Those Blue Tuscan Skies

by Marion Ueckermann

  They certainly aren’t. And likewise, you, mia bella Rosa, are the most diverse of all the Blumes, I’m certain. No doubt there are shades of you I’ve not yet seen.

  “Finally, white faux fur stoles for the bridesmaids will create the impression of flower’s peeking through the snow…your ‘Spring in Winter.’”

  Incredible.

  Maggie scrambled from her seat, and Joseph shifted his gaze from Rose to watch her hurry around the back of the chairs.

  Rose stood and Maggie enveloped her in a hug. “I love it! All of it. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. It’s one thing to draw this on paper. Making it happen in real life is an entirely different matter.”

  Davis relaxed back into his chair and crossed his right leg over the left. He twined his hands together around his knee. “Rose, whatever you need to do to make it happen, do it…then send me the bills.”

  Rose clamped her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, breathed in deep then exhaled. “I’ll need to take a trip to Milan for starters. With the amount of work that lies ahead, and the time we have, there’s only one person I know who’s able to make these bodices happen.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Joseph grimaced inwardly at his brazenness. Subtlety wasn’t his forte today.

  He watched Rose closely to gauge her reaction. What would she make of his statement? No doubt, she’d argue against it.

  “That’s really not necessary,” she protested. Her back stiffened, making her stand a little straighter and taller. Her shoulders pushed back slightly.

  Davis uncrossed his legs and sat forward in his chair. “Nonsense. As you both need to work together on this, I think it’s extremely necessary that Joseph accompanies you. After all, those are my wedding outfits he’s designing, and if they’re to match what you need to have done, best he’s there discussing his designs with this person in Italy, too.”

  With a shrug, Rose sank into her chair and sighed. “All right.” She picked up her smoothie. The disposable cup didn’t leave her lips until it was empty. She dabbed at her mouth with a paper serviette then threw both it and the cup in the bin beneath her desk. The toast remained untouched, barring the one bite she’d taken. “But I can only go in two weeks’ time. I have two wedding dresses that must be ready before next weekend, plus I’ll need to send Maggie proper designs. And Joseph will need to get his designs ready, too, before we leave.”

  “Friday, May 23rd. Will that suit you both?” Davis asked.

  Rose nodded.

  Joseph smiled. “Perfect.”

  “Good. I’ll get my secretary to make reservations for you during the course of this week.”

  He’d talk to Davis about extending the return flights by a few days, and sending the tickets to him for safekeeping. Tuscany was beautiful this time of the year. It would be the best place to bare his soul and introduce Rose to his secret.

  Chapter Six

  BACK STRAIGHT AS A PIN, Rose watched the in-flight safety video, memorizing each step in case of an emergency or evacuation. She buckled her safety belt, tightened it, and then relaxed into the comfort of her business class seat. Or at least tried to relax. She gazed out of the window as the British Airways flight from Heathrow to Milan taxied toward the runway. She hadn’t flown in six years, and the same dread of the plane going down, her body parts scattered over the Atlantic Ocean, or the French or Italian Alps, surfaced. She folded her arms around her stomach and squeezed. It didn’t help to settle her nerves. But was this sick feeling the result of a fear of flying, or was it because of the memory of that last flight she’d taken? The one where she’d deliberately turned her thoughts to those of the plane crashing rather than to think of what she’d done, what she’d left behind. Much as she attempted to do now. Better to think of death, than to think of a life that could never be. One she’d purposefully given away.

  “Are you nervous?” Joseph’s voice drew her back to the present.

  She turned her head toward him and nodded.

  He reached for her hand and twined his fingers through hers. She should pull away, but his touch felt so good. Especially when he smoothed his thumb over her skin, as he’d always done to reassure her everything would be all right.

  But it wouldn’t. That night in Tuscany had ruined everything.

  Only two hours and she could put more space between them.

  “You can squeeze my hand if you get scared.” He smiled at her.

  “Thanks.” Rose applied pressure, though it wasn’t the flight she feared. Being here beside him, going back to Italy, to their history… The memories, and this moment, terrified her. Thankfully, this was only a two day business trip, overnighting at a hotel near Arabella’s studio. Tomorrow evening she’d be back home again, safe in her London Georgian terrace, away from Joseph. Until they next had to meet again on Davis and Maggie’s wedding attire. Had she bitten off more than she could chew? And not in terms of the clothes…that, she could handle—with Arabella’s help, of course.

  Her heart thumped against her ribs. What would it be like to see Arabella after all this time? When Arabella had responded to Rose’s email, she’d said she was surprised, but happy, and willing to meet this afternoon. Rose hadn’t mentioned Joseph coming along, but perhaps she should have. What if Arabella assumed they were back together when they walked into that meeting side-by-side? What if she let Rose’s secret slip, thinking Joseph knew? What-ifs aside, had her mentor kept her secret safe all this time—from everyone?

  “Have you visited Italy again…since you left?” Joseph asked.

  Rose looked up into his dark brown eyes. They searched her own, refusing to release her gaze.

  She shook her head and quickly exchanged the incredible view for the tarmac hurtling past outside.

  “I keep a car at my office in Milano which my secretary will park at the airport for me this morning.” Joseph raised his voice above the noise of the engines. “I’ll take you for an early lunch,” he continued, undeterred that she’d looked away. He seemed determined to keep her attention. “Soon as we’ve checked into our hotel. I know this great little restaurant close by that serves the best—”

  Her head whipped around. “Our hotel? Y–you’re staying there, too? Don’t you have an apartment or something in the city? You must visit your Milan branch fairly often?” She’d thought once they landed she’d be rid of him and that their meeting with Arabella would be the only time she’d need to face him again until they met for their return flight.

  A smile tugged at Joseph’s mouth. “I have a place, but it’s a little further out of the city. Besides, with our meetings, it’s easier for us to be at the same hotel—especially if we need to meet with Arabella again on Saturday. But perhaps that won’t be necessary, and we could spend the day together, taking in the sights of Milano.”

  Oh. Rose squeezed his hand as the wheels lifted off the ground, and the plane began to ascend, pushing them back into their seats.

  “How far out of the city?” she asked.

  “Tuscany. I prefer the country, and—”

  Her pulse quickened. “Where in Tuscany?” All these questions… She shouldn’t. But she couldn’t stop.

  “Prato. Just outside Florence.”

  Florence. She loved that place. It had won her heart when she’d studied there. And it was in the same city she’d lost her heart completely the night she’d met Joseph. In all this time, she had never managed to get it back.

  “Well then, I can see why you’re staying at the hotel. It is a bit too far from Milan.”

  “Only around three hours by car…depending which one I’m driving. I swap between the car kept at the office in Milano, and the one at home in Tuscany.”

  Joseph’s grin made Rose’s heart thud again.

  “It’s far easier and cheaper to ‘rough it’,” he made quotation signs with his fingers, “in five stars when I’m here, than to own property in Milano, as well. And I can’t give up the place in Florence. Tuscany has alwa
ys held my heart.”

  And mine.

  She couldn’t verbalize the thought. Change the subject. Fast.

  “Thank you for taking care of the flight arrangements with Davis, as well as keeping the tickets. I had way too much on my plate the past two weeks to still concern myself with all that. I probably would have lost my ticket by now.”

  Her stomach lurched as the plane dipped. She tightened her hold around Joseph’s hand once again.

  Soon the plane leveled out, and they were cruising at thirty-six thousand feet according to the captain. The safety belt sign pinged, and the small illuminated image above everyone’s heads flipped to an open buckle. Rose glanced down. She still held Joseph’s hand. Giving him an uncertain smile, she relaxed her fingers and pulled away. “When do you fly home? Tomorrow afternoon, too?”

  He shook his head and laughed. “Italy is home for me. You know the saying ‘Home is where the heart is.’ Well, mine is there. I’ll return to London on Wednesday evening.”

  Her breath hitched. “Wednesday evening? Probably best you let me have my e-ticket then.”

  Lines formed between Joseph’s eyes as a frown rippled across his brow. “Now?”

  Rose gave a small nod. “No time like the present. I’m likely to forget if I don’t get it while I’m thinking about it.”

  “Why don’t I give it to you at the hotel?”

  Why don’t you want to give me the ticket? “I–I’d prefer to put it in my handbag now, if it’s not too much trouble to get it for me.”

  He shook his head and pursed his lips. “No trouble.” Joseph unlatched his safety belt and stood. Stretching up, he opened the overhead compartment and retrieved his briefcase. Once he had the e-tickets, he handed Rose’s to her. “Here you are.” He pushed the briefcase back where it came from and closed the compartment. It clicked shut. He sank back into his seat as Rose examined her ticket.

  Wide-eyed, she turned to him. “B–but this isn’t right.”

  “What’s wrong?” Joseph leaned over to look at Rose’s ticket.

  “They’ve booked me to fly back on Wednesday with you!”

  “Really?” Joseph removed the printed itinerary from Rose’s hand and pretended to study it closer, biting back a smile. Davis’s secretary had been astute at following his instructions.

  “They must’ve made a mistake. Gotten my booking confused with your flight.” Rose snatched the paper from his hands. “You’re not flying back tomorrow night, are you, instead of me?”

  “No. I checked my ticket. It’s definitely booked for Wednesday.”

  Rose fell against the backrest, the e-ticket trembling in her hand. “Ugh, this is a disaster. I only packed an overnight bag.” She looked at the travel details again. “And they’ve only booked the hotel for one night. Why?”

  Joseph shifted in his seat, the deception harder to pull off. If Rose opened up to him, he’d come clean. Tell her it wasn’t actually a mistake, that he’d specifically requested those bookings to give him time with her.

  “Perhaps because I only requested the hotel for one night for myself,” he continued with the lie. But for good reason. “I’d planned to spend a few days in Tuscany. You could come with me, if you’d like.” Please, say yes.

  Shooting him a look that could melt ice, Rose folded the paper then grabbed her handbag on the floor beside her feet. She shoved the folded travel reservations into a side pocket and zipped it closed. “I–I can’t go off with you—especially to Tuscany. Besides, I don’t have clothing for an extra four days.”

  A low chuckle erupted from Joseph, louder than he’d intended. “Bella Rosa, have you forgotten who I am? What I do for a living? With the snap of my fingers, I can have a wardrobe of clothes in your hotel room, complete with a larger suitcase to fit them all.”

  “I–I can’t. I have work. I’ll have to change my booking when we get to Milan. I just hope tomorrow night’s flights aren’t full.”

  Joseph leaned on the armrest between them and twisted toward her. He took her hand in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed her fingers.

  “Rosa, you’ll always have work. Besides, with the Hamilton wedding out of the way, and your sister’s designs done, aren’t you under less pressure now?” He tilted his head. “Please. Just think about it. A few days under the Tuscan sun will be good for you. And I promise that this is as close as we’ll get, if that’s what you’re afraid of. Or want.”

  “I…”

  “Think about it, Rose. Please.”

  Blowing out a sigh, she nodded.

  Joseph released her hand and leaned into his seat. Whether or not Rose admitted to what she’d done before tomorrow, he had to tell her. Show her. He had to keep her in Italy a few more days.

  “Rosa Blume. It has been far too long.” Arabella strode across the showroom floor of her studio toward Rose and Joseph, as elegant a woman as she’d always been. Placing her bejeweled hands on Rose’s face, she kissed both her cheeks then wrapped her in a hug. She’d done the same thing so many times before when Rose was having a hard day. Rose had taken comfort in those slender arms, especially toward the end. But once she’d left Italy, Rose turned her back on everything there—including her mentor and friend. Returning to Italy in any form was just too painful.

  Still, she had no other choice if she was to give her sister the wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses she desired.

  Releasing Rose, Arabella turned to Joseph and gave him the same warm greeting. “Mr. JoDi.” She emphasized the ‘D’. “Man of fashion extraordinaire. It has been a while, but then the fashion magazines tell the story of a very busy man. I didn’t know you were also coming here today.” Her gaze flitted between them. “Is there something I should know?”

  Rose gave her head a slow shake. No. Her eyes entreated Arabella to say no more.

  Joseph laughed as he wrapped his fingers around Arabella’s arms below her shoulders. “It has been too long, Bella. You look well. Life must be treating you good.”

  Bella? Rose had suspected they would know each other, but how close were they?

  “It is. Must be doing the same for you and Rosa, too, because you both look molto bello.”

  Rose narrowed her eyes. Molto bello? What did that mean again? If only she hadn’t let her Italian get so rusty.

  Joseph leaned toward Rose and whispered. “Very beautiful.”

  She offered a smile of thanks for his translation. At least, she hoped he was translating for her.

  “Come, we can talk better in my office.” Arabella beckoned with her hand then led the way.

  Seated in the office beside Joseph on one side of Arabella’s desk, Rose immediately withdrew the final designs from her briefcase. Maggie’s dress, her mom and Davis’s mother’s outfits, and the seven bridesmaids’ dresses. Yes, she’d done the extra design just in case Davis’s brother surfaced before the wedding and Maggie had to add her assistant friend, Jayne, into the equation. The quicker she got them discussing what they had flown almost six hundred miles for, the better. Sticking strictly to business would prevent any gaffes from happening.

  “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.” Rose pushed the board-mounted portfolio pages across the glass desk toward Arabella. “These are the designs I’ve done for my sister Maggie’s wedding. Joseph is the groom’s designer. He’ll supply the groom and his entourage’s designs.

  “As you can see, my sister desires a considerable amount of your exquisite ribbon embroidery be done on the bodices of all the dresses. This will flow through in a much smaller way to the men’s shirts, hence the reason Joseph is here.”

  Arabella lifted the gray and black mathematical-look glasses that hung from a chain around her neck, and set them on her face. One by one, she picked up the boards, taking time to study each design. When she’d gone through them all, she examined Maggie’s gown for a second time. Several minutes later she glanced over the rim of her glasses, first at Rose, and then at Joseph. She removed the spectacles and let them hang l
oose around her neck once again.

  Rose’s pulse pounded. Would she agree to do this for them? Or was this too much work for the time they had? Without a doubt she had her own clients’ needs to attend to and likely her calendar was already full for the rest of the year. December 31st wasn’t that far away. Rose concentrated on her breathing, trying her utmost to remain calm.

  What if Arabella had no desire to help? Maybe she held a grudge against Rose for not keeping in touch—especially after all she’d done for her. Maybe she’d merely not wish to help someone who had done what Rose had done. What if Arabella had issues with Joseph, although it had looked far from that when they’d greeted.

  Please, say yes.

  “Joseph, may I see your designs?” Arabella set Maggie’s board down and held out her hand.

  “Of course.” Joseph leaned over and his fingers wrapped around the briefcase leaning against his chair on Rose’s side. He lifted it onto his lap, opened it, and pulled out the designs he’d done. They were mounted the same way as Rose’s and had the same embroidered flowers on bold colored fabric. Royal Oxford he’d said the shirts would be made from when they had brainstormed their ideas with Maggie and Davis. The smooth, silky jacquard cravats, handkerchiefs, and waistcoats all pulled this embroidery theme through in the finest form. Not in your face…just there. He’d done an incredible job of designing the men’s outfits. No wonder his clothing was so well-known and popular.

  He handed the designs to Arabella.

  Her glasses went back onto her face, and she studied Joseph’s work.

  “You both have magnificent designs here. I’ll need a day to think about this, see whether I can fit it into my current workload.”