Baby Steps

by Lily Zante

  Though Edmondo had passed on many months ago, it seemed as if Nico’s grief and anger for his father’s sudden and unexpected death still festered. She knew that Nico wouldn’t rest until he’d turned the spa hotel into a resounding success.

  Lately, they just seemed to rub one another the wrong way. It was just as well that Nico’s home was huge; this beautiful, sprawling and elegant mansion, set in acres of greenery boasted a magnificent avenue of cypress trees and fountains and statues. Sometimes it was a relief to take the baby out in the stroller and walk around the grounds in order to distance herself from his brooding temperament. It meant that even when the two of them were at home, they could easily spend the whole day at home and not see one another.

  “There you are.” Elsa took one look at her and walked over to the sink where she filled up a tall glass with water. “I’ve told you that when you’re feeding, you need to drink and you need to drink a lot.”

  “She was crying,” Ava explained, “and I rushed out of the shower.”

  “Where was Nico?” Elsa took a seat across the large rectangular wooden table.

  “On the phone.”

  “I was outside, sitting under the cherry tree,” Elsa explained.

  “Were you lost in your thoughts again, Mom?”

  “I was thinking happy thoughts,” replied Elsa. “Don’t you start worrying about me. I’m fine.”

  But Ava did worry. It hadn’t even been a year yet since Nico’s father had passed away and she knew that even though her mom tried hard to put a mask over her feelings, she was still coming to terms with his death. Their’s had been the start of a beautiful friendship and sometimes Ava wondered if there might have been the seeds of something more. Her mother never disclosed anything but that wistful look on her face whenever there was talk about Edmondo said more than a thousand words ever could. Edmondo’s death had left a huge gaping hole, not only in her and Nico’s lives, and Elisabetta’s—who would never know a grandfather—but it had also touched Elsa’s life. Ava was ever mindful that while her mother liked to visit Verona, her time here was now embroidered with threads of regret, of memories that she grasped, and of a man and a friendship that were no more.

  “Happy thinking is good, Mom, but if you feel sad, you have to let yourself feel it.”

  “I do, honey.” Her mother patted her hand. “I don’t need you to see it, not with so much on your plate, and anyway, that man doesn’t let me stay sad for too long.” Ava had a sense of foreboding at the idea of her mom having conversations with an imaginary Edmondo.

  “That new gardener is making more mess in those gardens than anything else.”

  “He’s not so new, Mom, and I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s doing.”

  “He likes to think he does.”

  “Since when did you take up gardening?” Ava asked, astonished.

  “I know enough to know when he’s making a mess.”

  Ava winced. Her mother seemed to be more than a little attached to the gardens at the Casa Adriana and these days she seemed to behave as if they were hers. Nico found it amusing and had told Ava to let her mom be. “It reminds her of my father,” Nico told her once when she mentioned it to him. “If she finds any comfort in that place, you should leave her be. I doubt that Salvatore is offended by it.”

  “Nico’s thinking of going back to work full-time next week,” Ava announced.

  “So soon?”

  “That’s what I told him, but you know how he is. He’s more obsessed than ever with getting the hotel open. He seems to have taken this obsession to another level.”

  “He’s been away from it for a long time, Ava. It can’t be easy for him.”

  “It’s not easy watching him getting so uptight about it either. I thought he might have enjoyed this time with us, with me and Elisabetta. I thought this was what he wanted.”

  “It is,” her mother replied, leaning forward and smiling at the baby who was now starting to doze off. Babies had such a simple and untroubled life; feeding, sleeping and pooping. She wished her life could be that simple.

  “It doesn’t feel that way,” she grumbled.

  “You don’t see the way he looks at you.”

  “With disgust.”

  “Nonsense.” Elsa looked up at her. “With pride.”

  “Pride?” Ava didn’t seem convinced.

  “That man needs you right now, honey, even if he’s not showing you in a way that is obvious.”

  “Sometimes I just can’t tell.” Ava wasn’t convinced and instead she looked down again at the bundle of softness that was snuggled up to her chest. She loved the way her baby held on to her finger, as if she was holding onto it for dear life. At times Ava found herself surprised that she was a mother—that she’d done it, reached this milestone in her life—that she was now a mother and had a baby who depended on her. Her whole world had stopped the moment Elisabetta had been born and Ava’s life now revolved solely around her baby. It was frightening and uplifting all at the same time. Of course, it also meant that she didn’t have as much time, mental and emotional energy for Nico. Maybe that was why she felt a little distanced from him.

  “He’s put a lot into that building—his heart and soul from the sounds of it and he wants it to work out. And now with all this trouble surrounding it, he can’t rest until it does. You’re no different, honey. You two are more alike than you know. You have sleepless nights when your shipments don’t reach Denver in time.”

  Ava shrugged. She knew it was the truth. And yet…

  “I imagine he’s losing more than money,” said Elsa. “His reputation, and what others might think.”

  Her mother was right. Wrapped up in his grand plans for the Cazale Ravenna were Nico’s ambitions. It wasn’t only that he’d wanted to prove himself to Edmondo, he also wanted to show the world. He wanted to prove that he had moved on from his playboy days. That he wasn’t just a rich kid who got lucky when he inherited his father’s wealth.

  “I can’t wait for it to be open and done with,” said Ava, wiping Elisabetta’s mouth. “One more month,” she said, placing her hand under the baby’s chin and rubbing her back.

  “It’s not too long to wait. Here, let me have her,” Elsa got up and reached for the baby. “Let Grandma do this. It’s the one thing I can help with.” Ava carefully handed the baby over and adjusted her own clothing.

  “Now that I’ve got her,” said Elsa. “Why don’t you go and take a nap?”

  Ava headed towards the door.

  Take a nap? Not a chance. She had a mountain of emails from Rona and Kim to deal with.

  Chapter 3

  It felt like home.

  The next day Nico walked across the black and white checked marble floor of the lobby at the Casa Adriana and felt the tension slip away the moment he’d stepped inside. Over by the reception desk Gina was talking to the new receptionist. She smiled at him warmly as he approached. “Happy New Year,” she said.

  “Happy New Year,” replied Nico, acknowledging both women. “I need a few moments of your time, when you’re free.”

  “I’m free now,” she said, and excused herself from the receptionist. She followed him into his office.

  “What are you doing here, Nico?”

  “Getting ready for my return.”

  “Shouldn’t you still take it easy?”

  “No,” he replied, emphatically. “I’ve had enough time off.”

  “I could have sworn you had another two weeks off.”

  “Working a few days here and there isn’t going to solve our problems or make us money.” He’d come to work for a few days here and there in December. Once to welcome the new members of his management team, and then he’d worked one or two days in the weeks leading up to Christmas. His driver had taken him to Ravenna a month ago, because he was anxious to check up on the spa hotel but between these scattered visits, he’d barely been here. He knew there would be many things to oversee on his return. “Things are starting to pile u
p and working from home is getting harder.”

  “It must be difficult pulling yourself away from that beautiful little baby of yours,” Gina said.

  “Yes,” he replied, smiling. “But I have too much to do and I need to get on with it.”

  Gina’s eyebrows shot upwards. “You don’t look completely well, Nico. Besides, I’ve got everything under control.”

  “I know,” he said, clasping his hands together. He couldn’t run this place without Gina and he knew she was the lynchpin of the company and always had been. They spoke every day, often several times during the day, and she kept him updated with how things were getting on here at the Casa Adriana, their main hotel, as well as the other sister hotels around Italy.

  He’d been hoping to alleviate some of her workload because she’d been doing more than her fair share of work for a long time. As it was, she’d already helped the new members of their management team to settle in.

  “This place only runs because of you.” It was the one thing he always said to her.

  “We both know that’s not really true,” she replied, dismissing his words easily, the way she always did. “You look thinner,” she commented. “I can save you the time and tell you that everything is running smoothly.”

  “I’m sure it is. How are Ines and Demetrio getting on?”

  “They’re settling in fine. Ines is amazing. She has some smart ideas and she’s done very well to get up to speed with the sales campaigns you and that ad agency were working on.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “She’s been working through the media packages and press releases and she has ideas for the website and the social media campaigns but she needs guidance. I think you’ll need to sit down with her at some stage, when you’re well enough.”

  He’d been lucky to get Ines. She had previous experience of working with branding and advertising for luxury hotels and he had the feeling she would do well here. He needed someone to take control of the marketing because he could no longer do everything.

  “I am well enough.”

  “Don’t push yourself too hard, Nico. You don’t look 100% as it is. But enough talk about work,” said Gina, sitting up in her chair, excitement spreading across her face. “Tell me about Elisabetta and Ava. How are they?”

  Nico couldn’t help but smile each time he thought of them. “They’re doing well. Ava’s finding it difficult but that’s because Elisabetta seems to want to feed every few hours. I didn’t know babies could get so hungry.”

  Gina shrugged. “I don’t have any experience with babies.”

  “Ava’s doing a wonderful job but I know she’s not sleeping much.”

  “It can’t be easy.”

  “It isn’t. I want to help, but I end up getting in the way. I’ve offered to wake up and do the 2am feed, but Ava won’t let me.”

  Gina nodded. “That’s because she wants you to get well first.”

  “I suppose it is.” Most of this last month had passed by so fast that most things were still a blur to him. He knew Ava was struggling but he felt helpless most of the time. The baby seemed to cry whenever he held her and it seemed that only Ava’s magic touch, usually her breast, helped soothe her. One of his friends, a father of twins, had told him this was natural and to be expected, and this advice had made Nico feel a little better.

  “I don’t know how she does it,” Gina commented. “Keeping an eye on her business at the same time as looking after a newborn.”

  He rubbed his jaw. “She doesn’t need to do both but I can’t stop her from working on her store.”

  “You’re both as bad as each other.”

  His wife was spreading herself too thin, trying to keep up with work and look after the baby. Ava thought he didn’t notice when she—after feeding the baby—would be on her computer. A few times he’d gotten out of bed to find her hunched over the keyboard at 3am or some other ridiculous hour. She didn’t need to work. He had more than enough to take care of them, to give her a fabulous life. She could easily become a lady of leisure but it wasn’t her plan and she was stubborn and continued to burn the candle at both ends on more than one occasion.

  “You can no more expect her to give up her store than she can demand you give up the hotels, Nico.”

  He shook his head, not wanting to admit to the truth that Gina spoke. But she was right. He and Ava were both as bad as one another and this added more fire to their disagreements. Neither of them wanted to back down, each believing that they were right.

  They hadn’t made love since the birth either, and he didn’t want to put any pressure on her, but he missed the intimacy. Yet as time went on, and the more he saw Elisabetta laying claim to the breasts which he’d often feasted on, it made him back away. He loved his wife but something had changed and it was far easier to dwell on the hotels that needed his attention than to work out what was going on in his relationship with his wife.

  “Did the sleepers fit?” Gina wanted to know.

  “Sleepers?”

  “The Christmas present I gave her? The soft yellow one with carrots and the blue one with—”

  “Bananas,” he said. “Oh, thanks. Yes, they fit. We can never have enough, the rate at which she goes through them.”

  “Good.”

  He tapped his fingers on the desk. “How’s Demetrio getting on with the upgrade project?” Nico had delivered the piece of work Demetrio was to work on—an upgrade of the software and hardware at each hotel.

  “Fine, I think,” Gina replied, coughing lightly.

  “You think?” Nico asked, curiously. This was nothing like Gina. She was usually on top of everything and would know—like the back of her hand—where everyone was and what they were doing.

  “He’s not keeping you informed?”

  “He’s getting on with it as far as I can tell.”

  Nico wasn’t sure what to make of this. From his resume and past credentials, the guy seemed like the perfect candidate and was well placed to carry out this project himself. That was what Nico wanted to test. The work he’d asked him to do didn’t exactly fit what would usually be expected for the role of Chief Technical officer but Nico needed to see how Demetrio would cope and whether he could get his hands dirty. Above all, Nico wanted to see if the man could deliver a project by being in the trenches. In time, he’d get to manage his own team, but these were early days for the new team and Nico needed workers more than he needed managers. He and Gina had been wearing too many hats.

  “He’s got a computer studies degree from one of the best colleges in Italy,” Nico remarked.

  “And he won’t let you forget it, either,” Gina remarked, testily.

  Nico grinned. “If there’s anyone who can put him in his place, I’m sure you will.” With this new team working together, he and Gina could concentrate on other things instead of being responsible for everything. He could concentrate his efforts completely on the spa hotel and right now, with all that had happened, this was the main priority. He needed to get the Cazale Ravenna operational and he had his sights set on bigger things. He had plans to buy more hotels.

  “You don’t find this isolating?” He asked, waving his hand around her office. He’d had two of the utility rooms converted into two offices; a smaller one for Gina and the second, a larger one, for Ines and Demetrio to share. “Isolation isn’t necessarily a bad thing and I like having my own office.”

  “Me too,” he agreed. “And the best thing about it is not having any baby interruptions.” He got up. “I’ll show my face and get re-acquainted with our new team members.”

  “Is the re-wiring done yet?” she asked. “At the Cazale Ravenna?”

  “Almost.” That was one of the things he would get to find out for sure with his planned visit.

  “I forgot to tell you,” said Gina, “Silvia came in a few weeks ago.”

  He scowled at the mention of her name. “Here?”

  Gina nodded. “Yes.”

  “What for?” Ni
co asked, and was secretly relieved he hadn’t been here to see his scheming ex.

  “Afternoon tea, that’s what she said.”

  He felt a tightness in his eyes. “Was she alone, or did she have that scumbag with her?”

  “She was with a girlfriend. It looked like a casual visit but she did ask one of the receptionists if you were around.”

  “I wish that interfering little gold digger would leave me in peace.”

  Chapter 4

  “They were a great discovery,” Kim told her. “Our customers love the d’Este cribs, Ava. You’ve found a real winner there.”

  It was great news. “Excellent!” she cried. “That’s exactly what we need.” A hot product selling like crazy. The last shipment she’d sent out had been for two thousand cribs and it had arrived in Denver the week before Christmas. Having the new warehouse in the US was a godsend and it meant that she could keep her inventory well stocked now that they had a proper holding area for it.

  “Have we shipped any of these out yet?”

  “No,” replied Kim. “We’ve still got some from the last shipment. It won’t be long though.”

  “These are a winner,” declared Ava as she examined the dried up patch of milk on her shoulder. She’d been looking at her online data late last night after she’d fed the baby at 2am. Her visitor figures were through the roof and her sales were amazing. So what if she was sitting in her study in a pair of sweats and a dirty baggy sweatshirt and hadn’t run a brush through her hair? Who could say she wasn’t making it work? She was dealing with motherhood and running a flourishing business and it had all happened in the space of a year. The sudden reminder of the passage of time jolted her. It had been around this time last year that Connor had told her he no longer wanted to marry her; that he didn’t love her and in doing so had set off a chain of events which had led her to where she was now.