by Jules Wake
‘Eat?’
Lisa sighed. ‘I’ll try, but it’s … Do you want me to clean those windows?’ She pointed to the French doors, where a few fingerprints dotted the glass around the handles.
‘No! Go phone Siena,’ Laurie gave her a candid look, clearly seeing through her delaying tactics. ‘She’s dying of curiosity, and if she sends me one more text asking about you, I’ll accidentally drop my phone down the loo. That girl does not know the meaning of patience.’
‘Bless her. I owe her big time.’ Lisa hauled herself to her feet. Laurie had already handed Siena’s number over on a yellow sticky note, which had been in her back pocket all day.
‘You don’t have to tell her anything you don’t want to. Oh, and I’d be grateful if you didn’t mention the bean,’ Laurie pointed downwards to her still-flat stomach. ‘It’s early days and things could go wrong.’ She smiled, the dreamy expression lighting up her normally sensible face. ‘Cam’s taken to calling it the unbaked bean.’
‘We could do a deal.’
Laurie raised an eyebrow in question.
Lisa had never played hardball in her life before, but she said firmly, ‘I won’t tell Siena anything, but I’d rather not let on I’m staying here with you.’
Laurie didn’t look happy about it, but she nodded in agreement. ‘Okay.’
‘Do I need to beat Will up?’
Lisa sat down on the single bed, propped against the pillows, and looked out of the window, imagining dainty Siena in pugilistic stance, ready to go into battle on her behalf. She owed Siena big time, which was the reason she’d called and now she wished she hadn’t. How had she forgotten that Siena could be like a dog with a bone? She wanted everyone to be happy like her.
‘No!’ She swapped her new mobile phone to the other ear and made herself comfortable. The view out over fields and the wide flat vale of York was rather different to the ones she’d been used to in the last few days, the patchwork of browns and greens a far cry from the terracotta hues of Rome.
‘Cut his bits off?’
‘Still no!’
‘I’ve been thinking. Why did you come back early? If Giovanni left Rome to visit his family and you were there with Will, he must have done something to upset you.’
Detective Browne-Martin on the case. Typical Siena wanting to solve everyone else’s problems.
‘Siena, seriously. He hasn’t done anything wrong.’ If only it were that simple. She clenched the phone hard, praying he didn’t feel the way she did. Sick. Bereft. Miserable.
Even though it hurt, she couldn’t help picturing his face when he’d kissed her goodbye in the square at St Paul’s. Their very last kiss. And neither of them had known.
‘Ah! Was it your dad? Did you find him?’
‘Yes, I did find him.’
‘And?’
‘He was away on business. I didn’t get to meet him in the end, but we exchanged a few texts and …’
‘That’s brilliant. When are you going to meet up with him? Are you going to go back to Rome? Is he going to come and visit you?’
Lisa stared out of the window, feeling stiff and awkward, her breath caught in her throat.
‘W-we’re … in touch.’
‘In touch? Aw Lisa. Are you okay?’
Lisa knew she thought the worst, that her father had rejected her.
‘I’m fine. It’s just, well, all a bit, overwhelming.’
‘I know how you feel. It was weird when I first met Laurie. It does get easier.’
‘She’s lovely. Thanks for getting her to pick me up. I’m grateful you called her.’ Lisa seized on the change of tack, glad that Siena had been easily diverted.
‘No probs. I’m glad you’ve met her. She’s cool, isn’t she? I can’t wait for the wedding.’
Lisa smiled to herself, hoping that Laurie’s morning sickness improved by then, otherwise she’d have a hard time hiding her pregnancy from anyone.
‘So, when are you coming home?’
‘Er … I’m going to stay with some friends. Take a few weeks before I go back to work in September.’
‘Where? Will you be okay?’ Siena’s concern echoed in her words.
‘I’m fine. Really. I need some time, but please, it isn’t Will’s fault. I can’t tell you why, but he hasn’t done anything wrong.’
‘Oh, so it is something to do with Will.’
Damn, how had she let that slip?
‘No, I just have a lot to think about.’
‘Sure?’
‘One hundred per cent positive.’ Lisa tensed as the familiar ache pulsed in her chest. It hadn’t lessened at all. Was it always going to feel this bad?
‘You aren’t going to tell me anything, are you?’
‘No.’
With a heavy sigh, Siena said, ‘Okay, I won’t ask any more questions, but promise me that if you need me, you’ll call.’
‘I promise.’
‘What do I say to Will when I see him? Won’t he ask where you are?’
‘Nothing,’ Lisa was glad she sounded more resolute than she felt. She kept imagining him coming back to the empty flat, finding her gone. The ring on the table. But she hadn’t known what else to do. She winced. She’d been a coward. ‘He won’t ask.’
‘Okay.’ Siena’s doubt rang across the air waves.
‘If he asks, which I highly doubt, you can tell him I’ve gone away for a few weeks.’ Did he feel as bad as she did? She couldn’t imagine he’d want to see her after she’d run out on him, however she added as a precaution, ‘I’ll be in touch soon. But don’t give him this number.’
‘Okay. I’m going to save it as MI5, then even if he gets hold of my phone he won’t know.’
Begrudgingly, Lisa laughed at that. ‘One last thing, can you do me a massive favour? Can you pop in and see Nan and explain I’ve lost my phone, let her know I’m okay and text me her mobile number?’
‘Sure. Anything else?’
‘I could ask you to check she’s taking her medication, but that would be unfair. At the moment she quite likes you. Let’s leave it at that.’
Over the next few days, Lisa was kept very busy as several large parties came and went. In her role as chambermaid-come-waitress, she hadn’t quite realised how much there was to do. How on earth had Laurie managed on her own over the summer?
‘For goodness sake, woman, sit down for a while,’ said Cam, pushing her firmly into one of the kitchen chairs on her third day at Merryview, when he caught her carrying an armload of bedsheets after he’d told her they could wait until tomorrow. She’d stripped five double beds and eight twin beds after they’d had a complete change-over, with all eighteen guests checking out on the same day and a further twelve expected that afternoon.
‘Yes, lass. Have a cup of tea,’ added Norah. ‘Honestly, you’re making me feel exhaustipated.’
‘It’s fine,’ said Lisa. ‘I love it here.’ Exhaustion was good. Keeping busy was all that helped her sleep at night.
Cam glowered at her. ‘Laurie will worry if you keep up this pace. And I don’t want her worried.’
Lisa laughed and held up her hands. ‘That’s a bit sneaky, playing the Laurie card.’
He shrugged with a deliberate like-I-care lift of his shoulders and a challenging grin.
‘Okay. Okay. I’ll stop and have a cup of tea.’
But she had every intention of going back and making up all the beds today, even though some of the rooms wouldn’t be occupied for several days.
‘You’ll burn yourself out,’ said Cam, giving her a sharp-eyed once-over, as if reading her mind.
‘I would tell you if I wasn’t okay.’
‘Hmm,’ said Cam, disbelieving. Tell you what, why don’t you come out with Laurie and me and see the cars? Then you have to take a proper break. Boss’s orders.’
‘Okay.’ She knew nothing about cars but had heard all about them over the last couple of days and had to admit to being quite intrigued. Besides, if Cam was determined she
should take a break, she’d rather have something to occupy her.
It was impossible to stop thinking about Will. She’d be stripping a bed and she’d remember him tossing her on the bed at Dorothea’s house, or making up the king-size bed in the peacock room and an image of him feeding her would pop into her head. Those few brief days in Rome, it seemed, were indelibly burnt into her brain, never to be eclipsed. No matter how hard she tried shake loose the memories, they clung on like limpets with benign intent.
Chapter 32
Will slammed the door.
‘Oh Lord, take cover. His royal pissed-offness is back.’ Marcus’s not-so sotte voce comment made him flex his hand. There were rules about not punching employees. Sadly. Good job Marcus was such an excellent barman and head-waiter. Just now, they were his only redeeming features.
But it was no good. Rounding on Marcus standing behind the bar, he couldn’t stop himself from growling, sheer fury burning like a flash down his spine, ‘Got something to say, Marcus?’ The tight words, hissed through clenched teeth, made the young barman flinch.
To his surprise, the other man threw down his tea towel on the bar and stepped forward, lifting his chin with a slight quiver. ‘Do you know what? Yes, I have.’
‘Go on,’ Will clenched his jaw, his muscles tensing as he bounced on the balls of his feet, reluctantly admiring Marcus’s bravery. He was a man who normally went out of his way to avoid confrontation.
‘Stop taking it out on us. Whichever bird has got under your skin this time, let it go or go and apologise, but for Pete’s sake sort yourself out. I’m sick of having my head bitten off. You might be the boss, but that doesn’t mean we have to put up with this shit.’
Will stared at him. Marcus, despite his size, was the most mild-mannered of men.
Al, who was not in the least bit mild, sidled up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Marcus and then Siena slid in next to the two of them. A united front, all three of them looking at him with quiet, determined defiance, although Siena’s expression held an undercurrent of sympathy and in the mirror behind the bar, he could see she’d crossed her fingers and Al and Marcus were holding hands.
They were a great team. And they didn’t deserve this. Inside something cracked. He felt as if he’d lost his footing and was scrambling in loose scree to get a foothold in life again.
Damn it. Will glared at them.
‘Sorry,’ he muttered, ducked his head, not able to meet their eyes, and walked out of the pub.
Outside in the courtyard he sat down on one of the metal barrels, the lip digging into his backside, and dropped his head into his hands.
Since when had his life been so out of frigging control? Opening time in less than half an hour and he hadn’t changed the barrels or put today’s specials on the board. At this rate, there wouldn’t be a pub to open. Yesterday, he’d let rip with a rant at a complaining customer and told her to get a life, which was now the first entry in the TripAdvisor review feed, where he’d been likened to Basil Fawlty. This morning he’d sent all the fish delivery back to the supplier because the delivery man had reversed the truck into his car and left an inch-long scratch on the wing. Things that normally he took in his stride on a daily basis, minor irritants, seemed insurmountable at the moment. He was surrounded by idiots.
‘Will?’
He raised his head wearily. Siena stood in front of him, her hands twisting.
‘Yeah?’ he said, his tone distinctly unwelcoming. Nothing Siena could say or do was going to help. Lisa had done a runner and he was furious with her. She’d given up and bolted at the first sign of trouble. Admittedly it looked like insurmountable trouble to her, but if she’d stuck around, she would have realised soon enough that Vittorio wasn’t her father. Instead, she’d gone. She hadn’t even been prepared to hope or fight. Because Will wasn’t worth it.
That was what pissed him off the most. She’d given up on him so damn quickly. Taken the first opportunity to run. Hadn’t bothered to wait and check the facts. Hadn’t bothered to speak to Vittorio. That hurt, but the fact that she was ignoring the texts he’d sent her had ratcheted up his pissed-offness to a whole new level. He’d bloody phoned, left messages, explained that Vittorio wasn’t her father and she still hadn’t bothered to respond.
She’d obviously decided that it was better to be on her own. Which said a lot. She hadn’t cared about him that much. If you loved someone, surely you respected them enough or cared enough to speak to them face to face? Lisa had just ducked out on him.
Trying to cope with the fury that surged through him on an hourly basis, along with the dumb, crushing heartache that was a constant in his life now, was just too frigging much. He didn’t do that sort of crap.
‘Are you okay?’
‘What do you think?’ Christ, he couldn’t even speak without growling now.
‘Stupid question.’
‘Duh, yeah.’ He sighed and looked up at the treeline on the top of the Chiltern Hills rising above the village. Lush and green, the fully leaved trees softened the horizon, a contrast to the earthy tones of Rome.
With a quick, confused frown, Siena spoke, ‘She said you hadn’t done anything wrong.’
‘That was big of her,’ said Will, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. ‘Do you know where she is?’ He’d asked several times, but she’d said she didn’t.
Siena sighed. He could almost see her battling with her conscience. ‘I know where she was, but she wouldn’t tell me where she was going.’
‘But you’re doing that crossing-your-fingers thing again.’
Siena guiltily brought her hand in front of her. ‘I truly don’t where she is right now, but I do have her new mobile number.’
‘New mobile number? What happened to her old one?’
‘It was stolen.’
‘Stolen? When?’
Siena stepped back, probably alarmed by the mad look in his eyes as he jumped to his feet.
‘On her l-last day in Rome, I think.’
Sickness swirled in his stomach. He closed his eyes. All those texts he’d sent. Anxious phone messages. Surely not.
She didn’t know. She didn’t know. He almost hugged Siena.
‘She doesn’t know.’ The tension that had gripped him for days lifted. ‘She still doesn’t bloody know.’ That explained why she was still hiding from him.
‘She doesn’t know what?’ asked Siena, looking at him with wariness in her eyes.
‘It’s complicated.’
Siena pouted. ‘That’s what she said.’ She gave an exasperated sigh. ‘The pair of you are doing my head in.’
‘What’s her new number?’
‘She didn’t want me to give it to you and I’m not going to break my promise.’ There was a definite hesitation in her voice.
‘But?’
‘I think you should go see her nan. She might have Lisa’s new number.’ With that, Siena fled back into the pub.
‘William Ryan. What brings you to my door?’ Nan looked him up and down. ‘You need a haircut.’
‘So I’ve been told.’
‘You’d better come in. I think you’ve got some explaining to do.’
‘I’ve got some explaining to do?’ Will narrowed his eyes at her.
With a sniff, she pulled her diminutive stature to full height. ‘Come in.’
She led him through to the kitchen and pointed to an ancient Formica table. The kitchen didn’t look as if it had been touched since the fifties, although everything was spotless.
‘Have a seat. I’ll make a pot of tea.’
He sat down, for once doing as he was told. It brought back memories of being a child and having her in his family kitchen. She’d been one of the few constants in his life in those days. She might be an old harridan these days, but she was someone who knew right from wrong and, moreover, he trusted her. She’d only ever wanted the best for Lisa.
‘Did you know Vittorio was my father?’
Her mouth concertinaed
into a series of prune-liked wrinkles. ‘I suspected he might be.’
She shook her head. ‘You went to Italy with her, didn’t you? Couldn’t leave well alone. I tried to keep the two of you apart.’
Will shook his head. ‘It would have been a lot easier if you’d just told me the truth.’
Nan rolled her eyes. ‘Wasn’t my place. Telling you things about your mother.’
Will nodded. ‘I suppose. Although,’ he paused, ‘I guess you didn’t know he wasn’t Lisa’s father.’
Nan put the kettle down with a bang, slopping hot water everywhere. She stepped back with a very un-geriatric expletive, shaking her burnt hand, as if that would help. Will jumped up and pulled her towards the cold tap, forcing her hand under it.
‘Stop fussing, boy.’
‘Basic first aid.’ He held her hand under the water, realising, from her brief attempt at resistance, that she was actually quite frail. Her bones under his fingers were twig-thin, easy to snap without a second thought.
‘So he wasn’t Lisa’s father. Well I never. My Hattie played her cards close to her chest with that one. Never said a word that he wasn’t.’
‘Vittorio said Hattie was already pregnant when they got married.’
‘I never knew. Stupid boy. He was so besotted with her. I knew no good would come of it. No surprise when he buggered off. But I couldn’t tell Lisa that her Da …Vittorio wasn’t interested in her. All he ever thought about was Hattie.’
She paused and Will let her pull her hand out of the stream of cold water. ‘Do you know who Lisa’s father really is?’ Her shrewd eyes fixed on his face.
‘Vittorio told me it was Sir Robert.’
‘Of course he is. Makes sense now. Wondered why he kept up with the Christmas hampers.’ Nan kept nodding, as if all the pieces were falling into place one by one. ‘And Lady Mary. She wouldn’t have children up at the stables. Not Lisa, any road.’
Will wanted to shake her. Why hadn’t she put the pieces together earlier?
‘I met up with Vittorio in Rome. He told me that Sir Robert once asked his wife for a divorce. From what Vittorio said, it sounded as if he planned to leave Lady Mary for Hattie. But Lady Mary rode off and had her fall. And then he couldn’t leave her, even when Hattie was pregnant with Lisa.’
