Windy City Romance: Boxed Set: Prequel - Book III

by Barbara Lohr

  Her sister answered on the second ring.

  “Help,” Amy squeaked in a small voice.

  “Amy, are you all right? What’s Allie like?”

  “Mallory,” Amy corrected her. “And he’s not a woman.”

  “What?”

  “Mallory is a man.” Amy’s dry lips caught on each m. “We’re on the road to Rapallo, and I’m, well, trying not to panic.”

  “Attractive? Interesting?”

  “Yes, and does that matter?”

  Her sister groaned. “Um, yeah, it helps! I mean, he’s not some psycho, right?”

  “So far, no.”

  “Take a deep breath. Is he hitting on you?”

  “No. Should he be?” As far as Amy knew, Mallory had not even made one pass. The backpack slid from her arm.

  “Maybe he just wants a companion who enjoys the same stuff. Didn’t you tell me you listed yourself as ‘Museum Aficionado’? He’s probably into the art scene, like you.” All kinds of noise blared in the background. Amy could hardly hear her sister.

  “Where are you? You must have the TV on awfully loud in the shirt shop.”

  “Here’s the thing, Amy,” Caitlin began, a note of hesitation in her voice. “When it looked like the wedding was off…”

  Her thudding heart broke into a gallop.

  “When it looked like you might have to go to Italy alone…or with a stranger…we decided—Kurt and I—that maybe we should surprise you.”

  Kurt had been Caitlin’s live-in boyfriend for about two years. Men hovered around Caitlin like fruit flies on a humid summer day.

  “Surprise me how?”

  “We’re here!” Caitlin sounded jubilant.

  “Where?” Her hand had gone numb.

  “In Rapallo! Kurt said we should have done this sooner.”

  “You mean you’re on my honeymoon?” Amy slumped against the white cinder block wall.

  “Right, I wanted to show some support, Amy, and surprise you. Then you got this travel chum. Never thought you’d actually carry through on that. Who knew? Great day for the beach.” Amy could hear Caitlin yawn. “We’re going back to the room to shower. Hey, where are you?”

  Dazed, Amy stared out at the highway. “I have no idea.”

  “That’s not like you.”

  “Do you mean you just picked up and left work?” Amy was still trying to wrap her mind around Caitlin’s news.

  “Isn’t that great? Laura said she could handle the shop. Kurt had just finished a corporate website project. The other two guys were totally comfortable handling his office, so we were good.” Kurt and some of his college friends had built a successful website company after graduation. They had a small office in Oak Park near Caitlin's shirt shop.

  “Only you could make this work,” Amy groaned.

  Years ago, if school was canceled because of snow, Caitlin was the first one into her snowsuit and out the door to make an igloo. Amy would open her books at the kitchen table so she could keep up with her school work.

  “See you soon, Amy, okay?” Caitlin sang in a chipper voice, almost like an invitation, almost like she’d been the one to organize this trip.

  “Right. Soon.” Amy ended the call. When had everything gotten so out of control? She felt as if she’d bought a ticket for the merry-go-round at the state fair and instead had ended up on Son of Beast. How could she let loose with Caitlin around? Her sister already had that niche filled.

  Gathering her courage, she fluffed one hand through her newly tinted tresses. She’d never been a quitter.

  When she returned to the car, Mallory had slid back into the driver’s seat. Thank goodness. That stick shift was a nightmare.

  One arm cocked out the open window and the breeze ruffling his hair, he was giving full attention to his sandwich. Those aviator sunglasses added to his mystery, and butterflies jittered in her stomach.

  Who was Mallory Schuster anyway? He sure wasn’t a teacher. The girls at Immaculate Heart of Mary High School would go crazy if this man ever walked down the halls. With his dark good looks, Mallory might even be more attractive than Rich Daley, their beach boy biology teacher.

  Snapping the seat belt closed, she turned to her travel chum. “Ready?”

  “You bet. Hope this is all right. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with anything they had.” Mallory handed her the bag.

  “Smells wonderful.” Amy unwrapped the baguette, dripping in olive oil. Sinking her teeth into the fresh crust, she took a healthy bite. The cheeses were soft and delicately flavored, overlaid with sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil. She licked the oil at the corners of her mouth. “Delicious.”

  This wasn’t the time to be thinking about the room. The room that may have one bed or two. The room with one bathroom they had to share.

  Chapter 5

  Five minutes later, they were headed toward the coast. The dampness from the sea wafted through the open windows, bathing her face. After the dry air of the plane, the moist air felt wonderful. Although she couldn’t see any water yet, Amy pictured gulls, stretches of sandy beach, and wet towels drying in the sun. A pretty heady mixture combined with the deep, woodsy scent rolling off Mallory Schuster. He hummed as he took the turns.

  Jason would never have been comfortable on the twisting roads of the Italian coastline. Oh, he’d never admit it, but her former fiancé would probably be tapping the brakes. Mallory, on the other hand, was a whole different story. With the glee of a teenager, he handled the steering wheel with his left hand while he worked the gearshift with the other. Sure, sometimes his lips would purse with irritation when the gears screamed. But he always got the car to settle down. Totally amazing. She'd bet one month's pay that this wasn't the kind of car he drove back in Savannah.

  They rounded a bend in the narrow road.

  “Oh, my!” Amy’s breath left her body with a whoosh. As far as the eye could see, the sea stretched below them—a broad expanse of rippling aqua water that turned darker blue while white clouds drifted lazily overhead.

  Mallory threw her a boyish grin. “Puts Florida to shame, doesn’t it?”

  Suspicion pierced her contentment. “I thought you’d never been here.”

  For a moment, Mallory hesitated, lips moving, as if searching for the right word. “I’ve seen pictures. My word, this traffic is really picking up.” Mouth set, he trained his eyes over the wheel.

  Amy squinched down in the bucket seat. Since she was already feeling uncomfortable, maybe this was the time to broach the subject of her sister. “One thing I wanted to mention, my sister might also be in Rapallo with her boyfriend.”

  Mallory’s right eyebrow quirked upward. “Might?”

  Amy began to fan herself with the map. “Right. Caitlin thought it might be fun…to join the party.”

  She certainly wasn’t going to tell him her sister was rescuing her from a solitary honeymoon. No way was she going to bring up her broken engagement. Her mother had been so disappointed about the canceled wedding. Not only had Amy lost a fiancé and a bucket load of deposits, she’d also postponed the arrival of grandchildren, one of her mother’s lifetime goals.

  One of Amy’s goals too. She’d always wanted a big family, scads of kids running around the house. “My family’s a bit unpredictable,” she told Mallory, clutching the door handle as he accelerated into another turn.

  The fact that Caitlin and Kurt would go to this trouble and take on the expense troubled her a bit. Their concern was so darn sweet. Apparently, Caitlin hadn’t believed Amy’s Travel Chum story and wanted to make sure her sister didn’t take this trip alone. How great was that?

  “Your sister must be very spontaneous.” Admiration rang in Mallory’s voice.

  “Do you have siblings?”

  He shook his head. “Only child. You get all the attention and all the blame. But I do have a cousin.”

  “Cousins count.”

  His chuckle qualified as a locker room guffaw. “Chad’s a good man. Crazy, but a good man.”


  “Family is always good.”

  “Sometimes.”

  Opening the window wider, she let the breeze wash over her. Her shoulders loosened. Nothing would spoil these few days as a woman of the world. She was going to work every tool in her toolbox.

  Her right hand tightened on the door handle.

  Just what did a worldly woman have in her toolbox?

  ~.~

  When they reached Rapallo, the traffic got crazy. Mallory shifted down, edging the car down narrow roads that made Savannah’s cobblestone streets seem spacious. This place had “vacation” written all over it, from the sunburned tourists in bathing suits to the piles of suitcases in front of the hotels.

  “So, many museums here?” he asked as they crawled along. How did a beach town like Rapallo fit in the plans of a woman crazy about art museums?

  His travel chum frowned. “No, why?”

  “Wasn't that what this trip was about?”

  Amy blinked, a fox sensing the hounds are near. “We…I, er, thought it would be…a nice place to start.”

  Start what? Mallory didn't even want to ask. He’d had enough sharing for one day. Jet lag was starting to set in.

  With a sudden jerk, Amy craned her long neck toward the windshield. “There it is! Hotel Giulio Cesare.” She checked the map.

  As he drove closer, Mallory considered the pink stucco structure with approval. Not bad. The quintessential beach hotel might have been found in Palm Springs in the 1920s. Charming but not grand. Close to the beach.

  His shirt was sticking to his back. How long had it been since his shower before the flight? What he wouldn’t give for the spacious shower in his Savannah mansion, the powerful jets set at every angle for a hot water massage.

  Traveling always carried trade-offs. For now, he was here. And he was glad.

  Cars inched through the streets, people hanging from the windows, voices high as they called to each other with broad gestures. Music blaring from car radios. Palm trees everywhere with the sound of water in the background. Bougainvillea clinging to the walls of hotels and shops in thick waves of fuchsia. Bright pink petunias and trailing ivy spilling from balconies and window boxes.

  Color. Atmosphere. Change of scenery.

  Rapallo was not Savannah.

  The weight of Thornton Enterprises, his father’s directive, and his failed marriage lifted. Mallory hadn't felt this carefree in a long time.

  When they pulled up in front of the hotel, not a porter was in sight. Must be a busy place. He parked. After helping Amy out of the car—not that she was one to wait for him to open the door—he began pulling out the luggage. “I could use a shower.”

  “Shower?” Amy froze, eyes wide as the sunflowers they’d passed on the road.

  He set her suitcase down. “Why don’t you go first?”

  “Thank you.” Yanking her T-shirt over the waistband of her cargo pants, Amy straightened her shoulders. The heat had molded the green shirt to her body. He forced himself to look away and reached for his navy bag. This chum thing might prove more difficult than he’d planned.

  Ahead of him, Amy marched through the doorway, tugging her bag behind her. He grabbed the handle of his suitcase and followed her inside. Although a welcome relief, the air conditioning pasted the grit to his skin.

  Inside, the reception area of the hotel was done in yellow tile with a blue accent. Bright. Cheerful. Small palm trees and ferns gave it an exotic look. Behind the registration desk, a short, round man yelled into an old-fashioned phone in Italian. Finally, he ended the conversation, slammed down the receiver and planted both hands flat on the counter. “Buon giorno. What can I do today for you, ah, today?”

  “We have a reservation.” Amy stepped up to the counter. “Under the name of Shaw.”

  The man ran one finger down the lines of a huge ledger open on the desk. “Ah, yes, yes. Here. Sì, sì. Signora Shaw.”

  Amy unfolded the confirmation and pushed the paper toward him. “But now we would really like two rooms, not one.”

  The man shook his head. “No is possible, signora. Full. Capishe?” He flung out his arms as if to encompass the entire establishment.

  “We’ll take what you have.” Edging around Amy, Mallory tried to slide his gold card onto the counter. After all, hadn’t Chad invalidated their terms of engagement by not telling Amy he was a man?

  Amy’s hand stopped him. Eyes blazing, she produced her own credit card. He drew back while she completed the transaction.

  Had the lines been drawn?

  The concierge nodded. “One room, two beds. You will find elevator in back.” He handed Amy the keycard.

  Together they walked toward the antique brass door of the elevator and waited. Finally, the doors swung open with a ping, and a couple stepped out. A pretty blonde cuddled against her companion. He loved to see couples that into each other.

  “Caitlin?” Amy stepped forward. “Kurt?”

  “Amy!” The blonde flung her arms wide.

  Amazing. Must be the sister. Something in his chest pinched. Scenes like this reminded him that he was an only child.

  “So you're here.” Amy pointed to the tiled floor.

  “Right, we got the last room. Isn’t that fabulous?” Caitlin’s eyes were on Mallory.

  “Y’all came to join the party?” He stepped forward. “I’m Mallory. Mallory…Schuster.”

  As they shook hands, Caitlin’s eyes danced. “So glad to meet you. A little surprising but nice.”

  “Your sister was surprised too.” Horrified might be more like it.

  “Oh, I’ll just bet she was.”

  Amy’s face brightened. “Wait. Okay. You have a room here, right?” She looked from Mallory to Kurt. “So the guys could bunk together, and you and I could share a room.”

  Kurt’s face went blank.

  Caitlin frowned. “No chance, Amy.”

  “But it’s perfect. A solution.” Amy’s voice rose with hope.

  The couple began edging toward the front door. Mallory stifled a laugh.

  “We don’t need a solution, Amy.” Caitlin took her boyfriend’s hand. “We’re, ah, already solved.”

  Pausing when they reached the hotel entrance, Amy’s sister and her boyfriend were outlined by the bright sunlight. High time to enjoy that beach.

  “You two have fun,” Caitlin threw back. “I mean, get settled. Wait’ll you see the beach.”

  Shoulders slumping, Amy looked so forlorn. “See you later.”

  Kurt waved and then tugged Caitlin into the sunlight.

  Mallory definitely had to get Amy into her comfort zone. “Come on. Let’s check out the room. See if you like it. We can leave the luggage here while you decide.” He pushed their bags against the wall under one of the gilded mirrors.

  Amy stepped into the small elevator. “What if we don’t like the room?”

  He pushed the button for the third floor. “We always have options.” Like what? He had no desire to begin looking for another hotel at this late date.

  Checking out the room was all about giving her choices. Putting her in control. Staring at the blinking buttons as the elevator climbed, Mallory knew they’d both lost any sense of where they were going.

  Chapter 6

  Caitlin was here, in the same hotel? Amy’s amazement quickly simmered into frustration. How could Amy reinvent herself with her younger sister on the scene? Amy would always be “Big Dumpling” as long as “Little Dumpling” was around. Her father had lovingly nicknamed his daughters after Caitlin was born. Amy wished she'd had a vote.

  Hands shaking, she jammed the keycard into the lock of the room she would share for two nights with Mallory Schuster. It clicked open. Reaching over her shoulder with one muscled arm, Mallory shoved the door wide. His musky male scent rolled over her.

  “More like a closet than a room.” His voice dropped a notch.

  “Lovely.” Shaking out her legs, she stepped inside. A nightstand was wedged between two twin beds. Tha
nk goodness the staff had received her email changing the queen-size bed to two twins. At the time, Amy thought a woman would be sleeping in the other bed.

  “At least three feet between the beds. Plenty of room.” Mallory cupped one hand over his chin. Was he hiding a smile?

  “Did I say I was measuring?”

  “Is the bathroom this small?”

  “Check it out for yourself.” Amy was already sweeping back the long billowing sheers. When she pulled the French doors open, a warm, humid breeze rushed in. Licking her lips, she tasted the sea.

  A sense of well-being filled her as she stepped onto the small balcony. Italy. Husband or no husband, she'd made it here alone. Well, except for Mallory. And Caitlin. Extending her hands along the wrought iron railing, she smiled.

  Mallory had picked up the phone, but after a few seconds, he put it down and came up behind her. Putting out one hand, he tested the railing. “Careful now. Might not be sturdy enough to lean on.” His eyes were the color of the water folding onto the shore below in soft waves.

  “Oh, I'll be careful.”

  Lines crinkled from his eyes when his gaze met hers. “Sometimes you can be too careful.”

  “Really? Don't know if I've ever had that happen.” Giddiness spiraled through her chest and pooled between her legs, leaving her light-headed. Stepping back into the room, she relished the solid tile floor beneath her feet.

  Mallory edged toward the door. “The desk isn’t answering. Think I’ll run back down for the luggage.”

  “Thank you,” Amy murmured, turning back to study the room as the door closed behind him. Hearing his footstep recede down the hallway, she grabbed her phone. “McKenna, pick up, pick up.” Should be late evening in Chicago, but her midwife friend could be delivering a baby.

  “Hey, what’s up, Amy? Did you land safely?”

  “Safely? I don’t know. Caitlin’s here, McKenna. She surprised me and came for moral support. Had already made the plans when I posted on Travel Chums.”

  “Excellent! Three women enjoying the trip together. Wouldn’t be my choice, but it sounds like…fun.”

  “Not really. My travel chum turned out to be a man, and Caitlin brought her boyfriend.”