Best Friend to Wife and Mother?

by Caroline Anderson

  ‘Massimo Valtieri,’ he said. ‘And you’re Leo Zacharelli. It’s good to meet you. Welcome to Palazzo Valtieri.’

  He spoke in perfect English, to Amy’s relief, faintly accented but absolutely fluent, and he turned to her with a welcoming smile. ‘And you must be Miss Driver.’

  ‘Amy, please,’ she said, and he smiled again and shook her hand, his fingers warm and firm and capable.

  ‘Amy. Welcome. My wife Lydia’s so looking forward to meeting you both. She’s just putting the children to bed and the others are in the kitchen. Come on in, let me show you to your rooms so you can settle the baby and freshen up before you meet them.’

  Leo took Ella out of the car seat and picked up the changing bag, Massimo picked up Leo’s bag and removed hers firmly from her grip, and they followed him up the steps and in through the great heavy door into a cloistered courtyard. The sheltered walls were decorated with intricate, faded murals that looked incredibly old, and more olive trees in huge pots were stationed at the corners of the open central area.

  It was beautiful. Simple, almost monastic, but exquisite. And she couldn’t wait to start capturing the images. She was already framing the shots in her mind, and most of them had Leo in them. For his blog, of course.

  Their host led them around the walkway under the cloisters and through a door into a spacious, airy sitting room, simply but comfortably furnished, with French doors opening out onto a terrace. The sun had dipped below the horizon now, blurring the detail in the valley stretched out below them, but Amy was fairly sure the view would be amazing. Everything else about the place seemed to be, and she just knew it would be crammed with wonderful photo opportunities.

  Massimo pushed open a couple of doors to reveal two generous bedrooms, both of them opening out onto the same terrace and sharing a well-equipped bathroom. There was a small kitchen area off the sitting room, as well, and for their purposes it couldn’t have been better.

  ‘If there’s anything else you want, please ask, and Lydia said she hopes you’re hungry. She’s been cooking up a storm ever since you rang and we’d love you to join us once you’ve got the baby settled.’

  ‘That would be great, but she shouldn’t have gone to any trouble. We don’t want to impose,’ Leo said, but Massimo was having none of it.

  ‘No way! She’s a chef, too, and not offering you food would be an unforgivable sin,’ he said with a laugh. ‘Just as soon as the baby’s settled, give me a call on my mobile and I’ll come and get you. Both of my brothers and their wives are here as well tonight. And we don’t in any way dress for dinner, so don’t feel you have to change. We’ll be eating in the kitchen as usual.’

  The door closed behind him, and Leo turned to her with a faintly bemused smile.

  ‘Are you OK with this? Because I’m well aware you’ve had a hell of a day and I don’t want to push it, but it does sound as if they want to meet us, or me, at least. If you don’t feel up to company, just say so and I’ll bring something over to you and you can have a quiet evening on your own. Up to you.’

  Her stomach rumbled, answering the question, and she smiled ruefully. ‘Honestly? Yes, I’m tired, but I’m absolutely starving, too, and I’m not sure I want to spend the evening on my own. And anyway, as you say, it’s you they all want to meet. I won’t understand what you’re all saying anyway, so I’ll just sit in the corner and stuff myself and watch you all.’

  ‘I think you will understand, at least some of it. His wife’s English.’

  ‘Really?’ Another knot of tension slid away, and this time her smile felt a bit more spontaneous. ‘That’s good news. I might have someone to talk to while you’re in meetings.’

  Leo chuckled. ‘I’m sure you will. I’ll just bath Ella quickly and give her a bottle and pop her into bed, and then we can go and meet the rest of the family.’

  Ella! She hadn’t even given her duties a thought, but now she did. ‘Will it be all right to leave her, or do you want me to stay with her? It’s you they want to meet.’

  He picked something up off a side table and waggled it at her.

  ‘Baby monitor,’ he said, by way of explanation. ‘They really have thought of everything.’

  They had. Absolutely everything. There were posh toiletries in the bathroom, the fridge was stocked with milk, juice, butter and fresh fruit, there was a bowl of brown, speckled eggs and a loaf of delicious-looking crunchy bread on the side, and a new packet of ground coffee next to a cafetière. And teabags. Amy was glad to see the teabags. Real English ones.

  While Leo heated the baby’s bottle and gave it to her, she made them both a cup of tea and curled up on the sofa to wait for him. Ella fussed a little as he was trying to put her down, but it didn’t take long before she went quiet, and she heard a door close softly and Leo appeared.

  ‘Is that for me?’ he asked, tilting his head towards the mug on the table in front of her.

  She nodded. ‘I didn’t know how long you were going to be, so it might be a bit cold. Would you like me to make you a fresh one?’

  ‘No, it’s fine, I’ll drink it now. Thanks. I ought to ring Massimo anyway. I don’t want to keep them waiting and Ella’s gone out like a light.’

  ‘Before you call him—did you say anything to them? About me, I mean? About the wedding?’

  A frown flashed across his face. ‘No, Amy, of course not. I didn’t think you’d want to talk about it and it just puts an elephant in the room.’

  ‘So—no elephants waiting for me?’

  He gave a quiet grunt of laughter, the frown morphing into a sympathetic smile. ‘No elephants, I promise.’

  ‘Good,’ she said, smiling back as the last knot of tension drained away, ‘because I’m really, really hungry now!’

  ‘When aren’t you?’ he muttered with a teasing grin, pulling out his phone, and moments later Massimo appeared and led them across the courtyard and into a bustling kitchen filled with laughter.

  There were five people in there, two men and three women, all seated at a huge table with the exception of a pregnant woman—Lydia?—who was standing at the stove, brandishing a wooden spoon as she spoke.

  Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at them expectantly, the men getting to their feet to greet them as Massimo made a quick round of introductions, ending with his wife. She’d abandoned her cooking, the wooden spoon quickly dumped on the worktop as she came towards them, hands outstretched in welcome.

  ‘Oh, I’m so glad you’ve both decided to come over and join us. I hope you’re hungry?’

  ‘Absolutely! It smells so amazing in here,’ she said with a laugh, and then was astonished when Lydia hugged her.

  ‘Oh, bless you, I love compliments. And you’re Leo,’ she said, letting go of Amy and hugging him, too. ‘I can’t tell you how pleased I am to meet you. You’ve been my hero for years!’

  To Amy’s surprise, Leo coloured slightly and gave a soft, self-effacing chuckle. ‘Thank you. That’s a real compliment, coming from another chef.’

  ‘Yeah, well, there are chefs and chefs!’ Lydia said with a laugh. ‘Darling, get them a glass of wine. I’m sure they’re ready for it. Travelling with a baby is a nightmare.’

  ‘I’m on it. Red or white?’

  Leo chuckled and glanced over at Lydia. ‘Judging by the gorgeous smell, I’d say a nice robust red?’

  ‘Perfect with it. And it’s one of your recipes,’ Lydia told him with a wry grin. ‘I’ve adapted it to showcase some of our ingredients, so I hope I’ve done them justice.’

  They launched into chef mode, and Amy found a glass of iced water put in her hand by one of the other two women. It appeared she was also English and her smile was friendly and welcoming.

  ‘I don’t know about you, but travelling always makes me thirsty,’ she said. ‘I’m Isabelle, and I’m married to Luca.
He’s a doctor, so more of a sleeping partner in the business, really. And this is Anita, the only native Valtieri wife. She’s married to Giovanni. He’s a lawyer and he keeps us all on the straight and narrow.’

  ‘Well, he tries,’ Anita said, her laughing words heavily accented, and Amy found herself hugged again. ‘Welcome to Tuscany. Have you had a good day so far? I thought Leo was supposed to be at a wedding today, but obviously not.’

  Well, how on earth was she supposed to answer that? Except she didn’t have to, because Leo appeared at her side and answered for her, fielding the question neatly.

  ‘We managed to get away early,’ he said, and she only just stifled a laugh. ‘The journey was great, though. Seamless. And our accommodation is perfect. Thank you all so much. It’ll make it very much easier for all three of us.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ Massimo said, glasses and a bottle in hand, and he and his two brothers immediately engaged Leo in a conversation about the wine, so Amy turned back to the women and found herself seated at the table while they poured her a glass of wine and chatted about the business and the area and their children, and asked about Leo.

  ‘So, how long have you known him?’ Lydia asked, perching on the chair next to Amy in a break in her cooking.

  ‘Oh—for ever. Our families have been neighbours since before I was born.’

  ‘Gosh. Literally for ever! Lucky you!’

  She laughed. ‘I don’t know about that. He used to test recipes on me when we were kids, but I was a willing victim.’

  ‘Victim?’

  She wrinkled her nose. ‘He was a little adventurous, so there were a few interesting disasters along the way. I think his palate’s refined a little bit since then.’

  They all laughed, even Leo, and she realised he’d been standing right behind her, listening to every word.

  ‘Damned by faint praise,’ he said wryly, and she swivelled round and looked up at him with a grin.

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t like to swell your head.’

  ‘God forbid.’

  His mouth twitched, and she laughed and turned back and found Lydia, Anita and Isabelle watching her thoughtfully. Why? They’d always behaved in this playful way, she just hadn’t thought about it, but—were the three women reading something else into it? Something that wasn’t there? She felt herself colour slightly and dunked a bit of olive ciabatta into the bowl of oil and balsamic vinegar on the table in front of her.

  Good move. The flavour exploded on her tongue and suddenly she understood why they were there. ‘Wow. This is lovely. Is it yours?’ she asked, and to her relief the conversation moved on as the food was put on the table and they all piled in, and the slightly awkward moment passed.

  Then as the last plate was cleared away and it looked as if they’d split up into two groups again, Ella cried out, the monitor flashing right in front of Leo, and Amy seized the opportunity to escape before the women could ask any more searching questions.

  ‘I’ll go,’ she said hastily to Leo, scraping back her chair and snatching up the baby monitor. ‘You stay and talk.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  His eyes searched hers, concern etched in them, and she found a smile.

  ‘Absolutely. We’ll be fine, and if we aren’t, we’ll come and find you.’ She turned to the others. ‘I hope you’ll excuse me. It’s been quite a...long and complicated day.’

  ‘Of course. We’ll see you tomorrow. If there’s anything you need, just ask,’ Lydia said, and she nodded.

  ‘Thanks.’

  Leo reached out a hand and stopped her briefly. ‘I’ll be with you in a minute. I won’t be long.’

  She nodded back, dug out the smile again for the others, thanked Lydia for the meal and made her escape. Long and complicated didn’t even begin to scratch the surface of her day, and she was only too ready to head across the beautiful courtyard to their suite of rooms, let herself in and close the door with a shaky sigh of relief.

  For some reason she could feel tears threatening, and frankly she’d done enough crying this morning—no, this afternoon. Whenever. The wedding was supposed to have been at noon. So still less than twelve hours since she’d turned her back on Nick and run away.

  And she would be spending her wedding night alone in an ancient medieval palazzo in Tuscany, instead of with Nick in the honeymoon suite of an old manor house prior to heading off to a sun-soaked beach in the Indian Ocean for her honeymoon.

  She gave a tiny laugh that turned into a hiccupping sob, and ramming her hand over her mouth she headed towards the bedrooms.

  And stopped, registering for the first time that the room with the travel cot in it had twin beds, and the other room had a huge double. Not that the twin beds were in any way small, but it seemed wrong for her to take the double instead of Leo and she was, after all, supposed to be here to look after the baby, even though Leo had said he’d share with Ella.

  She pushed the door open a little further and peered into the travel cot. The baby was fast asleep and breathing quietly and evenly, whatever had disturbed her clearly not enough to wake her properly, and Amy turned away from the bedrooms and headed for the kitchen.

  She was tired beyond belief, her brain worn out from going over and over the repercussions of her impulsive behaviour, but she couldn’t go to bed until she’d discussed their sleeping arrangements with Leo, so she put the kettle on, made herself a cup of tea and settled down to wait for him.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  LEO STAYED IN THE kitchen for a while longer, deep in conversation with the Valtieri brothers. They were fascinating men, with a passion for what they produced, for the land, for their family ties and history and also for their future—a future he realised he wanted to share.

  Their business was a part of them, utterly fundamental, their enthusiasm burning so intensely that it was infectious. It was how he felt about his own chosen path, his constant striving for perfection, for excellence, and it was wonderful to meet people who produced the raw ingredients of his craft with the same passion.

  He’d missed this—missed talking to people who understood what drove him and shared it, missed immersing himself in the thing he loved most in the world apart from his family. Especially his daughter—

  His gut clenched. Oh, hell. Amy was looking after her, and he’d totally forgotten!

  What was he thinking about? He’d let her take the baby monitor so he had no idea how long it had taken Ella to settle, and Amy had enough to deal with tonight, of all nights, without a tired and fractious baby.

  He shouldn’t have taken her for granted, but he’d been so wrapped up in his own agenda, so busy enjoying himself, that she’d completely slipped his mind.

  How could he have let that happen? Especially when he was so worried about her. She’d been quiet all day, so unlike her usually bubbly self, and although she seemed to have enjoyed the evening there’d been a distracted look in her eyes—and when Ella had cried, she’d grabbed the opportunity to escape with both hands.

  And he’d let her do it. What kind of a friend was he?

  ‘Sorry, guys, I lost track of the time, I’m going to have to go,’ he said a little abruptly. ‘It’s been a long day and I need to check on Ella.’ And Amy. Dio, how could he—?

  ‘Sure. We’ll see you in the morning. Nine o’clock?’

  He nodded. ‘That’s fine. I’ll look forward to it.’

  ‘Tell Amy we’ll be around,’ Lydia chipped in with a smile. ‘She and Ella are more than welcome to join us.’

  ‘Thank you. I’ll pass it on. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the company. And thank you for a lovely meal. It was delicious. I’ll have to return the favour one evening.’

  Lydia laughed. ‘Feel free. I’d love you to cook for us. It would be amazing. You can give me a master class, if you like.’
r />   He gave a soft chuckle. ‘No pressure, then.’

  ‘I’m sure you can handle it, Chef,’ she said with a grin, and he chuckled again and got to his feet, shook hands with all the men, said goodnight to the ladies and crossed the courtyard swiftly, letting himself quietly into the guest suite.

  Silence. No screaming baby, no sound from Amy desperately trying to pacify her, and the tension drained out of him. She must have gone to bed and left a lamp on in the sitting room for him.

  He turned towards it, and then he saw her in the soft glow, curled up in the far corner of a sofa, her hands cradling a mug and her face in shadow.

  ‘You’re still up,’ he said unnecessarily. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so long. I take it Ella’s OK?’

  ‘She’s fine.’

  He frowned. Her voice sounded—odd. Disconnected.

  ‘Amy?’ he said softly. She turned her head and looked up at him, and his gut clenched. She’d been crying. He could see the dried tracks of tears on her cheeks, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen, and guilt rose up and swamped him.

  * * *

  Damn.

  She hadn’t meant him to find her like this, and now there was guilt written all over his face. She closed her eyes, biting her lip and kicking herself for not just going to bed.

  The sofa dipped as he sat down next to her, his thigh warm against her hip, his arm around her shoulders solid and comforting. She felt his breath ease out on a weary sigh.

  ‘I’m so sorry. I got caught up in conversation and I should have been here for you, not abandoning you on your own to deal with Ella. Was she a nightmare?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. She was still asleep. It’s not that. I spoke to Nick,’ she said, and her voice clogged with tears. She swallowed and tried again. ‘He rang to find out if I was OK.’

  ‘And are you?’ he asked, although she knew he could see quite clearly that she wasn’t.

  She shrugged. ‘I suppose. I don’t know. It’s my wedding night, Leo. I should have been married—’

  Her voice cracked, and he took the mug out of her hands and pulled her gently into his arms.