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

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘Yes. If there are no secrets between us then there must be no secrets with Mamma. The same for everyone. She will help. She loves you; she will be happy for this.’

  ‘But it means we have to acknowledge our lies to her in the past.’

  He nodded slowly. ‘Now is the time.’ He shrugged. ‘Two years, three years, we don’t say anything. . . that is far worse. We say it now.’

  ‘I suppose so,’ Kate replied thoughtfully. ‘And she does actually already know – she just hasn’t heard it from us, so I suppose it won’t be a shock.’

  ‘Va bene. So I will talk to her.’

  Kate couldn’t say she was entirely comfortable with the idea, and even less thrilled about not being able to go with him. ‘Do you think we should wait?’ she asked. ‘Just until I’ve finished work so I can go with you. Perhaps we should tell her together?’

  ‘I will go home but I will wait. When you are ready, we will talk to her together.’

  ‘Tonight?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Kate paused. This was really, actually happening. What did this mean for their relationship? Whatever it was, it felt huge. ‘OK. Tonight.’

  The promise of a little extra time with Alessandro had been too much to resist, and so Kate had forsaken her plan to catch a bus to work and was now heading downstairs to get a lift on his scooter. Slightly annoyed with herself for being so easy to persuade, she turned the key in the front door and gave it a tug to make sure it was secure before turning to Alessandro, who was waiting in the corridor.

  ‘I don’t know why I let you talk me into this,’ she said. He raised his eyebrows, that mocking smile twitching at his lips.

  ‘It will wake you up.’

  ‘It’ll do that alright. God knows what state my hair and clothes will be in by the time we get there.’

  ‘Always worrying.’ He shook his head solemnly, but that smile was struggling to stay under control. Kate found herself returning it.

  As they got to the stairs, they met Salvatore coming up, his chest of stolen war medals clanking together like a strange kind of percussion section in an orchestra. He greeted them airily, grabbing a quick word with Alessandro in Italian, asking about his mother’s health, which Alessandro replied to in English with a meaningful glance at Kate. They had already discussed Alessandro’s belief that Salvatore pretended his English was a lot worse than it actually was so that Kate would be put off making any complaints about the apartment. Obviously Alessandro was determined to stick with his theory, and whenever he was speaking with someone in front of Kate, he always tried to conduct the conversation in English when he could. Kate needed to practise her Italian, as she kept reminding him, but secretly it pleased her that he showed such consideration for her.

  Salvatore turned to Kate. ‘Nunzia’s dresses?’ he asked. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Almost,’ Kate assured him. ‘She can come by this evening if she likes to try them on. It’s better if she does that before I finish everything off; it will be easier to alter them at this point if I need to.’

  Alessandro turned sharply to Kate.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry!’ she said. ‘I forgot! We had plans.’

  ‘It does not matter,’ Alessandro said, his features relaxing. ‘It can wait a little longer.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Kate asked, looking from one to the other. ‘I mean, I suppose Nunzia is waiting for her dresses. . .’

  Salvatore nodded eagerly.

  ‘You can see her this evening, and we will see Mamma tomorrow.’

  ‘So Nunzia can come this evening,’ Kate said to Salvatore.

  ‘This evening?’ he repeated.

  ‘Stasera,’ Alessandro clarified, doing a terrible job of hiding the crease in his forehead that said he didn’t believe the act for a moment.

  ‘Sì!’ Salvatore nodded enthusiastically. He turned to Kate and grabbed her hand, jogging it around in a way that was not quite a handshake and almost an assisted hand jive. ‘Grazie mille!’

  ‘Wait!’ Alessandro called as he turned to go. Salvatore turned back with a silent question. Alessandro shot a glance at Kate, and then took the landlord to one side. Kate held in a groan. Alessandro couldn’t help himself when it came to what he perceived as his duty to protect her, and that meant interfering in her affairs with the landlord. He was obviously providing Salvatore with a long list of faults in the apartment, though he spoke so quickly and in such low tones that Kate could barely tell anything he said, and as he finished he clapped Salvatore on the back with a nod that looked far less friendly than it did grim.

  Salvatore tottered away, medals clattering against each other and echoing down the stairs as he went.

  ‘Please tell me you didn’t shout at him about the jobs that need doing in the apartment,’ Kate said.

  Alessandro put on the least convincing innocent expression that Kate had ever seen. ‘I would not,’ he said, a hand on his chest. ‘You did not want me to talk about it. And my voice was very quiet.’

  She folded her arms across her chest. ‘So what did you just discuss?’

  He shrugged. ‘Police business,’ he said.

  Kate sighed. She didn’t believe that for a minute, but what was the point in pushing it any further? At least the jobs would get done now, she supposed.

  Kate had accompanied Shauna to a luxury penthouse to show an Australian cosmetics mogul around in the morning, and in the afternoon had been to measure up a holiday home being sold by a family who lived in the north of Italy and were swapping it for one closer to Naples. The rest of the time had been filled helping with filing, data input and webpage updates, along with getting to know her colleagues a little more, and although she’d arrived home tired, she was happy. Shauna had been pleased with the field visits, and had intimated to Kate that she felt she might be ready to conduct a viewing or two herself the following week, which also meant she would be putting her on the payroll. She was currently explaining all this Anna, who had phoned for a quick catch-up before she went out to the cinema with her husband, Christian.

  ‘I’m so happy for you,’ Anna said. ‘A bit sad, but happy too.’

  ‘Why sad?’

  Anna laughed lightly. ‘Sad for us. If you’ve got a job and you’re doing well, you won’t come home.’

  ‘This is home now,’ Kate said. ‘And I was never coming back anyway.’

  ‘I know that, but if you couldn’t get going there then. . . It was a bit of a selfish hope on my part, you know? I can’t help it.’

  ‘I know. I miss you too. In fact, I’m still waiting for my visit.’

  ‘I want to come; things are just so bloody busy here right now. And I don’t want to come without Lily because that doesn’t seem fair, and she’s got stuff going on too.’

  ‘Stuff?’

  ‘I don’t know – something to do with work I think. She’s been a bit vague about the whole thing really. But there seems to be a lot of dealing with HR, according to what Joel has told Christian. I wonder whether she’s applying for a promotion or something, and you know how cagey she is when she’s uncertain about the outcome of something she’s trying to do – doesn’t want to jinx it by talking about it beforehand.’

  ‘Oh. Did Joel tell Christian this at football training? It seems those blokes gossip more than they think we women do.’

  ‘I know. Something else Christian heard at footie—’ Anna paused, and Kate knew this was going to be something about her ex-husband, Matt.

  ‘Let me guess – Matt’s marrying his girlfriend.’

  ‘It didn’t take much working out, I suppose.’

  ‘No, but I am surprised, considering the last time I saw him he told me he didn’t love her.’

  ‘I suppose he’s finally grown up and accepted his responsibilities. After all, there’s a baby to think of. And maybe he does love her after all. Sometimes it sneaks up and takes us by surprise, doesn’t it?’

  ‘That old devil called love?’ Kate smiled ruefully. ‘It certainly does, and it never w
ants to make things easy for us.’

  ‘That sounds to me like everything is no longer rosy in the garden with Alessandro.’

  ‘It’s not us,’ Kate said quickly. ‘It just seems everyone else is out to make things as difficult as possible. Orazia for a start, although I’m beginning to think that might be in my head; she’s being sweet at the moment but I just can’t bring myself to trust her. And Maria isn’t improving as much as I was hoping. They only need to find one more member of the team and they could be giving out career advice to Macbeth. Then there’s this bloody marriage business. . .’

  ‘That bad?’ Anna laughed. ‘And I thought Christian’s mum was hard work. You sound like you need a hug.’

  ‘I do. You two are the cruellest sisters there ever were not being here for hugs when I need you.’

  ‘You could hop on a plane and come to England and I’d hug you to death.’

  ‘Not bloody likely on my current income.’

  ‘But you’re managing on the money you borrowed from us?’ Anna’s tone was serious now. ‘Because if you need more then I can—’

  ‘It’s fine,’ Kate cut in. ‘Please don’t worry. With a bit of luck I’ll be earning from next week, commission on top of that, and perhaps taking in more sewing jobs in the evening. I’ll be able to live comfortably and pay you what I owe you.’

  ‘I’ve told you I don’t care about that.’

  ‘But I do. I want you to have it back as soon as I can manage.’

  ‘Don’t leave yourself short.’

  ‘I won’t.’

  ‘And you can get a flight over here before you think about paying anything back, so that we can hug you.’

  Kate was silent for a moment. ‘So you’re not going to make it over for Christmas? I know it’s only three weeks away but I was sort of hoping. . .’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Anna said quietly. ‘I know we talked about it, but I just can’t ask Christian to spend Christmas away from home and his family, and Lily feels the same about Joel. Then there’s Mum.’

  ‘She’s not coming either?’

  ‘Hamish isn’t well, which I know Lily told you about, and she says it’s too far for him. She won’t leave him, you know, not after what happened to Dad—’

  ‘I know, I get that. And I want to stay with Alessandro, and there’s no way he’s leaving his family at Christmas; they’d never forgive him.’

  ‘So that’s sort of scuppered it.’

  ‘Sort of.’

  ‘It’s going to be weird, isn’t it?’

  ‘Our first year apart. It will be.’

  ‘But we can do something afterwards for sure,’ Anna said brightly. Kate knew that the optimism in her voice was just for her benefit and not what she really felt. It seemed only fair to continue the charade for her sister’s sake.

  ‘Of course we can,’ she replied. ‘Spring in Rome is gorgeous, or so everyone keeps telling me. How about Easter?’

  ‘I’m sure we can do Easter, if not before. I really am sorry, Kate, I feel just awful about Christmas.’

  ‘Don’t be,’ Kate said, doing her best to sound cheerful. ‘It’ll soon be here and gone again and then I’ll see you, right?’

  ‘Right,’ Anna said. ‘Just try and keep me away.’

  Kate glanced up at the clock. Suddenly, she wanted to cry. But Nunzia had arranged to come and try her dresses and no matter how melancholy Kate now found herself, she was going to have to keep a lid on it for a while.

  ‘I’m sorry, I have to go; I’m expecting someone any minute.’

  ‘Oh. Is Alessandro coming over?’

  ‘No, my landlord’s wife. I’ve made dresses for her and she’s coming to try them on.’

  ‘And she’s paying for them?’

  ‘Yes,’ Kate said, deciding to leave it at that.

  ‘But that’s brilliant! You never said! Didn’t she have one a few weeks ago too?’

  Kate smiled. ‘She did.’

  ‘See,’ Anna said in a voice full of satisfaction. ‘I told you that global fashion giant of yours wouldn’t take long to get started.’

  ‘Global fashion giant?’ Kate laughed.

  ‘Hey, Vivienne Westwood started off making jumble for punks and now look at her. Small beginnings, sis, remember that!’

  Kate smiled, buoyed by her sister’s faith in her abilities, even if it was a little misplaced. ‘I’ll try,’ she said.

  ‘Good. Then I’ll let you get on. Phone me at the weekend, OK?’

  ‘I will. Love you.’

  ‘Love you too.’

  Kate ended the call and let the phone drop onto the sofa next to her. Most of the time she felt strong and independent and completely able to cope with her new life. But sometimes, just the voice of a family member or old friend would overwhelm her with homesickness and the urge to pack up and go back would take her.

  There was time to pull herself together and perhaps make a quick coffee before Nunzia arrived. Kate took herself to the tiny kitchen, rubbing at her eyes as she flicked the kettle on. Things were getting better, and they were getting easier, weren’t they? She could speak more of the language than she could when she arrived, she had all the paperwork she might need sorted, a decent apartment, a gorgeous boyfriend and family, was making new friends and almost had a fantastic job. So why didn’t it feel that way?

  Chapter Twelve

  ‘Are you sure it’s not a bit tight?’ Kate asked, stepping back to give the dress Nunzia was wearing a critical once-over.

  Nunzia looked blankly at her.

  ‘Tight?’ Kate asked again, puckering her lips, half cross-eyed, and squeezing her arms around her body to indicate that something was squashing her.

  Nunzia giggled. ‘Your . . .’ She pointed at her own lips. ‘Bocca!’ she announced.

  Kate supposed that her face probably did look a bit funny and she had to laugh too. Half an hour in Nunzia’s pleasant company and homesickness was banished, at least for a short while.

  ‘It’s OK? Bene?’ Kate pressed after she had finished laughing.

  ‘Sì.’

  Kate shook her head. ‘I still think it looks a bit snug,’ she said, more to herself than Nunzia, who had tottered over to the full-length mirror to take a proper look and was now admiring her reflection. ‘I could let it out a little,’ she added, louder for Nunzia to hear. Nunzia turned to her. ‘Make it bigger,’ Kate clarified, miming the action of the dress expanding around her waist.

  ‘No bigger,’ Nunzia said, a forceful shake of the head accompanying her statement. ‘I like.’ She broke into a grin. ‘Salvatore like!’

  Kate smiled ‘Well, it certainly shows your curves. I’m sure Salvatore would like it but you might find one forkful of pasta at your party will mean you can’t sit down in it.’

  Nunzia looked confused, and Kate knew that she had probably caught very little of what she’d just been told.

  ‘Please,’ Nunzia said, waddling back over to Kate and turning around for her to unzip. ‘Two dress.’

  ‘Dress number two coming up,’ Kate said, freeing Nunzia from dress number one. She grabbed the second one from the hanger and hoisted it over Nunzia’s head. Nunzia twisted round so Kate could fasten it then turned back. Kate gave a grunt of satisfaction.

  ‘Much better,’ she said. ‘Fits where it should. You like it? Happy?’

  ‘I like!’ Nunzia beamed. ‘Grazie mille!’

  ‘That’s OK,’ Kate smiled. ‘It’s what I like doing.’

  Nunzia grabbed her in a fleshy hug, and Kate laughed, taken aback by the strength of the affection.

  ‘It was really nothing,’ she insisted. ‘But I’m glad you’re happy.’

  ‘Sì, happy, happy!’

  Nunzia toddled to where she had left her handbag and pulled out a wad of notes. ‘For you.’

  Kate frowned. There looked like a lot there, certainly more than she’d agreed with Salvatore. She quickly thumbed through to count. ‘There’s too much,’ she said, holding some out for Nunzia to take
back. But Nunzia shook her head and pushed Kate’s hand and the money back towards her.

  ‘You take! Good job, very happy.’

  ‘No, I—’

  ‘You take,’ Nunzia insisted and reached to give Kate a kiss on the cheek.

  Kate blinked at her. Everyone, including herself a little, had been complaining she wasn’t being reimbursed adequately for this favour, but now she’d earned more than she’d asked for and had been gifted the fabric for a new dress. By anyone’s standards it had turned into a good deal.

  Nunzia made her way to the mirror and began to examine her backside with a big smile. ‘I like,’ she said.

  ‘Good,’ Kate said, glancing down at the money in her hand with a bemused smile. ‘I like that you like.’

  Alessandro was waiting for her when she left the office at the end of the day – leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets and his face turned to the sun. As she approached, he pulled off his sunglasses and gave her a sheepish smile.

  ‘I told you I would get the bus,’ she said.

  ‘I wanted to come for you.’

  Kate raised her eyebrows. ‘So you could check I was leaving on time?’ She’d made no secret of the fact she’d stayed past working hours with Shauna a couple of nights during the previous week – keen to learn and make a good impression – and he’d made no secret of the fact that he was not happy with that arrangement, particularly as she was still training.

  ‘Of course not,’ he said, his face the picture of innocence.

  ‘Well,’ Kate said, following him to the scooter parked at the kerb, ‘I’m here bang on time so you can’t complain, can you?’

  ‘Mamma is waiting. She will cook tonight.’

  Kate could have argued that she wanted to go home and get changed first, but there didn’t seem any point. Alessandro had a habit of making arrangements without consultation and expecting her to simply go along with them so she was used to this, and, besides, they needed to speak to Signora Conti tonight about their plans for the future, so what was the point in putting it off? Waiting would only make her nerves worse. ‘You shouldn’t have let her cook,’ she said instead. ‘She’s still recovering from her illness and all this work is hardly going to help.’