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Baby Steps

Page 13

by Lily Zante


  In the afternoons she tried to go home for a few hours so that she could spend time with Elisabetta before she rushing back to the warehouse. Her days were long and she was constantly exhausted by the time she returned home late in the evenings.

  Tomorrow she had plans to visit the parents of the child who had been injured. Luckily for her they lived no more than a two hour drive away.

  She leaned back in her chair and squeezed the back of her neck when the buzzer to the warehouse door sounded. She didn’t look up, thinking it was another routine delivery that Rona had gone to see to but the sound of Connor’s voice jolted her.

  Connor?

  “There you are,” he said, striding towards her desk in the open plan office area. He seemed completely oblivious to the look of disgust on Rona’s face as she hovered behind him.

  “Hi,” she said, unable to hide her utter shock at seeing him again. She wasn’t sure whether to get up and give him some sort of welcome. They hadn’t seen one another for months, and in that time she’d gotten married and had a baby. There was more than a lifetime’s worth of distance between her and this man whom she’d once been destined to marry.

  “I’m going home,” Rona announced, ignoring Connor completely. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “I’m going to make a move as well,” said Kim, turning her computer off.

  “Bye, girls.” Ava leaned back and folded her arms, wishing she could go home but she had a few hours’ worth of work to do.

  Connor looked all around. “It was high time you bought this place,” he mused.

  “I couldn’t continue using your garage and my apartment for storage.” She attempted a laugh, but it died a quick death. In the silence that followed Ava tried to think of something to say to break the awkward quietness. She considered broaching the subject of the money he owed her—something she still felt guilty for not telling Nico about.

  “You look well,” he commented, finally.

  “Thanks,” she said, sitting back in her seat, and noting that he’d put on some weight and that his hair seemed a little thinner.

  “Are you winning?” He asked, in typical lawyer-speak.

  “We’re getting there. We’re hunting down the sold cribs and getting them returned here. Shania’s good,” she said, referring to the lawyer he’d recommended to her, an expert in the field. “She thinks I’m doing all the right things.”

  “No sign of lawsuits yet?”

  “Not yet.” And hopefully never. She checked the mail, as well as emails and comments on her website religiously, keeping a careful eye out for negative feedback and potential murmurings of lawsuits. “I’m planning to visit the injured boy’s parents tomorrow.” It was something she hadn’t mentioned to Nico because she sensed he wouldn’t be happy about her going, and judging from the look on his face, Connor’s reaction seemed to be the same.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Connor advised.

  “Well,” she folded her arms. “I disagree.”

  “If I were your lawyer, I wouldn’t recommend you do that,” Connor insisted, leaning on the edge of Rona’s desk.

  “I think it’s the right thing. As a mother, I feel it’s something I need to do.”

  “But you don’t know this woman, Ava and you’re going in cold. She’s not a friend, she’s not someone you bonded with over an antenatal class.” Ava frowned. The words antenatal class seemed odd coming from Connor’s mouth. “It’s a conflict of interest, Ava. You could be seen to be buying the customer off.”

  “They haven’t sued me yet. I’m going because as a new mother, I feel for this woman and her child.”

  “I still say you’re making a mistake.”

  He hadn’t yet made any mention about Elisabetta and she wanted to see if talk about a baby might yet prompt him to do so.

  “Congratulations,” he said, finally. “You have a daughter now.”

  “It’s taken you long enough to acknowledge her,” she mumbled.

  “You know how it is,” he said, loosening his tie. “I’ve been meaning to come over and see you but things are so busy for me lately.”

  She stared at him.

  “Did you get my Christmas card?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I wasn’t sure if I should send it. Rona told me about the baby and Nico’s accident and…” He shrugged and looked down, as if he was about to say something. “It’s not easy for me,” he said.

  “What’s not easy?” They hadn’t been easy for her when he’d shattered her dreams, either. She was most interested to hear what he had to say.

  “This time last year…do you remember?”

  This time last year? She looked at the calendar on her desk.

  Holy crap. Of course. That’s when it had all happened. This time last year she’d been broken. Her wedding plans had crashed to the ground. Connor had dumped her and she’d canceled everything. This time last year she’d been getting ready to go to Verona. It was right that she had forgotten. Who would want to remember that? Her life now was so busy, so full and moving along in the right direction—most of the time—that she no longer lived her life as if the past were still a part of it. Nico had erased all memory of Connor, and having Elisabetta now meant that she focused on the present more than ever before.

  “It’s not something I waste any time over,” she told him, not caring whether things were easy for him or not.

  “There are times when I think about it,” he said softly, staring at the floor. “I think about how it could have—”

  Something inside her snapped. “Please don’t,” she said. “You need to get over it, Connor.”

  “Here,” he said, moving away from the table and taking a step towards her. He fished out a piece of paper from his folder. “The money I owe you. I didn’t mean for it to take so long. I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks,” she said, genuinely surprised. A wave of relief rolled over her at the thought that she didn’t have to ask him for it.

  “It’s not all of it.”

  She looked up sharply.

  “It’s $8K. I wanted to give it to you while I could. I should have the rest of the money soon.”

  She’d already reconciled herself to not seeing the other $2K.

  “Well, okay,” she said, “Thanks.”

  “I’d like to come over and see your daughter.” He looked away and shrugged. “If that’s okay with you.” His flat voice tugged at the part of her that was still able to show some pity for him. She couldn’t turn him away.

  “Sure it’s okay. She’s with my mom during the day. Maybe one evening you can come over when I’m home. I have two more weeks left here, though.”

  “I’d like that,” he said, looking more relaxed than he’d been since he’d arrived.

  Chapter 24

  The bastards had dragged it out just as he’d feared. Nico gripped his cell phone so hard it was a surprise it didn’t shatter.

  “The first week of March?” The bastards. He’d been counting on his hotel to be open by then, not for the safety inspection to take place then. The marketing plan had been working towards that date, the advertising packages had been planned with that date in mind. Even the launch party.

  Shit.

  He’d have to get Ines on the case immediately and hope she could re-organize everything.

  “I don’t understand,” raged Bruno. “I put in for a date at the start of January. They had plenty of time to schedu—”

  “It was never going to happen when we wanted it to,” said Nico, his voice flat, and dull. “You were right, Bruno.” His project manager had warned him to put in some contingency, but he’d refused. He’d been so hell bent on making that date that he’d been blind to all advice. Yet now, surprisingly, his whole body was calm. Calm or numb, same difference.

  “Are you coming over?” Bruno asked.

  “What for?”

  “So that we can contest this.”

  “Do you think that will make a difference
?”

  Bruno snorted. “Are you feeling alright, Nico?”

  “I’ve never felt better.”

  “You understood what I said, didn’t you? The safety inspection,” repeated Bruno. “It’s not going to take place until the first week of March.”

  “I heard you just fine the first time.”

  “Aren’t you even angry?”

  Nico sniffed loudly. “I’m not letting myself get angry.” Because if he did then Vieri, or whoever it was that was behind this, would win. He had to think long game, not short game. It was a few weeks away, less than a month. It could have been worse. It was bad, but hell, it could have been a lot, lot worse. And when they came to inspect it, they wouldn’t find anything else, because he’d gotten some independent safety experts to give the hotel an internal inspection for his own peace of mind.

  He was more than ready for them. The shell infinity pools were fine, as were the indoor treatment rooms, the salt room, the outdoor treatment areas and the garden showers. They had all been safety checked.

  Come at me again, Vieri.

  There would be no way he could prove this, nor would he want to try. His father had always conducted his business fairly, unlike other unscrupulous businessmen, Vincenzo Azzarone being the main one that came to mind. Silvia’s father had used underhanded ways to make his family’s fortune. It didn’t surprise him that his daughter might have followed in her father’s footsteps. Pelosa might not believe him, but Nico knew that Vieri and Silvia were behind this. What beef could that woman still have with him?

  No. He wasn’t going to get annoyed. In fact, he’d surprised himself with how unaffected he was. Thinking about it, they were looking at a delay of a few extra weeks. It meant that the hotel wouldn’t open until mid to end March. Of course it would siphon even more money out of him but what could he do?

  What exactly did Vieri want from him? To prove a point? To be an asshole because he could?

  Because Silvia had put him up to it?

  Nico had no proof and he wasn’t going to waste any time or money on trying to get some. He decided to do nothing but bide his time.

  “What are we going to do now?” Bruno asked.

  “Sit tight,” Nico ordered.

  He broke the news to his management team, and then spent the next two hours going through the revised marketing and advertising plans with Ines. He left her to deal with the postponement of the launch party.

  Once that was over, he did something he rarely did, something he hadn’t done since the time he’d had to look after Elisabetta. He went home early. But coming home to an empty home only made him even more despondent.

  He sat in his plush living-room with its heavy, velvet embossed curtains, his feet sinking into the thick, wool carpets and his body resting against the sumptuous deep sofas, and he still felt lost. This place offered no comfort. It offered no comfort because it wasn't a home, not without his wife and daughter.

  The silence crashed around his ears. He didn’t like it and couldn’t get used to it. At night he would often sit in the glider, thinking and remembering. Back in his bedroom he would look at the empty crib and remember the noises Elisabetta made and the way in which she kicked her arms and legs around when she was excited and happy. Sometimes he’d turn on the crib mobile.

  He even missed her wailing.

  There had been many times in the past when he had longed for silence. Now that he had it, he detested it. Sitting in the glider, all he could do was think of Elisabetta and how soft and delicate she was in his arms, how she would look up at him with those shiny eyes, and how the touch of her itsy-bitsy fingers felt around his fingers.

  All of a sudden he was overcome by a profound feeling of sadness. A lump of regret rolled in his throat as he recalled the number of times he’d been irritated and annoyed by her crying. He rubbed his thumb across his brow, closing his eyes and trying with all his might to recall the sound of her voice. And the sound of Ava’s voice crashed over him. In his mind’s eye he saw her face and he suddenly longed to hold her and to have her in his arms at night.

  It was coming up to midnight but it would be a perfect time to call Denver. She hadn’t picked up when he’d tried earlier and he called her once more but just like before, her cell phone went to voicemail. Irritated, he called the warehouse. Like most times, it was Kim who answered. Sometimes he wondered whether Rona still worked there.

  “She’s not here,” Kim told him.

  “I can’t get a hold of her on her cell either. Where is she?”

  “She’s gone to visit a customer but I think she’ll be back around 6 if you want to try then.”

  “What customer?” She hadn’t mentioned a thing when they had spoken last night.

  “Uh—” Kim paused, and he heard the hesitation. “Didn’t she tell you?”

  His heart started to race and worry pinched his sides. “Tell me what?” The moment he said it he already had an uneasy feeling he knew exactly where she’d gone.

  “She’s uh—she’s gone to check in on the family whose baby got hurt.”

  “She’s gone alone?” Even visions of Connor accompanying her would have put his mind at rest.

  “Uh-yeah.”

  “Didn’t Connor go with her?”

  “Connor? No,” Kim made a pffft noise as if the suggestion was ludicrous. “She left the baby with her mom.” Nico breathed easier. At least she’d been sensible about something. He didn’t like the idea of Ava going to a stranger’s house and apologizing for something that wasn’t her fault. A part of him wished that Connor had gone with her because the idea of her venturing into an unknown person’s house didn’t sit right with him.

  What the hell had she been thinking visiting the parents of an injured baby?

  No way were they going to welcome her with open arms. Instantly, his mind conjured up horrific scenes of imprisonment in a dark basement and he began to fear the worst.

  “She should be back in a few hours’ time,” said Kim. “I’ll let her know you called, if she calls in.”

  “Why isn’t she answering her cell phone?” Nico demanded. Here he was sitting in Verona, waiting and hoping against hope for this hotel to open—waiting for something that was out of his control, and his wife was halfway across the world trying to save her business. Where was Dino Massari? The one whose goddamn factory made the cribs? Why wasn’t he out there doing something?

  “Aaah,” said Kim, as if she’d understood the reason for his call. “I was on a call to her a few moments ago. She was parked outside the house and getting ready to go in. Her battery was running low and she’d put her phone on vibrate.”

  His face contorted. For all he knew she could be going to the home of a deranged new mother and her psychotic husband. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this one bit.

  Chapter 25

  The woman peered at her suspiciously through the six-inch crack of an open door. “Hi,” said Ava, taking a deep breath. “I’m Ava. Ava Cazale. We spoke on the phone yesterday? You must be Gwen?”

  The woman’s expression hardened. “You’re early.”

  By five minutes. She stared back helplessly and heard the sound of TV commercials playing in the background and wondered if the woman wanted her to come back in five minutes’ time.

  “Come in,” the woman said, and opened the door wider.

  Ava forced a smile. Her stomach quivered as she followed Gwen Harding inside. She glanced around the room quickly. It was clean and well-kept and the layout and size of it reminded her of her own apartment.

  “I didn’t expect you to show up,” she said, fixing Ava with a not-too-welcome stare.

  “But we spoke yesterday,” said Ava. She had distinctly told the woman she would be coming today. An uneasiness shrouded her as she stood around, not entirely sure what to do next. She stared at the small pile of children’s toys that lay on the floor, not sure whether she should sit down or not.

  “Yeah, we spoke.” The woman crossed her arms. “Bu
t I didn’t expect you to show up.” Ava stared into the woman's cold and unsmiling face, hoping for that tight mouth of hers to soften. But it did not.

  What now?

  Maybe it had been a huge mistake coming here. The crib mix-up hadn’t been her fault but in the eyes of this pissed off mother, Ava was the one to blame. She should have listened to Nico, and her mother and Connor, and Kim and Rona. Maybe she should have heeded the advice of all those people instead of stubbornly following her gut instinct.

  An uneasy silence made the already stretched out moment seem longer and more awkward. They hovered in the living room, standing face-to-face like boxing opponents sizing one another up. Ava briefly considered the option of leaving now but decided to give it one more try. “Look, Gwen, may I call you Gwen?”

  The woman’s face remained hard, and she offered only a quick blink, as if signifying a ‘yes’. It gave Ava the strength to continue. “I understand how you feel—”

  “No, you don’t.”

  Ava swallowed.

  “It didn’t happen to you. So you can’t know.”

  She swallowed again. The way this woman carried on was as if her child had broken a bone. He’d had a bump on the head, minor injuries, nothing long lasting. She wasn’t trying to excuse what had happened, but she hadn’t expected the woman to be this pissed.

  “You’re right,” said Ava, trying again. “I can’t know. I don’t know, because it didn’t happen to me. I wanted to visit because I’m a mother, too, and I feel really bad about what happened to your son.”

 

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