Mum looked thoroughly put out. She’d never entirely approved of Daisy, much preferring the airs and graces of Alison instead. Before Mum could give a waspish retort, Harriet strode in, immediately appropriating the musicians’ microphone and telling everybody to take their partners for the traditional first May dance before dinner.
‘Ooh ’eck,’ said Daisy.
She necked the rest of her bubbly then flung her arms around me, nearly bashing me in the eye with her empty champagne flute.
‘C’mon, Florrie. Let’s give all the chinwags something to tattle about. Let’s have a dance together. But no snogging,’ she cackled, now clearly the worse for wear. ‘Although I’ve just spotted Mrs Thompson over there, so maybe one passionate lip-lock just for her benefit, eh? But definitely no tongues,’ she said giving a shriek of laughter.
But before I could reply, I was tapped on the shoulder and a familiar voice murmured in my ear. Instantly my heart began doing the conga around my ribs. I knew that voice. At night it haunted my dreams.
‘Florrie…cara…please may I have the pleasure of this dance?’
Chapter Thirty-Six
I turned and, as I did so, felt emotion rise up and catch in my throat. Luca stood before me, impossibly handsome in his tuxedo. He looked like the love interest in a romantic film and surely far more suited to partnering the likes of Harriet Montgomery than me. My arms didn’t care about that though. Without consulting my brain, they sprang up like two jack-in-the-boxes and wound around his neck. I was acutely aware of heads turning in our direction, and the air was thick with whispers behind backs of hands.
‘That’s it, Florrie,’ said Daisy approvingly. ‘Give ’em all something to talk about. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it. I’ve just spotted Mrs Thompson. I’m going to ask her to dance. I’ll tell her that I like older women and ask if she’s recruiting for her boudoir of bondage and bosoms.’
Cackling to herself, Daisy drunkenly staggered off across the marquee. But I barely registered my neighbour’s words or mischievous plans. Instead I was mesmerised by Luca’s eyes, thickly lashed, pupils dilated, and full of concern.
‘Florrie, what’s been going on?’
‘Not now, Luca. Not here. It’s hardly the place to talk properly.’
‘Yes,’ he insisted, ‘Right here, and right now. Never again am I making arrangements to meet up with you at a later date. You’ve dropped off the planet once. I won’t risk it happening a second time.’
‘There was a reason for me absenting myself.’
‘So tell me. I’m all ears.’
Around us couples were wrapped up in each other, swaying slowly in time to the smoochy music. To my left, Alison and Henry were nose to nose, completely immersed in each other. To my right Harriet and Martin appeared to be fully reconciled. One could almost see the cartoon hearts filling the air around them. Luca and I were barely moving, simply holding each other, staring into one another’s eyes.
‘So what happened to you?’ Luca persisted.
I took a deep breath. ‘On the evening we were due to meet, I was at Harriet’s and painting her portrait.’
‘Yes, I know. And?’
‘And the portrait had been vandalised.’ I skipped over the details of Alison’s handiwork. ‘Harriet insisted I stayed until whatever time it took to finish the painting so it could be safely locked away.’
‘So why didn’t you telephone and let me know that? Why the silence?’
‘I did telephone you. I called to rearrange our evening, but your phone was answered by Annabelle Farquhar-Jones. Look, Luca. I’m not up for playing double-crossing games. At the time Annabelle categorically stated that you were her man. She told me to stay away.’
Luca’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. ‘You’re joking.’
‘Hardly. She warned me off. Harriet overheard me on the phone to Annabelle and saw I was visibly upset. She worked out the gist of my conversation and confirmed Annabelle had set her cap at you some time ago.’
‘And that’s why you disappeared?’ Luca asked incredulously.
‘Yes! I don’t mind telling you I was absolutely dev–’
I suddenly shut up, fearful of giving away my feelings.
Luca pounced. ‘Devastated?’
For a moment I didn’t answer. Just looked at him silently. His eyes practically pinned me to the canvas marquee wall, demanding an answer.
‘Yes,’ I said reluctantly. ‘I was devastated.’
His face lit up. ‘But this is music to my ears, cara. It means you do care about me.’
‘Of course I care about you,’ my eyes flashed, ‘I–’
I stopped abruptly, mouth hanging open, refusing to finish the sentence.
‘Were you…were you about to say that you love me?’ Luca asked.
Hastily I shut my mouth. I’d almost uttered those very words. But it wasn’t fair to say them. And I had to tell Luca why.
‘Listen…there’s…there’s something you don’t know about me.’
‘Actually, Florrie, for a moment you listen. Regarding Annabelle. The night she came to my apartment, it was on the pretext of asking me about a recipe of all things. But she was never interested in me. I gather you now know she had been involved with your husband.’
‘Yes,’ I nodded. ‘The rumour mill has been very busy.’
‘When I opened my apartment door to her, I had a towel around my hips. I’d just got out of the shower in anticipation of seeing you later. So I made my excuses to Annabelle and briefly left her so I could pull some clothes on. I could only have been gone two or three minutes. When I returned I had no idea you’d telephoned, and certainly didn’t suspect Annabelle of intercepting your call. Later, when I realised you weren’t going to show up, I telephoned you only to discover your mobile was switched off.’
‘Yes, it was. I have since worked out Annabelle was simply rattling my cage whilst also trying to make my husband jealous. You see, Marcus had briefly switched his romantic pursuit to Harriet.’
‘So Annabelle’s plan worked. Marcus is back with her, right?’
‘Yes,’ I grimaced. ‘They are a couple.’
Luca caught my expression. ‘And you care about this? About them being together?’
I bristled. ‘Not at all. I don’t give two hoots about them. Give me an orange pen and a piece of paper and I’ll draw a sunset right now for the pair of them to walk off into. They totally deserve each other.’ I removed one hand from Luca’s broad shoulder and made a criss-cross sign over my heart. ‘I promise you it is the biggest relief to be out of a desperately unhappy marriage.’
‘Good,’ Luca murmured. ‘Which neatly brings me to a question I have to ask, Florrie.’ He looked at me searchingly. ‘Is it true you’re expecting my baby?’
My body stiffened. ‘Look, I agree we need to talk but…but not now…it’s not approp–’
‘Yes it is appropriate, Florrie. If this is true, I have a right to know. And immediately.’
His tone of voice left me in no doubt he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Suddenly the fight went out of me. My whole body sagged.
‘It’s true,’ I whispered. I wanted to lower my eyes. Look away. Instead I fought the urge to do so and held his gaze. His expression changed from one of questioning to pure shock. I took a deep breath. ‘I can see you’re horrified. That is why I didn’t want to tell you here.’ When Luca didn’t reply, I ploughed on. ‘But rest assured, it wasn’t deliberate on my part. I honestly thought I couldn’t have children. And I expect nothing from you at all.’ I was starting to gabble. ‘You don’t have to support me. Or the baby. It’s my mess. My responsibility. You have my word.’
Luca’s shocked expression changed to one of outrage.
‘You’re expecting my child, yet you think I’m the sort of man who would walk away?’
‘I just don’t want you to feel trapped or–’
‘Listen to me, cara,’ Luca’s voice softened. ‘I want to provide for you and t
he bambino. But more importantly, I want to be with you and our child. Do you understand?’
‘W-What?’ I stammered.
‘I’m overjoyed. Delighted! Unless,’ his face clouded and for a moment he faltered, ‘u-unless you don’t want me in your life?’
My eyes brimmed. ‘Nothing could be further from the truth,’ I whispered.
‘Then why are you crying, cara?’
I sniffed and wiped a rogue tear that had managed to whizz down one cheek.
‘I’m crying because I’m happy.’
The music came to a sudden stop. Harriet walked over to the band’s microphone and requested everybody make their way to the banqueting table where dinner would be served. Couples began to peel away, drifting towards the stack of bone china plates and crisp white linen napkins, but Luca and I remained transfixed on the dance floor. Gently, I touched his cheek.
‘You’re sure about this, Luca? Everybody will say I’m rebounding. Maybe they will say you are too. The gossips will whisper our relationship is a disaster waiting to happen.’
‘So let them gossip. I’m not interested in Lower Amblegate’s grapevine. Listen to me, Florrie. You are the woman of my dreams. You’re beautiful, funny, kind, caring, and you make my heart sing, okay? I want to spend the rest of my life with you and watch our baby grow up. And why stop at one? We’ll have a whole brood! But as long as you are in my life, cara, that is all that matters. In fact, to prove just how serious I am, Florrie,’ Luca grabbed both my hands and furled them tightly within his own, ‘will you make me the happiest man on this planet and say that one day you’ll be Mrs Serafino?’
I gasped, and then started to laugh. But the laughter, like a kitten chasing a ball of wool, got all tangled up with my diaphragm. The sound turned to a strangled sob and suddenly tears were once again coursing down my cheeks. But before I could give Luca my answer, a shadow fell upon us. We turned, as one, to regard my father blocking out the twinkling chandeliers. His face was cold. His eyes glittered like twin flints of ice. It was as if winter had arrived early.
‘Dad?’ I said uncertainly.
My father took in my pink eyes and wet cheeks and then furiously rounded on Luca.
‘So you’re the man this village has been gossiping about?’
‘Er, Dad,’ I interrupted, ‘I’d like you to meet Luca Serafino. He’s–’
‘I know exactly who he is,’ my father roared. ‘He’s the man who thought you were good enough to take to his bed, but nothing more than a piece of rubbish to discard afterwards.’
All around us, people were starting to turn and look at what was going on. The band had long since stopped playing. With the absence of background music, Dad’s rant was audible across the entire marquee.
‘Dad, you don’t understand,’ I said in a low voice.
‘Oh I understand all right,’ said Dad menacingly. ‘But the thing is, Mr Serafino, I need you to understand me.’
And with that my father raised a balled-up meaty fist and punched Luca hard in the face.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
As Luca fell backwards, somebody screamed loudly. My mother rushed over, swooping like a malignant bird of prey.
‘I’ve a good mind to give you a bashing myself,’ she yelled and raised her handbag threateningly. ‘You’ve reduced our daughter’s reputation to shreds and should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.’
‘Mum, please!’ I implored. ‘And Dad, you have got things totally wrong.’
My father’s chest was still heaving from the exertion of flattening Luca. As the enormity of my words penetrated his brain, his face began to register horror. The atmosphere in the marquee was suddenly more highly-charged than the national grid. The hum of chatter rose like a swarm of bees, gathering momentum, until the whole marquee was abuzz about what had happened. However, one voice – trained for the stage as well as the big screen – rose above it all.
‘What the bloody hell is going on here?’
Harriet. She strode over to our little group, her face flushed with anger. As Luca slowly stood up, one hand gingerly touching a very bloodshot eye, Harriet clicked her fingers. Instantly the security team leapt to attention.
‘Nobody ruins my ball,’ Harriet hissed furiously.
‘Let me in…let me in,’ said a shrill voice.’
Suddenly Daisy was ducking under a security guard’s elbow. Her eyes were on stalks as she looked from my father’s stricken face to Luca’s injured one.
‘Oooh, Bill,’ she said and clapped one hand to her mouth. ‘What have you done to Florrie’s beau?’
‘Florrie’s what?’ Mum gasped. ‘This man is no suitor of my daughter’s. He’s a complete and utter bounder.’
‘And that’s putting it mildly,’ mumbled Dad. He was rocking backwards and forwards on his heels and looking rather pale. He glanced at the security men. ‘I don’t regret giving this scoundrel a pasting,’ his voice quavered. ‘He’s used and humiliated my beloved daughter. But I know what I did was wrong.’ He held out his hands and put his wrists together. ‘Go on, son,’ he said to one of the guards. ‘Arrest me.’
‘Just a minute,’ said Luca. He pushed my father’s hands down. ‘Sir, you have the wrong impression of me, and for that I don’t blame you for wanting to deck me. I would feel the same way if your accusations were true. But they’re not.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Dad, puzzled.
Luca ploughed on. ‘Thanks to whispers, rumours, gossip and scandal, it seems there has been a lot of misunderstanding.’
‘Misunderstanding? You mean you’re not the man who loved and left my daughter?’
I put my head in my hands and groaned.
‘Dad, I thought Luca was in love with another woman. But it turned out the woman in question was actually in love with Marcus.’
In my peripheral vision I caught sight of June, Mum’s rambling friend and Annabelle’s mother. She was looking very shifty. Clearly June had known all along about her daughter and my husband having an affair. I mentally sighed. It was pointless saying anything to June. It wasn’t her fault her daughter was a husband-thieving man-eater.
‘To put the record straight,’ I continued, ‘Luca is not with anybody.’
‘I beg to differ,’ said Luca.
‘I am so confused,’ my father wailed.
‘Cara, would you please introduce me properly to your parents. Let’s start this whole thing again.’
‘Good idea. Dad…Mum…this is Luca Serafino. Luca…meet Barbara and Bill, my parents.’
‘Delighted to meet you both,’ said Luca stepping forward, one eyeball still pouring tears like a mini Niagara Fall. He kissed my perplexed mother on both cheeks before grabbing one of my father’s hands and pumping it up and down.
‘Luca,’ I explained to my parents, ‘is the father of my unborn baby.’ Both my parents stood stock still and slack-jawed. Even my mother for once seemed at a loss for words. ‘And Luca is the man I love.’ My parents nodded but remained dazed. ‘And,’ I smiled as a heavenly warmth began to flood my whole being until I felt like I was single-handedly heating the entire marquee, ‘he’s just asked me to marry him.’ My smile became a full-on beam. Life was too short to be miserable. It was also too short not to take risks and find one’s own slice of happiness. ‘I’d like you both to meet your future son-in-law.’
From the edge of the gawping crowd, a watching Mrs Thompson audibly gasped.
‘Well I didn’t know that!’
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Two years later
‘I have to say, Florrie,’ said Daisy, ‘you look absolutely amazing.’
I was seated at Daisy’s kitchen table, our habitual morning coffees set before us. In the background Jeremy Kyle’s audience were roaring their disapproval at the latest guests publicly playing out their private disasters.
‘Thanks,’ I smiled.
To my right was Alison, sipping Fortnum & Masons’ Earl Grey tea that she’d brought over from her own kitc
hen larder on the grounds of not being able to stomach common supermarket beverages.
‘So how’s married life?’ asked Alison.
‘Still wonderful,’ I sighed.
After a very messy divorce from Marcus that had seemed to take an eternity, Luca and I had eventually wed. For the last two months I’d been Mrs Florence Serafino. Luca hadn’t rushed me though.
‘Cara, if you would prefer to – as my mama likes to say – live in sin then I’m more than happy to do so. You are the only woman for me. I don’t care what the future throws at us just so long as you are by my side. I can’t wait to go to sleep with you every night, and for your smiling face to be the first thing I see every morning. I want to grow old with you, Florrie. You’re my life partner. I don’t care whether you ever permit me to make you Mrs Serafino, although,’ his face had grown wistful, ‘I’d be very happy if you were no longer Mrs Milligan.’
‘Darling Luca,’ I’d grinned. ‘Rest assured that I am definitely not keeping Marcus’s name.’
Knowing that Luca wasn’t pressuring for marriage had the desired result. I’d awoken one Saturday morning to baby Milo’s cries and, as I’d put our treasured little miracle to the breast, had suddenly been overwhelmed with a huge desire for Luca to make an honest woman of me. Corny? Hell, yes. But wonderful too. And a fortnight later we’d been married in our local registry office surrounded by only our immediate family and closest friends with the wedding breakfast taking place at Luca’s restaurant. It had been the second happiest day of my life – the first being the day our precious son had burst into the world.
From the playpen in the corner of Daisy’s kitchen, toddler Milo was playing happily with Lily, Daisy’s fourth child. It had transpired that when Daisy had shoe-horned herself into her gown for the May Ball, her blossoming figure hadn’t been entirely due to over-indulging on chocolate bars whilst watching morning television.
The Corner Shop of Whispers Page 20