Rose sat ramrod straight staring at the road, seemingly ignoring the broccoli-shaped trees and glimpses of sparkling, azure sea as they flashed past. Instead, she sucked in sharp breaths whenever any cars got within metres of them. After twenty minutes, she opened her handbag and swallowed a couple of pills.
‘I get car sick,’ she explained when she realised Ben had noticed. ‘I was in an accident in Paris when I was a child and whenever I’ve been in a car abroad since…well…’ She straightened her shoulders, shrugging off the confidence, as if by the sheer power of will, she could erase the memory or herreaction to it. ‘I’m fine. It’s nothing to worry about,’ she added after a brief silence.
‘So,’ Ben said after a pause, deciding to change the subject because she was obviously uncomfortable about sharing her vulnerability. ‘Tell me about Luna. How did you meet? If we’re going to be alone in a car together for –’ He glanced at the sat nav. ‘– almost three hours until we get to Aurora’s, we might as well make the most of it.’ He hoped it also might distract her from the other vehicles. The roads were only going to get busier from here.
Rose considered his question for a moment. ‘I suppose there’s no harm,’ she said with an air of someone who wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing. ‘Luna and I met at Roedean School in Brighton when we were eight. I was a full boarder and she stayed a couple of nights a week. We hit it off and I often used to stay with her family in the holidays. We’ve been friends for over twenty-three years.’
The air in the car had grown heavy, and Ben wondered what Rose had left out. He could almost feel the weight of the unsaid words – the burden of emotion that hadn’t been shared. ‘You were young,’ he said as he changed lanes. ‘Were your parents abroad?’
He saw Rose shrug. ‘No, they were in the UK. I wanted to stay at school.’ She didn’t elaborate. ‘Luna’s father died when she was in her early teens,’ she continued. ‘And she was left a trust fund, which she’ll inherit in just over nine months. She almost married someone last year. Turned out he was hoping for an injection of cash for his family’s business.’
Ben nodded slowly as he absorbed that information. No wonder Rose was worried about Marco. In the same position, he might have the same concerns.
A mobile beeped and Ben saw Rose wince. ‘It’s my mother,’ she explained. ‘She wants me to call her so she can ask—’ She pursed her lips looking unhappy.
‘You can call her now if you like,’ Ben offered. ‘Is it important?’
‘She thinks it is.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ll wait and ring back when we arrive.’
He watched as she picked up her handbag and played with the two crisp white envelopes he’d seen earlier, before placing them back inside the bag and zipping it up.
‘You mentioned Luna was close to her mother?’ he asked. Marco had shared basic details about his bride-to-be, but there were plenty of gaps he’d like filled.
Although all he really cared about was whether she was going to make his friend happy – and so far, she had. He saw no reason in trying to find cracks in something that on the outside at least, looked ideal. Marco deserved the perfect relationship, and Ben was determined to make sure he got exactly that.
‘Deborah Kennedy is an amazing woman,’ Rose answered, her voice filled with a sudden burst of warm affection that made something inside Ben’s chest heat. ‘She’s a marine biologist, stationed on an island somewhere off the coast of Scotland. I can’t remember exactly what it’s called.’ She paused. ‘Luna and she talk every day – depending on phone signals. Luna told me Deborah is coming to the wedding – she’s bringing her grandmother’s necklace with her. I’ve no idea when she’ll actually arrive. Travel can be tricky – it’s a bit of a trains, planes and automobiles experience and that’s before you add in the boat journey.’ She winced.
‘I’m sure Marco will make sure she makes it on time. He’ll do everything in his power to ensure Luna is happy,’ he promised.
‘I think this might be out of his hands. That’s what happens when you rush into things without thinking about theconsequences.’ Rose gazed out of the window as the vibrant purple lavender that edged the road obviously caught her eye.
‘What does Luna do?’ Ben asked, pleased that the tension he could see in Rose’s shoulders had begun to ease. Her leg wasn’t bouncing either.
‘She runs a herbal tea business. She grew it from nothing and now she sells to teashops and hotels across the world. It’s very successful. It’s why she’s been in Italy. She has a warehouse in Europe,’ Rose said, turning back to him, her voice filled with pride. ‘Tell me about Marco. You said you worked together?’
Ben nodded. ‘We run an architectural company based in Bristol. We met at university.’ He overtook a couple of cars and heard Rose’s sharp, peppery intakes of breath. ‘Are you okay?’ He couldn’t stop himself from checking.
‘I’m fine,’ Rose said wearily, before lapsing into silence. ‘Have you met his family a lot of times?’ she asked once the traffic around them had eased.
‘Yep, loads of times,’ he told her. ‘I’m like part of the family – his parents joke I’m their second son.’
Ben had no family of his own. His parents had been quite elderly when he’d been born. A happy accident, his mother had once told him, although he wasn’t sure his father had agreed. They’d died within a few weeks of each other when he’d been at university. It had been a terrible time, and he’d been inconsolable with grief. For a long while, he’d been alone.
Until the Marinos had taken him under their wing. Which was yet another reason why he wasn’t going to let this wedding get messed up. Family is important to Italians, he already knew from the burst of excited WhatsApp messages that they were all beside themselves with excitement about the upcoming nuptials, eager to embrace their new daughter-in-law. It had been the same when he’d got engaged…
He shook his head, dismissing the memory.
‘Tell me about them,’ Rose demanded. ‘I don’t even know what Marco looks like.’ She tapped her fingers on her thigh looking tense.
Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, holding onto the steering wheel with one hand and eliciting a new gasp from Rose. He handed the wallet to her without taking his eyes from the road. ‘There’s a photo of all the Marinos in the front, you can take it out.’
He waited while Rose did as he’d suggested. ‘Which one’s Marco?’ she asked after a few moments.
‘He’s standing in the middle, wearing the dark blue suit. He likes to dress up,’ he told her. ‘Even while we were at uni.’ Marco had drawn a lot of comments from the lecturers, but he’d won his fair share of admiration from the other students too.
Rose sniffed. ‘Luna prefers casual, she thinks casual clothes give more away about someone’s personality,’ she muttered without irony. ‘Who else is here?’
Ben knew the image off by heart. He had another copy at home, but carried this one wherever he went. ‘The woman on the right, dressed in the?—’
