The Complete Legacy Series: Books 1 - 6

by Paula Kay

  Lia’s eyes filled with tears again, remembering the intense conversations that she’d had with Arianna about what she’d felt about her own daughter and the pain of knowing that she would die before ever being able to tell her how much she loved her.

  “Lia, Ari just wanted everything for you. Everything that she’d known that you’d given up when you made the choices that you made. That’s why she left you this restaurant. That’s why she thought that you’d be happiest back here in Italy. It wasn’t at all about you having all of the money to create a life similar to hers. She was well aware of how different your tastes were, even though you tried so hard to accommodate hers since the moment you first met. She didn’t care about that. She only cared that maybe she could make some of your dreams come true. She felt happiest thinking that finally it could be your time to have everything go well for you, to see your dreams fulfilled.” Blu stopped to look at Antonio, standing there beside Lia, holding her hand and looking at her with pure love in his eyes.

  “God, this—you two. If you had any idea how happy that would have made your daughter.” Blu laughed as Lia and Antonio looked at one another.

  “Well, I just don’t quite know what to say.” But Lia was smiling now as she spoke. “I’m just so thankful that you all are here, that you all have loved me through so much this past year.” She gave Antonio’s hand a squeeze as she continued. “I think that everything you’ve been saying to me is true, and I think that I’ve really not gotten it until now.”

  She took a deep breath as she looked around the room. “And I think I finally get it.” She grinned broadly and felt the weight of the world lifting from her shoulders. There were a lot of changes to be made, and she was going to tackle them with a renewed sense of purpose—she glanced at Antonio by her side—and with this lovely man beside her.

  “Carlo, about those pizzas?” Lia called into the kitchen and then laughed as she saw him already taking them out of the oven. She grabbed the hammer and a few nails that she saw lying on the counter, handing them to Douglas. “Can you just put up the picture of Ari over where we discussed, please? I’ll get another frame for that later. Sofia, can you turn the music on please—the La Boheme track is fine—and I’ll go get the Chianti.”

  She started for the kitchen, then turned back for a moment. “Everyone please have a seat. We’re about to have a much-needed party in here.”

  Chapter 31

  Lia jumped at the knock on her door.

  “Come in.”

  “Hi. I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Gigi said.

  “No, not at all. I wanted to talk to you alone anyways—to apologize for how I spoke to you earlier today. Come, sit here by me.” Lia patted the big space next to her on the king-size bed.

  Gigi crossed the room to sit next to her friend. “It’s okay. I know that you’ve been under a lot of pressure—we all know that.”

  “I’m so thankful for your support and that you’re all here. It makes me miss you all so much, though.” Lia smiled.

  ‘Well, we sure do miss you too,” Gigi said.

  Lia reached over to give her friend a slight hug.

  “I have something for you,” Gigi said, handing her a large envelope.

  Lia turned it over and looked at her friend, confused. “What is it?”

  “Open it,” Gigi said. “It’s an essay that Ari had submitted to a publication before she died. It wasn’t accepted so it was returned in the mail. It was in the forwarded mail that Douglas just received yesterday.”

  Lia opened the envelope and slid the single typed paper out on the bed in front of her, glancing at Gigi as she read the title, “I Hope She Knows”.

  Gigi leaned over to give Lia a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll leave you alone to read it.”

  Lia smiled slightly, a bit shocked that she’d suddenly been given this unexpected gift from her daughter. She took a deep breath, flashing back to all that had happened and been said last night at the dinner. She fluffed up her big pillows behind her on the bed and settled in to read the words that her daughter had written.

  I Hope She Knows

  by Arianna Sinclair

  When I was young, I thought my life was perfect. All of my friends said it was so, and their lives also seemed pretty perfect, so I believed them. My father worked hard for everything that we had, and I knew it was a certain kind of perfection that he was trying to achieve. I thought that he’d done that for us—with our fancy house, expensive cars, the vacations, and even the big allowance he’d been able to afford for me. It was all pretty perfect…until it wasn’t.

  The day everything started to unravel for me was not the day that my parents died, as one might think. That day was rough, for sure. And all of the trauma that followed after that wasn’t easy. Even the day that I was told that I only had months to live was not the worst day of my life.

  The worst day of my life was also the best day of my life. That was the day I met my birth mother.

  When I first saw her, I instantly saw myself. Not just in the way she looked, but also the recognition of a lifetime of guilt and shame. A lifetime that would be so much shorter for me, which gave me all the more reasons to get it right. I loved that moment when our eyes first met. I hadn’t yet broken down my walls against trust but instinctively knew that I wanted much more time than what we had. The realization of that was the worst I’d ever felt.

  My mother helped me to have the happiest days of my life towards the end. And I’m sure that they ended up being some of the worst days of her life. The sorrow I’ve felt for that has threatened to overwhelm me at times, yet I push on, knowing there is little else to choose.

  We’ve had this time together for reasons I’m sure that neither of us can fully comprehend. I hope she knows how happy knowing her has made me. I hope she knows that I loved her and forgave her ten times over in the end. I hope she can forgive herself for the mistakes of her past, that she will go on to live a happy life filled with love and contentment and every single thing that makes her smile.

  I hope she will remember the times we had together with fondness and not tears. I hope that someday she’ll find the love that I didn’t have the chance to know with a man. I hope she’ll remember that life can be short sometimes. That people come and people go.

  I hope she’ll know that I wanted her to be happy, and I hope my mother knows how much I loved her.

  Lia put the paper aside as she took a deep breath, allowing the tears to come.

  But there was something very different about these tears. She hoped that by some chance, Arianna was looking down on her now, seeing the effect that reading her words had had on her. Leave it to her daughter to continually give her so much more than anything she ever deserved.

  Almost as soon as the thought was in her head, she pushed it aside. Enough with the negative talk. It was time to be done. If she’d learned anything from her daughter, it was that. What was she waiting for? Arianna was right. Life was fleeting, and spending another moment of it with guilt and overwhelming sadness was not honoring Arianna or herself.

  She got it now. Everything that all her loved ones had been trying to tell her all this time. It had taken her awhile, but she was fully there. It was time to start living her life for her. To finally put aside the guilt. If Arianna had forgiven her, then it was time for her to forgive herself.

  Lia got up to go find Gigi and the others, telling them how much what she’d read had effected her. It was time for moving on. She was ready, and they were there with open arms to support her just as they always had been.

  Chapter 32

  Lia stood in the doorway of the kitchen in her new villa surveying the group of friends sitting around the dining table of her new home, finishing off the meal that she’d prepared for them. It had been a small miracle that the home had still been available for purchase and for her to move into straightaway. Gigi, Douglas, and Blu had all extended their trips in order to help her move in; and even though it was more crowded than
the bigger villas in the area, Lia had insisted that her friends fill up the guest rooms.

  She walked back into the kitchen, turning her attention to the dessert she had brought out from the refrigerator. She felt Antonio’s hands around her waist, heard him sniffing the scent of his favorite perfume on her neck.

  “Bella, I see you’ve turned into my little rocker chef in here,” he said in reference to her favorite music playing in the background while she cooked. “I like it.” He nuzzled her neck with a kiss.

  Lia leaned her head back onto his strong chest. “I like it too.”

  She smiled, thinking about how far she’d come. Standing here in the kitchen with Antonio now really felt like coming full circle. Finally she’d learned how to truly let go, how to be guided by Arianna’s wishes and the wealth that her daughter had left her, without getting lost in a life that wasn’t hers to live.

  She took Antonio by the hand, guiding him quietly through the door into the small living room with the fireplace that she loved.

  “I have one last thing to unpack that I wanted to show you.” She walked over to the box on the floor, picking up two framed pictures, placing them gently on the mantel. Antonio came over beside her, taking her hand in his as he looked at the pictures.

  “She was so beautiful,” he said, picking up the framed shot of Arianna that Lia had captured when they were at the market in Florence. Her dark hair was a mass of tangles in the light breeze, her smile wide as she posed for her mother that day. And right next to the picture was a shot of Lia and Antonio that they’d taken with her phone during their gelato date in the square. In it, the forgiveness of the past and the hope for a future had been captured so perfectly. They were two young lovers hurled through time and space yet brought together to begin anew.

  Antonio walked over to the two glasses of Pinot Grigio that he’d poured for them, handing one to Lia and raising the other in a toast. “To our daughter—” Lia clinked her glass to his as he continued. “—for bringing you—my love, back to me.”

  Lia felt tears stinging her eyes, but for the first time in a long time, they were tears of sheer happiness. Antonio pulled her to him as the sounds of laughter from the other room filled the silence of the moment.

  “Ti amo, my darling.”

  “I love you too, Antonio.”

  Legacy Series

  (Book 3)

  Matter of Time

  By

  Paula Kay

  Copyright © 2015 Paula Kay

  Cover design by Beetiful Book Covers

  All rights reserved.

  PaulaKayBooks.com

  Chapter 1

  Blu took the glass of champagne offered her by one of the waitresses at the party. Looking around at all of the New York designers and people that she had admired for so long, she could hardly believe that she was finally here. It seemed a dream still. Her collection had shown without a hitch, and she could already feel the buzz about it and things to come. She spoke to a few people on her way to the ladies’ room, where she hoped to just get a breath from all of the excitement.

  She found herself alone and as she looked in the mirror, fixing her short spiky hair with her fingers, she thought about Jemma. Her daughter had delighted in helping her with her pink streaks this past week, mentioning that she was thinking about doing something in purple herself. Blu smiled as she remembered. Jemma was growing up so fast, and she wasn’t sure that she was ready for her to be taking on her own style just yet at nine years old.

  She fixed the collar on her short black jacket, smiling as she remembered the day that she’d given it to Arianna. It had been one of her favorite pieces, made especially for her best friend, and it had fit her perfectly. After Arianna had passed away, it was the one item that she’d chosen to keep from her closet, because it reminded her so much of the good times that they’d spent together. She’d altered it to fit her much shorter physique, and had worn it tonight for luck. She knew how proud of her Arianna would have been, and that thought made her insanely happy.

  She took one last look in the mirror, applied a dark red lipstick, and took a deep breath before going back out to the big party celebrating a handful of designers whose ranks she was so privileged to join. Showing her collection here at Fashion Week had been something that she never could have imagined, something she never would have been able to do had it not been for Arianna and everything that she’d done for her—left her.

  She hadn’t made it far outside of the restroom when she found a microphone being pushed towards her.

  “Blu Foster, can I ask speak to you for a few minutes?” the eager young reporter asked.

  “Sure. I guess so.” Blu didn’t really have a chance to think about it.

  “Your label, ‘black-n-blu’, is getting a lot of attention tonight after that spectacular runway show. How are you feeling right now?”

  The microphone was back in front of her, and it was then that she noticed the camera too. Thankful that she’d taken the time to fix her face and hair, she didn’t have a moment to think about what she was going to say.

  “Is it?” She tried to look normal even though her heart was pounding out of her chest. She knew it had gone well, but nothing had really sunk in yet.

  “Are you serious?” the reporter was saying. “You’re all over social media as the most exciting new designer to hit the runway.”

  Blu didn’t quite know how to respond, and in the back of her mind the nagging fear was there. Am I really prepared for this? She knew that she was not, no matter how much she had thought about it. Things were going to be changing, and fast.

  “So how are you feeling tonight?” the reporter was asking her again.

  “Oh, sorry. I’m feeling, I don’t know… A bit overwhelmed, I suppose.” She tried to get it together, remembering that she was on camera. “I’m very happy that the show went well and it’s amazing to be among so many talented designers. I feel very fortunate for that.” God, do I sound normal or ridiculous?

  “So what’s next for you and ‘black-n-blu’? Are you working on another collection?”

  “Yes, there’s always something to work on.” Blu laughed when she thought about all of the sketches hanging on the walls of her workroom back at her little haven on the beach. Well, there was nothing little about the very luxurious home that Arianna had left her.

  “You live in La Jolla, is that right?”

  Blu froze. This was really happening. Her life, Jemma—everything she had worked so hard for so many years to keep private was about to be out there for the whole world to see. She really wasn’t ready for this. She hadn’t clearly thought it through, although in the back of her mind she knew what the ramifications could be. And she wanted her collection out there. It was all that she’d ever wanted—to be a designer. After years of working multiple jobs bartending, waitressing, and whatever else she could find to make ends meet for her and Jemma, she had kept the dream alive, working long hours into the night on her garments.

  She turned towards the camera, wondering how she could deflect the question about where she lived, knowing that it was all there for anyone to see now anyways.

  “Yes, I do live in San Diego.” More general than La Jolla, she thought.

  “And you were raised in New York, is that right?”

  She was shocked that this reporter seemed to know so much about her. Young and eager with her research, apparently.

  “Yes—but New York was a long time ago.” God, please move on.

  “And your family? Are they in the area and how do they feel about your success and showing at Fashion Week?”

  God. This is terrible. I really need to get out of here.

  Just at that moment, Blu’s phone started buzzing in her handbag. She quickly retrieved it, turning to the reporter.

  “I’m sorry but I have to take this call. Thank you very much.” She smiled big for the camera as the reporter thanked her for her time.

  She clicked the phone on as she made her way
across the room to step outside, where she could talk more freely.

  “Lia,” she said, excited to finally be talking to her friend in Italy. They’d been playing phone tag since before she’d left for New York, and she was dying to fill her in.

  “Blu, I’m so glad I finally reached you. How are you? How was the show? Tell me everything.”

  Blu laughed, thinking how wonderful it was to hear her friend’s voice. She’d only really spent a lot of time with Lia after Arianna’s death, but then the two had become fast friends. They’d shared a common grief, Blu for her best friend and Lia for the daughter she’d only just begun to get to know. Arianna had brought them together in an unexpected way, and the two delighted in sharing their successes with one another.

  “Oh, there’s so much to tell. I don’t even know where to start. You are still coming, yes? To San Diego? Jemma is beside herself with the excitement of having both you and Gigi at the beach at the same time.”

  “Yes, I can’t wait to see you all. I’m not sure if Antonio will be able to make it because of some issues that have come up with the vineyard, but I’m looking so forward to spending time with you all. And seeing your collection.”

  It had been several months since Blu and Jemma had last been to Tuscany to visit Lia, and the reunion would be really good for all of them.

  “But tell me about the show, Blu. How did it go?” Lia asked again.

  “Oh, the show was great. So crazy, really. I still can’t believe that all of this has really happened to me. That it’s real. Do you know that I was just interviewed for some big entertainment show?” Blu laughed while cringing inside, remembering the last questions that the reporter had been asking her.