‘I’m not going to promise to work for you forever, Billie. That’s crazy,’ Amy said, injecting some laughter into the words.
She hoped Billie would realise how dramatic she’d sounded, would lighten up and laugh too. Instead, she gripped Amy’s hand so hard it hurt.
‘You won’t leave me, Amelia. I won’t let you. This is because of Tad, isn’t it? Surely you see that’s nothing but a holiday fling, don’t you?’
The smile dropped from Amy’s face. ‘I hope it might be more than that.’ She hadn’t admitted it to anyone, and Billie probably wasn’t the best sounding board she could have found for exploring the way Tad was making her feel, but it was too late to retract the words now.
Billie’s eyes narrowed. ‘It won’t be. I can guarantee it.’
‘What do you mean? How can you guarantee that?’
‘Because I need you more than you need him, that’s why.’
‘What? Now you’re being ridiculous.’ Amy tugged her hand from Billie’s grasp.
‘Being ridiculous? I think not. But it’s up to you, Amelia. Of course. I mean, I don’t think I’ll be chasing up any opportunities for Tad under my umbrella – I don’t think he’s the right fit for my brand after all. So, he’ll be stuck here on the edge of the lake from hell, while we’ll be jetting all over the world. Leaving him far behind. I appreciate it’s hardly a fair competition. But that’s life. What can I say…’
‘Whatareyou saying, Billie?’ Amy said.
‘I’m saying, Amelia, let’s get through the next couple of days and then we can leave this place, and everything about it, behind. Move on to something new, something much better, instead.’
‘And if I don’t want to leave everything here behind me?’
Amy had never pushed back this hard. Maybe she should have zipped her lips, played a safer game, but if not this hill – then which one? She hadn’t been prepared for the venomous reply, though.
‘I can destroy Tad, and Casa del Cibo, in the blink of an eye. You know I can.’ Billie clicked her fingers. ‘Poof, they’re gone. Is that what you want?’
She poured more wine and sipped at it, then leant forward, her movement abrupt, her gaze hard and fixed on Amy and more unsettling than anything Amy had ever experienced before.
‘Well? Is it? Answer me, Amelia.’
‘No, of course it isn’t. But…’
‘There’s no “but” about it. You know I can destroy them. More than that, I need you to understand that Iwilldestroy them, unless you give up on this silly pipe dream of yours. I’m not prepared to lose you, and that’s an end to it.’
As Billie nodded at her own statement and poured herself more wine, Amy remained glued to her seat, her mind racing as she struggled to make sense of the repercussions of Billie’s words.
24
If Tad checked his phone once, he checked it a thousand times. The volume was right up. It definitely wasn’t set to silent, and yet Amy didn’t call. Nor did she answer when he folded under the pressure of not hearing from her and dialled her number.
He busied himself helping Matteo sort out the kitchen, settling for sending Amy a couple of texts, asking her to let him know she was all right.
‘Go and find her,’ Matteo said.
‘Am I being that obvious?’ Tad said, sighing when Matteo nodded.
‘I see through you like you are a single sheet of filo pastry,’ Matteo said. ‘Go. I finish all this, no problem.’
Tad wasn’t sure where to begin to look, heading towards the lake for want of a better place to start. There was no sign of Amy in the bar they’d visited together, so he began to work his way along the hostelries, eyes peeled for a flash of a blonde waterfall, or indeed for Billie’s distinctive frame. Maybe even a gaggle of fans around her.
I’m by the lake – where are you? I’m trying to find you…
He typed the text, then his finger hovered uncertainly over the send button. Maybe Amy and Billie needed time to talk through whatever had upset the applecart, and he should stay out of it.
And yet, this was Amy’s penultimate evening in Riva. If they didn’t spend time together this evening, exploring the possibilities for the two of them? Their opportunities were running out.
Eventually he caught sight of the two women in what was probably the closest bar to the cookery school. Why he hadn’t looked in there first, Tad had no idea, except that he supposed he associated Amy with the bar right by the water, where they’d made their connection into something much more than thought.
