by Lily Zante
“I don’t know much about the legalities of wills, and the whole business side of it. I’m staying out of it—being pregnant takes some getting used to and I’m still trying to get my website set up for over here.”
Rona was about to say something when the sound of Carlos walking through the door earlier than expected caught her by surprise.
“Carlos is back, I better go,” she said hastily, not wanting to stick around much longer or argue with him at this time of night. For one thing, she didn’t want Tori to wake up. It was only when she put the phone down did she realize that she’d asked Ava nothing about the baby or how she was faring in her own pregnancy.
But now was not the time to worry about her shortcomings. Carlos looked down at her sheepishly.
“You’re early,” she said and stood up, facing him with her arms folded.
“The guys told me they’d clear up for me.” He walked towards her, his brown eyes oozing his apology.
“I’m really, really sorry.” He took a step closer, unsure, watching her face intently.
“I don’t know why you bothered coming home early,” she said stiffly. “It’s too late to go out now.”
A naughty smile lit up his face. “I can make it up to you in other ways.”
Clearly they weren’t on the same page by a mile.
“You should have stayed at the restaurant and put in more hours.” Sex was the last thing on her mind.
“Hey, baby.” He took another step and the delicate wine glass crunched under his heavy step. “Shit,” he said, looking down.
She stared at the crunched up shards of broken glass. More mess to clear up. He bent down, “I’ll get it,” he said, and started picking up the pieces. “Drinking again?”
“It makes my life bearable.” Okay, so she was being slightly dramatic here but the hour and the situation demanded it.
Ignoring her, he walked out to the kitchen and returned with a newspaper onto which he put the pieces of glass. “How many times do I need to apologize?”
“Just go to bed.”
“I will once I’ve cleared this up.”
“You do that.”
“It was one dinner.” His voice was tight as he looked up at her briefly.
“Like we go out all the time,” she said. It wasn’t like Verona where she’d leave Tori with her mom and go to Gioberti’s most evenings. She missed those days. Suddenly the image of Ruben’s face crept back into her mind even though she’d tried to bury the memories.
“You’re always so miserable and moody every time I come back home. Sometimes I don’t even want to come back.”
She’d started to move away and head to bed, but his words stopped her. Glancing at him as he crouched over the floor, she saw the tense lines on his forehead. He looked tired, and she knew he’d done a twelve-hour shift. But she couldn’t let his words go so easily.
“Do you ever wonder why I’m so moody and miserable each time you get home? It’s not because I’ve spent the day having a pedicure or lunching with the girls.”
“Sweetheart, I’ve not exactly been out with the guys having beers all day long either.” He raised his voice to match hers.
“I know you work hard. I appreciate all that you do. Seems to me though that you think staying at home looking after a baby is easy work. It’s not and don’t forget I’m working for Ava and lately I’ve had Tori with me as well. That’s not easy by any means.”
Her last words were punctuated by Tori’s cry. Rona’s ears lifted in response and she waited, hoping and praying that the baby would settle quickly.
Carlos gave her a scathing look as he picked up the newspaper carefully, and then his face softened in an instant. “I know it’s not easy. I’m sorry. Let’s not fight. We’re both tired.”
“Tori’s up,” she said grumpily and marched off towards the nursery. “Don’t wait up for me.”
She walked softly into Tori’s room and picked up her daughter. Sadness enveloped her as she slowly sat down in the rocking chair, closing her eyes as she attempted to rock Tori back to sleep.
The baby was just about settled again when the vacuum cleaner roared. Instantly Tori let out another loud howl, the sound scaring her and her pitch reaching banshee level.
“Shhhhh,” said Rona gently and held her in both arms, hugging her baby to her chest. She sat down carefully in the rocking chair and hummed the child to sleep. Rona closed her eyes too, caught up in the gentle, soothing motion of the chair as memories of Verona poured over her like a summer breeze.
For a moment, she found herself back at Gioberti’s, with no baby in tow, and the only noise to be heard was the chattering of people laughing and talking and whispering to one another. As Tori lay against her chest, she was bathed in the rosy glow of nostalgia, transported to a time where she was outside enjoying the last fading rays of the sun as it kissed her skin. There, underneath the pinky-blue sky she was ‘just Rona’ again. Carefree, relaxed and happy.
The evenings were made all the more alluring because of the attention of a man who had listened to what she had to say. A man who had temporarily helped her to forget the troubles in her marriage.
She hadn’t gone looking for him. She had Carlos and she didn’t need anyone else, hadn’t ever considered anyone else. But Ruben had been there for her emotionally in a way that, and at a time when, Carlos had ceased to be.
When it had happened, the seeds of the attraction—which she still denied and kept suppressed—she didn’t know, but they had begun to talk about their significant others and the things that weren’t working out. And somewhere amidst the revelations was the newest one of them all: her heart beat a little faster each time she went out and met her new found friend for dinner. A man who wasn’t her husband, and wasn’t a friend, and was something and nothing in between.
How she had lapped up every second of their time together.
Chapter 7
“I don’t mean to sound rude, or ungrateful, and I’m not sure how to tell you this but I don’t think your sister is doing much during the time she’s at your apartment.”
Ava’s lips set into a hard line as she listened and she knew what was coming.
“I counted the orders she shipped. The ones she packaged up herself; do you want to know how many?” Kim asked.
No, she didn’t. But she could guess.
“Five.”
It was worse than she’d thought.
“She’s also updating some prices for me,” said Ava, doing her best to stand up for her sister, but the facts were staring her in the face.
Rona had been a good worker. When it had been only her. Recently, and with Kim’s arrival, Ava had noticed that her sister’s output had decreased whilst Kim’s had increased. It wasn’t that Rona was lazy. Her sister could work hard when needed, but for some reason she’d chosen to slack off with Kim’s arrival.
Whether her sister felt threatened, or insecure, or both, Ava didn’t know but clearly something had to be done.
She couldn’t let this fester.
“Thank you for letting me know. I’ll speak to her.”
“If she carries on like this, I won’t be able to carry her slack much longer. I’ve worked long hours each week, and I’ve come in on a few weekends just to make sure your products go out on time. I know the customers are waiting. It’s only me and my boy and I don’t want to spend less time with him just because your sister isn’t working to full mettle.”
Ava gulped. Kim had a good point.
She put the phone down and held her head in her hands. She’d thought taking on another person would help her. But it was having a detrimental effect. She didn’t want to lose Kim, but she also needed Rona’s help. Maybe if she could get Rona to do more of the admin work but from her own home?
She’d deal with Rona later. She’d have to consider her options carefully because she couldn’t afford to have either one of them unhappy and yet they clearly couldn’t work together anymore.
But first s
he needed to speak to her mom. It was time to find out what had been the outcome of her mother’s visit to the doctor.
“What did the doctor say, Mom?”
“You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’m fine.”
She could tell her mother was avoiding giving her a straight answer, and she was already worried. “I worry more when you try to hide it from me, like now. What did he say?”
“My blood pressure has increased slightly.”
“To what?”
“One hundred and eighty over ninety.”
“One eighty over ninety! You’ve never had a problem with your blood pressure before. And that’s not a slight increase. What is it, Mom? What’s brought this on?”
“I knew you’d worry.”
“Of course I’m going to worry.”
“It’s not good for the baby. But, I want to know how you’re doing?”
It was typical of her mom to completely avoid the subject and deflect the attention back to her. “My baby is stressed out because I’m worrying about you.”
“But I told you—”
“Is it Edmondo?”
“Ava, it’s…I don’t know. It’s everything. Not just Edmondo.”
“Then what?”
When she didn’t say anything, Ava asked, “Why don’t you come here again, Mom?”
“I only left a few weeks ago.”
“So? I love you being here, Nico does too. You could spend time in the gardens. You could even take up painting again. Have you ever considered what a wonderful place the gardens would be for creating your art?”
“What about my life here? What about my friends at the book club and the art classes? What would everybody think?”
“Who cares what they think? You said you hardly ever go to your art classes any more or help out at the shelter. They’d understand, Mom, if they were your friends and they cared about you.”
“I can’t, honey. I’m coming for the wedding in a few months anyway. Besides I need some distance. I need to collect my thoughts.”
This was the real reason her mother was reticent. Ava knew her mother needed more time.
She wasn’t going to force her mom to do anything she didn’t want to. It was difficult for Ava to keep her eye on everything. She already had enough things to deal with as it was. Not only was she getting used to the baby’s demands on her body, but her recent engagement to Nico and the impending wedding in August meant that she had left Denver for good. Italy would now be her permanent home, even if she did travel back and forth as she’d intended to. Verona would be the place where her child would be born and raised, with Nico, her husband.
Her world had changed so much in such a short space of time and she was having trouble juggling everything.
But she couldn’t help worrying about Elsa almost as much as she worried about Nico. He was hurting even though he tried not to show it, but she loved this man and had come to understand him deeply. She knew his show of a brave face was only because of her condition and because she carried his child. His wounds were blood red and seeping and she knew it would be many months, if not years before he fully came to terms with Edmondo’s sudden passing.
If anyone could understand what Elsa was experiencing, it was Nico.
“I’m worried about Rona,” Elsa said, suddenly.
Her mother’s words pulled Ava away from her abstract analysis of her impending problems.
“Rona? Why?”
“She and Carlos seem to be having problems.”
“What sort of problems?”
“She doesn’t think he spends enough time with her and Tori, and you and I both know it’s because he’s always so busy working.”
“I know,” murmured Ava. “She said she’d arranged a night out a few days ago, but it didn’t work out.”
“She was so much happier when she was in Verona.”
“She was?” asked Ava as she considered her mother’s words. She had been so embroiled in her own drama that she didn’t have much time to see what Rona had been up to.
“Perhaps a change would do her good,” suggested Elsa. “I think working for you has been a good thing for her. I love the time I get to spend with Tori, but lately Rona seems busier than ever. I haven’t had Tori much lately. It’s taking me longer than I thought to bounce back. It’s good for your sister to have something to keep her busy but Tori is becoming more of a handul, especially now that she’s starting to become mobile.”
“I suggested to Rona that she gets a baby sitter,” said Ava.
“They cost a lot, don’t they? And then how do you know if you can trust them? I’m sure I’ll be fine soon enough.”
“She needs to do something.”
“Carlos helps out when he can, and I’ll be able to help out more once I’m fully recovered but I fell asleep the other day. I only had her for a few hours, it wasn’t long, but when I awoke, Tori was still playing with her toys, thank goodness. It worried me. Anything could have happened. What if she’d broken a glass? She can get into my kitchen cupboards. What if she’d stuck something into the wall socket or fallen down and hit her head? Which reminds me; I must ask Carlos to child proof my apartment.”
Ava was horrified. The situation her mom had described had been a close shave, regarding Tori’s safety. But her mom had her worried again. Elsa had always been an active social bee though lately she’d taken to staying at home. The tiredness, Ava suspected, was her way of retreating from the world and finding quiet contemplative time, just as Nico did when she often found him sitting in Edmondo’s office, in deep thought.
It got her thinking. She could get Rona over earlier for the wedding—and get her to help her with her business too. Ava could do with another pair of hands, Rona would be out of Kim’s way, and Elsa would be able to have time to herself.
It would work.
“I think there might be a way I could get Rona to help me even more.”
“More? I get the impression she already finds it difficult doing the hours she currently has. But it would be nice for the two of you to work together more. You used to be so close before.”
“I’ll think about it, Mom.”
Ava came off the phone and considered her options. Nico would be okay with it. He’d even offer the same pensione to her sister and he’d think Rona being over would be a help. He was too preoccupied with his own work and couldn’t help her as much as she knew he wanted to.
The problem was that Ava knew how full her plate was. She was also aware that Rona wasn’t the easiest person to get on with.
Would it work, having Rona over in Italy, or would it make things worse?
Chapter 8
“You look tired, sweetheart.” Nico walked into the room and slipped his shirt off. “I want to know how you’ve been. I missed you and I hate being away from you both.”
Ava lay on the bed watching him and the blood began to pump around her body faster. If she’d had more energy, and if she didn’t feel so bloated, she would have made her move on him by now. But at four months pregnant she felt more like a beached whale even though she didn’t look obviously pregnant. Her stomach was no longer flat and she was no longer stick thin.
It was truly a shame that being pregnant seemed to increase her sex drive at a time when she felt anything but sexy. Her heart rate accelerated, especially when she ran her eyes over his firm chest.
Get over here, her hormones screamed.
The way he looked at her, the way his eyes roamed all over her body, the way his lips teased a smile at her, made it difficult for her to concentrate on anything other than his body.
“I couldn’t wait to get back to you,” he said, peeling off his trousers. “I hate leaving you alone.”
She admired the figure of the man in his boxers and considered herself the luckiest woman in the galaxy when he flopped down beside her and grabbed her hand.
“Tell me,” he asked, in his usual low voice, the one that spoke to her so seductively. She saw the exci
tement in his eyes as he glanced down at her increasingly big breasts. She’d never been this big before and she felt tarty. It took some getting used to though judging by the look of admiration on Nico’s face, he very much liked her new form.
“The orders are flying through the roof,” she said, in a voice that suggested this was a problem.
“That’s great,” he replied, his voice dripped excitement. He kissed her hand then slipped his mouth down to her chest. Although she was still fully clothed, the proximity of his lips to her breasts made blood rush to her core. She wriggled in anticipation as he blew soft kisses over her paisley print cotton dress and wished she was naked already.
“I guess.” She wanted to get his advice though her body had other ideas. He’d always counseled her, and she’d never gone wrong listening to him.
“Why do you look as though this is a problem?” He stopped his kisses and looked at her.
“I hate to admit this, but I don’t think I can cope. The US operations are expanding too rapidly and even though I have Kim on board now, she and Rona don’t get along too well.”
“I thought you overcame that problem by having them working on different days?” He propped himself up on one elbow and gave her his full attention.
“I thought I did. But essentially they do the same work, and each of them carries on from where the other one left off.”
Nico’s face scrunched up. “Not a good idea, sharing the workload like that.” She made a long, groaning noise. “It’s too much, what with the wedding, and the baby, and everything else. I don’t want you to worry. I’m doing my best to concentrate on the European operations. I’m trying to get the website built, but most of my time is being taken up by what’s happening in the US. The sales over there don’t show any signs of dying down.”
He smiled. “It’s a good problem to have. Do you know how many businesses would kill to have your problem?” he asked, before taking her hand in his.