The room she had stolen away from.
“Pinch me, Lorenzo,” she said, her voice shaking with a mixture of fear and anticipation. “I want this to be real.”
Lorenzo's hand gently touched her shoulder. It was enough. Nevertheless, she freed one arm from the quilt and rested her fingers on his hand to be doubly sure. It was real. Lorenzo was real.
She was safe.
“How did I..? What happened?”
He gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder and withdrew his hand. “Don't worry about it now.”
“How could you know where I was? How was that possible?”
“So many questions.” He delivered a deep sigh of resignation.
“But, how did you find me?”
“It was Domino. He found you.”
“Domino?”
As if on cue, Genie felt a cold, wet nudge on her elbow.
She rolled her head to her right and saw Domino in his usual position - seated on the floor, with his chin resting on the bed.
“He sensed you were in trouble,” Lorenzo said. “Wouldn't let me rest until I listened to him.”
Domino's big brown eyes fixed on Genie with depth of focus that implied he dare not look away in case she attempted to do something stupid again.
“He sensed where you were almost the instant we arrived at the avalanche site and started to dig.”
Genie stretched out her hand and rested it on the top of Domino's head. His body vibrated from the force of his wagging tail, augmented by a series of short snuffles.
“I haven't been very friendly to him since I've been here, Lorenzo. He must have sensed it. I'm surprised he even gave me the time of day, let alone come to rescue me.”
“I told you, dogs decide to whom to give their affection,” Lorenzo said. “They don't attach any strings.”
“If only people could be like that.”
“It is possible.” He sat down on the foot of the bed. “But you must remove your strings too.”
Genie chuckled. “You're quite a philosopher, Lorenzo Calderone.”
She shared Domino's open pleasure at the attention she gave him.
“You see this, Lorenzo? After a lifetime of steering clear of dogs, I'm making friends with one - a big one at that. I can't believe it.”
“Domino has been working on that since you came here.”
“But, dogs and me...”
“You just have to get to know them, that's all.”
“Getting dug out of a snowy grave helps.”
She shuddered as images of her dark cocoon emerged in her mind.
Domino broke her reverie with one of his special nose nudges.
“All right, Dom. I know you're here,” she said, turning back to him and patting him on his head. “And you are a clever, clever boy.”
“You're going to spoil him with all that attention.”
“I'm thinking,” Genie said, looking up at Lorenzo, “I can't imagine that I rode back here on Domino's back. You had to carry me, I guess.”
He shrugged and made a mischievous grin. “There isn't much of you,”
“Thanks very much.” Genie pictured Lorenzo carrying her through the snow. She sensed the touch of their bodies and that rippling thing started again.
“I don't know what to say.” She shook her head. “I've been a real nuisance to you, haven't I?”
“No, Genie. Don't be silly. On the contrary...” He let his words tail off, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Genie wanted to ask, “On the contrary what...?” But before she could, Lorenzo dived in.
“Everything's fine.” He stood up. “Domino and I haven't had so much excitement since we found a stray hiding out in our barn a few weeks ago.”
“So now I'm a stray.”
“Absolutely. That's why I took you in and gave you a bowl of milk.”
“Milk? Would that be from Gloria or Beatrice?”
“Naturalmente, from Gloria. She is your cow after all.”
Genie laughed. “So, because I've milked her a couple of times, I win her as a prize, do I?”
“Certo.” He stood up. “But, now, I think, you'd prefer a nice hot cup of tea.”
“Tea's wonderful, Lorenzo but, I have to tell you I'm starving.”
“Of course. I have not been able to make you eat.” He waggled his forefinger at her. “You are a very stubborn girl.”
She frowned. “What do you mean, make me eat?”
“You wouldn't wake up. I've been trying for two days to get you to--”
“Two days.” The shock almost charged her body enough to sit up. Almost. “I've been here for two days?”
“You were so long waking up, I thought I would have to nurse you for the rest of my life.”
“Two days. I can't believe it.” She looked at the finger tips on her free hand. “No wonder these have healed so well. Two days.”
She turned to Domino and started to rub behind his ear. Lorenzo had done all that - after everything?
That blessed magazine. What if he had read it? It was so old it must have been published right after the Ark bumped into Mount Ararat. Even if he had read it, the chances are he'd long forgotten it.
And even if he did remember; even if he knew all about her, so what? One day, she'd walk away from here. Oh, there'd be regrets on both sides, she was sure. But, what he knew about her would come to naught.
Nevertheless, still he and his doting dog came running after her.
Saved her life.
Nursed her back to life.
Unless he thought that doing all that would--Stop it! Let it go. Accept things the way they are right now. He'd pulled her out of her icy tomb - saved her life - and that was that.
“Now is the time to rest,” Lorenzo ordered. He turned towards the door. “I'll bring you a cup of tea and then--”
“And something to eat. I'm starving.”
“So you said.” He gave a heavy, very audible sigh on the way to the door. “She's going to start making demands now, Domino. We should have left her in the snow drift. Andiamo, Boy.”
“You leave Domino out of this,” Genie said. “He can stay here and share my breakfast.
Genie gazed wistfully at Lorenzo as he closed the door behind him. Oh, how she wished she could really be sure about him. Beautiful Lorenzo. She hated letting her almost phobic caution - her fear - build a wall between them. And even if the wall came down; even if their friendship caught fire to become something else, still she could never be sure.
Besides that, she couldn't see herself spending the rest of her life on a farm. Neither could she see Lorenzo getting a kick out of London's bright lights and high social events. They just weren't right for each other.
Wait. Wait. Wait. What was going on in her head?
“Hey Dom, I've just tested the idea of being married to your Dad.” She brushed her forefinger down the bridge of his snout. “You could be the Best Man - or Best Dog, in your case.”
She rolled her head back and closed her eyes.
“Put your fantasies away, Hamilton. When all is said and done, eventually, Lorenzo and I will have to go our separate ways.”
That was not going to be easy. If she let her feelings take charge, leaving him might be impossible.
Then she'd be in a different kind of trap - a farmer's wife trap.
No thanks.
No. Leaving was best.
Leaving him on a high note, with them both thinking well of each other, was best.
Best.
She gave a determined single nod to seal the contract.
Chapter Twenty
Lorenzo's day passed too slowly.
Not for some time, had Lorenzo approached his tasks with such subdued enthusiasm. Not since Anna... He had plenty to do - the usual chores and some odd repairs to the barn and the fence. It kept him occupied all day. He looked in on Genie occasionally, only to find her continuing to sleep away her exhaustion.
No doubt the food in her stomach added to her sleepiness.
Nevertheless, his thoughts veer never very far from Genie.
She had destroyed her breakfast of two boiled eggs, four slices of home-made bread, and a couple of litres of coffee.
“I'll be as fat as a pig after this,” she observed.
Lorenzo had enjoyed watching her, sipping his own espresso - double, to make it last a little bit longer - “just to join her”. At the end of the repast, he stayed for a while and watched her succumb to the combined effects of her ordeal and the meal. She switched off wakefulness almost instantly and dropped into a deep sleep.
Reluctantly, he backed out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him.
Domino refused to join him.
Throughout the day, the image of Genie trapped under an avalanche persistently hijacked his Genie-asleep thoughts. The first sight of her partially revealed by Domino's excavation efforts horrified him. He was sure she was dead.
But Domino knew better. He went to work on her and, it was only a matter of seconds before Genie started to murmur complaints about the “snuffling” and the “gooey tongue”.
If Lorenzo was the jumping-for-joy type, he would have jumped for joy. She was still alive - just. What he did instead, was send heartfelt thanks heavenward, pull her out and cradle her in his arms. He tried to convince himself that the cradling had to do with reviving her with body-warmth but, the closeness of her body had a different effect on him.
She felt good in his arms even though she was virtually unconscious, wet and suffering from hypothermia. His relief at finding her alive gave him the strength he needed. In his arms, Genie felt no heavier than a sodden feather.
He knew at that moment, how it felt to lose her.
And yet, in the same moment, he knew he would.
It was clear that she was trying to leave - and, one day she would succeed. One day he'll have to watch her walk away.
Until then, at this moment, with her cradled in his arms...this moment - this 'now' - was all that mattered.
Nevertheless, two days later, with Genie still fast asleep in bed, he could not stop nagging himself with questions. “What am I doing mooning over a near stranger?” he asked Beatrice and Gloria as he finished milking them.
Gloria uttered a small “Moo”.
“Probably been alone too long.” He patted Gloria's neck. “Got set in my ways. Now...” He shook his head, trying to reconcile himself to his new predicament.
He recognized that this Genie Hamilton was a bright light where there had only been dusk for the last twenty-four months and eighteen days. He hadn't realized how much he needed that light.
Anna had warned him. “Don't stay too long on your own,” she'd told him. “Find someone and live.”
He hadn't.
He hadn't wanted to.
He hadn't allowed such thoughts to invade his mind. Anna was sufficient for a lifetime. Who could fill his life in the way she did, anyway? No one else.
Then Genie happened.
Now, with the memory of her in his arms, he recognized all this rationalizing about “living for Anna” had been an illusion. It was nothing more than his way of managing his grief, and mind-numbing loneliness.
But, when he thought Genie was dead - the real truth about himself tore down his already weakened bastion against reality.
So, now what? Adore Genie from afar and wave her farewell when the thaw comes? Go back to life before Genie?
“Find someone and live,” Anna had said.
“Love to Anna,” he said, patting Gloria's neck distractedly. “But fate has tricked me. It has delivered me a transient someone.” He lurched to his feet and hefted the bucket of milk. “How am I supposed to live after fate's gift has gone?”
Genie snapped awake, shutting off a dream about drowning in snow.
She sucked in life-giving air and almost reached the point of hyperventilating when a nudge on her arm brought her back to reality.
“Hello Clever Clogs,” she said, rolling onto her side to face Domino. She reached out and stroked at the top of his head. “So you think that because you saved my life, you have the right to bully me, do you?”
He didn't answer. He was totally absorbed in the pleasure of the touch of her hand.
Genie's thoughts turned to Lorenzo. The idea that he'd carried her all that way quickened her pulse and ignited a gentle heat in her chest. “Cut it out, Hamilton. He's touched you before.” She patted Domino's head distractedly, recalling all the 'touching' moments. This one was different. This one was total body contact.
“Will I ever get over it?”
Faint kitchen sounds reached her ears and shifted the focus of her attention from Lorenzo to her stomach.
Her stomach told her it was ready.
She glanced towards the window. It was shaded, but the absence of the full glow of sunshine told her that it was either the beginning of a day, or the end. She made an arbitrary decision. “It must be dinner time,” she told Domino. “No wonder I'm hungry. I must've been asleep all day.”
His tail wagged in response.
“In that case, it's dinner time,” she said. “Vero, Dom?”
Domino raised himself from his haunches momentarily and then sat down again.
“Shall we two go down and surprise your Dad?” she said.
Domino woofed.
“I'm glad you approve.”
The will was strong but the body lagged some way behind. Only her innate stubbornness got her up onto her feet - albeit unsteadily. “My legs feel like butter melting in a hot oven, Domino,” she said through gritted teeth. “But we won't let a little thing like that defeat us, will we?”
She concentrated on the wardrobe. “Now, what shall I wear for dinner?”
She picked at the hem of her jacket. The material sent a signal from her hands, along her arm and up into her brain. She was wearing an unfamiliar garment. Steadying herself by pressing the backs of her legs against the bed, she studied her nightwear.
Men's pyjamas.
Lorenzo's pyjamas.
Must be.
Genie's heart flipped at the thought. He had been in these pyjamas sometime too? She ran her hands down the sides of the jacket and imagined him in them. “I wonder what this qualifies as - contact of the third kind, or is it the fourth.
“Either way, it's enough to set my hormones dancing.”
Domino nudged her.
“You wouldn't understand that stuff, Dom You're not old enough.”
Then, a further revelation.
She pulled out the pyjama front and peered into the gloom to confirm.
She wasn't wearing a stitch underneath.
Interesting.
Lorenzo must have...
Pictures of Lorenzo holding her, pulling off her clothes, touching her naked body, flashed through her mind. A burning sensation erupted in her face. Her heart jumped through multiple somersaults.
He'd seen her naked body.
He'd touched her.
She enjoyed the prospect in her mind that it somehow connected her even closer to him.
She patted Domino's head. “Best forget that kind of stuff, eh Dom?” she said, filled with a mixture of disappointment and relief. “I don't belong here and your Dad doesn't belong in my world. Wouldn't work.” She bent down and hefted Domino's head from under his chin. “Shame, isn't it, you big old softy, you.”
She stood up and stared into the middle distance. “A real shame.”
Domino snuffled and nudged her.
Genie extracted herself from her reverie. “Ah, you smell food, I'll bet.”
She examined Lorenzo's pyjamas once again. “Should I put on something different, Dom? What d'you think?”
The St. Bernard remained si
lent. With his head cocked to one side, he simply sat close to Genie and watched her intently.
“Not much point really, is there? He's seen all there is to see anyway. In that case, in this get-up, I'm positively overdressed for dinner. Right Dom?”
Domino appeared to nod and pad his forepaws twice, one after the other.
“Bene. Andiamo, then.”
She took a step away from the bed and almost immediately, her leg gave way.
Domino trundled alongside her, his expression full of concern.
“No need to worry, Dom. I'll be okay.”
“She willed her legs to work and almost made it to the door. The effort proved to be a little too much, however. She started to buckle at the knees. Stretching out, she grasped the doorknob for support. It wasn't enough to hold her and she continued her downward progress for her appointment with the floor.
Appearing to sense he was needed, Domino moved in close and pressed his body against her leg, directly beneath her unoccupied hand.
Despite her worsening condition, Genie laughed and took up Domino's offer. Her hand rested on his ample back. She straightened her arm, and brought herself back to an upright position - more or less.
“You clever boy,” she said. “If you keep on saving my bacon, I'm going to have to steal you away from Lorenzo and take you to home with me.”
With Domino's continuing solicitous attention, and occasional physical help, she managed to struggle down the stairs. True, she achieved this arduous journey by sitting down and shuffling over one stair at a time on her bottom. In a respectfully short time, she finally flopped down at the dining room table.
From her vantage point, she could see glimpses of Lorenzo through the kitchen doorway. He was obviously unaware of her presence. Just the fleeting sightings of him crossing from one side of the kitchen to the other disorganised her breathing. It was a delicious feeling - not just because she could see Lorenzo, but because she still had a working pulse.
The snow nearly took that away from her.
But the sight of Lorenzo gave it a thoroughly good workout.
“What's cooking, Lorenzo?” she called.
Chapter Twenty-One
“I hope you didn't mind my coming down in these elegant pyjamas,” she'd said, as he arranged the plates bearing her evening meal in front of her.
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