Izzy didn’t spend time thinking about the details. She was happy to accept the fact that they now shared something, a bond that would bypass whatever inconveniences might rear their irritating heads. After all, didn’t they say that where there was a will, there was a way?
And it felt like they were a team, the three of them. She, Gabriel and Rosa...
Gabriel stopped work at six without fail, if not earlier, and engaged with this daughter in a way Izzy admired. The business with Bianca had been satisfactorily sorted. He didn’t go into details, merely informing her when she asked that his ex had finally had a taste of the medicine she had been so keen to dish out before.
And they made love. Spectacular, wonderful love that more and more persuaded her that the chemistry between them ran so much deeper than he probably thought. Yes, shimmering on less rosy horizons lurked the uncomfortable reality that for him, whilst not for her, chemistry might be something quite detached from anything else. After all, had he ever, even in the throes of passion, mentionedlove? Wasn’t it always easy to believe what you wanted to believe? The pictures and possibilities she had conjured could be oh, so different from the ones he had, and she knew that somewhere deep inside her she was scared to find out.
She was absently watching Evelyn and Rosa meticulously patting down earth into bright-blue flowerpots when she heard the ping of her phone.
And there it was.
The timely reminder that the very minute you began to take things for granted, to allow yourself to enjoy life and nurture expectations that your enjoyment might actually last,fate stepped in to shatter the daydream.
It was no more than a short text but from the very last person on earth she expected to hear from.
Why was Bianca texting her? Why did she want to meet up? What the heck could the other woman have to say to her? She would be in town, the other woman said, and she thought it would be mutually beneficial for them to have a chat.How could either of them have anything to say to one another that could be mutually beneficial?
Should she say something to Gabriel?
A place was suggested.
Izzy was shaking ever so slightly as she shoved her phone back into the rucksack she took with her everywhere.
Why would she bother Gabriel with this nonsense? It was ten in the morning. He would be sequestered in his office, working, and would be there all day until he broke off in the early evening. It was his routine. Lunch was brought to him, barely causing a ripple in his working day. What would be the point in disturbing him?
Two o’clock was suggested. It would be easy enough to leave Rosa with Evelyn.
Izzy only hesitated for a few seconds, then she extracted the phone and texted back.
Okay.
The meeting place surprised Izzy because it wasn’t the fanciest place in town. After a mere five minutes’ acquaintance, she suspected the other woman was really only comfortable somewhere expensive and pretentious, where wall-to-wall waiter service was on tap at the click of an imperious finger.
This was more of a café, busy and pretty, nestling alongside a collection of shops and boutiques, all of which lazed under a portico interrupted by a series of jade-green columns.
The city of Napa, Izzy had discovered, was made for picture-perfect snapshots, with the impressionistic backdrop of hazy, lavender hills in the distance as far as the eye could see.
It was warm and sunny, and the pavements were busy. Izzy had dressed smart-casually. She’d ditched the jeans in favour of a pair of trousers and a short-sleeved blouse, which was neatly tucked into the waistband, and some tan sandals.
Bianca was unmissable in the café. Eyes down as she scrolled through her phone, she was in a tight peacock-blue mini-dress, precariously high heels and a wealth of jewellery.
Proceed with caution, Izzy thought as she took a deep breath and headed towards the table.
She had to clear her throat before the other woman glanced up, and even then she made a show of blinking in puzzlement, as though startled by the appearance of a perfect stranger at her table.
‘You came, my dear. I had my doubts.’
‘I haven’t got long, Bianca.’ Izzy slipped into the chair and adjusted it slightly so that she was a few inches further away from Bianca.
‘And I wouldn’t dream of keeping you. Perhaps you need to hurry back to play at being the dutiful girlfriend to my ex-husband?’
Izzy reddened but was saved from a response by the appearance of a pretty young waitress.
‘A coffee... No, nothing to eat.’
The sooner she got this over and done with, the better.
‘So...’ Bianca leaned forward in a waft of expensive perfume and her expression was hard. ‘I am assuming Gabriel has kept you in the loop about his...recent attacks on me? No?’
