Directly opposite, a solid metal-banded oak door was open and she stepped out into the early evening sunshine and paused to take in her surroundings.
She was standing in a courtyard. The space was filled with the trickle of water and the hum of bees that hovered above the lavender which spilled from the raised beds and the wild thyme that grew in the cracks in the stone-gravelled footpaths. There were a couple of wrought iron benches and tables set beside a fountain. The stone walls of the castle were on three sides, leaving the south-facing fourth side open to a vista that was breathtaking. It must make this a sun trap most of the day, she thought.
The area directly ahead sloped, the green manicured lawn giving way to immaculate terrace gardens where flowers spilled from several beds onto what appeared to be a grove of olives. Through the foliage she caught glimpses of what she took to be a white sandy beach beyond. The blue of the sea itself was almost indistinguishable from the blue sky.
‘This is so beautiful.’ She didn’t bother disguising her uncomplicated admiration for the beauty of the place. Despite herself, she felt excited at the prospect of exploration.
‘This way.’
Her feet crunched on the gravel as he led her out of the courtyard and onto the grassy expanse of the lawn. She turned around and looked back at the castle, her full skirt skimming her calves as she twirled.
Despite the reason for her being here, and the man whose presence by her side meant that she couldn’t totally relax, she laughed, unable to regret experiencing this place.
She just regretted the reason she was here.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected her reaction to be, but her laughter and her almost childlike pleasure in her surroundings was not it.
He fought off a smile—her uncomplicated delight was contagious. ‘You like it?’
She flashed him a look, her face a mirror of her amused astonishment. ‘That’s a joke, right? It’s beautiful, Leo, and I’m happy for you that you have such a beautiful home.’
His own expression blanked as he searched her face, but he saw nothing but genuine sincerity.
Underneath his composed expression, his jaw was practically hitting his chest. What sort of woman got treated the way he had treated her and then pronounced herselfhappyfor him?
‘It must be like living in a fairytale.’
‘I do not believe in fairytales or happily ever after endings.’
And that was how to kill the moment! Was she in part responsible for his inbuilt cynicism? The possibility drained away the last of her optimism and left her feeling flat as she walked on.
Seeing the happiness fade from her face sent a slug of irrational guilt through Leo. ‘This way,’ he said when she had wandered off aimlessly towards the right.
Amy was standing above the highest level of the numerous terraces when Leo, standing below her, turned and held out his hand. She regarded it suspiciously for a moment before laying her own lightly on his. Leo turned his hand and interlaced his fingers within hers and took the first step.
‘It’s a bit of a drop for—’
‘The vertically challenged?’
‘I wasn’t going to say that.’
‘You were thinking it,’ she snapped back, recalling his racing stable of tall leggy blondes. ‘Though,’ she added with a conciliatory smile, ‘I’m glad I didn’t wear heels. This,’ she went on as she followed the narrow path that connected the layers of lush greenery and brilliant blooms, ‘is mountain goat country.’
‘Do you want to sit down for a while?’ he asked as they reached a gazebo. A couple of stone cherubs on the wall behind them gushed bubbling water into the trough below the stone seat, and behind it irises grew in profusion in the mossy ground. It was a cool and calm spot.
‘No, I’m fine, thanks.’ She caught sight of the name engraved in the stone seat. ‘Luisa Romano,’ she read. ‘Your mother?’
He nodded though his body language had already indicated her guess had been correct.
‘It’s very beautiful.’
‘Simple. I’m no designer, but I like to work with my hands.’ He held up his hands, his long fingers splayed for a moment.
Amy remembered how skilled those hands were and felt her insides dissolve. So she rushed into speech. ‘I didn’t know you could do self-deprecating.’
His laugh lowered the tension by several degrees.
‘This,’ he said, running his fingers across the stone surface, ‘was one of our bonding moments.’
