“Would you ever go back?”
“I don’t know. The people I worked with were like family.”
“Even Gary?”
“No,” he said right away. “I had a work respect for him, but somehow I sensed he looked out for number one. It always put me off.”
She nodded, and they silently walked to the house. He wondered what she thought about, but by the time they reached the house and got behind a closed door, he only cared about the time they had left together.
* * * *
Mamie burrowed her face in the pillow and inhaled Julian’s scent, a faded mix of soap and spice. The Etruscan tour had been interesting, but being back here now, alone with Julian, was even better.
She shifted against the crisp sheets, listening to the shower running, but still able to feel the touch of his hands as they’d explored her skin. God, how she’d missed sex. Just the thought of being in his bed for the remainder of this trip made every nerve-ending tingle.
Gary’s presence brought mixed results. Having him here tossed Julian’s past on the table, which strangely enough seemed to relax him. A fact that also made her happier. Yet the smooth producer possessed a disingenuous air about him. She only hoped he didn’t do anything more to upset the good karma of this magical villa.
The clock ticked on their villa stay. Tomorrow morning she’d get a chance to reciprocate the support Julian had given her with a special moment for him. Nerves tugged at her gut as she thought about her plan. Julian might hate the challenge she proposed, and all she could do was pray that he didn’t.
Julian’s happiness mattered and doing this for him brought a kind of purpose she hadn’t felt in some time. The kind she’d felt, as a mother and wife, when giving support to her loved ones every day.
Her cell phone rang. She rolled over and grabbed it off the nightstand, happy to see Felix’s name flash across the display.
“Hey, stranger.” She sat up and pulled the sheet over her chest.
“It’s the world traveler.” Felix’s deep voice and melodic British accent sounded more rested than usual. “Allison tells me you’re holding your own out there.”
“Surprisingly, I am. How’s the new Mrs. Carrol?”
“Gilda is making me the happiest man in the world. If someone had told me love could feel like this, I’d have made myself find it years ago instead of traveling the world.”
“That’s how I feel about Tuscany.”
“Most people do. Are you still in Siena?”
“No. We’re at the villa, near the border of Tuscany and Umbria.”
“Beautiful, yes?”
“Sì. Bellissimo.”
Felix laughed. “Mamie, dear, it does my heart good to hear you this happy.”
“I am happy, but a little sad, too. I’ve made some nice friends on this tour. Hey, did you really go to Woodstock?”
“Believe it or not, I did. I was in college and traveling abroad in the U.S. that summer. And yes, I am a member of the Wanderers, too. They’re nice people. Every couple of years I go on a trip with them. On my own time. When I don’t have to take notes and write about a place. You know, when the publisher asked me to go on the tour with the group, I talked to her about my conflict of interest. But then meeting Gilda... Ah, well it all fell into place and seems I didn’t belong on the Tuscany trip after all. How’s the piece coming?”
“Pretty well. I’m following your format. In fact, hold on, though. I have a couple of questions if you’ve got time.”
“Absolutely.”
She put the phone on the bed, quickly tossed on her underpants and a T-shirt, and pulled her notebook from her canvas bag.
After settling on the bed, she flipped through the pages until she found her questions to ask Felix. It only took about two minutes to get answers and she scribbled fast in case Julian finished soon.
“My goodness, you are right on top of it.” Felix sounded impressed. “Nobody will miss me.”
“Now we both know that isn’t true.” The shower shut off and she quickly tossed the book back onto the top of her bag. “Hey, quick question. Did you ever tell anybody who you really were? Between us.”
“Never. Part of the deal to keep the job. You know that.”
“Yeah, it’s just not easy sometimes.”
He was silent for a moment, then said, “Yes, it was hard to not be truthful with the friends I’ve made, yet I felt like I had no choice. Now I’ve got a question for you.” Felix’s voice took on a serious tone. “I’m thinking of leaving my job as the Covert Critic. Are you interested in the spot?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I—I just thought I’d be back home at the end of this.”
Home. Less than two weeks ago, it had been the extent of her world. Now a door had been pried open. She could run free.
“Don’t answer right now,” Felix interrupted her thoughts. “We’ll talk when you return. Sound good?”
The bathroom door opened and Julian stepped out with a towel around his waist. He started to say something, must’ve seen her phone, and walked over to his luggage.
“Yes. I think that sounds good.”
They talked about the details of her return then hung up.
“Everything okay?” Julian asked.
She turned to him just as he buttoned the top of his jeans.
“I guess. It was my boss confirming my return date.” She swallowed the pain of her lie, seeming a thousand times worse given what happened between them in the past twenty-four hours.
He seemed quiet as he tossed on a button-down shirt. She got out of bed and picked up the damp towel he’d left on the floor. “Guess I’ll go shower.”
As she turned toward the bathroom door, he grabbed the towel end and drew her close. “Don’t run off.” He put his arms around her. “You sure you’re okay?”
She shrugged. “My boss offered me a new job.”
“That’s good. What is it? Like bank president or something?”
“No.” The lie grew like Pinocchio’s nose. “A regional job. It involves some travel.”
“In the U.S.?”
“I’m not sure. He said we could talk about it when I get home.”
“So you have time to think about it.”
“Yeah.” Home. Just the thought of it left her with a lump in her throat. “Hard to believe this trip is almost over.”
Julian frowned. “Let’s not think about it.” The towel fell to the floor as he slipped his hand under her shirt, the heat of his palm resting on the curve of her back, and caressed her gently. Desire in his eyes made her heart swell. She undid his shirt and pressed her hands to his chest, loving how his body was becoming familiar.
He eased her onto the bed and removed the clothes he’d just put on.
They made love. Not the urgent passion owning them before, but a symphony of gentle and tender movements, punctuating a message that made the trip’s ending even more bittersweet.
Chapter 19
The debate inside Julian’s head came to a halt. Decision made.
He rose from the kitchen island stool, walked to the bathroom door, and knocked. The shower water stopped. “Mamie? I’ve decided to talk to Gary before dinner.”
“Hold on.” A second later, she stuck her head out the door, a towel wrapped around her torso. “I think that’s a smart move.” She gave him a quick kiss. “Good luck. I’ll meet you at the cocktail hour.”
He left the villa and walked across the courtyard, knocked on the door.
Frank opened it, dressed for dinner in a loud Hawaiian shirt and dress slacks. His gray hair was slicked back for a change and strong cologne hung in the air around him. “Hi, Julian. Or should I call you Eddie?” He elbowed Julian and winked. “Come on in.”
“Julian, please.” He held in his irritation at Frank, who reveled in this find more than
the others. “You all set for trivia night?”
“Are you kidding? I practice all year for this.”
“Is Gary around?”
Frank pointed across the living room toward a set of sliding doors. “He’s out on the patio having a beer. Grab one from the fridge and join him.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m heading over for the cocktail hour. Don’t want to miss any of those appetizers.”
“I’ll be there soon.” Julian pointed to his shirt. “You know this isn’t a luau, right?”
Frank’s laugh bounced off the room’s high ceilings. “This was the biggest shirt I brought along. I saw tonight’s menu and wanted plenty of room for eating.”
“Now why didn’t I think of that?” Julian smiled, then stopped by the kitchen to take a beer.
As he headed out through the sliding doors, Gary looked up from his seat at a glass-topped table, a Peroni in his hand. “Hey. I was just thinking I should retire here.”
Julian shook his head. “You’re only forty-five.”
“This is peaceful.” He turned back to the hills surrounding the valley. “Makes me wonder why I’m working like such a horse.”
Julian kept to himself it was because Gary’s greed always got the better of him.
Sitting, Julian tipped back his bottle while watching the man he’d loathed for the past twelve months.
Seconds passed before Gary made eye contact with him. “Dude, what the hell’s been going on with you?”
Julian lowered the beer, the answer even more complicated with Mamie in the picture. “To be honest, I wish I knew. A year ago, it had everything to do with what happened to Carlos.”
“I wish I could do that day over.” Gary shook his head and finished off his beer.
Julian snorted. “Are you kidding me?”
“What? That man dying was horrible.”
“Carlos. His name was Carlos.” Julian leaned across the table. “I begged, BEGGED you to cancel the dive, but you pushed.”
“The executive producers pushed, not me.”
“The only person I heard was you.”
“Show biz sucks. Money means everything.”
“Even a life?”
Gary’s jaw tightened and he looked away.
“The executive producers, did they tell you to fire me, too?”
Gary stared into the darkening sky. “No. I made the call because you were pissing me off.”
“Pissing you off,” Julian said quietly, careful not to set off his mounting anger. “I had just watched a man die.” The words clogged his throat. “Fuck you, Gary.”
Gary flinched, but lifted his bottle, frowning when he noticed it was empty. “The executive producers want you back. I’m here to find out what it will take.”
“Now I’m starting to see what happened. You’re in trouble because you let me go.”
“Trouble is a strong word. They would’ve been happy with a replacement, but turns out there’s something about you viewers like.”
On some level, the news made Julian feel good. The one thing he’d loved about his job had been the viewers, who often sent fan mail or showed up on location. “For what it’s worth, I don’t know what I want. This past year, I’ve done some deep soul searching. I don’t think I’ve done that a single day in my life. Just jumped into what life had to offer without a second thought. It’s how I landed on the show.”
“You were a natural.”
“I was naive.”
“How so?”
“Naive about life. What I really want from both a job and career.”
“Well, it can’t possibly be this one. A tour guide? Jesus, Jules. You went from a hundred miles per hour to ten.”
“I’m a tour director. And it has plenty of rewards.”
Gary gave sarcastic chuckle. “Like?”
Julian scrubbed at his beard and realized Gary hadn’t even mentioned his latest anti-Eddie look. “It’s more relaxing than the show, for starters. I meet some damn nice people.” Then there was Mamie. “I spend time in beautiful places. Oh, and the best one…the death rate is pretty low.”
“Touché,” Gary said, his tone filled with contempt. “Look, all I ask is that you think about what it’ll take to get you back. We’re open to anything. Even a new show format.” Gary leaned back in the chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. “I miss working with you. And that isn’t bullshit. It’s how I really feel. I’ll respect your decision not to return, but I’d like you to sleep on it.” He stretched out his hand. “Friends?”
Julian wanted to hate him. This was Gary in full-blown salesman, backing Julian into a corner while he smiled, making it hard to distrust. Julian reached out and shook, feeling like he had no choice but to keep things amiable now that Gary was here as a guest. “How about we join the cocktail hour?”
They stood and walked around the villa, going uphill toward the patio. As they rounded the corner, laughter and voices suggested the party was in full swing.
“Who’s your new girlfriend?” Gary asked.
The word dropped like a bomb. Sure, he’d had women who he saw regularly. They offered companionship and sex. Never had he called them girlfriends, but for some reason he struggled to deny Gary’s use of the word. “Her name’s Mamie Weber. She came with the tour.”
“With all those old people?”
Julian smiled. How she fit right in with them was part of her charm. “Yeah. Her uncle gave her the ticket. It was his.”
“It’s looking cozy.”
“We just met.” He glanced at Gary and gave him a no-biggie shrug, but the words carried a flat ring.
“Speak of the devil.”
Julian looked straight ahead, where Mamie had appeared at the end of the walkway and stopped near a row of torches leading to the patio.
The long, strapless dress she wore clung to her body, sliding down to her ankles, where a gentle breeze opened the flap and revealed delicate sandals. She’d twirled her chocolate hair on top of her head, leaving soft tendrils to frame her face. His heart swelled with emotion, and the words he’d just said to Gary became a bigger lie.
She smiled and Julian did the same. All the choices before him right now, and the most unexpected one was that Mamie had made it to the list.
* * * *
Beppe whistled to the music coming from his car radio as he sped along the dark, empty highway. His smaller car made the speeds seem even more perilous to Mamie than the bus and she struggled to refrain from backseat driving. She had bigger worries ahead, like how Julian would react when they reached their destination.
Julian yawned loudly from the front passenger’s seat and glanced at Beppe. “I don’t know what you’re so happy about at this early hour. Someone”—he turned around and raised a brow at Mamie—“better have a very good reason for dragging me out of bed so early.”
She sat straighter in her seat. “Trust me. If I wake you while we’re in bed, you should never ask why.”
Beppe laughed and looked at her in the rearview mirror. “She’s got you there, my friend. You do what your woman asks.”
She stuck out her tongue at Julian, then smiled. Deep down, though, butterflies danced in her belly and she wished they’d stop. What she was about to ask Julian to do pulled him out onto a limb he’d been avoiding.
His face softened. “Just you wait’ll this car stops,” he said quietly. “You’ll pay for that.”
“Oh? I hope so.”
Julian grinned then turned around just as Beppe drove uphill.
Mamie searched for anything to talk about to take her mind off what was about to happen. “I’m surprised Bob’s wife, Carol, won the trivia contest last night. So quiet this whole tour, then she went and clobbered all those men who boasted the entire trip about knowing the most.”
Julian laughed. “Did you see Joel’s mouth
drop when she got that last question right? He was sure he had the win.” Before Mamie could respond, Julian added, “Really, you guys. What’s this about? I feel like I’m being kidnapped.”
Mamie leaned forward, sticking her head between the two men. “It’s something like that.”
“You’re impossible.” He grinned and shot her a glance, before turning to stare outside the dark car window.
She sat back in her seat, but somehow knew he wouldn’t be smiling when he learned the truth. A minute later, they rounded a bend, where a car with a trailer attached sat parked.
Outside the trailer, on the ground, a rainbow-colored hot air balloon lay on its side. Next to it, the operator stoked a fire that would fill the inside and take them on their flight.
“What’s going on here?” Julian’s playful tone disappeared.
Beppe parked near the other car and glanced back to Mamie as he opened his door. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”
Mamie scooted to the middle of the back seat as Beppe’s door shut. Julian turned around.
Even in the dim light, his glare shone bright. “Why are we here?”
“Good question.” Mamie couldn’t remember a word of her prepared speech. “I started thinking how we both seemed in search of something—”
“This isn’t what I’m searching for.”
“Maybe not. But I thought it might help us both. You see, after what you shared with me about being afraid, I understood. I’ve been scared for a long time, too. Coming to Tuscany had me scared. But when I finally got on the plane, I knew I needed to challenge myself. Like my husband used to do for me.”
Flame from the hot air balloon shot upward, brightening the car’s dark interior and highlighting Julian’s tight jaw. “Mamie, what’s wrong with you? I watched my parents die in one of these things. Right now, I’m...I’m not myself. I’m...”
“It’s okay if this makes you nervous. I’m nervous, too.”
“This goes beyond that and you know it! Jesus, that contraption...”
She touched his shoulder, the muscles tense. “I’m sorry to dump this on you. But sometimes the thing we need has to come out of left field, leaving us no time to think about it.”
The Sweet Life Page 20