by T A Williams
Although she had started it, she felt herself blushing. ‘Touché. Well, the answer is that while I haven’t exactly been living like a nun, I really haven’t had much chance to form any meaningful relationships.’
‘Not even with work colleagues or old friends? Maybe some of the guys who remember you from school or university? I would have thought you’d have a queue of men snapping at your heels.’
As he spoke, Anna’s head filled with the image of Toby in his yacht, braving the elements as he came to see her. What was she doing here with this other man? She avoided answering Marco directly. ‘Like I say, it’s all my job’s fault. What about you?’ She was tempted to ask about Loretta at the hotel, but she decided against it.
‘Since my wife left, yes, I’ve dated around, but nothing meaningful. You English have that old expression about “once bitten, twice shy”, haven’t you? So, like you, I haven’t exactly been leading a monastic life, but there hasn’t been anyone special.’
Now would have been a good moment for him to add the words, ‘until I met you,’ but he didn’t, so she had to settle for a mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich which tasted remarkably like sour grapes.
But that was probably no bad thing.
Chapter 14
They spent a pleasant couple of hours in the water or sailing around before returning to Marina di Campo but they didn’t get the opportunity for any more canoodling and Anna was relieved. She really didn’t know just how much self-control she would have been able to muster. After carefully putting the little boat to bed, Marco suggested going across to the beach bar for a drink and she felt she had to agree, even though she knew what to expect. Sure enough, as before he was greeted most affectionately and Anna wondered how many of the bikini-clad girls who came over to kiss him had been sailing with him and had spent time with him in some remote little cove. She was still thinking about what Marco had said – or, rather, what he hadn’t said – on the beach.
Although it had been a lovely day out, she was glad nothing had happened back there. Here she was, nudging thirty and she knew it was time she seriously started looking for more than just a quick roll in the hay (or the sand). Thought of her age reminded her of something she had almost forgotten. Today was the thirteenth of September, and this Friday, the seventeenth, was going to be her twenty-ninth birthday – and there were no prizes for guessing which birthday would come after this one. She was getting old – well, maybe not old old, but certainly approaching an age when she needed more than just sex in a relationship. Looking around at the girls here who came over to greet Marco she could see that they were almost all younger than she was and she came round to accepting that Jack, Charlie and Felice had probably been right: Marco was a player and she was better off not getting involved.
In the car on the way back she made the decision to try to keep things friendly, affectionate even, but nothing more. Today it had been her body calling the shots. If it were to start being her head or her heart pulling her towards him, she would be in big trouble. This way she should hopefully be able to say goodbye to Marco on Friday or Saturday without the risk of leaving with a broken heart and, more importantly, without risking scuppering her budding relationship with Toby before it had even started to take off.
To ensure that her resolve didn’t falter, the first thing she did when she got back to the old stables was to go up to Jack’s house and invite him and his dog to join her and Marco for dinner tonight. She wasn’t sure whether the Canadian would be able to work out for himself that he was going to be acting as a sort of chaperone, but she felt relieved when he agreed to come.
As she was getting things ready for dinner, her phone bleeped and she saw that it was another message from Toby.
Hi Anna. Skipper says we should be arriving in Portoferraio late on Wednesday afternoon. There’s a good fish restaurant called Trattoria Da Michele right on the harbour side. Shall we meet there at seven, or is there somewhere else you would prefer? Can’t wait to catch up. xx
Anna’s first reaction as she read his text was relief yet again that nothing had happened back there on the beach with Marco. How could she have faced Toby in two days’ time, knowing she had effectively been unfaithful to him? She had never liked lying and had never been good at it. At least now she wouldn’t have to. With the unwitting assistance of a pair of Swiss pensioners her self-control had held firm and she had nothing to regret. She would be able to meet up with Toby with a clear conscience and hopefully their fledgling relationship would be able to move on.
She replied immediately saying how much she was looking forward to meeting him as planned and asked if he wanted her to book a table. Even though schools here in Italy were in the process of restarting, there were still hordes of tourists on the island and it seemed like a sensible precaution. A reply came back only a minute later indicating that he had already sorted it. Clearly, he was far more organised these days than he used to be. Then again, as CEO of a successful company employing a hundred people, he no doubt had to be.
As she was laying the table for three outside under the loggia, Anna suddenly jumped as a cold wet nose nudged her thigh and she looked down to see she had been joined by George, followed a minute later by his master. She opened a bottle of cold white wine and was just pouring it when Marco appeared as well. If he was surprised to see Jack there he didn’t show it as he crouched down to make a fuss of the dog who looked delighted to see him.
Anna had decided to make a quiche and serve it with a selection of cold cuts and pâté and a mixed salad, accompanied by focaccia bread heated in the oven. Into the salad she put everything she could think of from raisins to blue cheese, walnuts to quails’ eggs and the result proved popular with the two men. She put white wine and red wine on the table, although she was pleased to see Jack move onto mineral water after just one single small glass of wine. She managed once more to get him talking about his experiences in different locations around the world and this prevented the conversation from becoming too personal between her and Marco. She did her best to focus her attention mainly on the Canadian as Marco was looking particularly appealing this evening and she didn’t want her resolve to falter.
Finally, at just before nine, Jack thanked her warmly and went back home, leaving George snoozing underneath the table, apparently untroubled that his master had just deserted him, and Marco sitting opposite her, a gentle smile on his face.
‘That was a great meal. You’re going to make somebody a wonderful wife some day.’
This was just about the best thing he could have said. On the one hand she felt herself naturally bristle at what sounded like his crass assumption that a woman’s place was in the home – not least as her working life so far had been the living proof of the opposite. On the other, he was making it pretty clear he didn’t see himself as filling the role of her partner. Then, just as she was about to say something flippant, his next revelation wiped any trace of a smile off her face and made her sit bolt upright.
‘I wanted to ask you out for dinner tomorrow night but I’m going to be tied up with Save Elba stuff all day and then we have a working dinner in the evening. The word is that one of the big mining companies has sent a prospecting team here to sniff out rare metals. We’re going to patrol the main mineral area around Capoliveri and Monte Calamita.’
Anna took a sip of hot coffee and did her best to sound normal although her head was spinning at the thought that their secret appeared to have got out. ‘Well, well, and what will you do if you find them? Beat them to death with their own shovels?’
‘We’ll move them on. A couple of our members are lawyers and there are any number of local bylaws they can quote to get people to stop doing pretty much anything if they set their minds to it.’ He grinned at her. ‘I’m sure they could have probably found some old law forbidding us from fooling about on the beach today.’
‘What a bunch of spoilsports.’ She swallowed the last of her coffee and stood up. As she did so, she heard the dog stir under the table
. ‘I said I’d take George for a walk before his master goes to bed. Feel like keeping me company?’
Together they set off down the track and then turned left and carried on as far as the beach where Anna told George sternly not even to think about going for a swim. As for herself, on a sultry warm night like this with dusk falling and little yellow flashes of fireflies flitting among the pines, the idea of tearing off her clothes and skinny-dipping – or more – with Marco had considerable appeal but, particularly in light of what he had just told her, she maintained her resolve. If the dog could be good, so could she.
Nevertheless, as they strolled along she caught hold of Marco’s arm and leant against him, relishing the sensation. If Toby hadn’t been in the equation, maybe she might have risked taking things to the next level, even though she was increasingly convinced it would almost certainly only be a physical thing as far as he was concerned. Of course it was unfair to judge him just on hearsay and what she had sensed at the beach bar, but there was unquestionably something about him that made him almost irresistible to her and to other women. And if she were to get physical with him, she felt in her heart of hearts that the closer she came to him, the greater her hurt would be when they inevitably had to part. Although today on the beach the prime mover inside her had unquestionably been lust, she knew herself well enough to know that giving in to this would have put her onto the slippery slope towards heartache. To the chagrin of Naughty Anna, Sensible Anna finally managed to reassert her dominance – at least for now. Frustrating as it undeniably was, it was the smart option.
As they stopped at the far end of the little beach and rested against a boulder that was still warm from the sun, his voice shook her out of her musings. ‘Anna, seeing as I’m tied up tomorrow, how’re you fixed for Wednesday night? I’d really like to take you somewhere special and have some alone time with you, especially as you’re going to be leaving so soon after.’
‘That would have been lovely.’ Naughty Anna had no doubts on that score. ‘But I’m having dinner with a friend who’s visiting the island for a day on a tour of the Mediterranean. It’s all been arranged and the restaurant booked, I’m afraid. I’m meeting him in Portoferraio.’
‘Shame.’ He hesitated for a second or two. ‘Is he a close friend?’
‘Pretty close. I’ve known him since childhood.’
‘But not your childhood sweetheart?’
‘No, but who knows how things might work out.’
‘Ah, I see.’ There might have been disappointment in his voice. ‘And you’re leaving for home on Saturday?’
‘I think it’ll have to be first thing in the morning.’
‘Well, look, I’m afraid I’ve got another Save Elba thing on Thursday night but I’m definitely free on Friday. What about dinner together then? We don’t need to make it a late night, seeing as you’ve got a long drive the next day.’
‘Definitely, that would be super, perfect in fact.’ Anna toyed with the idea of telling him it would be her birthday but she didn’t want him to feel obliged to give her a present so she didn’t say anything. She could tell him over dinner instead. And an evening with him would be a very nice way to celebrate her birthday and what would be her last night on the island. Whether her resolve would fail her at the last gasp and she would end up being more than just a friend to him was something she preferred not to consider for now.
He stretched his arm around her shoulders and kissed the nape of her neck, sending a little shiver through her in spite of her best intentions. ‘I’m so glad I met you, Anna.’
‘And I’m glad I met you too, Marco.’
Back at the house, it took a lot of willpower just to kiss him goodnight on her doorstep and watch him walk off alone. In fact she almost gave in and called him back, but thought of Toby’s impending visit stopped her. She wasn’t just a slave to her physical desires, whatever Marco’s eyes might be telling her, and she needed to use her head. Besides, there was the fact that he had spoken about setting off in search of the ‘enemy’ the next day. No, this was the right thing to do – even if it maybe didn’t feel like it right now.
Chapter 15
Next morning dawned bright and clear and she decided to go for an early morning swim before heading up to Portoferraio for her first encounter with the boss’s daughter. She had been dreading this more and more but at least the knowledge that they would only be together until Saturday made it a slightly less daunting proposition. She put on her bikini, shorts and a top and as she opened her door, she was pleased to see that she was going to have company. George was stretched out on the doormat outside, and as soon as he saw her he jumped to his feet and accompanied her down to the beach. Leaving her towel on a rock, she waded in until she could slip forward and float while the Labrador doggy-paddled happily alongside her.
Refreshed by her swim, she returned home and had breakfast with the friendly – if aromatic – dog before going up to see Jack just after eight. She found him in his kitchen, chatting to Giovanna.
‘Good morning, Anna. Did I see you going off for a swim with George a little while ago? He’s going to miss you when you leave.’
‘And I’m going to miss him. He’s such good company. I often wish I had a dog, but with my job it’s impossible. Because I’m away so much I can’t even keep a goldfish as a pet so it’s been a rare treat to have him around.’
Jack gave her a knowing look. ‘Remember what I told you, Anna. Don’t leave it too late.’
‘You don’t need to remind me, Jack. I know I need to start thinking about putting down roots and finding somewhere I can call home. Talking of home, will you come over for dinner tonight? It can be as much or as little as you like and as early as you like.’
He agreed readily and she realised the Labrador wasn’t the only one who was going to miss her.
After a quick coffee with them, she set off for Portoferraio. Ruby had sent a text the previous day telling her she had booked into the four-star Hotel Acquapura. A quick check on the internet revealed that this was set back from the harbour, partway up the hill below which the port had been built. When Anna got there, she saw that it was a very nice-looking older villa, similar in style to Napoleon’s house, surrounded by its own lush subtropical gardens. She parked the car and walked into the lobby at exactly five to nine. Almost twenty minutes later, just as Anna was reaching for her phone to hurry her along, the lift doors opened and Ruby appeared.
Although Anna had never met her before, she immediately recognised Sir Graham’s only child by the fact that she had a New Metals Mining corporate brochure under her arm. To Anna’s surprise, she was wearing a very short red and white striped cotton dress with the sort of revealing neckline Anna herself would never have dreamt of choosing, as well as heels – hardly ideal prospecting gear. Her long legs and her mass of blonde hair attracted looks from all the men in the lobby, plus a few of the women. Clearly, Ruby wasn’t the sort to hide her light – or anything else – under a bushel.
‘Anna? I’m Ruby.’ She came clip-clopping across the marble-clad floor in her heels and surprised Anna by throwing her arms around her and air-kissing her noisily. ‘It’s so good to meet you.’ Charlie had described her as being ‘touchy-feely’ and she certainly was that.
Slightly taken aback, Anna tried to sound as welcoming as possible. ‘Hi, Ruby. Did you have a good journey yesterday?’ As she spoke, she checked her new partner out. Sir Graham’s daughter was probably an inch or two taller than she was – although that might have been the heels – and, fortunately for her, she looked nothing like the grizzled figure of her father. She was an attractive girl, although Anna feared for her artfully applied makeup with a day prospecting in the hot Mediterranean sun ahead of them. Her bare arms were pale in comparison to Anna’s tanned limbs, and her wrists jingled with clusters of bracelets. Anna herself was wearing shorts and trainers as she had been doing every day since arriving on the island and the difference could hardly have been more noticeable. As she looke
d up from the no doubt expensive high heels, she caught Ruby staring at her.
‘What’s the plan for today, Anna? I’m in your hands. My father sent me here to see how you guys on the frontline go about your business.’ Anna couldn’t miss the downturn of Ruby’s lips as she mentioned her father’s name. ‘He also said you’re the boss and I’ve got to do whatever you say. Are we going prospecting straightaway?’
Anna held an admonitory finger to her lips and switched to her professional voice, adopting a low, but firm whisper.
‘It’s probably best if we continue our conversation outside. We don’t want to be overheard.’ She nodded towards the door and was relieved to see Ruby get the message and head out into the garden. Once they were outside and away from prying ears, they sat down on a bench by a fountain and Anna continued. ‘The plan today is to head south-west to explore some old granite quarries. My usual partner, Charlie, and I rented a boat and checked the coastline there for interesting geological features a few days ago and this was just about the only spot we came across that day that offered any hope.’
‘I know Charlie; he’s a nice guy. When I first met him, he’d just got married. I heard his wife was pregnant. Has she had the baby, do you know?’
‘Yes, a little girl, just the other day.’ Anna was pleased Ruby was sounding so friendly and it was nice that she remembered Charlie.
‘That’s super for them. Do let me have his number as I really must send them a message of congratulation. As far as work’s concerned, my father told me you haven’t had any luck prospecting here yet. How hopeful are you that we’ll find anything worthwhile at the quarries?’
Anna decided she had better be brutally frank right from the start. ‘Not very hopeful at all, to be honest. It’s looking more and more as though the only geologically significant part of the island is the south-east where a lot of iron mining used to take place.’
