The Villa

by Nora Roberts

  "Fettuccine Alfredo."

  "Sure, fine for you," Helen said to Pilar. "You never put on an ounce. You won't have to worry how you'll look naked on your wedding night."

  "He's already seen her naked," Maddy said and had both women turning around to stare at her. She felt her back go up, her brows lower as she prepared for a lecture. Instead she got laughter, and Helen draped an arm around her shoulders. "Let's get a corner booth, then you can give me all the dirt on your father and Pilar I haven't been able to crowbar out of her."

  "I think they did it outside last night. Dad had grass stains on his jeans."

  "Can you be bought?" Pilar demanded.

  Maddy slid into the booth, grinned. "Sure."

  "Let's negotiate." Pilar sat down beside her.

  * * * * *

  She wasn't bored. She was surprised to find herself having fun, not being shushed for wisecracks or expected to sit quietly and behave. It was, she thought, a lot like hanging out with Theo and their father—only different. Good different. And she was smart enough to realize it was the first women's outing she'd ever had. Smart enough to understand Pilar knew it, too.

  She didn't even mind being dragged into the dress shop, or having the conversation turn absolutely and completely to clothes and fabric and color and cut.

  And when she watched Sophia dash in, windblown, flushed, happy, Maddy at not quite fifteen had a revelation. She wouldn't mind being like her, like Sophia Giambelli. She proved, didn't she, that a woman could be smart, really smart, do exactly what she wanted in the world, and how she wanted to do it, and look really amazing at the same time.

  She didn't dress like she was craving attention, but she got it anyway.

  "Tell me you haven't tried on anything yet."

  "No, not yet. I wanted to wait for you. What do you think of this blue silk?"

  "Hmm. A definite maybe. Hi, Maddy. Aunt Helen." She leaned over to kiss Helen's cheek, then let out a quick whoop. "Oh, Mama! Look at this. The lace is fabulous—romantic, elegant. And the color would be perfect on you."

  "It's lovely, but don't you think it's a little young? More for you."

  "No, no. It's for a bride. For you. You have to try it."

  While she studied the dress, Pilar laid a hand on Sophia's shoulder. Sort of absentmindedly, Maddy thought. Just to touch. Her own mother had never touched her absentmindedly, not that she could remember. They'd never had that connection. If they'd had it, she couldn't have left so easily.

  "Try them both," Sophia insisted. "And this rose linen Helen's picked out."

  "If she wasn't in such a rush to hook this guy, she could have something designed. And I could lose ten pounds before I have to wear the matron of honor gown. Do I have time for liposuction?"

  "Oh stop. Okay. I'll start with these three."

  When Pilar went off with the sales assistant to the dressing rooms, Sophia rubbed her hands together. "All right, your turn."

  Surprised, Maddy blinked at her. "This is a grown-up shop."

  "You're as tall as I am, probably about the same size," she added as she studied her target. "Mama's going for soft colors, so we'll stick with that. Though I'd like to put you in jewel tones."

  "I like black," Maddy said for the hell of it.

  "Yes, and you wear it well."

  "I do?"

  "Mmm, but we'll expand your horizons for this particular occasion."

  "I'm not wearing pink." Maddy folded her arms.

  "Aw, and I was imagining a pink organdy," Helen said, "with ruffles and little Mary Janes."

  "What're Mary Janes?"

  "Ouch. I'm old. I'm going over to daywear and sulk."

  "Well, what are they?" Maddy demanded as Sophia went through the selections.

  "Either shoes or pot—or both. I'm not entirely sure. I like this." She pulled out a full-length sleeveless gown in smoky blue.

  "It'd look okay on you."

  "Not for me, for you." Sophia turned, held the dress up in front of Maddy.

  "Me? Really?"

  "Yes, really. I want to see you in it with your hair up. Show off your neck and shoulders."

  "What if I got it cut. My hair, I mean. Short."

  "Hmmm." Lips pursed, Sophia mentally cut and restyled Maddy's straight mop. "Yes, short around the face, a little longer in the back. A few highlights."

  "Streaks?" said Maddy, nearly speechless with joy.

  "Highlights, subtle. Ask your father, and I'll take you to my guy."

  "Why do I have to ask about having my hair cut? It's my hair."

  "Good point. Go try this on. I'll give the salon a call, see if they can fit you in before we head back home." She started to hand Maddy the gown, then stopped. "Oh, Mama."

  "What do you think?" She'd started with the peach, the ivory lace romancing the bodice, the skirt sweeping back into a gentle train. "Be brutal."

  "Helen, come see," Sophia called out. "You look beautiful, Mama."

  "Like a bride," Helen agreed and sniffled. "Damn, there goes the mascara."

  "Okay." Half-dreaming, Pilar turned in a circle. "Maddy? What's your vote?"

  "You look great. Dad's eyes are going to pop out."

  Pilar beamed and turned in another circle. "We have a winner, first time out."

  It wasn't as simple as that. There were hats, headdresses, shoes, jewelry, bags, even underwear. It was dark before they headed north, with the back of the SUV crammed with shopping bags and boxes. Which didn't include the dresses themselves, Maddy thought with wonder. Those had to be fitted and altered and fussed with.

  But she'd ended up with a pile of new clothes, shoes, really cool earrings that she was now wearing. They showed off great with her awesome haircut. And highlights.

  This new girl-family deal had definite high points.

  "Men," Sophia was saying as she cruised north, "consider themselves the hunter. But they're not. See, they decide to go after a grizzly, and that's their whole focus. So while they track the big bear, they miss all the other game out of their narrowed vision. Women, on the other hand, may track the grizzly, but before, or even while, bagging it, they take down all the other game as well."

  "Plus men shoot the first big bear they see," Maddy put in from the backseat. "They don't take into account the entire world of grizzlies."

  "Exactly." Sophia tapped the steering wheel. "Mama, this girl has real potential."

  "Agreed. But I'm not taking the rap for those shoes with the two-foot soles she's wearing. That one's on you."

  "They're great. Funky."

  "Yeah." Pleased with them, and herself, Maddy lifted her foot. "And the soles are only about four inches."

  "I don't know why you'd want to clomp around in them."

  Sophia met Maddy's gaze in the rearview mirror. "It's a mom thing. She has to say that. You should've seen her face when I got my belly button pierced."

  "You got your belly button pierced?" Fascinated, Maddy reached for the snap of her seat belt. "Can I see?"

  "I let it grow back. Sorry," she said with a chuckle as Maddy sat back again in disgust. "It was irritating."

  "And she was eighteen," Pilar pointed out, turning her head to give Maddy a warning stare. "So don't even think about it until you are."

  "Is that a mom thing, too?"

  "You bet. But I will say the two of you were right about the hair. It looks great."

  "So when Dad connips, you'll calm him all down, right?"

  "Well, I'll…" She turned back as the car squealed around a curve. "Sophia, at the risk of saying another mom thing, slow down."

  "Tighten your seat belts." Grimly Sophia's hands vised on the wheel. "Something's wrong with the brakes."

  "Oh God." Instinctively, Pilar turned back to Maddy. "Are you strapped in?"

  "Yeah." She grabbed the seat to brace herself as the car shot around another turn. "I'm okay. Pull up the emergency brake."

  "Mama, pull it up. I need both hands here." Those hands wanted to shake, but she didn't let them.
Didn't let herself think about anything but maintaining control. The car squealed again, fishtailed around the next turn.

  "It's up all the way, baby." And the car didn't slow. "What if we turned off the engine?"

  "The steering'll lock." Maddy swallowed the heart that leaped into her throat. "She wouldn't be able to steer."

  Gravel spit as Sophia fought to keep the car on the road. "Use my phone, call nine-one-one." She looked down briefly. A half tank of gas, she thought. No help there. And she wasn't going to be able to control the car around the upcoming S turns at this speed.

  "Downshift!" Maddy shouted from the back. "Try downshifting."

  "Mama, shove it into third when I tell you. It's going to give us one hell of a jolt, so brace yourselves. But it might work. I can't let go of the wheel."

  "I've got it. It's going to be all right."

  "Okay. Hold on." She pushed in the clutch, and the car seemed to gain more speed. "Now!"

  The car jolted hard. Though Maddy bit her lip, she couldn't hold back the scream.

  "Into second," Sophia ordered, wrenching the wheel from the shoulder of the road. A line of sweat ran cold down her back. "Now."

  The car bucked, threw her forward, back again. She had a moment's panic that the airbags would deploy and leave her helpless.

  "We've slowed down some. Good thinking, Maddy."

  "We're going to head downhill, around more turns." Sophia's voice was ice calm. "So the speed's going to pick up again some. I can handle it. Once we're through them, we go up a slope, and that should do it. Get my phone, Mama, just in case. And everybody hold on."

  She didn't look at the speedometer. Her eyes were glued to the road now, her mind anticipating each turn. She'd driven the road countless times. The headlights cut through the dark, slashed across oncoming traffic. She heard the angry sound of horns blaring as she crossed the center line.

  "Nearly there, nearly there." She whipped the wheel left, then right. It slicked in her hands as her palms sprang with damp.

  She could see, could feel the ground begin to level. Just a little more, she thought. A little bit more. "Into first, Mama. Shove it into first."

  There was a horrible noise, a tremendous shudder. Sophia felt as if an enormous fist punched into the hood of the car. Something shrieked, then clanged. And as the speed dropped, she pulled to the side of the road.

  No one spoke when they stopped. A car whizzed by, then another.

  "Is everyone all right?" Pilar reached for the latch of her seat belt and discovered her fingers were numb. "Is everyone okay?"

  "Yeah." Maddy dashed tears from her cheeks. "Okay. I think we should get out now."

  "I think that's a good idea. Sophie, baby?"

  "Yeah. Let's get the hell out."

  She managed to get out, to get to the far side of the car before her legs buckled. Bracing her hands on the hood, she fought to get her breath back, and only managed to wheeze.

  "That was really good driving," Maddy told her.

  "Yeah, thanks."

  "Here, baby. Here." Pilar turned her, held her when the shakes came. And, holding her, reached out for Maddy. "Here, baby," she said again. Maddy pressed herself into that circle of comfort and let the tears come.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Contents - Prev | Next

  Nearly blind with terror and relief, David bolted out of the house. Even as the police car braked, he scooped Maddy out, held her cradled in his arms as he would a baby.

  "You're okay." He pressed his lips to her cheeks, her hair. Breathed her in, as the shakes he'd held off since the call took over. "You're okay." He said it a half dozen times as she curled into him.

  "I'm all right. I'm not hurt or anything." But when she wrapped her arms around his neck, her world came all the way right again. "Sophie drove like one of those guys you and Theo like to watch on the raceway. It was kinda cool."

  "Kinda cool. Yeah." Rocking now, calming himself, he kept his face buried in the curve of her throat while Theo awkwardly patted her back.

  "Bet it was some ride." Theo manfully swallowed the prickly lump in his throat. There was a jittering inside his chest that came as much from seeing his father break apart as from anxiety over Maddy. "I'll haul her in, Dad. You're going to wreck your arm."

  Unable to speak, David just shook his head and held on.

  His baby, was all he could think. His little girl might have been lost.

  "It's okay, Dad," Maddy told him. "Everybody's okay now. I can walk. We got the shakes after, but we got over it. But Theo can haul in all the loot." She rubbed her cheek against her father's. "We kicked shopping butt, right, Pilar?"

  "Right. I could use a hand, Theo."

  "Theo and I'll get it." She wiggled until David set her down.

  "What'd you do to your hair?" David ran his hand over the sassy crop of it, left his hand resting warm on the back of her neck.

  "Got rid of most of it. What do you think?"

  "I think it makes you look grown up. You're growing up on me. Damn, Maddy, I wish you wouldn't." He sighed, pressed his lips to the top of her head. "Just another minute, okay?"

  "Sure."

  "I love you so much. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't scare me like that again anytime soon."

  "I don't plan on it. Wait till you see the dress I got. It goes with the hair."

  "Great. Go ahead, drag off your loot."

  "You'll stay, won't you?" Maddy asked Pilar.

  "Yes, if you want."

  "I think you should stay." Since Theo had grabbed the bags, she clomped off after him in her funky new shoes.

  "Oh, David, I'm so sorry."

  "Don't say anything. Just let me look at you." He cupped her face, skimmed his hands back into her hair. Her skin was chilled, her eyes huge and full of worry. But she was here, she was whole. "Just let me look."

  "I'm fine."

  He drew her close, seemed to fold himself around her and rock. "Sophia?"

  "She's fine." The taut wire that had held her straight and steady snapped as she burrowed into him. "God, David, God. Our babies. I've never been so scared, and all the time it was happening, they… they were amazing. I didn't like leaving Sophie back there, dealing with the police, but I didn't want Maddy coming home alone, so…"

  "Ty's already on his way down."

  She drew a ragged breath, then a second that came easier. "I