by Karen Aldous
‘I can imagine you in a gorgeous white wedding gown. You will make such a beautiful bride. Mamma would love it too. Mamma and Papa adore throwing a family event.’
It was an exciting night and she couldn’t believe a man would share as much enthusiasm as his bride to be as Alberto did. His list of details concerning flowers and accessories was immense. She couldn’t wait to tell Chiara.
***
Alberto had dropped her home the following morning. Brewing strong coffee in Nonna’s kitchen, her eyes were beginning to droop when her phone bleeped. Anxious to hear from Bella or one of her family, she walked over to the worktop where she’d left it on charge. It was Hugh texting to say the cassone was ready and if it was OK, he would bring it over in an hour.
Needing to get copious amounts of coffee into her bloodstream, she poured herself a strong coffee and took it with her to get showered and changed, at least. Opening the shutters, she moaned at the cloud wafting around the sky like white candy-floss waiting to be scooped up by a stick.
Announcing her engagement to Hugh was going to be uncomfortable but telling him about the events at the meeting with her family were likely to jolt him more. He would never have riled Orlando in the same way as Alberto, but she did wonder what caricature he would create of the two of them, and what item he would assign to each. She gave out a sigh, as she got undressed.
As she showered she was disturbed again by the memory of Hugh’s kiss, just the other night. It had meant more to her than she dared to admit. But wasn’t that just the irony? To find she had feelings for two men at the same time? Unforgettable but a comfort to think about and clearly a blunder. She clenched her cheeks with her hands and shuddered as the water washed over her.
If he hadn’t followed her, it would never have happened. He was well aware of her relationship situation and whilst it was she who succumbed to temptation, she shouldn’t feel guilty. A moment’s lapse after a few glasses of wine was all it was and Hugh would probably joke about it. Besides, she would make sure it didn’t happen again. She was going to be Mrs Alberto Luciano.
Managing to shower, dress, and Skype Chiara before Hugh parked up outside, Olivia was finishing the call.
‘Here’s Hugh now. Love to Liam and Sophia. Love you lots and speak soon. I’ll be home soon,’ she said blowing her friend a kiss to the phone.
‘As long as you sort out that mess before you return and don’t forget to Skype me with this Alberto before you leave. I’m dying to meet him.’
‘Yes, yes. Mwah.’
Olivia rushed out to the hall and opened the door, eager to see the restored chest. She jumped in surprise seeing the car about three feet away from the door. Boris jumped out as Hugh opened a rear passenger door. The dog was about to race over to the grass but seeing her, bounded over for a fuss.
‘Hello, gorgeous,’ she said squelching his neck with both hands. He panted happily at her. ‘Oh, you are such a cheery boy, Boris.’
‘Good morning. Did you have a good weekend?’ Hugh asked coming to the back of the car and opening the tailgate.
She welcomed him with two air kisses, but immediately inhaling his scent was careful not to get too close. She stepped back to the door.
‘Yes and no, what about you?’
‘I’ve been busy, out and about, went to an antiques fair and viewed a few more properties. I think I’ve found the one,’ he said pulling the trolley from the back seat of the car.
‘Mmm, it’s best.’ Olivia felt a jolt in her stomach, though wasn’t sure why. ‘So, is it close?’ she asked, steadying the trolley as Hugh pulled the covered cassone forward from under a rug.
‘Yes, great location, needs some work. I’ll show you in a while. It makes sense to express my interest in this one. It’s on the road between here and Greve, so fairly central still, and has an outbuilding that would be ideal for storage. Anyway, are you ready?’ he said lifting the cloth off the bridal chest sitting proudly on the rear of the car. ‘Ta-da.’
Olivia’s jaw dropped. ‘Wow, that’s fantastic. What a super job he’s done.’
‘Looks amazing doesn’t it. He’s been careful not to damage anything underneath these carved bits. He thinks the carvings may be an overlay of some previous work, possibly painting.’
Olivia ran her hand over the smooth edges at the bottom of the cassone. ‘Oh that’s strange. Why would you want to cover paintings?’
‘Not sure. Fading paint, décor, fashions, any of those I suppose. Happens with so many items. Maybe the bride didn’t like it. Actually, among the contents, at the bottom … I’m not sure if you remember with all the distracting elements, but there were a couple of items wrapped in cloth at the bottom. About so big, well, possibly about the size of these panels.’ He touched one of the ends. ‘They could have come off these two ends, and been the original painted end panels.’
‘Gosh, you’re pretty observant. What does that mean? Would they be worth putting back on and stripping off the carved wood? That carving looks like it’s on solid wood.’
‘Who knows. We would have to dig deeper and look at the paintings to see if there’s any connection.’ Hugh scratched his head. ‘Anyway, shall we get this shifted? I’m sure it’ll look better in the villa than in the back of my car. Besides, Boris wants his bed back.’
‘Aww, poor Boris. I’ll get Nico to come and help.’
‘It’s OK – we managed it last time. Just.’
As before, Hugh tilted the cassone carefully with Olivia’s assistance and wheeled it in, following Olivia through the hall to the sitting room.
‘Still not a lot of room in here I see.’
‘No, but most of it is ready to go. I’ve no need to organize someone to pick it up now though. My mum can deal with it. Most of the hard work is done. All the rubbish is out.’ Pushing a pile of boxes along the wall to clear space, she added, ‘OK, we’ll put it here.’
‘Cool, if you can hold on to this, I’ll slide it off.’
They swapped places and, taking off his jacket, Hugh eased it off the trolley and together they straightened it. ‘What will you do with it? I could ship it back home in the car at some point.’
He’d made it look so easy. ‘Oh, fill it back up and leave it. I’m not the owner now.’
‘Have you heard from Bella again? I was going to message you, but I know you were probably with Alberto.’
‘Bella called me and, thinking I was doing the right thing to sort things out with regards to here, I agreed to meet them all at Orlando’s. I took Alberto and, well, it was a complete disaster. If you’ve got time, I’ll make you a drink and tell you all about it.’
Hugh checked his watch. ‘Of course, for you, I can spare half an hour.’
As she made a fresh pot of coffee, Olivia explained the full turn of events.
Hugh gripped his cup as he listened, looking disgusted as she unfurled the story.
‘So, the only thing left for me to do is go home really,’ she said. ‘It’s down to my mum to deal with it.’
‘What about the solicitor?’
‘Well, I’ve not signed anything, so presumably I would have to sign a contract if she’s transferring deeds. I’ll email him today and find out. I’ll tell him not to transfer it to my name and make an appointment before I leave.’ She gave a shrug. ‘I will try to stay in touch with Bella. She seems to be the only one I can relate to. Anyway, I want to ask her to be my bridesmaid.’
Clutching his stomach, Hugh glanced at her as if she were deranged. ‘Bridesmaid?’
Blinking, Olivia smiled. ‘Ahh, yes. Big news, big event. Alberto and I are getting married. He proposed to me yesterday. I’ll show you the ring; it’s gorgeous. It’s in my bedroom. Wait there.’
Chapter 29
Sorry, have to go, urgent appointment. H xx oh, and congrats x
It was scribbled on her pad and left on the cassone. She had heard the wheels of his Range Rover spin on the gravel as the car pulled aw
ay. Boris must have been waiting by the car. Olivia ran to and out of the front door scanning the courtyard and the outside in case Hugh had left without Boris. There was no sign of Boris.
Hands on hips, she let out a sad sigh. ‘Oh, God, it was stupid to think he’d want to see the ring! Stupid.’
Closing the door, she decided to ring him later, when he’d cooled down. Unless, he did have an appointment and he wasn’t upset or … what was the point worrying about it? She was going to be married. She had things to sort out before leaving, which didn’t leave her much time. First, she would drive to Cesare’s to pay him for the great work he’d done. With any luck, Hugh would be there.
Hugh wasn’t at the workshop but Cesare seemed to be very clued up about Hugh’s feelings. She’d handed him a twenty-euro gratuity on top of his fee but he’d refused. He’d told her that if she wanted give him any sort of thanks, she should do him a favour and make Hugh happy. Was the whole world against her?
She tried Hugh’s phone, but he didn’t answer. Thinking he was probably driving, she texted him a message.
She felt alone and miserable, not only with the weight of her troubles, but also that she had possibly destroyed one of the best friendships she’d ever had. She breathed out a sigh and reached for her phone. It was eleven thirty-five on a Monday morning. Chiara would be busy. She tapped her list app, creating a new one: ‘Priorities.’
The first thing that came to mind was her family and completing her mission for the future of the farm. She came out of the app. She didn’t have the luxury of drawing up lists, however great the app. There wasn’t time. She was going home on Wednesday.
No, she told herself. Your gut is telling you. Go, go and sort it out. With only the remainder of today and Tuesday, she needed to act. First she rang the solicitor. The only available appointment was Tuesday at five.
Rushing into the bedroom, she grabbed an overnight bag and threw in several items of clothing and toiletries. Enough for a night because she wasn’t going to leave Italy without discovering exactly what she was made of and working something out.
Determined, she put her bags into the car, climbed in and set the satnav, and spun the car round. Just as she put her foot down to head up the drive, Hugh’s car screeched in front of her, missing her by a thread. He ran out of his car and opened her door.
‘Come with me,’ he urged.
‘Where? I’m going to Mum’s.’
‘Perfect. Park your car up and we’ll go in mine.’
Doing as she was told, Olivia reversed, grabbed her bags, and got into his car.
***
Roz was on a stepladder watering plants outside the reception office as they pulled into the car park. She turned, losing control of the hose and splashing the wall and windows. Olivia, eager to be heard, marched directly towards her.
‘Mum, we really need to talk.’
Roz climbed down, trying to guide the hose and turn it off. ‘You want me to change my mind you mean. The solicitor is dealing with it. It’s out of my hands.’
‘You know it isn’t and I want you to see reason. Forget what Nonna said, and just keep it in your name. The farm is yours, and you have three children. I know it has to be transferred and I haven’t signed. Accept that the truth is out and you don’t have to keep pretending. Shrug the guilt. I may find it difficult to forgive you for now, but at least I can accept the fact that I now have a brother and a sister, and to be a family, we need to address this stubborn insistence that you owe me.’
‘The solicitor is wrong. It has gone through and as I explained before, I abandoned you. I owe you. You do whatever you want with it. It is in your hands. You can share it with your brother and sister if that’s what you want to do. I was never meant to have it. I don’t want it.’
‘Mum … why are you so stubborn?’
Roz raised her hands as Olivia began to protest. ‘Listen to me. I explained before. I saw you once or twice, sometimes three times a year, but I could never give you what the others had. They had my time, love, and support every day. You will understand when you have children of your own.’
‘No, if I do ever become brave enough to have children of my own, I would want to treat them equally. I couldn’t treat them differently.’
‘You will. You will know where the imbalance lies.’
Flattening her nose with her hand in utter frustration, Olivia glanced at Hugh, who was standing beside the car, head down, staring at the floor and probably biting his tongue.
She turned to her mother. ‘OK, let me explain it to you another way.’ For once she felt like she was the adult talking to a child. ‘I was a child when you made that decision. We all know you were young, had lost Papa, had two other young children to cope with. You thought I was better placed with Gran. So, I accept now that that’s what happened.
‘Now I’m an adult. Now I can express what I feel and I can now tell you what you owe me. Mum, the one thing I would like to have is the chance to be part of my own family. I only want what has been denied me emotionally, which means I would like the opportunity to have a proper relationship with my sister, my brother, my nieces and nephews and, one day, you – if and when I can find it in my heart to forgive you.
‘So, in order to do that, I would like you to reconsider your will, not Nonna’s. This is your will. Keep the farm in your name and Gabriella and Nico can continue to run it, then when you go, it can be dealt with by whoever survives you.’
‘But I don’t want it.’ Roz reached into her gilet pocket and took a cigarette from a packet.
‘Mamma.’ Olivia squeezed her hands in despair. She wasn’t getting through. ‘Why should I inherit both the family properties? The twins went without their father, their grandparents, their sister. They suffered as well.’
Roz reached back into her pocket and pulled out a lighter, lighting the cigarette. She sat on a bench, drawing in the poisons, staring ahead of her as she blew out the smoke.
‘I’ve often wished I could turn back the clock. In so many ways I regret what I did, but … other times, I tell myself I was right. Your bond was already with your gran, she – or rather they – loved you and cared for you and … they’d lost a child, their son.’ Roz took a deep breath. ‘I had three. So, whilst it doesn’t make it right, my way of saying I’ve always loved you, is by giving you my biggest possession, by compensating, whatever you want to call it. It’s my way of making it up to you, and saying to you, you are worth it.’
Olivia watched her mother take another drag of her cigarette. ‘Mum, we’re all worth it and what you are missing, or fail to see, is you in all this. I survived. I grew up loved, maybe feeling sorry for myself at times and wishing I could have been with you, and now I’ve discovered the truth, I wish I could have been with my brother and sister too, but you don’t see things have changed. During that process, you created two worlds. It was a world of Olivia and a world with the twins. As of a few days ago, those two worlds have become one.’
Olivia sat down opposite her mother unsure if she was taking it in. ‘Does that make sense? You don’t have to stress any more. We can try to be a family. The twins were denied too, so you owe them as well.’
Roz rubbed her collarbone and Olivia saw trickles of tears seeping from her eyes. At last a reaction, she wanted scream. Did she have a heart in there after all?
Roz scratched her chin as she stared at a knot in the table. ‘I’ve lived in two worlds for so long, I don’t know if I can separate them. I’m exhausted with it all. I’ll never get rid of the guilt. I know what it’s like to feel left out of a family. I was too you know. My mamma and papa had each other. They never included me. I knew what you would go through. I told your papa. I didn’t intend it, but we were so busy we didn’t come and get you. You were such a darling child. I used to cry to myself I missed you so much. I wasn’t being silly.’
‘Who told you that you were being silly?’
‘Your papa. I did love him, but
he didn’t understand me. He didn’t understand how much you meant to me.’
‘But then you didn’t change anything when he died?’
‘I wanted to. I should have.’
‘So you know or can understand what is important to me about wanting to feel part of my family?’
Roz shook her head and stabbed out her cigarette. ‘I do. And I think maybe you are right. I have spent so much of my life in separate compartments, I’m having trouble accepting it as one. At Landi’s yesterday, with you all there, well, I wasn’t right. At the funeral, I was so worried that you were all in the church.’ She held out her palms. ‘But now I don’t have to worry.’
‘Just pull your family together. Do what you wanted to do all those years ago and bring us together. You could live at the farm; we can visit.’
Placing her hand on Olivia’s arm, Roz stole her gaze. ‘No. I really couldn’t cope with the farm. If I transfer it to you, then I know it’s in good hands. And, as said to you before, you can work it out between you and do what you need to do with it. You are young. I don’t have the energy.’
Olivia ran her fingers through her hair. Her mother was impossible and wasn’t going to budge on the issue. ‘The problem there, Mamma, is that Landi and Bella have got to trust me. How will they if the farm is in my name? I need to build their trust.’
‘Get something legal drawn up. Speak to them. You can work something out.’
‘Oh, God, I don’t think Landi will speak to me now. Not after yesterday. I’m not sure I’m … You must speak to him, Mum. In fact, ask both Landi and Bella to come and see me, together. Explain to them what we’ve discussed. It will have to be soon because I have to go back to London on Wednesday.’ Olivia felt her hopes rising. If her mamma was going to be so bloody-minded about the farm, they would have to find another way and it seemed Landi would only be influenced by Roz. But, finally, there was hope.
