‘Were you close to any of your...er...stepmothers? How many were there?’
‘A few and no.’ He settled back on his elbows and stared up at a blue, blue sky. ‘I don’t believe there was a stepmother who didn’t turn out to be a piece of work. It’s a blessing my father’s been on his own for a couple of years now, although it might be a bit premature to say that he’s seen the light.’
‘You really love him, don’t you? For all his failings. Just something else we have in common!’
Luca looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Amazing,’ he murmured, ‘given the circumstances, that you are as upbeat and romantic as you are.’
‘You think I should be cynical and jaded?’
‘I’ve seen the trail of misery love has a habit of leaving in its wake. You call it cynical and jaded but I call it realistic. As far as I’m concerned, you look at life with your eyes wide open and you can escape most of its predictably unpleasant fallout.’
‘Which is why you like the thought of an arranged marriage...’
‘A suitable union between two people whose outlook on life is similar. Remind me why we’re talking about all of this...?’
‘Because it’s nice getting to know someone else. Iknowyou won’t be around for much longer, but it’s still nice getting to know you.’
When was he actually going to go? He’d extended this visit far longer than was technically acceptable. He was a workaholic and, of course, this unforeseen break in the normal course of events had been fun, but it couldn’t continue.
And yet...he remembered the feel of her against him and his explosive reaction to her body, and the thought of jumping ship when he knew he should, which was just as soon as he could shove his clothes in a plastic bag and order a cab to the nearest airport, held little appeal.
‘And believe me,’ he murmured with heartfelt sincerity, ‘I would certainly like to get to know you better as well.’ It was a sign of creativity and a willingness to go with the flow that he was prepared to take a few more days out of his hectic schedule. In life, if something presented itself as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you grabbed it with both hands. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He smiled slowly.
‘Another week here isn’t going to hurt...is it?’ He reached forward and she leaned into him. He kissed her long and slow and Cordelia melted.
‘Another week,’ she sighed breathlessly, ‘would be great.’
‘And then we’ll bid our fond farewells. Deal?’
Something inside her stirred and she tore her eyes away from the puzzling void that opened up when she thought about him leaving.
She smiled. ‘Deal.’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘OFCOURSEIFyou want to go, if you feel you need to leave me when things are so busy here, then I can’t stand in your way. You’re a grown woman, Cordelia. You can do whatever you want to do and I understand that you need to get away for a while. Don’t blame you. What young thing wants to be cooped up with her old fool of a father?’
Under normal circumstances, Cordelia would have wilted under this flagrant emotional blackmail. Sitting across from her father at the pine table where they had just finished sharing a fraught supper, she took a deep breath, the sort of deep breath typical of someone determined to power on whatever the obstacles.
These were not normal circumstances and she didn’t have the luxury of succumbing to Clive Ramsey’s mournful blue eyes.
‘One week at the very most, Dad.’
She glanced down to the chips slowly going cold on her plate. She’d barely eaten. She shoved the plate to one side and leaned forward, elbows planted on the table.
Once upon a time, her father had been gloriously good-looking. A strapping man with the same white-blond hair as hers and light blue eyes. Time, grief and disappointments had changed all that and now, at the age of sixty-two, he was still lean and strong, but his face was lined, his hands gnarled from all the manual work he did, and his once erect frame was stooped. A tall man hiding away from life and it showed in the way he carried himself.
‘One week?’ He sighed and attempted a smile, which tugged every heartstring she had.
‘I know you think that once I’m gone, I’m never going to come back, but that won’t be the case.’ Cordelia thought of the trip she was about to make. If she lasted five minutes there, then she would be amazed. Nausea swamped her again and she shoved the plate with the now cold chips further away from her because the sight of the slowly congealing food was doing nothing for the state of her stomach.
Pregnant. How could it have happened? Her period, as regular as clockwork, had been ten days overdue before it had even occurred to her to do a pregnancy test. She had been living on her nerves ever since.
Luca had stayed on for a further week and then he had gone. The impact of his departure on her had been something she hadn’t foreseen. Yes, she had assumed that she would miss him because they had shared such a wonderful three weeks together. He had blown a hole in her orderly, predictable life and she’d known that it would take a while for normality to paper over his absence.
But she hadn’t expected the depth of those feelings of loss and wanting. She physicallyachedfor him. She saw him in every room in the house and on every corner of every street in the little village, where he had become such a familiar sight that people asked after him when he’d gone.
