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

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘You can do that,’ she said. ‘But please don’t get into trouble over it, and if you find he has no criminal past, nothing out of the ordinary, please let it drop.’

  ‘Va bene. You have my word.’

  ‘At least I have some dressmaking,’ she added, forcing a smile that felt stiff and alien in her current mood. ‘Perhaps Loretta will give me more orders if I do a good job.’

  ‘She is paying you well?’

  Kate’s smile was more genuine this time. ‘Good old Nunzia gave her the price so that I didn’t have to, and it was the price she would have been paying had Salvatore not been up to his tricks. So I’m happy that it’s fair.’

  ‘That is good.’

  ‘It is. I just hope I can get some more orders in now that I’m unemployed again.’

  ‘Abelie and Bruno will help.’

  ‘Abelie did say that. Bruno’s very good with websites, so I believe. Are they actually dating again now?’

  ‘Abelie will not say, but I think she likes him. She is playing a game. It is her way.’

  ‘Treat ’em mean and keep ’em keen – that’s what my gran used to call it. An old saying that means be horrible to them and they’ll want you all the more.’

  ‘Ah, so that is why you were so rude to me when we first met.’

  Kate smiled. ‘I was drunk when we first met. I didn’t know what I was doing.’

  He pulled her close and kissed her lightly. ‘I have some good news – my request to work different hours of the day – it is being considered but I think I will get a good answer.’

  ‘That’s brilliant. You’re happy with that?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘That’s all that matters then.’

  ‘God, Kate, I’m so sorry.’ Anna’s pain sounded genuine. It hadn’t been Kate’s intention to worry her – only to let her know what had been going on before Alessandro did it for her, and to let her know she was alright. She shifted on the sofa to get more comfortable, phone clamped to her ear as she gazed out at the creeping dusk.

  ‘No need,’ Kate said briskly. ‘I wasn’t that keen on it anyway, truth be told. A job’s a job, eh? So I’ll just get another one.’

  ‘Really? You’re OK with it?’

  ‘Well, no, obviously. But I’d rather put it behind me and get on. Moping won’t pay the bills.’

  ‘Neither will that money in your bank account for much longer.’

  ‘Yes, thanks for reminding me of that, because that’s exactly what I needed.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Anna was silent for a moment. ‘So, Alessandro hasn’t found anything on this Charles?’

  ‘Not a scrap. There’s nothing on file for him at all other than the usual documents – work permits and such. He’s never even got himself a traffic ticket, and everyone in Rome gets one of those from time to time.’

  ‘Shame. Not because I want him to be a bad ’un, but because it doesn’t really help you get to the bottom of the situation. You really think he had a hand in your sacking?’

  ‘I don’t see what else I can think. But I can’t prove anything and I think it’s a waste of time and energy me trying to. I’ve got things to keep me busy right now, so I won’t have time to think about it anyway.’

  ‘It’s lucky you’re getting dress orders. I still say you’re on your way to getting that business going for real. Pretty soon you won’t have time to think about a job because you’ll have more orders than you can cope with. Have you sorted a website yet?’

  ‘Bruno, Abelie’s on-off boyfriend is designing it. I might find that most of my orders will come from there eventually. I’m doing some research now, thinking about niche clothing that I might be able to get involved in – forties and fifties recreations, that sort of thing.’

  ‘There’s certainly a market for that. I’m glad you’re staying positive about things.’

  ‘Not much else I can do, is there?’ Kate took a sip of her cooling coffee. ‘How’s Lily?’

  ‘Really good. Being careful, of course, but that’s to be expected. She has a good feeling about the pregnancy this time. I don’t like to say anything to jinx it, but I do too. She seems somehow healthier this time, y’know?’

  ‘Let’s hope you’re both right. I wish I could be there; I feel terrible for my lack of support.’

  ‘Don’t be daft. You’ve got enough troubles of your own to worry about. If there’s anything you need to know, we’d be straight on the phone to you.’

  ‘I know that. Sometimes I just feel guilty.’

  ‘It’s in your DNA – the guilt gene. You can’t help it, just like I can’t and Lily can’t. It’s the way we’re made.’

  ‘We can blame Mum for that one.’

  ‘We can,’ Anna laughed. ‘Would it make you feel better if I told you that Matt’s wedding day was a bit of a disaster?’

  ‘Who’s told you this?’

  ‘Someone told Christian at footie. Apparently the register office caught fire and they had to evacuate halfway through the ceremony. Nobody’s entirely sure whether he’s actually married now or not.’

  Kate giggled. Not at Matt’s misfortune, although that was funny, but just to let out the tension. It was good to see that she wasn’t the only one having a tough time, though she did feel a bit sorry for her ex, despite everything. ‘Poor Tamara.’

  ‘That’s who I feel sorry for really. She’s a sweet girl by all accounts. A bit dopey but harmless all the same.’

  ‘She must be dopey if she fell for Matt.’

  ‘You did.’

  ‘And I was dopey. Do you think Christian could get a message to him?’

  There was silence at the other end of the line. ‘What for?’ Anna finally asked.

  ‘Weird as it sounds, I might need a favour from him soon. And it’s a huge one.’

  ‘Now I’m intrigued.’

  ‘I just need him to agree to a marriage annulment if the question arises. I don’t think he’d kick up a fuss, but I want his assurance that he won’t.’

  ‘But you’re already divorced.’

  Kate let out a sigh. ‘It’s complicated. But if you have about three days I’ll try to explain it to you now.’

  ‘Maria?’ Kate stepped back from the doorway to let Alessandro’s sister in, drying her hands on a teacloth. ‘This is a pleasant surprise.’

  ‘Perhaps only a surprise?’ Maria replied with a wry smile.

  ‘No.’ Kate smiled. ‘I meant the pleasant bit too. But I am surprised to see you here. Is there anything in particular you wanted to see me about? I assume that you’re not just looking for your brother, who isn’t here, by the way, in case you were.’

  ‘No, I am not looking for him. You are busy now?’ she added, glancing at the cloth in Kate’s hand.

  ‘Nothing that won’t wait. Come through and I’ll make some coffee.’

  Maria followed Kate into the kitchen. ‘You have made your apartment very nice,’ she said in an approving voice.

  ‘I’ve done my best, but the budget has been a problem. Lovely as it is to get a compliment, I don’t think you’ve come to talk about my décor, have you?’

  Maria gave a wan smile. ‘I am sorry – I should have come to visit before. I know my sisters have and now that I know you better I am sad that I did not.’

  ‘It’s OK; I won’t hold it against you. And really, as you can see, you haven’t missed anything.’ Kate took two cups and saucers from the cupboard. It was quite strange to have Maria standing in her kitchen – it felt a little like she imagined it would feel to get a visit from a minor royal or a Member of Parliament. For Alessandro, she’d use her favourite chunky mugs, but somehow, what Maria thought of her now seemed to matter more than it had ever done before, and the best crockery she had (such as it was) came out. There was something quite momentous about the fact that Alessandro’s awkward sister had made the effort to come and visit, although Kate did wonder vaguely whether she might take that sentiment back once Maria revealed the reasons for her unexpected call. Th
ey had been getting on better of late, but that didn’t mean they were best friends by any stretch of the imagination.

  ‘You have a divorce,’ Maria said as Kate fiddled with the filter of a coffee maker that she usually overlooked in favour of instant when she was alone.

  ‘I do.’

  The room fell silent, and Kate had to wonder where this conversation was heading. But rather than pushing it, she simply let the silence run, turning her attention to making their drinks.

  ‘Your husband – he was unfaithful?’ Maria finally asked.

  ‘My ex-husband,’ Kate reminded her. ‘Not my husband any longer. And in answer to your question, I don’t know. He had a baby with another woman very soon after the divorce, but he says he wasn’t seeing her when we were married.’

  ‘You think he lies?’

  ‘I don’t want to think he was lying, but yes, I suppose I do. It doesn’t really matter now.’

  ‘You felt shame?’

  ‘For his behaviour? Of course not. How was that my fault?’ She paused in her task and looked squarely at Maria. ‘Do you feel as if your husband’s infidelity is your fault?’

  ‘Perhaps I was not a good wife.’

  ‘That’s no excuse at all. If he felt that then he needed to talk to you about it, not go sheathing his sword in some other scabbard.’

  Maria looked confused and Kate had to laugh. ‘Sorry, what I mean to say is there’s absolutely no excuse for his behaviour. He was unfaithful to you, he was unfaithful to your family life, he insulted your sacred marriage vows.’ She wagged a finger at Maria. ‘Ones you made before God, don’t forget, and we all know how important that bit is to both your families – and that should be enough to reassure you that none of this is your fault.’

  Maria nodded thoughtfully. ‘Did you feel sad? All of the time?’

  ‘After he left me? Yes. My sister once said that I was mourning the loss of a life I felt had been ripped from me. I think she was right.’

  ‘My heart, she cries all of the time. I wake and I am sad, I eat dinner and I am sad, I play with the children and I am sad, I go to sleep and I am sad. I will never be happy again.’

  Kate crossed the room and took Maria’s hands in hers. ‘Don’t cry,’ she said, feeling her own eyes fill with tears as Maria welled up. ‘It feels like that now, but believe me – it will get better. You are gorgeous, and you are strong, and you have a wonderful family around you.’

  ‘No man will want me.’

  ‘Well. . .’ Kate gave her a watery smile, ‘perhaps when they see how much you don’t need a man, it will make them want you all the more.’

  ‘You are kind, but my children—’

  ‘Families with children merge all the time. Perhaps not so much in your part of the world, but it still happens. The way I see it, though it seems tough now, you’re doing the right thing. What’s the point in spending your life tied to a lying cheat, letting him have his cake and everybody else’s cake, while you wonder who he’s with every time he’s not around? It’s not impossible that you’ll find happiness again and you need to start believing that you deserve it. Your mamma doesn’t like divorce, but there is nothing shameful in it when you’re the wronged party. If anything, she should be proud that her daughter will not be treated badly and is willing to stand up for herself no matter what anyone else thinks.’

  ‘You feel strongly.’

  ‘You bet I do. I spent a long time blaming myself for Matt leaving me, but I see now that if he wasn’t happy with the person I was, the answer wasn’t to become someone else for him. I won’t shoulder the blame for all that happened between us, and you have even less reason to than I did.’

  Maria gave a weak smile. ‘You are kind, as Alessandro says. I was not kind to you.’

  ‘You were siding with your friend, and you didn’t know me. I’m not interested in keeping grudges alive, and if you’re happy for us to make friends from this point and put our bad start behind us then so am I.’

  ‘I would like that,’ Maria said, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief she’d just fished from her handbag.

  Kate pulled her into a hug. ‘I’m glad. I’m glad you came to see me too. You know that if you ever need to talk to someone who’s been through what you’re going through now, you can always come to me, any time.’

  ‘Grazie.’ Maria’s gaze wandered the room as Kate finished their coffees. ‘You are busy?’ she asked.

  ‘Huh?’ Kate turned to face her.

  ‘I see – you are making.’

  ‘Oh!’ Kate laughed as she followed Maria’s gaze to where half a dress was laid out on her sofa, her machine idling on a table nearby and her sewing box open. ‘It’s just something I was messing around with for myself. I do have some work coming in but we have to go and buy the fabric first. Come to think of it, I’m going to have to think of a solution to that – I can’t very well go fabric shopping with the customer every time I get an order if lots more start to come in.’

  ‘It is beautiful. You are clever.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Kate handed a cup and saucer to Maria and gestured for her to sit at the table as she did the same.

  ‘Your job at Piccolo Castelli – it is gone?’

  ‘Hmmm. So Alessandro told you?’

  ‘He told us all that the owner had asked you to leave.’

  Kate took a sip of her coffee, wincing as it burnt her lip. But it was better than airing the reply that was dancing like a devilish sprite on her tongue. Why did he and his bloody family have to share everything? Some things were just too humiliating to share, and Kate would bet he’d shared every last sorry detail of her sacking with the lot of them. She should have asked him not to mention all of it – perhaps just tell them she’d left the job – but she often forgot that he saw nothing wrong in talking these things over with his mother, no matter how private anyone else would think they were. She wondered what Signora Conti had made of it all, whether she had been a lot less confident of Kate’s innocence.

  ‘Sadly it’s gone.’

  ‘What will you do?’

  ‘For money? I’ll have to start again, see what jobs are out there, try to grow my sewing business. . . The one good thing about the whole mess is that I was allowed to leave with an agreement that they wouldn’t mention it to any prospective employer who might ask. Of course, I can’t say that my ex-colleague, Charles, who landed me in the mess in the first place, will stick to that agreement, but it’s all I have right now to stop me from driving myself mad with worry.’

  ‘It is very sad. Why would Charles do such a thing?’

  ‘I have no idea. I did nothing wrong to him, as far as I can tell. In fact, I was as nice as could be. But I guess he just didn’t like me and there’s nothing I can do about that.’

  ‘This is very strong dislike.’

  ‘You could say that. Who knows what sort of odd things go on in people’s heads?’

  ‘You will not leave Italy?’

  Kate frowned. ‘Why would I do that?’

  ‘Because you will have no money to live here.’

  ‘Ah, I don’t give up that easily. Is that what everyone thinks will happen?’

  ‘Not Alessandro. But Mamma. . .’

  Of course she did, because Signora Conti was still obsessed with the idea that Alessandro’s dalliance with an English woman would end the same way his Uncle Marco’s had.

  ‘I love Alessandro, and I love Rome, even though life here is hard sometimes. I’m not giving up either of those things without a fight.’

  ‘I think Alessandro loves you very much. I hope to find a love such as yours one day.’

  ‘And you will.’ Kate was silent for a moment, studying Maria over the rim of her cup as she drank. ‘What will you do for money? Will you get half of your husband’s property? Is that how it works here?’

  ‘He will tell the lawyer that he has not been unfaithful and I do not know what will happen then.’

  ‘Have you ever considered he might be telling th
e truth? Perhaps it’s been a misunderstanding?’

  Maria’s features hardened. ‘I know my husband. I know when he lies, and I know when he has been with another woman. There is no misunderstanding and I have forgiven too many times before. There have been many more women than even my family know of – at first I would keep them secret because I thought I had failed as a wife and I felt shame. But now I will tell the world that the snake in his trousers cannot be tamed by me or any other woman, and that all women should stay away from him if they do not want their years to be filled with tears.’ She made a spitting noise. ‘He deserves to die lonely. I wish I did not have to see him at all, but the children. . . they are so young, and they want their papa.’

  ‘It’s hard,’ Kate agreed. ‘At least I didn’t have that responsibility with Matt. I suppose that makes me lucky – that I could walk away and never have to see him again.’

  ‘You have felt pain, as I have. Now I understand. I hope you do not have to go back to England – it would be very sad for you to part from Alessandro now that you have found another love.’

  Kate sighed. ‘Me too. I was trying to get on, find a good job, make some money, and I seem to have made things worse. It’s like fate or karma or whatever was teaching me a lesson, because I have to admit that my heart wasn’t always in the job, and if I’m totally honest, it wasn’t really what I wanted to do. But it was a job that would’ve got me on my feet, and maybe I could have thought about changing things once I was financially settled. If I hadn’t been passed Shauna’s details at Lucetta’s wedding, if I hadn’t somehow pissed off Charles, if I hadn’t got ahead of myself and started to do solo visits so soon, if I hadn’t been the one to go to Via del Francese that day. . . it all feels like the universe somehow had it in for me.’ She shrugged. ‘Perhaps it has. Perhaps I’m not meant to be happy. I must have been a very bad person in a previous life.’