‘Thanks a million Liz.’ said Cassie. ‘I overheard most of what you said and I really appreciate it.’
‘That’s okay Cass. It’s just that he seemed so hurt and confused and I felt bad telling him to go away. But I understand that you don’t want to face him at the moment so I said what needed to be said.’
Later on, they shared a simple supper of leftovers, followed by a slice of apricot and ricotta tart. It was a warm evening and they sat outside on the terrace, the candles in the center of the table casting a soft glow around them.
‘This just melts in the mouth,’ said Cassie, dreamily spooning the dessert into her mouth and savoring the silky smoothness of the ricotta with the slightly tart taste of the apricots.
‘The cassata ice cream needs 12 hours in the freezer, so Marta showed me how to make this torta for tonight.’ she said, cutting herself another slice and muttering about diets.
One of Kat’s jazz compilations was playing quietly in the background and for a few moments Cassie was able to forget everything and just enjoy the peacefulness. She and Liz chatted about Kat and speculated how her day with Davide had gone. She had sent them a text earlier saying that they were going out to dinner in town so she wouldn’t be home for dinner. Liz understood her friend’s internal dilemma and did her best to keep the conversation light, but despite the calm and pleasantness of the evening, inevitably her thoughts turned to Marco and her mood would plummet again in despair. They were both in bed by 11pm but Cassie didn’t sleep for a long time after that. Finally she realized she wasn’t going to nod off under her own steam and she took a sleeping pill, and went into a deep, dreamless sleep almost immediately.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Despite the pill, she woke up early the next morning and couldn’t resist switching on her phone and checking her messages. I am a masochist, she thought. There were three voices message and four texts, all from Marco. The first two merely questioning her reticence in not replying to him, but in the subsequent ones, he sounded annoyed and confused, then finally worried. Cassie felt mean as she listened to the last one.
‘Cassandra, where are you? I have tried texting you and calling and now I am getting worried. Please let me know you are all right. I am worried about you.’
Hardening her heart to the last one, she got out of bed and hobbled along the hall to the kitchen. Kat and Liz were still asleep and she took her coffee out with her and lay down on a lounger.
She half expected to see Diavolo’s head pop up over the wall like last time and the thought made her giggle. But there was no one about except the birds, chattering noisily in the trees. Poor Diavolo, she thought. How long did he stand in the blazing sun yesterday afternoon before anyone got to him? Liz had suggested that this afternoon they should drive to a little town near Cefalu famous for it’s artistically painted ceramics. Cassie thought it was a great idea because she didn’t want to hang around the villa all day and run the risk of an encounter with Marco. Not yet, she reasoned. She knew she would have to talk to him but right now whenever she thought about him, she felt a combination of heartache and anger, neither of those feelings conducive to a relaxed state of mind. She wondered how Francesca was and was sure she would find out when Marta visited to change her dressings this morning. She kept thinking about their encounter at the lake and how shocked she had felt as Francesca spat out her venomous words and had left her feeling so vulnerable, a feeling she hated. Raw would be a good way to describe how she felt this morning, she thought. Raw and stupid for being such a naive idiot and falling for Marco’s all too obvious charms.
Kat wandered out onto the terrace, coffee cup in hand. She was wearing a beautiful silk robe, loosely belted around the waist and her hair was a glorious tumble of curls around her shoulders. She lay down next to Cassie and then spotted her feet.
‘Have you been running on hot embers?’ she said, pointing at the offending bandages. ‘What happened?’
‘It’s a long story, but the brief version is that I had a run in, excuse the pun, with Francesca at the lake yesterday and she stole my Nike’s. I had to walk bare foot all the way back, hence the bandages. They got a little cut up on the way’ said Cassie.
‘Who is Francesca?’ asked Kat.
‘She was the woman who wrapped herself around Marco like a boa constrictor the time we were at the nightclub.’
‘I vaguely remember seeing a stunning woman in a tight red dress when I went up to the bar for drinks.’ said Kat slowly, remembering the evening.
‘That’s the one,’ said Cassie. ‘I asked Marco about her and he said she was a family friend, nothing more. Turns out that is not the truth according to Francesca. She claims she and Marco had been an item but took a break, but now she wants him back. Immediately.’ she added with emphasis.
‘Oh, a tangled web of deception, how delicious.’ said Kat, smacking her hands together and grinning at Cassie.
‘Well it may seem intriguing to you, but it’s a nightmare for me at the moment.’ said Cassie firmly.
‘Do you believe her?’ asked Kat, arching one eyebrow and gazing at Cassie.
‘Why does everyone keep asking me that?’ said Cassie, sounding a bit whiney, even to herself.
‘Because there’s always two sides to every story Cass, and who is to say she wasn’t bluffing you to scare you away from Marco. By the looks of you, she may well have succeeded. Anyway, if they broke up, she has no claim over him anymore.’
‘She said she was the one who broke it off, not him, which suggests that there is unfinished business there at least from his point of view.’ said Cassie.
‘Now you are making suppositions counselor.’ said Kat. ‘Why don’t you just talk to Marco and find out instead of making yourself completely miserable.’ Kat put her hand on Cassie’s arm. ‘I know you are scared of being hurt again Cass, but you have to talk to Marco.’
‘I know, I know, I’m just not ready yet,’ said Cassie.
Liz joined them and thankfully the conversation turned to Kat and Davide. Cassie needed a distraction so she led the Q & A and tried to seem upbeat. The last thing she wanted to do was spoil Liz and Kat’s fun and that’s precisely what she would be doing if she just focused on herself.
‘First mate or Cruise Director?’
‘Definitely the Cruise Director. Davide showed me how to work the intercom and I read out the English part of the cruise blurb. It was great fun. I’ve always fancied myself on a microphone, and turns out, it’s quite addictive. He almost had to wrench the mic off me when it was his turn to speak,’ she said laughing.
‘I can just picture that,’ said Cassie. ‘How come he speaks several languages?’
‘It turns out his mother is Spanish and she was a translator before she got married. She speaks German, Dutch, French and of course Spanish and Italian. Davide has the same ear for languages, lucky thing.’
‘Did you go to the same places we did,’ asked Liz.
‘Yes, and it was even better the second time because I saw things I hadn’t seen the first time around. We stopped in the same bay for lunch and the boys set up the picnic. Davide actually came snorkeling with me after the other guests were back on board. He’s so fun’ she said, wistfully.
‘Oh dear, has Mr Berkley still got top billing or is he slipping down the marquee?’ asked Liz, teasing.
‘No, I like them both.’ wailed Kat, combing her fingers through her unruly hair. ‘Equally.’
‘Well better two than none.’ said Cassie before she could stop herself.
‘Cass, don’t.’ said Liz kindly. ‘You will only make yourself feel worse. Come on, let’s go for a swim before breakfast.’ She was already in her bathing suit and she took a running dive into the pool. Kat threw off her robe and dived in naked.
‘Well, no one’s going to see me skinny-dipping this early in the morning.’ she said gleefully, coming up for air.
‘I’ll get breakfast ready.’ offered Cassie, hobbling off to the kitchen, not quite ready to
shed the bandages and expose her tender feet to the chemicals in the pool, salt water chlorinated or not. She laid out a buffet breakfast of chopped fruit and yoghurt, toast and preserves on the terrace, and then made another cup of coffee for herself while she waited for the girls to finish their swim.
‘What time is Marta coming here?’ asked Liz.
‘I don’t know, she didn’t say when,’ replied Cassie. ‘I probably don’t need the dressings changed. They feel much better today.’
‘I think she will feel hurt if you don’t let her do them’ said Liz. ‘Anyway, I need to go to the supermarket this morning. Why don’t I drop you off at the main villa on the way?’
‘Okay, I’ll call her just before we leave to check that she is there.’ said Cassie.
‘I’m going to stay here,’ said Kat. ‘I feel like a lazy morning by the pool.’
‘Did you snog him last night?’ asked Liz.
‘Yes, nothing else though.’ said Kat, grinning at them.
‘Well, was there chemistry this time or was it a fizzer?’ pressed Liz.
‘Actually, there was a certain frisson between us and it was very enjoyable thank you.’
‘So?’ said Cassie.
‘I’m just taking my time getting to know him. I can’t handle two lovers, but 1 lover and 1 admirer is fine, even great, when you think about it. It’s fantastic for the ego.’ she cooed happily.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, thought Cassie, but she couldn’t help feeling that she should have done the same thing with Marco, instead of becoming his lover.
Half an hour later, they were ready to go and Cassie called Marta on the landline.
Marta answered and said she had just arrived home and that it would be fine for Liz to drop Cassie off there on her way to town. They left Kat lying prone on a lounger, gentle snores issuing forth from underneath the crown of her huge sunhat, which she had put over her face, the wide, floppy brim covering most of her neck and shoulders as well.
‘Poor thing, Davide has tired her out’ whispered Liz, giggling as she and Cassie tip toed out to the mini.
‘You’re not worried about Marco being there?’ asked Liz, as they drove down the road towards the main house.
‘If that’s the case, I’ll drop by later on,’ replied Cassie. ‘If his car is there, just keep going.’
There were no other cars in the driveway apart from Marta’s Fiat, so Liz stopped the car as close as she could to the path leading around to the kitchen.
‘I can pick you up on my way back,’ she said. ‘I’ll only be half an hour or so.’
‘Okay, thanks.’ said Cassie, looking up at the blank windows on the second story as if Marco might throw one open in any second and lean out to talk to her. She hurried around to the kitchen, stopping sharply at the door as she saw Marta sitting at the kitchen table with, none other than Marco’s mother Christina.
‘Oh, sorry, I can come back later.’ she said, turning to go.
‘No, come in,’ said Marta, getting up. ‘You are not interrupting us.’
‘Yes, do come in,’ said Christina, smiling up at Cassie. ‘We were just having coffee. Would you like one?’ She pushed herself away from the table.
‘No, stay there Christina, I will get Cassandra a coffee,’ said Marta, pulling a chair out for Cassie to sit on.
Cassie sat down next to Christina and began unwrapping the bandages from her feet.
‘How are you dear?’ asked Christina. ‘Marta tells me your feet were cut up yesterday when you ran back here to raise the alarm.’ Marta placed a tiny cup of espresso in front of Cassie and went to fill a basin with water at the sink.
‘Guido found one of your shoes on the track, but not the other, peccato, it is a shame.’ said Marta. ‘Diavolo must have thrown those off as well as Francesca.’ Marta placed the bowl of warm water on the floor and Cassie put her feet into it.
‘The horse was extremely dehydrated when Guido found him at the stables after Francesca had been taken away by the ambulance. He was not looking good and it took some time to cool him down.’ said Christina, her face betraying nothing. ‘Your quick actions will help Francesca enormously in her recovery. Her leg was badly broken and she was suffering from bruising and shock, with suspected concussion despite the hard hat, but now her leg has been set in plaster and she is resting comfortably in hospital.’
Cassie just nodded, saying nothing. She didn’t know what was going on here, so it was probably better to listen than babble as she felt like doing, her nerves doing a tango in her stomach.
‘I asked Marta to bring me here this morning.’ said Christina. ‘Marco is with his father now in Palermo.’ This was news to Cassie and a relief because now she didn’t have to worry about Marco turning up while she was here. Marta had dried her feet and was carefully inspecting each one before applying her special herbal ointment, which smelled disgusting but must contain a magic ingredient because Cassie couldn’t believe how the cuts had healed so well in less than 24 hours.
‘I think I know what happened yesterday Cassandra.’ said Christina. ‘At least I can imagine what happened and perhaps you could fill in the gaps for me.’ Cassie nodded again. She appeared to have lost the power of speech and must look an idiot.
‘Francesca wanted to confront you about Marco and she followed you on your run to the lake. Am I right?’
‘Yes’ said Cassie hesitantly. Despite her anger at Francesca, she didn’t feel like telling tales.
‘I went for a swim and she was waiting for me when I came ashore.’
‘You need to understand that Francesca is a highly-strung young woman with some problems. On Antonio’s side, the two families have known each for generations through marriages and business alliances. It was natural for all the children to play together whenever there was a family gathering, and, being Sicilians, there were many.’ she smiled at Cassie. ‘Francesca laid claim to Marco from a very young age, following him everywhere like a little shadow. She would come here to ride with Marco, never Diavolo of course. He is too strong for her to handle. Being the only girl in a family of four boys, she was very indulged by her parents and I don’t think they ever denied her anything. For Francesca, there were no boundaries. This did not make her very popular with the other children because she was so demanding and spoilt. Marco didn’t seem to mind at the beginning but as they grew into teenagers she just became hard work. I think Marco felt sorry for her and has tried to be kind to her when others shunned her for her lies and, often, erratic behavior.’ Marta had finished wrapping Cassie’s feet in new bandages and now she took the bowl of water over to the sink. Christina continued. ‘She is a beautiful young woman and has plenty of admirers, but she only wants Marco. Where did you meet her?’ she asked
‘It was only a few days ago, at a nightclub in town’ said Cassie. ‘We didn’t even really speak to each other.’
‘Well, she obviously sensed something between you and she wanted to come and find out for herself’ said Christina. Now Cassie remembered the G-string on the chandelier and she could feel herself blushing. She couldn’t look at Marta who was standing, leaning against the sink.
‘She stopped at the house first before she went to the stables. She wanted to see Marco’ said Marta. ‘She didn’t know about Antonio. Once I told her he was in Palermo with his father, she left immediately.’ Bless you Marta, thought Cassie. My secret is safe with you. She breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Now comes the hard part, for me’ said Christina, much to Cassie’s surprise. ‘I do not want to interfere but I felt I must come here this morning and at least explain something to you.’ She looked unhappy and Cassie felt sick. What is she going to tell me? I don’t want to hear this. She wanted to put her hands over her ears. Christina realized that she had upset Cassie and leaned over to take both her hands in hers.
‘No, not bad for you. I feel like a traitor repeating what Marco has said to me in confidence. He would be so angry with me but I must.’ she said emphatically.
>
‘We have spent many hours with each other in the last few days, more than in years. This at least is a positive aspect of poor Antonio’s heart attack. Marco speaks about you constantly, I have never seen him so happy and animated in a long time.’ Cassie felt stunned by the revelation, her eyes opening wide in shock as Christina continued.
‘You have known each other for such a short time but you seem to have a bond between you which is rare. I don’t know how much, if any, Marco has told you about my accident, but he carries such guilt with him. It is a guilt that I have been unable to assuage over the years despite my best efforts. It is as if since he has met you, he has become a lighter person, as if the guilt is finally lifting and that will enable his life to go forward instead of stagnating in bitterness. It is my greatest wish. Whatever Francesca said to you, please do not believe it. Please talk to Marco, he can explain. I have said enough’ she sat back as if exhausted, but she also looked relieved.
‘Have you spoken to Marco this morning’ said Cassie, still reeling in shock from Christina’s words.
‘No, we missed each other. I came here with Marta, and he went down to Palermo to meet with Antonio.’
‘Marco left early this morning.’ said Marta, confirming to Cassie that Christina did not know that Cassie had refused to see Marco last night. Right now she felt light headed with relief. She had to talk to Marco soon. Now she had heard what Christina had said, she felt stronger and ready to see him. In fact, she desperately wanted to see him.
Christina was much stronger than Marco gave her credit for, thought Cassie, mentally, if not physically. She had come to terms with her accident a long time ago, and wanted Marco to do the same, and probably Antonio as well. They were hanging on to their stubborn pride, unable to bridge the yawning chasm which had grown between them, and, more importantly, unable to accept that Christina had moved on and was happy. How tiring that must be for her, but how typically male, thought Cassie, smiling to herself. The three women continued chatting, Christina skillfully changing the subject and discussing gardening instead, which was a topic they were all interested in and Cassie felt herself relaxing and being drawn into their conversation. When Liz arrived back from town, they were on to succulents and the nutrients they need to thrive in.
Sicilian Dreams Page 23