A Wedding in Italy: A feel good summer holiday romance (From Italy with Love Book 2)

by Tilly Tennant

  Kate looked from a beaming Signora Conti to a smiling Orazia. Perhaps she wouldn’t wake Alessandro, but he would wake in a few hours and Orazia would be there while Kate was not. But there was little Kate could do about it. She had no choice but to stick with their plans. Orazia would likely wait to see him when he woke, before he got to Kate, but there was nothing Kate could do but put up with it. The best she could hope for was that she wasn’t driven mad with jealousy thinking about it.

  ‘I sure do miss the seafood at Trattoria da Luigi,’ Jamie said, giving his meal a critical once-over.

  ‘This is lovely,’ Kate replied through a mouthful of spicy chicken. ‘What’s wrong with it?’

  Jamie glanced around the cosy restaurant. Decorated in claret and gold with murals on the walls depicting ancient Roman scenes and candles in wine bottles at every table, it was charming and very Roman. Perfect for a low-key dinner catching up with old friends. But Jamie’s expression was uncharacteristically melancholy. ‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘I just miss it.’

  ‘What’s eating you? You look like someone just stole a thousand dollars from you and threw you ten back.’

  ‘I’m sorry. Brad called earlier today. He’s been doing some research and, although we can have a pretend marriage ceremony in lots of places in Rome, the Italian authorities don’t recognise same-sex weddings so we wouldn’t actually be married.’

  ‘That’s a real shame,’ Kate agreed. ‘Brad is disappointed too?’

  ‘Yeah. We’re both real disappointed.’ He took a sip of his wine. ‘It’s not even about the wedding, it’s the attitude that makes me sad, y’know?’

  ‘I suppose so. It’s just the way the world is, but things are changing all the time, so never say never. Maybe the law will change soon. It has done in lots of other places. Can’t you hang on? Or you could get married elsewhere and still have a celebration ceremony here. Someone was having one of those the following night in the villa where Lucetta had her wedding reception, so that must be an option.’

  ‘I guess.’

  He looked like a little boy who’d just had his favourite toy stolen. Kate couldn’t help but smile. ‘Oi!’ she said, giving him a gentle kick under the table. ‘This is not like you. I thought I was the pessimist.’

  ‘I’m allowed to indulge sometimes.’

  ‘It seems to be catching today. Must be something in the air.’

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  Kate shrugged. ‘Alessandro wasn’t himself at all earlier. He was tired after work – excusable if he’s had a hard night, I know, but he wasn’t much cheerier when he called in to see me at home before he went back on shift.’

  ‘And he didn’t tell you what was wrong?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘I guess he’s occupying his man cave right now. Don’t worry about it.’

  ‘I suppose that must be it. I’m just not used to seeing it. And if something has happened at work, I want him to be able to share it with me so I can support him. I shouldn’t have to spell that out, though, should I? We’re a couple now and that’s what couples do.’

  ‘Maybe he wants to spare you from something really horrible. His job must be tough at times, and he loves you. Maybe there are some things he thinks are just too awful to burden you with.’

  ‘I suppose so. I just hope he’s OK. He talks to me when he’s happy, but when things are bad he clams up. I can’t support him if I don’t know what’s going on and that makes me sad and anxious too. Matt and I were like that and it’s not healthy.’

  ‘He’s not Matt.’

  ‘I know. What’s worse is Orazia was there when he woke up.’

  ‘She was?’

  ‘Spending some time with Mamma Conti. Which is OK, I suppose, as they’re good friends, but there was just her and Alessandro’s mum and Alessandro in the flat. I know it’s paranoid, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I mean, Orazia was really nice today too so I don’t have any reason to be stressed about it.’

  ‘Maybe she was being nice because she was feeling a little smug about the situation. You being out of the frame while she got cosy with the Contis.’

  ‘Maybe, but she seemed genuine enough. Even offered to make me coffee. I suppose she could have known they’d be in the flat alone, but I’m starting to wish I could trust her and Alessandro a little more. I’m starting to sound like the nutter and Orazia is looking perfectly reasonable.’

  ‘I do think you ought to trust Alessandro more,’ Jamie agreed as he wagged a finger at her. ‘She might be up to no good but he wouldn’t go for it.’

  ‘But he can offload to her in a way he can’t to me. About work, I mean. And she’d understand what he’s going through in a way that I could never do. I can see why that would bring them close – as friends, I mean. And then it’s only a hop, skip and a jump to something more than friends, isn’t it?’

  ‘In some cases I might say yes, but I think you need to sit back and see how it pans out.’

  ‘It’s Orazia, though.’

  ‘You just said you were being paranoid about her.’

  ‘But what if she’s the thing making him stressed at work? What if he still has a little nugget of feeling for her? Or he feels sorry for her because she’s alone and she has nobody to love her and he’s got me? He’s known her for years and he’s always saying she’s his friend and he doesn’t like to see her unhappy even when she’s being a pain.’

  ‘Now who’s being pessimistic?’

  Kate forced a smile. ‘I know; I’m going to shut up about it now. But that’s my role in this friendship don’t forget. I’m the neurotic one with an overdeveloped sense of propriety and you’re the fluffy, gregarious tart. That’s how it works. Tamper with the order of things and the world might just come to an end.’

  Jamie raised his eyebrows. ‘Fluffy, gregarious tart?’

  ‘It was the best I could do off the cuff. How about empty-headed socially forward slapper?’

  ‘I don’t know what any of that means but I think you might have just insulted me.’

  ‘Probably. Do you care?’

  ‘I should whip your skinny ass.’

  ‘But you won’t because you love me.’

  ‘Unconditionally.’

  Kate grinned broadly. ‘See, we both feel better with that out of the way.’

  Jamie returned the grin as he scooped up a forkful of pasta. ‘I do kinda feel better. Who knew that being insulted could be so good for the soul?’

  ‘Maybe we’ll just save it for private moments, though. Our dirty little secret.’

  ‘So, how did it go with the lady from real-estate company? You met with her today, right?’ Jamie asked, changing the subject.

  ‘Shauna? I did. It went well. I was worried that she wouldn’t want me back after I’d had to put her off for a week, but she was pleased to see me and completely lovely. We’ve agreed that I’ll join her on a viewing next Monday. I can’t wait, actually. I think it’s going to be great.’

  ‘It’s a pity I’ll be back in the States by then – we could have celebrated in style when you nail it.’

  ‘We haven’t even got to the appointment yet, let alone nailing anything. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.’

  ‘You’re clever, funny, sweet, polite. . . people will love you. What could go wrong?’

  ‘Quite a lot in my case,’ Kate replied darkly.

  Rome seemed somehow greyer with the departure of Jamie the day before, but Kate had no time to dwell on his absence while she was so consumed by nerves for her first day with Shauna. At least Alessandro had seemed brighter that morning when he phoned. He wished her well for her first day, which was something considering his disapproval of the idea, told her he loved her and that he would try to see her before he went back to work that evening, even if it was only for a few snatched moments. Kate was aware that their working hours might present a problem sooner rather than later, and that time together was going to be scarce and precious, and perhaps that was why he was putt
ing his doubts about the job aside to make their time together as good as it could be. Whatever the reason for his change of heart, she was happy to hear it, and if the work schedule proved to be a problem for their relationship, then they would have to address it. For now, she had other things to think about – mainly the stomach ache that had her rushing to the toilet every time she thought about the day ahead.

  The second dilemma of the day had been what to wear, and after putting it on and taking it off a few times, the new dress she had made from the gorgeous fabric Nunzia had bought for her was back on again. She’d finished sewing and pressing it the night before, desperate for a task to take her mind off the coming week and hoping it would tire her enough to send her to sleep when she finally retired. It didn’t, but at least Kate had something to show for her bleary-eyed tumble out of bed when the alarm went off the following morning.

  She stood in front of the mirror and frowned, critically appraising herself. ‘It’s not coming off again,’ she said sternly to her reflection, which looked just as sternly back at her.

  A tailored suit jacket wasn’t something she owned. In fact, it wasn’t something she’d ever owned; she just wasn’t a suit kind of woman, and her former job in the offices of a scruffy pet-supply warehouse hadn’t really demanded a power suit and killer heels. Lucetta had offered to loan her a black one which coordinated well with the grey-and-black dress, but Kate had decided against it and hoped that being completely herself would be enough. So she’d teamed the dress with a fine-knit cardigan and black court shoes and decided she looked just the right side of cute to be presentable with it.

  Feeling as though someone had loosened the screws in all her joints, her heart thumping like mad, Kate locked up the flat and went to catch the bus for her first day at work in Rome.

  Chapter Ten

  Like so many stock phrases, a fish out of water was so overused that it had almost lost its true meaning. But Kate felt keenly what it meant right now as she stood in the middle of the busy front office, agents at desks jabbering away on phones in Italian, German, French, English and one other language that sounded like nothing she’d ever heard before. This was a world away from the sleepy starts at Mr Woofy. Kate, arriving at Piccolo Castelli, was completely and utterly out of her comfort zone as she waited for Shauna to finish a phone call.

  One or two people smiled brightly at her and bid her good morning. Presumably they had at first thought she might be a customer, because as soon as she explained that she was waiting for Shauna in order to start work they quickly lost interest. Shauna glanced up, indicated to Kate that she would be with her shortly, and then returned to her call, and Kate was reduced to fiddling with the hem of her cardigan as she paid an unnatural amount of attention to a huge map of Rome taking up the entire wall behind Shauna’s desk in a bid to look like she wasn’t nervous. Which any spectator with an ounce of perception would have instantly seen wasn’t true at all.

  ‘There’s no need to look like a startled rabbit,’ Shauna smiled as she eventually ended the call and left her desk to greet Kate.

  ‘Sorry. It’s just. . . it’s been a long time since I had a first day at a job.’

  ‘A week in and it’ll feel as if you’ve been here forever. We’re a friendly bunch – at least we usually are. You’ve probably caught us at a bad time for a first impression as Monday mornings are when all the clients have had the weekend to think about complaints they want to make but nobody in the office to phone about them. It’s like floodgates opening on the Hoover Dam come nine o’clock. Step back in on a Friday afternoon and we’re a very different office.’

  ‘But you work Saturdays?’ Kate asked. ‘I thought you said you did.’

  ‘I don’t know why but there’s a very different feel to Saturdays. Perhaps because it’s all viewings at lovely locations and no phone work in the office. I tend to save all my rural appointments for Saturdays if I can – gives me an excuse for a trip out somewhere nice. Sometimes it feels like I’m not working at all.’

  ‘Well, that can’t be bad,’ Kate said with a self-conscious laugh.

  ‘It’s not. Would you like to grab a coffee with me while we go through today’s schedule? Then we’ll hit the road.’

  Kate nodded. She would have asked if she could get that laced with brandy, but getting pissed on your first day was probably a tad frowned upon.

  ‘We’ve got some lovely viewings today,’ Shauna said as Kate followed her to her desk, where she pulled a jacket from the back of her chair and grabbed her handbag.

  Kate frowned. ‘I thought we were getting coffee before we went.’

  ‘Oh, we are. There’s a fantastic little place around the corner – gorgeous coffee, the best biscotti in Rome and a new barista hot enough to steam the cappuccino milk without a machine. Far too young for me, of course, but easy on the eye and good for a midnight fantasy or two, if you know what I mean.’ Shauna held the door open, allowing Kate to step out onto the street before following. ‘I find that coffee-shop meetings are far more productive than the ones held in a stuffy office,’ she continued.

  ‘I wouldn’t know much about that,’ Kate said, falling into step alongside her as she began to walk. ‘The closest we got to coffee shop meetings in my last job was a bacon sandwich at the desk as we complained about the vending machine in the lobby.’

  Shauna threw back her head and laughed, and Kate was taken by surprise to see that it was genuine amusement. ‘That’s priceless! A sense of humour goes a long way in this business.’

  Kate wasn’t trying to be funny, but if Shauna wanted to believe she was then perhaps it was easier to let it go.

  ‘I’ve got to say that’s a gorgeous dress, by the way,’ Shauna added. ‘Fits you beautifully.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Kate looked to her side to see that Shauna was looking her up and down with approval. What would she think if Kate told her she’d made it herself? Would it make her look talented, with a worthwhile hobby, or a county bumpkin who turned up for work in homemade clothes?

  ‘Where did you get it?’ Shauna asked before Kate had worked out her strategy.

  ‘Nowhere in Rome.’

  ‘Oh, back home in England?’ Shauna said. She almost sounded disappointed.

  ‘Well. . . actually I made it. The fabric was from a shop in Rome, but I designed it and made it myself.’

  Shauna broke into a broad smile. ‘Really? Wow, I’m envious. I’m absolutely useless with my hands. I can’t even sew a button on. Does it take you long?’

  ‘It depends on what I’m making but this wasn’t too bad. I was a bit worried this morning that it wouldn’t be formal enough but I haven’t worn it yet so my inner child got the better of me and I put it on.’

  ‘I think your inner child has excellent taste. It’s just right. Too formal can sometimes be off-putting for clients as much as too scruffy is. Thank goodness we’ve lost all those huge shoulder pads that were in fashion when I started out during the eighties.’ She threw a sideways glance at Kate. ‘But I suppose you’re a bit too young to have been wearing suits in the eighties.’

  ‘Sorry, but yes. I was more likely wearing nappies.’

  ‘Ugh, it makes me shudder when I hear some people can’t even remember Wham! breaking into the charts. I was working at my first job at the time; I remember going to Woolies to buy “Young Guns” in my lunch break. God, I feel old. You probably weren’t even born. I bet you don’t even know who they are!’

  Kate smiled. ‘I know who they are. But I don’t know much about them to be truthful.’

  ‘Well,’ Shauna continued cheerfully, ‘you’ll be this old one day and there’s only one alternative to that, which I really don’t fancy much so there’s no point in complaining.’

  ‘I think you look fantastic,’ Kate said. ‘If I look like you, I won’t mind at all.’

  ‘Well, the bodywork is OK I suppose, but what’s under the bonnet – that’s a different story. Not one I’m going to bore you with now. Ah, here we are.
’ She stopped in front of a sandstone frontage, clad in thick ivy. Even this early Kate could smell coffee on the air. A tall and ridiculously handsome man was arranging tables and chairs outside. Kate couldn’t help but stare at him. If this wasn’t the barista Shauna had been referring to, then the place must also be doubling up as some secret lab where they were genetically engineering perfect specimens of manhood.

  ‘Ciao, Luca,’ Shauna greeted, and the man turned with a broad smile.

  ‘Buongiorno, Shauna! How are you today?’

  ‘Tired,’ she said, ‘but nothing that a cup of your divine macchiato won’t cure.’

  ‘Sì . . . you are too kind. And for your friend?’ He turned a full-beam, sexually charged smile on Kate, and suddenly the world around her melted away. God he was hot. Forcing herself to remember that she already had a very hot Italian of her own, and that two was greedy in anyone’s book, she smiled back.

  ‘Macchiato sounds good. I’ll have one of those too.’

  ‘Certamente. Un momento.’

  ‘I was right, wasn’t I?’ Shauna whispered as they followed him inside. ‘Sex on legs. Curse the fact that I can remember Wham!’s first single, because he can barely even remember the Take That reunion, and I was old enough to have ditched two no-good husbands by then.’

  ‘Some men like more experienced women,’ Kate replied.

  ‘I love how diplomatically you just told me I was old,’ Shauna laughed. ‘With tact like that, I can see we’re going to get along famously!’

  Kate shot her a broad smile. She already liked Shauna a lot too. She liked her irreverent humour, the way she didn’t take herself too seriously, and Kate suspected she had a wild side she reserved for when she was off duty that would make for some fun office parties. For sure, Kate was beginning to harbour high hopes for this job. In which case, she had to do her best to impress over the coming weeks to make sure it became hers for good.

  They enjoyed a leisurely hour with coffee while Shauna told Kate more about her business and advised her on some basic dos and don’ts of property management, as well as the more complicated dos and don’ts of looking after clients from all walks of life and all parts of the globe. Their business was mostly with foreign buyers – people who wanted buy-to-lets for holidaymakers, those who wanted holiday homes of their own and some – like Kate – who wanted to relocate for good. Most of their vendors were Italian, but a good many were foreigners who had previously bought houses in Rome and the surrounding area but now, for one reason or another, needed to get rid of them. It all sounded hellishly complex to Kate – the obscure laws to watch out for, people who thought they could con the system for a fast buck, the sad cases of bankruptcy that forced people to sell much-loved homes and the animosity that could come from that. There was so much to learn and remember that her head was spinning with it all. But Shauna had told her not to worry for now, and that the point of shadowing for the first couple of weeks was to do just that – stand quietly behind Shauna and take note of how she worked. After that the plan was for Kate to do some of the talking, with Shauna’s support and input, then for the tables to turn as Kate got more confident so that she would conduct the appointments and Shauna would shadow, keeping a close eye on things, ready to step in should the appointment go awry. If they were both happy at that point, and Shauna thought Kate was up to it, Kate would start to get clients of her own.