Mending Jodie's Heart (When Paths Meet Book 1)

by Sheila Claydon

  Jodie had seen the expression on his face and laughed at him. “You didn’t know did you?

  He had given her a shamefaced smile. “Is that what you were talking about this morning?”

  “Mmm, and birdseed. I didn’t know it was possible to talk about birdseed for over an hour until I met Luke!”

  And now Luke wanted to visit the aviary again. Seeing weeks of daily visits stretching out before him Marcus groaned. Izzie grinned at him.

  “We didn’t say you were invited. Luke and I are going to see the birds. You two can carry on canoodling. You can even talk about us if you want to,” she added.

  Marcus chuckled as he watched her lead Luke across the grass towards the aviary. “She’s not exactly subtle is she?”

  “It’s not her strong point, but she’s right isn’t she? We do need to talk about them. You need to finish what you were about to tell me.”

  He sighed. “You first.”

  “No. I already had my turn. You know what I think about Luke.”

  He tightened his grip on her shoulder as he turned her towards him. “Izzie then! I think you should stop worrying about her and let her do what she wants to do, which is to sing. You need to let her go Jodie.”

  “And what if I can’t?” her voice faltered.

  “Then you’ll lose her. She needs to sing. If you’d come to the studio with us you would have seen that for yourself. She has a tremendous voice and a real stage presence as well. It will only take a few phone calls to have people queuing up to manage her.”

  “That’s exactly what I was afraid of,” Jodie twisted out of his arms and stood up. She looked ready to run away.

  He stood up too. “Why are you so frightened? She’s almost seventeen for goodness sake. And the fact she was prepared to ignore trespass signs and come looking for me shows how determined she is. I might have refused to see her, refused to help her, but she was prepared to take a chance on that. She was desperate enough to risk making a fool of herself.”

  “I wish she had made a fool of herself. I wish you’d refused to help her,” she backed away from him, her face suddenly pale.

  “If that’s how you feel then I don’t understand why you agreed to let me listen to her in the first place. Nor why you encouraged me to take her to the studio this morning. Why did you agree if you don’t intend to see it through?”

  “I agreed because it would have broken her heart if I’d said no,” tears streaked her face. “I hoped that visiting your studio and spending some time with you would be enough for her. I know she has a lovely voice but I didn’t realize she was that good. I thought…hoped… this weekend would be a way of getting it out of her system.”

  The pain that sliced through his heart at her words took his breath away. Was all this for Izzie? Had she only agreed to come to London in the hope that her sister would get over her dream? Then he remembered their kisses and knew he was being unfair. There was more to Jodie than that, however protective she was of Izzie. Gently he took her hand and led her into the hidden green shadows of the weeping willow.

  “Tell me what it is that you’re so afraid of,” he said.

  “My mother…our mother was the Italian soprano Annetta Parisi. You probably remember the stories about her. She was beautiful and talented and had the voice of an angel, and in the end it killed her. I don’t want the same thing to happen to Izzie. I couldn’t bear it if I lost her Marcus. I just couldn’t bear it.”

  She didn’t make any attempt to hide the tears that coursed down her cheeks as she explained. “My mother had me when she was just twenty. My father, who was only a couple of years older, drowned two days before I was born. Apparently he was larking about and although Mamma asked him not to, he climbed onto the parapet of a bridge near the spot where they were picnicking. Unfortunately he slipped, probably because he’d had too much wine, and he hit his head as he tumbled into the fast flowing river. Because she was so heavily pregnant my mother wasn’t able to help him. Instead she had to sit amongst the remnants of their picnic and watch it happen. My grandmother said she was never the same afterwards, which is not really surprising. And when I was born I looked so much like him she couldn’t even bear to be in the same room with me. As soon as she could she left me with my grandmother and flew to Rome and then to London to concentrate on her career.”

  Marcus pulled her towards him and held her tight. It wasn’t what Jodie was telling him that was upsetting; it was the way she was telling it. It was just so many facts recited in a monotone. A story she had learned from her grandmother, not one she could remember herself.

  For a long moment she gave herself up to his embrace, then she pulled away from him again. “I lived with Nonna, my grandmother, until I was eight years old, and I probably only saw my mother half-a-dozen times in all those years. Then she met someone who was very rich and she married him.”

  “At around the same time my grandmother became ill. Fortunately for me though, she hung on long enough for Mamma to enter her happy families phase, so when Nonna died she brought me to England to live with her and my new stepfather.”

  “And that’s when Izzie was born.”

  “Not immediately. There were a couple of years when I was the favored child. They were good times. Mamma was happy again, and I guess I was still young enough to be cute. She treated me like a doll really, dressing me in expensive clothes, sending me to ballet lessons, even trying to teach me to sing. My stepfather gave me whatever I wanted too; and when he saw how much I enjoyed riding, he bought me a horse.”

  “He didn’t stop after Izzie was born either. Although Mamma and I began to fight as soon as my teenage hormones kicked in, he just kept right on spoiling me. He was the one who encouraged me to take up dressage, and he was the one who used to drive me to the events.”

  “So what went wrong?”

  “He died. Everyone in my life dies Marcus.”

  * * *

  In the sudden commotion of Izzie and Luke returning Jodie managed to scrub the tears from her eyes and plant her sunglasses firmly on her nose. Marcus gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze as the youngsters pushed their way through the branches of the weeping willow tree.

  “Are you looking for birds too?” Luke asked, his face flushed from the afternoon sunshine.

  “Don’t be silly,” Izzie answered for them. “They wanted to be where nobody else could see them so they could kiss one another.”

  “But I can see them,” he looked mystified.

  “Stop it Izzie! Don’t confuse him,” Jodie warned. Then she turned to Luke, anxious to steer the conversation right away from her love life.

  By the time he had finished telling her how the peacock had fanned its tail feathers in an ostentatious display, they were nearly back at the apartment. Marcus, walking behind, watched her and wondered what other dark secrets she was hiding.

  He tried to remember what he had read about Annetta Parisi. He had been little more than a child when she had taken the country by storm with her husky voice and her unusual beauty. Of medium height and slim, with the unusual combination of black hair and turquoise blue eyes, she had been an exotic mix of Jodie and Izzie. She had been emotionally fragile though. He remembered that even though he couldn’t remember reading about when or how she had died.

  With a sigh he followed Jodie and Luke into the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse. He knew she would tell him eventually, he just didn’t know when it would be, not with Izzie and Luke sharing every minute of their lives.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Luke and I have plans for this evening, so if you two want to go off somewhere together we’ll be fine.”

  Izzie carried on reading the titles of the DVDs displayed on a double shelf next to the television as she spoke. When nobody answered she looked up. Marcus was staring at her. She scowled at him.

  “I’m not exactly incapable you know. Besides Mrs. Cotton’s back…I saw her coat on the hook inside the door, and there are other people
too aren’t there? A handyman or something, and a care worker.”

  Marcus shook his head. “Not during the evening. Everyone but Mrs. Cotton leaves at the end of the afternoon, and she’s meant to be having a day off.”

  “Well she can still have one. I can help Luke if he tells me what to do.”

  Marcus looked over to where Luke was already busy with his colored pencils. He appeared to be entirely indifferent to the conversation taking place behind him. He looked at Jodie. She wasn’t listening either and he knew it was because of what he had just told her about Izzie. Seeing the misery in her eyes, he made up his mind.

  “Okay, but only if Mrs. Cotton agrees… and you have to promise to call her the minute there’s a problem.”

  “There won’t be a problem,” Izzie pulled a DVD from the shelf and carried it over to Luke. He glanced at it, nodded, and returned to his drawing. Although she gave Marcus a triumphant grin she didn’t make any of her usual wisecracks. Instead she kept her language factual for Luke’s benefit.

  “We’re going to watch DVDs all evening, and we’re going to eat one of the lasagnas Mrs. Cotton keeps in the freezer.”

  * * *

  Jodie’s only concession to an evening out was to exchange her T-shirt for a cotton blouse. Its high neck was fastened with tiny pearl buttons. Marcus gave a rueful smile. What else had he expected: a slinky sheath dress, full make-up and six-inch heels?

  “I’ve booked a table at Casa Minelli,” he told her. “I thought you might appreciate getting back to your roots. It’s an old fashioned Italian restaurant which is still run by the entire Minelli family.”

  She nodded, and when he offered it, she took his hand. She didn’t say anything though. Nor did Marcus push her. For the moment it was enough to be strolling together alongside the Thames as the last rays of the sun rippled in red and purple streaks across the water.

  It had been years since he had done anything like this. Ever since his wife died…no, longer ago than that…he’d been too busy working or caring for Luke. There had been no time for romance, no time for anything but work and the daily grind of Luke’s routine. Now, with Izzie and his son happily established in front of the television, he wondered why. Why hadn’t he found time to live a life, and what was it about Jodie that was making him break all his self-imposed rules?

  He glanced across at her. She was difficult and obstinate and she had as many hang-ups as he did, and yet he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anyone. And he didn’t just want her physically either; he wanted Jodie herself. Every spiky bad-tempered frown, every burst of anger, every reluctant smile turned his heart over. So, too, did the commonsense she displayed around Luke and the way she was determined to help him. Jodie was everything he wanted…needed…but did she feel the same way about him?

  He knew how much she was attracted to him because she was too honest and unsophisticated to hide it, but what about the rest? Now he’d told her what he thought she should do about Izzie would she push him away? Would she be able to accept it or would she insist on retreating back into the safe life she’d built for herself and her sister. He gave an inward sigh. With Jodie it was difficult to tell.

  * * *

  The evening at Casa Minelli’s was a revelation. It started when Jodie responded to Signor Minelli’s greeting in fluent Italian and it continued as she debated the finer points of Italian cuisine with him. When they had finally agreed on a menu that included home baked bread, olives, roast pork with pickled walnuts and a selection of vegetables, Marcus grinned at her.

  “Do you want to choose the wine as well?”

  “I think Signor Minelli already has,” she said laughing. “I know you told me it was a family run restaurant Marcus, but I wasn’t expecting this. It’s wonderful.”

  Looking around at the old-fashioned décor and the heavy wooden furniture Marcus experienced a sense of satisfaction. It was swiftly followed by an uncomfortable question. Had he been testing Jodie by bringing her here? Well if he had, it had worked. She got it!

  “The Minnelli’s are the closest thing I have to family,” he told her. “My own parents died years ago, long before I made a success of my career, and…well you know about my wife. What you don’t know is that she was a Minelli. I met her when I came here for a meal.”

  It was another test, a more deliberate one this time. Jodie reacted, but not in the way he’d anticipated.

  “So you bring Luke here to eat sometimes.”

  It made him laugh out loud. “Don’t you ever give up? No, I don’t bring Luke here but Signor and Signora Minelli do visit him occasionally. They’re two of the few people he tolerates.”

  “In which case you should be able to bring him to visit them too.”

  Remembering the successful trip to the aviary he reluctantly conceded she might be right. “I guess so. I’m doing a lot of things wrong with Luke aren’t I? Seeing him with you and Izzie has shown me how it could be if I tried to be a bit more tolerant.”

  She smiled at him, her eyes soft with sympathy. “I wouldn’t say you’re doing a lot of things wrong. In many ways he’s a very lucky little boy to have so much care and attention, and anyway we’re not exactly experts Marcus. For him to learn to be flexible and cope with other people will take a lot more support than we can give. We can help you though.”

  At her words his heart leapt into his throat. He leaned forward and covered her hand with his own. “Do you really mean that? Are you in this for the long haul?”

  She looked at him for a long moment and then she nodded. “You’ve turned my life upside down. I tried to stay away from you, you know I did, but I couldn’t. And now you’ve thrown me a curve ball by telling me I’ve got to let Izzie go as well. I should hate you for telling me I must drop all the plans I had for her and help her to toughen up instead…I should hate you for everything but I…can’t…I…”

  Her voice trailed off as he lifted her hand to his lips, and when he kissed it her sharp intake of breath echoed the surge of desire that flooded his senses. He groaned.

  “And I should hate Izzie, and Luke, for making things so difficult for us. How long will it be before we can have a few hours on our own behind locked doors?”

  Her frustration matched his own as they stared at one another but then the bread and olives arrived and soon she was conversing in Italian again as Signor Minelli poured wine from a dusty bottle. When he left to look after another customer, she turned to Marcus with a wicked smile.

  “Apparently this wine has some aphrodisiac properties should you be in need of them.”

  The tension broken, he gave a roar of laughter. “If that’s the sort of conversation he’s been having with you then it’s time I brushed up on my almost non-existent Italian. In the meantime you can tell me why you know so much about the food.”

  “I already told you I spent the first eight years of my life living with my grandmother in the mountains of Tuscany. What I didn’t say is that my best memories are of helping her in the kitchen and then eating the food we cooked. We grew most of our own food as well.”

  “And reared pigs too I suppose,” he said as the spit roast pork arrived, succulent and aromatic.

  She nodded. “Mmm. I can remember sitting on a long wooden bench surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins and eating a meal just like this.”

  “Do you still see them?”

  He saw the sadness in her eyes as she shook her head.

  “No! When my grandmother died Mamma lost touch with the rest of her family. I was sad at first but I soon forgot. Instead I threw myself into riding and into being my step-dad’s shadow. I adored him, and when he adopted me and I could call myself Jodie Eriksson instead of Jodie Parisi, I was so excited. Even now I still find it hard to believe he died so suddenly and with so many debts.”

  “What happened?”

  She shrugged. “He’d borrowed too much against his various businesses and there were poor investments as well. Whatever the cause, he left us more or less dest
itute. Everything had to be sold.”

  “Including your horse.”

  “Horses! Yes those too. And I had to leave the school I loved and go to one where success was measured by how much pupils could drink on a Saturday night, and by taking drugs.”

  “Which is why you spend all your money sending Izzie to a private school in a small town well away from the temptations of city life.”

  She nodded. “Not that I pay for all of it. An educational trust funds most of it. The insurance company set it up when Mamma died but it stops when Izzie reaches eighteen.”

  “And you were going to go on supporting her at university.”

  “Still might!” She gave him a defiant look. “I haven’t made up my mind about her music yet Marcus. I need to have a long talk with her first.”

  Signor Minelli interrupted before he could reply, by clearing away their empty plates and proffering the dessert menu. When they both demurred he poured the last of the wine and said he would bring coffee instead.

  By the time it arrived they had stopped talking about Izzie and Marcus was answering Jodie’s questions about Luke’s mother and explaining her connection to the family who owned the restaurant. He turned to Signor Minelli with a smile.

  “I’ve been telling Jodie about Lucia.”

  For a moment a shadow darkened the older man’s eyes, but then he smiled. “My niece was very beautiful Signorina but she asked too much of life, so in the end life asked too much of her. She wasn’t strong like you. Nor did she have as much love in her eyes as you have for Marcus. My wife and I have been waiting for him to meet someone like you for a very long time.”

  Before Marcus could ask Jodie about the blush Signor Minelli’s words had brought to her cheeks, a plump gray-haired woman approached the table, her face wreathed in smiles. Unlike her husband, who was enjoying talking to Jodie in his native tongue, she spoke in English with a lilting accent. “Marcus, you bad boy! Why have you stayed away for so long?”