‘To be honest, she seemed more relieved than upset.’
Leo’s voice called from the kitchen: ‘Papà, Amy! The food is ready!’
Amy stood up. Gino hesitated. He picked up a paperweight from the coffee table, inspected it and put it down again.
‘Did Stella say anything else?’
‘Err… Not really.’
‘I see. It does not matter anyway. Let us go and eat.’
Amy followed him into the kitchen. Their conversation about Stella was over but she strongly suspected Gino was still thinking about her.
28
Stella flicked the shop sign round. After just a few days she was getting used to being her own boss but she wouldn’t be calling the shots for long. Domenico would be back next week and no matter what his doctor and daughter advised, nothing would keep him from his beloved shop.
There’s no use worrying about that now, she told herself sternly. She unlocked the door; three customers surged in. Luckily for her they seemed intimately acquainted with the stock and soon enough she was ringing up purchases of storage jars and floral coasters for one woman whilst a mother and her young son argued over a new lunchbox. After a bout of wailing, the child got his way, grinning delightedly as he plonked his frog-patterned selection on the counter.
‘Twice the price of the plain one,’ the mother muttered, emptying out a purse full of small coins with unnecessary force. A fifty-cent piece shot off the counter, bouncing off Stella’s foot.
‘Don’t worry, that will count towards it, I’ll get it later,’ Stella said. She bent down to retrieve it, stretching as far as she could, noting the ring of the bell over the door as yet another customer entered. She was glad to be busy. The busier she was, the less time she’d spend thinking of Gino.
‘Got it,’ she said aloud. She straightened up, holding the coin aloft.
Gino was standing by a pyramid of boxed crockery sets. ‘I was wondering where you had disappeared to.’
‘I could say the same about you,’ Stella snapped before she could stop herself.
‘You mean yesterday? I am sorry. I will be honest: it was such a shock to see you and then to know you were with somebody else. Of course, why would a woman like you not be engaged to be married?’ He paused.
‘I’m not…’ she began. Joe’s ring had gone, a faint pale mark the only sign she had ever worn it. She’d stashed it away safely at the back of the shelf where she’d found Violetta’s squashed hat. No burglar was likely to go rummaging through faded silk flowers and reams of cotton thread.
‘So I hear. I now learn you are here alone,’ he said.
‘I suppose your mother’s houseguest told you that.’
‘Amy? Yes, she did. I hope you will not be cross with her.’
‘Of course not.’
He nodded. ‘Yesterday was a shock. To see you again and then to see you were with a man who can buy a huge diamond like that. And you said you were planning to go to Portofino. Was he not taking you to some fancy hotel for your sixtieth birthday?’
‘How do you know it was for my birthday? I hadn’t told Amy that.’
‘You think I would forget the date? It has been many years, but I can still add them up.’
‘You forgot what you came in for yesterday.’ Stella smiled.
‘I could pretend it was simple forgetfulness but you know that is not the reason.’
His eyes were so searching she had to look away.
A beat of silence.
‘So, do you still need what you originally came in for?’
‘Unfortunately, yes. The fellow who fixed my son’s shower did a lousy job.’
