Dreaming of Verona: An enchanting, feel-good holiday romance
Page 26
‘Hi, Suzie, lovely to see you.’
She turned at the sound of the voice and smiled as she saw who it was. When she and Michael had finally got together, his had been one of the first numbers she had called.
‘Hi, Tommy, it’s great to see you, too. I’m so glad you could come.’ She hugged him warmly and kissed him on the cheeks, before repeating the process with the pretty girl on his arm. ‘Hi, I’m Suzie.’ After introducing Lord Tedburn, she returned her attention to Tommy’s new girlfriend. ‘In case you didn’t know it, this is a wonderful man you’ve got here. Has he told you he saved my life? Without Tommy, I wouldn’t be here now. Hang onto him. He’s worth it.’
The girl smiled back and Tommy looked embarrassed. ‘This is Debbie. We’re both doing postgraduate research at Nottingham. I’m doing English, she’s doing History.’ His eyes caught Suzie’s for a moment. ‘Thanks for telling me your big news. I’m so happy for you that you managed to get your man in the end.’ He looked and sounded sincere and she gave him a big smile in return.
‘Thanks, Tommy. It took time, but he was worth it. I’m delighted to see you both here tonight. I wish you all the very best and I look forward to seeing you using the study facilities here as soon as you like.’
Suzie left them after a few minutes and mingled with the other guests. She soon bumped into Beppe carrying a tray of bite-sized canapés which smelt fantastic. Unsurprisingly, a black shadow at his feet was following his every step.
‘Suzie, you’ve got to try these. They’re slices of deep-fried polenta, topped with roast beef, horseradish and porcini. It’s a variation on an English recipe I got from Alex. The porcini and polenta were my additions.’
Suzie did as bidden and licked her lips. They were divine. He smiled indulgently at her.
‘Take another one. You need to keep your strength up.’ He added a lurid wink for effect, but she knew him of old by now and his innuendo didn’t even manage to bring a flush to her cheeks. Instead, she grinned.
‘For the windsurfing, you mean? Don’t forget the big race coming up on Valentine’s Day. I need to make sure I’m strong enough to beat you this time.’
‘Ah, the Love Race. You know something, somehow I think you’ve already won that one.’ He was smiling now. ‘And you’ve managed to mend a badly broken heart in the process.’ Suddenly serious, he carried on in a low voice. ‘He’s my best friend, Suzie, and I’ll always be grateful to you for bringing him back from the edge.’
Feeling a sudden flood of emotion threatening to engulf her, Suzie helped herself to another of the canapés and bent down to feed it to the dog, taking advantage of the momentary respite to wipe the back of her hand across her eyes before straightening up again. She reached up and kissed Beppe on the cheek.
‘Thanks, Beppe. You’re a sweetie.’ She was just turning away when she heard his voice again.
‘Hey, you can’t just feed the dog my food and not have some more yourself, you know. Here, take another one of these.’
She gave him a grin, took another piece of polenta and headed off into the crowd. By the time she got up to the top floor, she had consumed half a dozen different canapés and was on her second glass of wine, and she was feeling relieved and happy. Everyone she spoke to sounded complimentary and she felt encouraged that her efforts had not been in vain. Her new life here in Verona looked as if it was now assured. The doors to the terrace were open and she stepped outside into the crisp winter air. It had snowed the previous night and there was still snow on the roofs of the town, although she had swept the terrace clean this afternoon. All around her, lights twinkled, and somewhere in the distance a bell was pealing. It was a delightful scene and she breathed deeply, relishing the peace and quiet.
‘Room for two on the terrace?’
She turned towards him and smiled. ‘Definitely room for you anywhere, Michael.’
‘I thought your speech went very well. Complimenti.’ He caught her in his arms and pulled her to him.
‘I had a good teacher.’ She snuggled up against him and kissed his neck softly. As she did so, she heard him whisper in her ear.
‘Want to know something?’
‘Mmm.’ She didn’t really mind what he said. It just felt so perfect to be here with him like this.
‘You know they call Verona the city of love?’
She nodded against his shoulder.
‘Well, it’s true. You see, I’m not sure if I’ve told you this before, but I love you, Suzie.’
She turned towards him, slipped her hands around the back of his neck and grinned at him from close range. ‘That’s only the third time today you’ve told me.’
He grinned back. ‘But who’s counting?’
‘Well, just for the record, I love you too.’
‘Well, that’s all right then.’
‘All right? It’s bloody marvellous.’
And she kissed him.
Doubt thou the stars are fire,
Doubt the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar
but never doubt thy love.
William Shakespeare
Acknowledgements
With warmest thanks to my editor Emily Bedford, Michael Bhaskar and all the lovely people at my wonderful publishers, Canelo.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by Canelo
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
Third Floor, 20 Mortimer Street
London W1T 3JW
United Kingdom
Copyright © T.A. Williams, 2020
The moral right of T.A. Williams to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788637633
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Look for more great books at www.canelo.co