Sicilian Dreams

by J. P. Kennedy

  ‘So far Marco’ said Cassie gently, ‘It sounds like pretty normal teenage behavior. Certainly nothing like the youth cases I see on a regular basis.’ she added.

  ‘Yes, you are right. But I was their only child and they thought I was going off the rails and would end up in trouble with the police,’ he sighed and continued. ‘One evening shortly after I had turned fifteen, I took Guido’s scooter and went down into town to meet my friends. We had some beer and a couple of joints and we went up to a look out point behind the town with some girls. It was nothing outrageous, just some dumb kids trying to be tough. I didn’t keep track of time but as it became later I knew I my parents would be worried, that I would be in big trouble. I think that’s why I stayed even later, until nearly midnight before I left for home.

  I was on the final curve of the hill leading to the estate when I saw flashing lights ahead of me and had to stop. There had been an accident. A car had plunged through a barrier and was lying on its side twenty meters down a slope. An ambulance was parked nearby and two men were struggling to climb down the bank with a stretcher to rescue the victim. I got off my scooter and walked over to the edge to look down. It was dark and there was smoke drifting up from the car, but I still recognized it. It was my mother’s car.’ He stopped and drew his breath in sharply, trying to control his emotions, as Cassie sat up and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, to let him know she was there. ‘My mother was in that car. She had come out to look for me on that dark night. Another car passed by too close. She over corrected on the corner and the car went over the edge.’ Cassie could feel the tension in his shoulders and had felt his pain as he told his horrible story. He must carry that guilt with him everywhere she thought and this would explain the fraught relationship between he and his father. The father who could never forgive him and Marco must feel that every time they met. One silly selfish teenage moment had helped to cause a tragedy and a lifetime of sorrow for his family.

  He has been shouldering all the guilt himself she thought, all these years, and yet, his mother is not bitter and clearly adores him. She knows it was a tragic accident, but his father remains bitter and distant.

  ‘Marco, you have to stop blaming yourself. You will never have any peace until you do.’

  ‘You don’t understand. My actions put her in that wheelchair and sometimes I can’t bear to see her because it hurts so much. You see she had been a wonderful horsewoman and she loves the estate. You saw how much she cares for her garden, something she can’t do anymore. She and my father ran the estate like partners. She was very active in every part of it. My father could not stand it when she returned from the hospital after many months in a wheelchair. He became very bitter and retreated from the everything, the estate, his beloved horses, the wine and the olives.’

  ‘And you’ said Cassie softly. ‘He retreated from you.’

  ‘Si, but how can I blame him for that? She has an incomplete spinal cord injury. That means her spine was partially severed in the accident and she still suffers pain sometimes, which has to be managed with pain relief. She doesn’t complain but I can see it in her face sometimes.

  After my mother’s return to the estate, my father insisted we leave and go to live in Palermo where she could have the best medical care available whenever she needed it. I think she misses the estate terribly, but he does not like to come here at all. I spent much time at my cousins house during those years and often spent the weekends here with Marta and Guido while my father took my mother all around Europe trying to get some one to fix her spine and make her walk again. For a long time he refused to believe that she would never walk again. It was so hard for both of them. I am so sorry you felt uncomfortable at the house the other day. It was not my intention, but now you can perhaps see the rather complicated relationship my father and I share. He blames himself for letting her go out that night looking for me instead of him, and I, I feel totally at fault.’ He seemed exhausted by the talking, and his head hung down, his eyes closed as if he could wish the whole horrible tragedy away. His breathing slowly became more even and Cassie thought he may have dropped off to sleep. She quietly got up off the day bed and found a throw rug, which she carefully draped over his legs. Better that he sleeps undisturbed now. She crept like a mouse to the head of the stairs.

  ‘Cassandra, where are you going?’ he asked. ‘Please stay here with me, I would very much like your company tonight.’ He held out his hand and took Cassie’s as she returned to his side, sliding over and making more room for her on the bed and rearranging the cover over both of them.

  They fell asleep quickly, wrapped in each other’s arms.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  She woke the next morning to find Marco sitting on the edge of the daybed holding a coffee for her.

  ‘Just in time princess. I didn’t want to wake you and thought I might have to drink it. That would have been my third one this morning.’ Cassie sat up and took the tiny cup from him, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

  ‘How long have you been awake for?’ she asked, noting the dark circles under his eyes.

  ‘Since about 5am. I could not get back to sleep again so I have been working and watching you sleep instead. A big distraction, I can assure you.’ He grinned at her and Cassie felt relieved that despite his tired eyes, he seemed more like his usual self.

  ‘Marco, are you okay,’ she asked?

  ‘Of course. What I told you last night happened a long time ago and I have to let it go and get on with my life. I do not want to burden you with it anymore.’ He took her cup and placed it on the floor before lying down next to her and taking her in his arms. Cassie was not convinced but could also see that Marco had no intention of revisiting last night’s conversation. In fact, he had other things on his mind as she quickly discovered as he rolled on top of her and kissed her lightly on the lips.

  ‘You like to exercise, no? Therefore I am about to demonstrate the best wake up exercise for you’ he said, nuzzling her neck and tickling her ear lobe with his tongue, ‘ and it should part of your daily fitness routine.’ Cassie giggled and he tickled her under the arms. She squealed and squirmed against him but this only aroused him and now she could feel his erection through the thin cotton of her dress. He undid his jeans and slipped them down before kissing her again her and Cassie could feel herself responding instantly to his passion.

  ‘This exercise’ she whispered, ‘what muscle group does it work on?’ She took his lower lip in her teeth and bit down on it gently. He responded by lifting her dress up and touching her between her legs.

  ‘This part’ he whispered back, stroking her gently as she gasped. ‘And this part’ he said, taking her hand and putting it on his cock. He was rock hard and straining against Cassie’s hand. Pushing her legs apart, he entered her and they rocked together for a few moments both focusing on the pure pleasure of their coupling. Cassie lifted her hips up and pushed herself against him with a groan wanting to take all of him into her. Marco put his hands under her butt and thrust into her, groaning as she found his nipples and tweaked them. Her unbridled passion made him want to possess her fully and he rode her hard as her legs clasped behind his back, lifting her to him until they came together, crying out at the same time, limbs entwined.

  Marco flipped onto his back and they lay together, Cassie on her side, one leg thrown across him, while her head rested on his shoulder. His arm was around her shoulders and his fingers gently stroked her arm. ‘What are you planning to do today’ he asked?

  ‘Well, we didn’t go to the beach yesterday afternoon, so I think that’s the plan today.’ said Cassie.

  ‘Good choice. Make sure you go to the beach club to the left of the main stairs down to the beach. He is a friend of mine, Martino,’ said Marco.

  ‘Everyone is a ‘friend’ of yours Marco,’ said Cassie, teasing him and poking him in the ribs.

  ‘Si, it is true, I am a very popular man,’ he agreed, smiling, so Cassie poked him again.

 
; ‘I have another meeting in Palermo with Luca and the development team today. How long are you going to be at the beach? Maybe we can catch up later this evening.’

  ‘Okay, why don’t you text me when you have finished your meeting?’

  ‘No problem.’ He looked at his watch. ‘But now we have to get going, it is nearly 10am.’

  ‘I had no idea it was that time,’ said Cassie, jumping up from the day bed and looking around for her sandals.

  ‘But it doesn’t matter for you Cassandra, you are on holiday. Relax, I will take you back to the villa now.’ He pulled on his jeans and taking her by the hand, they went down the floating stairs and out the door into the brilliant sunshine. Marco’s Spider was parked next to the carriage house and he opened her door before climbing in and starting up the growly sounding engine. The soft top was down and Cassie leaned back in her seat and gazed up at the clear blue sky, marveling once more at how each day was a perfect replica of the last. That thought also made her realize that her holiday was not infinite and neither was her time with Marco. Or with her friends, she thought. I can’t just make this whole thing about Marco. But that sort of logic had an empty ring to it now and Cassie realized with a sinking heart that she was in danger of breaking her heart over him. She glanced over at him and smiled. He looked so God damn handsome and rugged, even with little sleep. He caught her looking and smiled back at her and her heart melted. I am in love with him she thought, and while her uppermost feeling was one of unalloyed joy, there was an undercurrent of cold fear in her belly.

  He drove into the courtyard of Villa Tramonte and got out to open her door for her. She reached up to kiss him on the lips and earned herself a huge bear hug and another kiss from him.

  ‘Wear a swimsuit not a bikini,’ he said, ‘Better still, wear a wet suit with a divers helmet. I don’t want the beach boys hanging off you like flies.’ Grinning at her he leapt back into the car and drove off.

  The French doors were open to the terrace and Cassie strolled through to where Kat and Liz sat at the big outdoor table, nursing coffees.

  ‘I guess he’s pulling some all-nighters in his ‘studio’ at the moment’ teased Liz. ‘Learn the finer points of architecture, did we?’

  ‘Morning girls’ she cooed, well aware that her hair was a tangled mess, her face, probably a little red, and her dress, well, one strap remained undone and it was badly creased. ‘Give me five minutes and I’ll be right back out.’ She scooted off to her bedroom and flung her dress into the corner with her other pile of washing, scooping up her black bikini and donning it quickly. Teeth brushed, hair tied up in a knot, sun cream on, ready to go, she announced to her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

  ‘Right Kat, I hope you haven’t already told Liz everything that happened last night. I’m all ears.’ she said, plopping herself down onto the soft lounger with a sigh of comfort.

  ‘Glad you could join us’ said Kat, laughing. She had on her big white Jackie O sunglasses and she had pulled her hair back into a ponytail with a red polka dot scarf. ‘Liz wouldn’t let me start until you returned to villa T,’ she added.

  ‘Despite dying to know all the details, I selflessly held off until you were here,’ said Liz.

  ‘Proceed Kat, spare us nothing.’

  ‘I did see the lime green socks, so don’t get started,’ she said, holding a finger up to them. ‘And yes, I admit, at that point I seriously considered leaping off the bike and pleading an instant migraine or something. But I had gone to all that trouble to get ready and he was so nice, that I thought, why not, go with it girl, you might just have fun, and of course, I did. End of story.’

  ‘No way, you are not getting off that easily,’ screeched Liz.

  ‘Yes, nice try’ said Cassie, ‘especially when I have had to go through hoops with you two every time I go out with Marco.’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ laughed Kat. ‘ He took me over to his cousins trattoria in Castelbuono which is a beautiful little town in the Madonie Mountains.’

  ‘What did you eat?’ said Liz, eagerly.

  ‘Pizza’ said Kat.

  ‘Pizza?’ said Liz.

  ‘Yes, pizza. It is really a glorified Pizzeria. That, and a few pasta dishes, but he, that is, the cousin Franco, suggested we have a pizza so we did.’

  ‘To drink?’ said Cassie, hoping there was more.

  ‘Beer.’ said Kat, laughing again at their disbelieving faces. ‘Look, it was a rustic trattoria and pizza and beer just seemed like the right combination at the time.’

  ‘It’s just hard to imagine you Kat, of all people, being happy munching on a plain old pizza and guzzling a beer or two.’ said Liz, surprised.

  ‘I guess it depends on the company I keep, doesn’t it? I’m not just a material girl as it turns out. But when you finish with a hefty scoop of gelato, it kind of takes any possibility of romance out of the equation. I mean picture this, I’ve stuffed down a pizza, two beers and my palazzo pants, which are high waisted, are feeling uncomfortably tight. In fact, I’m sure I can see my stomach bulging out below the waistband I’m feeling so bloated, and then Davide suggests we finish with a gelato just down the street from the trattoria. By this time I feel like I am going to explode so as I waddle down the street trying to adjust my trousers so that they don’t keep hiking up my crotch; I knew I should have bought a bigger size; I said I would share his, to be polite, and then afterwards we jumped back on the bike and he said we would go back to Cefalu to go dancing. Which was the last thing I felt like doing. I had real indigestion. On the way back, he stopped at some look out point above Cefalu and I knew the big park up scene was coming.

  ‘At the look out?’ said Liz. ‘That’s a bit cheesy.’

  ‘Actually, it is a really beautiful spot and under normal circumstances, I would have been quite happy to lock lips with him, but to tell you the truth, all I felt like doing at that point was doing a huge fart.’ They all burst out laughing, and Kat continued. ‘You know how when you get really bloated sometimes and your stomach starts to cramp and you just know you’ve got to let one rip.’ Cassie rolled around laughing on the lounger and Liz said, ‘That’s the worst, it always seems to happen in company, never alone.’

  ‘So true. So, he goes to put his arm around me and I double over, clutching my stomach, claiming sudden illness, which in some ways was not feigned. The poor man, he was so nice, he drove me back here so slowly. Now I feel really bad for him.’

  ‘What, bad you messed up his seduction scene, or bad that you missed out?’ said Liz.

  ‘No, don’t tell me, is that pity I hear in your voice? The green socks did get to you after all, didn’t they?’ said Liz, triumphantly.

  ‘And the tight pants and the pointy shoes.’ added Cassie, helpfully.

  ‘And the curls slicked down with Vaseline.’ threw in Liz.

  ‘Stop it, stop it.’ Kat put her hands over her ears, laughing. ‘It wasn’t Vaseline, I’m sure of it, just too much of some hair product. You’re making me feel really shallow,’ she said. ‘He really is such a nice, kind guy and funny in his own way too.’

  ‘Kind of like ‘he’s got a great personality’ type?’ said Cassie, teasingly. ‘Shame about the looks? But in this case, that is not really true is it? I mean, he looked quite the part on the boat, and right at home.’

  ‘I know, I know,’ said Kat, ruefully shaking her head. ‘But the chemistry just wasn’t there last night. You can’t fake that. He looked just perfect on the boat maybe I should have left it like that. A lovely memory with Captain Fantastic on the high seas.’

  ‘Do you think he will ask you out again?’ said Liz.

  ‘I don’t know. I think he kind of got the message when I doubled over at the look out, although that was for real, but we did have fun together. He’s got a great sense of humor, and clothes aren’t everything. I mean, he could have a makeover.’

  ‘Keep him on ice then’ said Liz. ‘It sounds like you haven’t quite finished with him after all. Maybe you just t
urn out to be good friends, which would be amazing, because how many good male friends do any of us really have? I mean, Doug is my best friend, but he is my husband too, so that’s friends with benefits.’ she laughed.

  ‘Are we beaching today?’ asked Kat. ‘I feel like swimming in the sea and maybe doing a little shopping later on when the shops reopen.’

  ‘Sounds great,’ said Cassie. ‘Why don’t we eat in town? No pizza Kat, I swear.’

  ‘That would be good’ said Kat. ‘I just won’t wear anything constricting this evening. I feel a kaftan moment coming on.’

  They spent the rest of the morning catching up on emails and reading beside the pool, Liz happily trolling the Internet for more authentic Sicilian recipes to try out. After a light lunch of toasted Panini with prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, rocket and tomatoes, with some slices of cool, juicy watermelon to finish, they packed a couple of carry bags and headed down the hill and into town. The estate house looked deserted as they drove past and a gardener was slowly raking the gravel of the circular driveway in front of the main villa as they drove past, the big house seeming to shimmer in the sun, the air quiet and heavy in the somnolent, afternoon heat.

  There were plenty of day-trippers already on the beach in Cefalu when they arrived. Liz managed to find a tiny parking space on a narrow cobblestone street two back from the beach. The buildings were stacked side by side casting long shadows in the sleepy afternoon light. Reaching the promenade, Cassie walked over to the wide steps leading down to the beach and recognized the beach club Marco must have meant. It had a long wooden ramp running from the stairs to an open sided restaurant and bar area, and beyond that, rows of changing cubicles, loungers for hire, and outdoor showers.

  ‘This must be the one,’ she said, leading the way. She was glad they were going to be under cover and wondered how the sunbathers stretched out everywhere on the public area of the beach, could stand the heat. There was soft music playing, and an older man polishing glasses at the bar. When the girls walked up to him and said, ‘Buon giorno’ he immediately replied, ‘Ah, you must be the friends of Marco? He called me this morning and told me three beautiful young ladies would be coming to my beach club today.’ He smiled at them. ‘I am Martino, welcome. Which loungers would you like? Marco has already taken care of it, so tell me where you would like to be and I will put up the umbrellas for you.’