by Melissa Hill
Colette looked at the circles of green mounted in shining silver. It was beautiful, but she wasn’t sure it was Kim or Annie. She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’
Anastasia smiled and moved on to another piece, equally as beautiful, but still not quite what Colette imagined either of her new friends wearing. Kim was elegance personified, whereas something fun or quirky would work best for Annie.
A few minutes later, when guilt began to plague her for the amount of Anastasia’s time she was taking up when she still couldn’t find something, Colette asked the young woman in English to give her just a few minutes to look around. Everything was so beautiful, which was why she was having such a difficult time deciding.
She turned back to a display case.
‘So much to choose from, isn’t there?’ a male voice commented from beside her.
‘Yes, but I just told Anastasia—’ Colette looked up and the rest of the words got lost in her throat. Standing in front of her was one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen.
He looked down at her with his arresting eyes and smiled brightly. Colette was lost for words. This part of the world seemed to have a never-ending supply of appealing males.
He chuckled. ‘Sorry, but I don’t know Anastasia.’
She felt her cheeks grow warm. ‘You don’t work here, do you?’ she realised, feeling stupid for not recognising the accent.
‘No, I’m afraid I don’t. I was just trying to pick out a gift for my mum when I overheard you talking and realised I wasn’t the only English-speaker in here.’
‘You’re on holiday here?’ she asked.
‘Yes, though not for much longer, sadly. Hence the gift-buying. I’m not keen on souvenirs.’
‘Me neither.’ Colette smiled. ‘I’m looking to pick up something unique for my friends, but everything here is so lovely it’s hard to decide.’
‘I’m Edward, by the way,’ he introduced himself with a smile. ‘But please, just call me Ed.’
Colette studied his open face and smiled back. ‘Colette.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Colette.’
He was charming and funny, and the way he looked at her made her stomach flop. This was crazy. What could two lovely men like this one and Luca possibly want with her? It didn’t seem real.
‘Could we perhaps make a deal?’ he whispered conspiratorially.
‘What kind of deal?’
‘I’ll help you find something for your friends if you’ll help me choose something for my mum? Agreed?’
She smiled. He was nice and had a way about him that Colette knew she could trust him. What was the harm?
‘Agreed.’
‘Wonderful,’ he answered. ‘So, tell me a bit about your friends and let’s see if we can’t figure this out between the two of us.’
‘Well,’ Colette began, ‘one is a fun-loving brunette who seems to have it all under control. She’s vivacious and creative, and can do things with hair and clothes that I could only dream of.’
‘You came here together on a girls’ holiday?’
‘No, actually.’ Colette shook her head. ‘We’re staying at the same accommodation and just struck up a friendship. The one I just described is Irish, and the other’s from New York.’
‘A New Yorker, eh. Tough-to-please ball-breaker type, I’d imagine?’ he teased.
‘Not at all, she’s lovely. Though she has expensive taste, judging by the clothes and accessories she has with her. She’s also very wise and loves to read.’
‘So one is a feisty go-getter while the other is a wealthy nerd?’ Ed mused with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Colette laughed. ‘Something like that.’
He winked. ‘OK. I think you’ve given me enough to go on.’
‘And what about your mum?’
‘Well, she’s in her mid-fifties but looks much younger. She’s been going grey for years, but masks it by getting her hair coloured on a regular basis. She’s sophisticated and very sweet, a wonderful mother who is always there for her three children,’ he mused. ‘She’s a giver, too – always keen to help others.’
‘She sounds wonderful and would probably get along well with my own mother. She’s much the same.’
Colette walked back to a display she’d studied earlier and glanced over the necklaces, before selecting one with a trio of pearls set in gold and centred by a diamond dangling from a thin gold chain.
‘Here,’ she said, pointing to the piece beneath the glass. ‘That one. You said there were three of you?’
‘Yes. And that is lovely. Sophisticated, too, exactly like my mother,’ Ed replied. ‘Perfect choice.’
They both looked up to see Anastasia approach. ‘Any luck?’ the assistant asked with a smile.
‘I have,’ Ed replied, ‘but my friend’s still looking.’
Colette looked at him in surprise. ‘Just like that?’ she whispered. ‘Don’t you want to check the price first?’
He smiled. ‘I’m sure it’s fine. Hold onto this for me for a moment,’ he instructed Anastasia. ‘I’m still helping my friend.’
Several minutes later, Colette walked out of the store with her purchases in hand and a smile on her face.
The selection had been much easier with Ed there to help her. And fun, too. She turned to thank him again as he stepped out the door behind her.
‘It was my pleasure.’ He grinned. ‘Like I said, us Brits have to stick together. Though I must say, I was impressed when you started chatting to Anastasia in Italian at the end there. I know a few words, but felt like such a clueless tourist compared to you.’
Colette laughed. ‘I studied the language at uni and it’s nice to get the chance to practise.’
They chatted more then about their respective educations and where they’d studied. As Colette suspected, Ed was the product of private education, which suggested he came from a wealthy upbringing.
Though their roots seemed miles apart, it was still nice to find common ground in their nationality.
‘I better get going,’ she said, shielding her eyes from the late afternoon sun. The shops were getting ready to close for the afternoon. ‘It was nice meeting you, Ed. Enjoy the rest of your time here.’
‘Very nice to meet you too, Colette, and likewise. Perhaps we’ll bump into each other again before we leave.’
Chapter 34
Then
‘Heading out with lover boy again tonight?’ Colette asked later that evening as she peeked around the doorframe of Annie’s room.
‘Yep,’ the other woman answered with a coy smile. ‘What about you?’
‘Luca’s usually busy with work on weekdays …’ Colette replied, settling herself on the corner of the bed.
Annie thought she noted a hint of hesitation in her tone, but then became distracted by the small purple box tied with white ribbon she was holding.
‘What’s that?’ she asked, expertly running straightening tongs through her hair.
‘It’s a present.’
‘From who?’
‘Me to you,’ Colette answered simply.
She laughed in surprise and delight, and went to sit beside her. ‘A present for me? Why?’
Colette shrugged. ‘You and Kim helped me so much after the accident, and with Luca, of course. I just wanted to get you both something to say thank you.’
Annie took the box in her hands and pulled the end of the ribbon to untie it. She flipped the top open and nestled among soft white satin was a gorgeous silver bracelet with a single oval-shaped turquoise stone at the centre.
‘You got this for me?’ she asked in disbelief. Her life really was full of surprises these days. First Felicity’s bequest, then the three girls’ unlikely friendship. And Harry, of course.
And now lovely Colette was buying her gifts.
Unexpectedly, Annie could feel her eyes begin to sting and she became overcome with emotion as she ran her finger over the beautifully crafted piece.
‘I picked the
m up in Sorrento earlier.’ Colette raised her hand to show an identical bracelet adorning her own wrist. ‘I got one for Kim, too. Something we can all remember this trip by.’
‘I love it, thank you. But you really shouldn’t have … There was no need.’
‘It’s perfect, and so thoughtful,’ Kim said, stepping into the room, a similar bracelet also on her wrist.
‘Almost feels like we’re one step away from starting a girl band,’ Annie joked archly. ‘The Runaways.’
The following morning, Annie paid the taxi fare, trying to ignore the driver’s knowing look as he dropped her off outside the villa entrance.
Evidently the walk of shame was a thing in Italy, too.
Though this was different, she reminded herself as she let herself into the courtyard. Harry wasn’t just some random one-nighter, he was much more than that.
Maybe she would get lucky and everyone would still be asleep when she got inside. Strangers or not, she didn’t want to advertise to the other guests that she’d spent the night elsewhere.
Typical Irish Catholic guilt. She’d got away with it so far but …
She slipped her shoes off to minimise the noise on the stone floor as she snuck in the back door, closing it behind her as quietly as she could before tiptoeing past the kitchen.
‘Good morning,’ Kim’s voice sang out knowingly, and Annie winced.
Caught red-handed.
‘Hey,’ she answered airily, popping her head around the kitchen doorframe to face her friend.
‘She’s home?’ Colette called out from behind her. ‘Thank goodness.’
Annie was trying her utmost to be nonchalant. ‘So what’s for breakfast?’ she asked, breezing into the kitchen. She moved to the fridge and took out a jug of iced water, waiting for the questioning to start.
Now that it was inevitable, she’d prefer to get it over with sooner rather than later. She wanted a shower. She hadn’t intended to stay overnight and when she woke up forty-five minutes earlier in Harry’s hotel room, she’d been in too much of a hurry to get back before the others noticed she hadn’t come home to waste time on a shower.
‘Things went well with Prince Charming last night, I take it?’ Kim slid into the seat at the heavy wooden table and looked at Annie with a smirk.
‘You could say that,’ she replied, sitting down beside her and taking a long gulp of water. She was parched.
Kim chuckled. ‘I’d more than say that. This is the third night this week you’ve stayed out.’
Annie looked at her, surprised, and Kim winked. You couldn’t get much past her all the same. ‘Well, who’s to say it’s the same fella?’ she boldly quipped with a wink back.
Colette sat down opposite, looking mildly shocked at this, and Annie resisted the urge to pat her on the head. She really was too sweet and naïve sometimes.
‘So you’ve slept with the guy you’ve been meeting?’ she asked her timidly.
‘I wouldn’t say that we … slept much,’ Annie replied wickedly, and she and Kim guffawed as Colette turned a brilliant shade of red.
‘But you barely know him …’
Her friend’s words stuck, especially in light of what she’d discovered (or thought she had – there could easily be an alternative explanation) at the restaurant the other night.
OK, Colette was right, she barely knew Harry, but yet it felt as if they’d known each other a lifetime.
‘I know it may seem that way, especially since you guys haven’t met him yet,’ Annie conceded, ‘however, he’s different. He’s together, more mature, and I suppose a little more serious than most guys I know. Most importantly, he’s serious about me.’
‘How do you know?’ Colette asked.
‘Know what?’
‘That he’s serious?’
Annie paused to think it over. She didn’t know how to explain how she felt or where to begin. She just knew. But if she’d known she’d be asked to prove why he was different, she would’ve made a list in advance to save her tired mind the effort now.
‘Well, right from the beginning we had a connection – before you guys arrived, actually,’ she said, reminding them that she had in fact known him even longer than them. ‘Just … the stuff he does and says when we’re together, I suppose. Even when we’re out with his friends his attention is still always on me. And when he looks at me … well, no one has ever looked at me that way,’ she continued, smiling a little.
‘But what happens when he or you go home? Won’t everything come to an end?’ Colette persisted. But Annie got the sense that she wasn’t quite as concerned with Harry’s true intentions than perhaps with Luca’s.
Aha.
‘He says he doesn’t want to think about that. He just wants us to enjoy now. What?’ she asked, noticing Kim’s dubious expression.
‘Nothing,’ she replied, but Annie knew she wasn’t really buying it.
Well, she thought defensively, Kim will change her tune once she sees us together. Not that Annie needed to convince anyone. It was nobody else’s business, after all.
‘Nothing, my foot. What’s that’s look for?’
‘It’s nothing, honestly,’ Kim replied. ‘You’re a big girl and I’m sure you know what you’re doing.’
Annie’s gaze wandered from Kim back to Colette, who looked troubled. ‘Colette, why all the questions? What about you and Luca – have you two done the deed yet?’
Colette coloured and Annie’s eyes widened. Well, who’d have thought it? It really was the quiet ones you had to watch.
‘It’s just …’ The younger girl looked uncertain. ‘It’s just we had this … amazing night, but I haven’t heard from him since.’
‘Well, I’m sure he’s busy with work. Didn’t you already say he had to go to Rome on business?’ Annie reminded her.
‘Yes, but it’s not just that that’s bothering me.’ Colette’s eyes shifted uncomfortably.
‘Colette, spill. What is it?’ Kim asked.
‘Something happened that night on the boat …’ Her eyes left Annie’s face and settled on a spot on the table. ‘We were having such a … romantic time together and then he got this call. He was really mysterious about it. He hates mobile phones but this time he answered. He jumped up away from me to take it and then immediately afterwards we needed to go back. I felt weird about it, especially the way he went so … cold after. And now it’s been days since I’ve heard from him.’
Mysterious calls that ruined the mood when you were with a fella? Annie knew those situations all too well. And they usually meant the same thing – you weren’t the only one he was seeing.
She looked at Colette sadly. She could tell that her friend was serious about Luca, and that she cared about him.
She hoped for her sake that she was wrong about this, but there was no way to be sure. Especially when dealing with Italian men in summer resorts, where having holiday romances and multiple women on the go was almost expected.
Kim replied before she could. ‘Colette, if you felt something was strange, did you ask Luca what it was about?’
‘I did. He just told me it was nothing to worry about and that he needed to get home,’ Colette replied.
Another bad sign in Annie’s mind.
‘Well, if you’re concerned that he hasn’t been in touch, why don’t you just phone him? No reason why you should have to be waiting on him to call you.’
‘I don’t have his number,’ the younger girl admitted simply. ‘As I said, he hates phones.’
Oh, come on …
‘Seriously?’ Annie said disbelievingly and Kim flashed her a warning look. ‘He hates mobile phones? Yet he was able to take a call on the boat that night – an important one, apparently.’
The writing was on the wall here as far as Annie was concerned. Colette was being played for a fool. And she was damned if she was going to let that happen.
‘I know,’ Colette admitted, with more than a hint of embarrassment. ‘But maybe I’m just imagining thi
ngs. Maybe that call really was nothing to worry about – a business call or something.’
‘At that hour of the night, though?’ Annie mused sceptically. ‘Weren’t you guys out there well after dark? I mean, it’s possible, of course, but it’s also just as possible it was something – or even someone – else …’
Colette looked so crestfallen that Annie felt like a heel and realised that she should really keep her thoughts to herself.
Kim obviously felt the same way – staring daggers at Annie now, she put a comforting hand on Colette’s arm. ‘Sweetheart, I think that maybe Annie is trying to suggest that you should take a step back from this whole thing for a bit, just to be sure. It’s not that we’re saying that Luca’s playing a game or anything. We’re not. It’s just that maybe you should take your time on this?’ she assured her.
Colette twisted her hands in her lap. ‘OK, but if there is someone else … then maybe I’m no better than he is.’
‘What d’you mean?’ Kim asked.
‘I mean, I’ve kind of … met someone else in the meantime.’ She peeked up from beneath her long lashes.
Annie yelped. ‘Holy feck, what? How the hell have you managed to snag yourself another fella?’
Colette’s face contorted in confusion. ‘It’s not like that,’ she continued and Annie’s mind almost exploded when she told them about a guy she’d bumped into at the jewellery shop in Sorrento the day before.
She had to smile. How in God’s name did innocent little butter-wouldn’t-melt Colette manage to get two fine things chasing after her in a matter of weeks? Clearly, she and Kim were all wrong about Colette needing to sex-up her look; she was doing just fine without them!
‘He was really nice and as we were saying goodbye he asked for my number,’ she explained. ‘So I gave it to him. He was so nice. And we’ve been texting a little, and now he’s asked to meet up again for a coffee. He’s really sweet … Totally different to Luca.’
‘That’s why you’re confused,’ Annie stated, as the revelation hit her. ‘This other guy is paying attention, whereas Luca’s MIA and it’s got your mind questioning.’
