant and moved in with her?

  ‘Do you think he was having an affair with her?’ Kate asked quietly. ‘Before we split up?’

  ‘Does it matter? The end result is the same whether he was or wasn’t.’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe not, but it feels like it does. The way I trust another man might be different. . . Oh, Anna! Was I that stupid not to see it going on under my nose?’

  ‘Of course not! Besides, you don’t know that it was going on at all. It only takes one illicit shag against a nightclub wall and hey presto – baby. . .’

  Kate shook her head. ‘That’s not Matt’s style; it must have been an affair. Either that or he’s a quick worker. How far gone is she?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know. This is all from the grapevine – somebody telling somebody else and you know how that is. Please, don’t let it ruin the rest of your holiday. God, I really shouldn’t have told you. . .’

  ‘It’s OK,’ Kate said, doing her best to sound as if she didn’t care. ‘You’re right – it doesn’t matter now. Whoever she is she’s welcome to him. He was a boring bastard anyway.’

  ‘And clearly you don’t do boring any more, judging by your first holiday without him,’ Anna said, sounding relieved.

  ‘Exactly. Listen, don’t worry about me. I’m going to ring off now so I can speak to Jamie and I’ll let you know later how that goes.’

  ‘OK. Love you. Please take care for the rest of this trip.’

  ‘Love you too. And I will.’

  Kate ended the call and tossed the phone onto the bed. She lay down next to it and curled into a ball, staring at the perfect sunlight pouring in through the window as the tears began to fall.

  Chapter Sixteen

  There hadn’t been time to cry for long. Jamie called ten minutes after Kate had finished speaking to Anna.

  ‘Hey,’ he said, sounding sheepish. ‘I guess you know all about what happened last night.’

  ‘Yes,’ Kate said stiffly, drying her eyes as she sat up. Since the news about Matt, she wasn’t in the mood to be messed around by anyone, especially a man. ‘Are you out of hospital?’

  ‘Yeah, they just let me go. There’s nothing wrong with me but a few bruises and a big bump on my head. I guess I owe you an explanation.’

  ‘It would be nice. And forty euros for dinner too.’

  ‘That too,’ he said. ‘Have you eaten breakfast yet?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Want to have breakfast with me? I can tell you everything and pay you back at the same time.’

  Kate shrugged, even though he couldn’t see it. Why not? She had nothing better to do.

  The grey skies of the previous evening had given way to the blazing sunshine Kate had been more used to seeing. The cream façades of grand buildings, wide boulevards flanked with colourful café awnings and cobbled piazzas looked bright and dazzling again, and it was incredible what it could do to lift one’s mood. Despite the news about Matt, her regrets over Alessandro and her conflicted sense of worry and yet annoyance at Jamie, Kate felt more positive for the sun on her face as she stepped from her hotel and out onto the street. It was early, and she was too exhausted to make an effort, so she had slipped on a pair of linen trousers and a vest top, scraped her hair back into a bun and was barefaced other than her sun cream and a layer of tinted moisturiser over the top. She took out her phone as she walked to meet Jamie, dialling Lily’s number. She owed her sister an apology, and just before she set out for work was probably the best time to catch her; if not it would have to be much later. But Kate felt as though she would be in bed by eight tonight, the week’s events slowly and unexpectedly catching up with her, and Lily might not get her call again if she accidentally fell asleep before then. Not only that, but she still had to pack for her flight home the next day.

  Drinking in her surroundings, she listened to the dialling tone and waited for Lily to pick up. Though she was ready to see her family again, to have some semblance of calm in her life while she regrouped and reassessed where it was going, the sight of the city she now loved caused a pang of regret that she was leaving it. Would she ever come back? The fears that Jamie had guessed at the night before were all too real for her, even if they hadn’t been for him. Once she arrived home and ordinary life took hold again, would her dream of starting a new one in Italy become just that – a wonderful, magical, fantastical dream? People would talk her out of it, and she would listen, and the old, safe routine of work and nights out at the pub and days spent with her sisters would return, and rejecting all that would feel so much more terrifying. Then Lily would have her baby and Kate would feel guilty for leaving. There were a thousand more reasons why she feared her courage would fail her, and apart from the city itself, almost none to find the strength to come back alone.

  ‘Hi, it’s Lily. I can’t get to the phone right now but if you leave me a message I’ll get right back to you. . . Joel. . . is that it—?’

  Kate smiled as she ended the call. Lily had obviously never listened to the message she recorded six months ago, and every time Kate heard it the same broken sentence was tagged onto the end, where Lily had presumably turned to her boyfriend to ask if she’d done it right and caught that bit on the recording. It was so Lily that Kate loved it and she didn’t want to tell her because she’d change it. Everyone else who knew her had probably thought the same. As for now, it was easier for Kate to try her sister later than to leave a huge complicated message, and she supposed that Anna would fill her in on Kate’s adventures long before Kate could anyway.

  Still, it was odd for Lily not to pick up at this time of the day. She usually had her phone to hand when she was getting ready for work – often her boss phoned her in the mornings to ask her to pick something up on th
e way in, or to let her know that she herself would not be in the office for one reason or another and Lily would have to hold the fort. Lily had joked on many occasions since she became pregnant that she had no idea how her boss was going to cope without her when she went on maternity leave and would probably ask her to come in for presentations with the baby strapped to her front.

  Ten minutes later she spotted Jamie outside his hotel. He was wearing dark glasses, and it would have looked a bit cheesy at this time of the morning had she not known the reason why. He walked a few paces to greet her.

  ‘Let’s have a look then,’ Kate said.

  He gave her a small smile and took off his sunglasses to reveal a bloodshot eye, the skin around it purpling nicely.

  ‘That’s going to be some shiner,’ she said, sucking in her breath.

  ‘A shiner?’

  ‘Black eye. God, you’re so American.’

  He grinned ruefully. ‘This is nothing. It’s the bump on my head from when I went down that was the worry.’

  ‘But you’re OK now?’

  ‘They kept me in for obs – my boss is going to go nuts when I put the medical bill on my expenses – and they let me out this morning. They said they were happy I wasn’t going to go into a coma or anything and that I’d be OK to fly.’

  ‘You don’t need to worry about that for another week anyway,’ Kate said briskly as they began to walk towards the entrance of his hotel, still not in the mood to offer sympathy. ‘I’m sure you’ll be fine by then.’

  ‘Actually, I’m going later today.’

  Kate stopped in her tracks. ‘Today?’

  He shrugged slightly. ‘I just feel home is the best place for me right now. I need people I love around me. . .’

  He needed Brad. Kate could understand that only too well. Jamie pretended nothing bothered him but being attacked on the street, far from home, would shake the most confident and fearless of travellers. She felt desperately sorry for him at that moment and even sorrier that she’d been annoyed with him. No matter the circumstances of the incident, he didn’t deserve what he had suffered.

  ‘What time’s your flight?’ she asked as they walked again, and he opened the doors for her.

  ‘Two-fifteen. When we’ve had breakfast I’ll pack and head out.’

  ‘Your boss is OK with that?’

  ‘She’s been great. I called her from the hospital last night. She said to take as much time as I need to get back on my feet so I’m going to do just that. . . This way. . .’ he added, leading her through the lobby towards a restaurant cordoned off by vast swathes of giant pot plants. She followed him to a table, but then her heart almost stopped as she saw who else was sitting at it. She stared at Jamie but he simply offered an apologetic smile. ‘He came to pick me up after his shift had finished this morning and brought me back here. He was first on the scene last night, apparently. I owed you both an explanation so it seemed like a good idea to stand breakfast for both of you.’

  Alessandro rose from the table.

  ‘Ciao, Kate,’ he said softly, his gaze searching her face. He kissed her lightly on the cheek. ‘Did you sleep well?’

  ‘Fine,’ she lied, her pulse beating out of time, her legs suddenly weak. He had been up all night, and he looked tired and strained, but the power of his dark eyes to swallow her was undiminished. She couldn’t deny that, despite this, she felt awkward seeing him there. How was she supposed to have that candid conversation with Jamie now? Unless Jamie was planning on spilling the beans about everything for Alessandro too?

  He nodded and let go of his gentle grip on her shoulders, pulling a seat out for her to sit before retaking his own.

  ‘I’ve already told Alessandro what happened,’ Jamie said. ‘So you don’t have to worry about putting your foot in it now.’

  ‘As I don’t know all that happened myself I can hardly put my foot in it,’ Kate said as Jamie sat down and poured coffee into an extra cup at the table, which he pushed across to her.

  ‘I understand now,’ Alessandro said. ‘You were afraid to tell me the truth last night because you wanted to protect your friend. It was brave and honourable.’

  Kate blinked at him. ‘It was? But I thought you were angry with me?’

  ‘I was angry last night because I was trying to be a police officer. I needed information. This morning, Jamie has explained and I am not angry any more.’

  ‘Because you’re not a police officer this morning?’

  ‘I am always a police officer. But I am a man too. Life is complicated and I understand that.’

  ‘I’m sorry for being so awkward,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know what to do.’

  ‘I’m sorry that you had to cover up for me,’ Jamie put in, giving her hand a squeeze over the table. ‘I should never have put you in that position.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you could have explained it to anyone last night anyway if you were unconscious,’ Kate said, giving him an encouraging smile.

  ‘True,’ Jamie replied. ‘But it’s far more complicated than that.’

  ‘You didn’t want to get Pietro into trouble? You must care for him a great deal.’

  Jamie frowned. ‘It wasn’t Pietro’s fault.’

  ‘Then. . . who did you meet last night? I thought—’

  ‘Sure, I got the text message from his phone. I thought it was him too, and that’s why I told him where I was and why I went out and left you in the restaurant. I thought he needed help, but it wasn’t Pietro waiting for me when I went outside.’

  ‘Then who was it?’

  ‘Roberto.’

  Kate’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘His brother?’

  ‘He’d got hold of Pietro’s phone and pretended to be him to get me to reveal where I was and lure me out.’

  Jamie pushed a basket of pastries towards her, but suddenly Kate’s appetite had disappeared. She shook her head. ‘His brother planned to ambush you? That’s awful!’

  ‘It’s pretty nasty,’ Jamie conceded. ‘But then I’d always known he could cause a whole heap of trouble if he felt like it. I guess he felt like it.’

  ‘He should be in jail,’ Alessandro said, reaching for the coffee pot.

  ‘We talked about that and you gave your word. . .’ Jamie began, but Alessandro held a hand up.

  ‘I did. I understand your reasons.’

  ‘Could someone please explain them to me because I don’t,’ Kate said, looking from one to the other.

  Jamie took a gulp of his coffee and set the cup carefully back in the saucer. Kate heard the rattle of the china as his hand shook slightly. ‘Yesterday afternoon Pietro himself did message me. He wanted to talk and I went to see him.’

  ‘Your three o’clock meeting?’ Kate said with a wry smile.

  ‘Yes. He was at the end of the road, feeling really down again about his life, and to be honest I was kinda sick of hearing about it. So I told him that if he didn’t come out to his parents, his life would be a lie. Nothing would ever change and he’d be miserable forever. I told him that even if there was no Brad, even if I’d been free to love him, I still wouldn’t have done because no lover wants to be a guilty secret. I told him he would spend his life alone if he didn’t finally admit to the person he truly was. He broke down, said it would kill his parents, but we talked some more and I finally got through to him; he said he was going to do it.’

  ‘Which was a good thing. . .’ Kate said.

  ‘I thought so too,’ Jamie replied.

  ‘But I suppose it didn’t exactly go well?’

  ‘You could say that.’ Jamie picked up his coffee cup, stared into it for a moment and then put it down again. Kate had never seen him look so distracted. ‘His parents didn’t take it well, or so Roberto told me just before his fist connected with my face. He said it was all my fault, that I’d destroyed their family and that, basically, it was my fault that Pietro was gay, that I’d done something to him. He said that Pietro was just fine until I turned up.’

  Kate�
�s mouth fell open. ‘Seriously?’

  Jamie shrugged. ‘I’ve encountered homophobia before, but this was on a whole new level of ignorant.’

  ‘You’re not kidding. You don’t want to press charges? Surely Roberto can’t be allowed to get away with this.’

  ‘I think Pietro’s family have been through enough.’

  ‘What about you!’ Kate squeaked. ‘Haven’t you been through enough too? And what’s to stop Roberto beating every man who gets close to Pietro to a pulp?’

  ‘Because I will talk to him,’ Alessandro said.

  Kate turned to him. ‘And you think that will stop him?’

  ‘If he misbehaves, Jamie will come back and prosecute.’

  ‘You will?’ Kate asked Jamie.

  ‘No. . .’ Jamie smiled faintly. ‘But he doesn’t need to know that. I think Alessandro simply warning him off will be enough. At least, I hope so.’

  ‘Does Pietro know about any of this?’

  ‘He called me this morning,’ Jamie said. ‘I guess when he realised that Roberto had been missing along with his phone, he must have figured out something was wrong. He told me that his mother was in a state of shock and his father was just about ready to disown him.’

  ‘Did he know what Roberto had done?’

  ‘Roberto confessed when he confronted him.’

  ‘What about his parents? Do they know what Roberto has done? Whatever their feelings about Pietro they surely can’t condone that?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know the answer to that,’ Jamie said. ‘I guess neither of the boys will want to share that dirty little secret with their beloved Mamma and Papa.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll work it out? The family, I mean? Do you think they can get back on track, fix their relationships?’

  Jamie nodded. ‘I think when Alessandro visits, they’ll realise just how serious this all is and that they really need to address it. His parents are good people and they love their sons. I hope that means they’ll be able to overcome their disappointment and accept Pietro for who he is. My own folks were pretty shocked when I came out, and it was tough for a while, but they’re fine now.’