Italian Affair

by Annie Seaton

  “He’s been charged. He was high on fucking uppers and went straight through the intersection. He didn’t even see her coming.”

  Tom turned to Nick and inclined his head. Lissy came straight over with a box of tissues, and Tom led Alex out to the veranda as grief consumed him.

  He sat next to him, dry-eyed, staring out over the lawn, focusing on all the good times they’d had in this garden when they were growing up. Life ebbed and flowed at the hands of fate. He firmed his resolve. He was not going to give up on Brianna.

  Nick came out with a bottle of whiskey and three glasses and crouched in front of Alex.

  “It’s not a permanent solution, mate, but I think a little inebriation may go a long way tonight.”

  He raised his eyebrows at Tom and filled three large glasses with whiskey when Tom nodded his agreement. Alex picked up the crystal tumbler and held it to the late afternoon sun. A shaft of light hit the crystal and fractured into a rainbow of colors on the wall beside them.

  “To my Em.” He choked and drained the glass in one swallow and sat back and closed his eyes. He held his empty glass out to Nick for a refill.

  Many drinks later the bottle sat empty on the table beside Tom and Nick. Alex had collapsed an hour ago and they’d carried him to his room, assisted by their father. Tessa had fussed around, removed his shoes, and tucked him in like a young child. She sat on a chair next to the bed, holding Alex’s hand between her own as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked at her other two sons and smiled sadly, motioning for them to leave.

  “I’ll sit with Alex for a while,” she whispered.

  Tom’s eyes pricked and a lump formed in his throat.

  Tom and Nick returned to the veranda and Lissy was sitting waiting for them with a pizza box. Nick sat down and pulled her onto his lap and buried his face in her red gold curls.

  “I don’t think I could eat anything,” Tom said. “Another drink will do.”

  “Eat,” Lissy instructed.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Tom was grateful that Lissy had forced them to eat the night before, even though the pizza gave him indigestion. He woke up with a dry mouth and his breath smelled of whiskey, but he didn’t have too bad a headache, which was just as well as he had a big day ahead of him. He glanced across at the clock and did the time conversion in his head, and reached for his cell phone to call Brianna and tell her he was on his way home.

  Home.

  He smiled.

  What was the old saying? Home is where the heart is.

  The call went straight to her message service and he shook his head. She’d let the battery run down again. He had more than her organizational skills to work on.

  He had a quick shower, pulled on some fresh clothes, and headed downstairs. Nick and Tessa were sitting at the kitchen table chatting quietly. He made himself a quick cup of tea and sat down with them.

  “Alex?” he asked.

  “Still asleep,” Tessa said.

  “He’ll have a very sore head when he wakes up,” Nick said. “What are your plans today? I thought we might take him out somewhere.”

  Tessa placed her hand on Nick’s arm and looked across at Tom. “I think it would be better if we left him alone today and didn’t organize anything for him. Just be here if he wants us. He needs to find his own comfort.”

  Tom looked across at his mother and brother. “I’m going back to Lipari tonight.”

  Nick appeared startled but Tessa smiled at him with a knowing look on her face.

  “You can’t stay here for more than two days?” Nick asked.

  “No, I have something important to do.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Brianna looked at the missed calls displayed on the screen of her cell phone and closed her eyes. Tom had tried to call every hour for the past twelve hours before he’d given up. At least he’ll think I’ve let the phone die, she thought, and that gave her a small measure of comfort. The nagging feeling that she’d made a big mistake tugged at her thoughts and she tried to block it. She focused on the bumping of the train wheels as they clattered rhythmically on the track. It had been cruel to leave before he came back. He’d been so upset when he left and she’d had a glimpse of the love he had for his family. But she had no choice.

  Let him go. Let him go. Let him go.

  Staring out the window, she looked at the mist still lingering in the valleys despite the lateness of the morning. Summer in Scotland was nothing like Lipari Island. Shivering, she pulled her wool coat around her shoulders and tucked her scarf around her bare neck. She glanced down at her hands and smiled, thinking how out of place her tanned skin looked.

  She’d left the island three days ago. The ferry to Naples, three flights, and now the final leg of her journey by train, and she was almost home. Not home to her flat in Edinburgh, but home to her parents in Aviemore, where she’d grown up, in the snow-covered highlands of Scotland.

  Ready to confront Jennifer—she couldn’t think of her as Mum any more, not after the discovery she’d made in Lipari. She was trying to figure out what to say, what to ask to understand the enormity of what Jennifer and her mother, Rosa, had done. Her nonno had held her and she’d sobbed in his arms after reading the letter her mother had written before she died, and now she was going to confront Jennifer with the secret she had kept for over thirty years. No wonder she hadn’t ever felt love from her adopted mother. In a way she felt sorry for Jennifer. It must have been hard for her, sharing her adopted daughter with her birth mother and having to keep it a secret.

  The train pulled into Kingussie station and she gathered her bags. Aviemore was next.

  An hour later she pushed open the gate to her parents’ retirement cottage and was pleased to see clothes flapping in the breeze. She’d been so determined to confront them, she hadn’t even given thought to them being away on one of their regular trips.

  Her cell phone rang when she was pushing open the front door. She pulled it from her pocket and sighed as she glanced down at the caller ID. She hit the off button and let Tom’s call go to message with a sigh, knowing she would have to talk to him sooner or later, but first she had to get her head around this mess.

  “Brianna.” She jumped as her father’s voice boomed from the living room. “What a wonderful surprise.” She slipped into his embrace and inhaled the familiar aroma of his pipe tobacco.

  “Your mother’s in the back garden. She’ll be so happy to see you. She was bemoaning the lack of e-mails from you only this morning.” He cupped her cheek in his large rough hands, his fingers scratchy against her skin. “Is everything okay, love? You look a wee bit unhappy.”

  She nodded and followed him through the back door, clenching her fists as a sharp ache lodged in her throat. These people had welcomed her to their family as a newborn baby and she should be grateful to them for the loving home they’d provided. Jennifer was on her knees weeding the vegetable patch. As much as she didn’t want to hurt her parents, she needed to have it out. They owed her an explanation.

  She closed her eyes and wished she were back on the island, sitting on the balcony sharing a drink with Tom.

  Blast you, Tom. Get out of my head. I am not going to depend on you.

  Jennifer stood and pulled off her gardening gloves. It was apparent by the look on her face that she had read Brianna’s expression and knew why she had come home.

  “Time for a chat. We have a lot of talking to do,” Brianna said.

  …

  An hour passed, much tea was consumed, and her parents convinced her the secrecy had been at Rosa’s request.

  “Love, she could see how happy you were and then she didn’t want to mess with your head. All she wanted was for you to be happy and you have been, haven’t you?” Jennifer put her teacup down and squeezed her daughter’s hands. “We tried to persuade her, especially at the end when we knew she didn’t have long, but she wouldn’t have it.”

  “Did she tell you about the villa? Did you know she
was leaving it to me?”

  Jennifer shook her head. “She spoke toward the end about how if you ever married, she would leave it to you. I don’t understand how you’ve got the villa now. She made it quite clear she wouldn’t leave it to you unless you were married. She never forgave your father for leaving her as a single mother, and she swore she would do as much as she could to make sure you married and settled. She wanted to provide for you, but I guess she put her own take on what happiness was. She became very bitter in the end.”

  Brianna gave a short laugh and held out her left hand and flashed her wedding ring. “She didn’t change her mind. I got married a week after I arrived on Lipari Island.”

  The look on her parents’ faces was priceless and Brianna gave a bitter laugh.

  “And now I have to get out of it and try to keep the villa. Do we have a good lawyer?”

  Her cell phone buzzed and she groaned, putting her head down on her arms on the table. Her voice was muffled.

  “It’s all too bloody complicated.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tom sat alone on the balcony of Brianna’s villa watching the sun rise over the sea before he started work. Silver and pink tinged the low line of clouds hovering above the horizon. It promised to be another clear and beautiful day, but he was not going to the marina. Aunt Carmen had returned from Naples and he’d promised himself he would make a start on deciphering the finances today. He couldn’t believe the change in himself. A few months ago, he would have had the books balanced and computerized even if it had meant staying up all night. Now he preferred to spend his nights in Brianna’s bed, and he gave little thought to his stocks and shares. They were in the hands of his broker, and he trusted him to make the decisions for him.

  Loneliness settled in his chest. It had sat there like a stone for the three days since he had returned to the empty villa. Luckily, Brianna had left the key for him and a brief note saying she was going back to Edinburgh and would be in touch. The disappointment had overwhelmed him, but he knew there must be a good reason for her sudden departure. Everything had been fine between them when he’d left and she had promised to stay, so something had happened. He knew he loved her, and he was not going to doubt that she loved him, too. It was only a matter of time until she admitted it to herself, and he had planned his strategy.

  He’d reverted to list-making and he hoped she appreciated it. The time had come to implement it. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. Seven a.m. here, five a.m. in Edinburgh. He knew she was not picking up his calls, because it rang before going to her message service.

  Time to wake up, Brianna.

  He pressed send and put his phone away before pulling out the first box of papers.

  Two hours later he was sitting in the kitchen, receipts and journals spread chaotically across the table, when his phone beeped.

  I am.

  Tom jumped to his feet and punched the air with a loud “Yes.” Aunt Maria had arrived earlier and now she ran in from the balcony where she was watering the potted plants. “You have finished the books?” she asked.

  Tom grabbed her and danced around the room. “No, but I will soon.”

  Aunt Maria shook her head and went back into the kitchen, and Tom picked up his phone.

  He typed another text.

  #1 I got my earring, remember?

  He waited and a beep signaled the reply.

  I remember.

  His fingers flew over the keypad.

  #2 Rode the Jet Ski and didn’t drown. He waited for a reply but all was quiet. He turned back to the tattered ledgers spread across the table and lasted for another two hours before the call of the boats and the fresh air won.

  The phone remained silent.

  …

  Brianna was sitting in the office of the chief executive officer of the Burrough Medical Service waiting for her boss to finish his call. She stared out the window at the steady rain, grateful for the warmth of the air-conditioning in the office. Glancing down at the cell phone in her hand, she closed her eyes and smiled. A picture of Tom riding a Jet Ski around Lipari harbor, his long black curls tangling in the breeze, his muscles flexing as he steered through the waves, was implanted in her mind. And of course, the earring would be glinting in the bright sunshine.

  Damn him, she thought.

  “So, Brianna, you’ve finished the book?” her boss asked. “A lot earlier than you’d planned.”

  “Yes, Mick. A new me. I met someone who helped me with my time management skills.” She smiled at him. “So here I am, ready to come back to work a bit earlier.”

  “I’d be more than happy for you to cancel your leave.” Mick steepled his fingers under his chin and frowned. “But your replacement is on a six-month contract and that doesn’t finish for another eight weeks. So I’m going to have to keep you on leave for at least another two months.”

  Brianna looked across at the window and thought for a moment. “What about in one of the other branches? Any other openings to fill in for a couple of months? I’m happy to travel.”

  Mick shook his head. “Things are tight at the moment. Government budget cuts, and it’s getting worse by the day.” He looked down at his watch. “I’m sorry, I have another appointment. So we’ll expect you back in eight weeks?”

  Brianna stood and her phone beeped. She ignored it and gave her full attention to her boss. “Not a problem. It was worth a try. I might even start another book.”

  She walked out of the office and picked up her umbrella from the circular bin at the front door.

  The fates were conspiring against her.

  No way was she going back to Lipari while Tom was there. She was running scared, but she knew he was going to try to convince her to make it a real marriage. It was not fair—she was only emotional because of the situation with her mother.

  She was not in love with Tom. She didn’t do relationships. They don’t last.

  Her conscience nagged. She was so confused she didn’t know what she wanted.

  Her phone beeped again while she was on the bus and, being pigheaded, she decided to ignore it. He was persistent—went with his personality type. Closing her eyes so she couldn’t see the phone tempting her from the side of her bag, she tried to make a plan.

  No success.

  What the hell was she going to do in Edinburgh stuck in her tiny apartment for eight weeks? She was so not going to be tempted back to the island by some stupid text messages. The phone beeped again. She shoved it down into her bag and sighed.

  He knew how she felt, and if he carried on like this he was going to get hurt. Yes, he was a great friend and she loved him like a friend. He was fun to be with and they were explosive in the bedroom. But he was only a friend.

  I don’t do love and happily ever after. And she knew deep in her heart he would be happy with no less.

  Why can’t things stay the way they were?

  She chewed on her lip and the phone beeped again and she pulled it angrily out of her bag.

  #3 I had fun.

  So did I Tomas, so did I.

  #4 Your kitchen is a mess and my clothes are on the floor. Aunt Maria won’t pick them up.

  Brianna burst out laughing and typed a response.

  I don’t like mess.

  His answer came straight back.

  #5 Got roaring drunk last week. Never again…been there, done that.

  The bus drew to a halt and she realized they were at her stop. She grabbed her bag and umbrella, getting to the automatic door just as it began to close.

  She jumped through the door and dropped her umbrella. When she bent to pick it up her cell phone flew out of her bag and landed in a puddle.

  “Shit, shit, shit. Oh, no.” Distress pierced her chest and she scrabbled around in the pouring rain. The phone was sodden and she wiped it with her coat. Glancing around, the bright lights of a tearoom beckoned and she pushed open the door, grateful for the warmth inside. With shaking fingers, she slid the loose back section
of the phone back into place and pressed the power button, breathing a huge sigh of relief as the phone powered on.

  The waitress waited for her order while she scanned her message box.

  Three new messages.

  She looked up at the waitress, laughing, and ordered a pot of tea and scones.

  “Glad to see the rain hasn’t upset you, lovey,” the woman said.

  Brianna opened her in-box.

  #6 Didn’t insult anyone on the flight back. No beautiful clinical psychologists.

  Beautiful. A warm feeling stole over her and she closed her eyes. He told me I was beautiful all the time. What did he say before he left? “You’ve bewitched me. You’re in my blood.”

  The waitress placed a steaming pot of tea and a plate of scones loaded with jam and cream in front of her. Comfort food. She looked down at the next message.

  #7 Fall in love. Wasn’t on the first list, but it happened.

  Oh Jesus, don’t do this to me, Tom.

  The phone beeped again. What the hell was the next message going to say?

  Call me. Temporary staff member happy to leave now.

  It was a lifeline from Mick. Disappointment surged through her. Her finger hovered over the buttons.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tom pushed his bicycle through the gate of Brianna’s grandfather’s villa. He’d been invited up for a late lunch and was interested to find out what the old fellow wanted. The invitation had been more like a command. A brief note delivered yesterday by his driver, with a date and time in the midafternoon next to “pranzo.” Lunch. Friday, three o’clock.

  Even though he’d taken a change of clothes and showered at the marina, he was hot by the time he parked his bike outside the luxurious villa. He wondered how cold it was in Scotland.

  His phone had remained deathly silent since his seventh text, and he had begun to worry he’d pushed her too far. Swallowing the doubt plaguing him, he rang the bell on the ornate door and waited to be summoned inside. It had been two days since his last text and it was about time he took the final step of his campaign.