‘That’swhy you’re confused,’ Annie stated, as the revelation hit her. ‘This other guy is paying attention, whereas Luca’s MIA and it’s got your mind questioning.’
‘That’s the problem, you see. I’d feel bad for spending time with someone else – even as friends,’ Colette said.
‘But remember these Italian guys are very charming. You’ve got to be careful,’ Kim cautioned.
‘Ed – that’s his name – is not Italian, though. He’s a tourist, like us.’
‘You know, I’m starting to feel kinda left out here,’ Kim said, laughing. ‘The two of you have multiple guys crawling all over you and I haven’t even come across a single one that’s caught my eye.’
‘That’s because you spend too much time sitting around here being zen, and not enough out there painting the town red,’ Annie teased.
‘Well, you know, maybe that’s no bad thing. I did way too much partying back home. I’m enjoying just soaking up life here and taking it all in.’ She sighed. ‘Be happy in the moment – that is enough.’
Annie groaned inwardly at Kim’s words of wisdom. Good luck to Kim, but she herself didn’t believe in any of that inspirational mumbo-jumbo. She yawned. Hell, she really needed to go back to bed …
‘So what do you think I should do?’ Colette asked them. ‘If Luca didn’t ever really care about me and this was just a holiday fling, should I go and meet up with Ed, even as friends?’
Annie had to smile. Talk about a turn-up for the books. Who’d have thought shy little Colette, who wouldn’t say boo to a goose when she arrived, could now potentially have two men on the go? The change in her was a wonder to behold.
‘Well, I know this isn’t easy to hear and it’s not easy to say, but maybe you have to also look at the big picture and think about what happens after you leave here. I know you like Luca and he seems to really like you, too, but Colette, do you honestly believe it can be anything more than a holiday romance?’
‘Same could be said for you,’ Kim pointed out, and Annie knew she felt she was being a bit too blunt with the younger girl, but she needed to be.
Colette had to face up to reality eventually.
While Luca seemed nice enough, he was a player through and through, anyone could see that. Especially now after this whole thing about the mobile phone. Who didn’t use mobile phones in this day and age?
Someone who had something to hide, that’s who.
While Colette seemed to think all the little notes he left for her here at the villa when she wasn’t around were old-fashioned and romantic, to Annie her friend’s naïvety was showing. She’d been around the block enough herself to recognise all the signs. And she truly didn’t want to see her get hurt.
If someone didn’t talk some sense into her, Colette could end up leaving Italy with a lot more than she bargained for.
Chapter 35
Then
It was a glorious morning, and Kim could smell the citrus from the lemon trees as she walked through the courtyard and out onto the cobbled path leading down to the centre of Positano.
Annie was right: she had been spending a lot of time lazing around the pool and gardens, trying to decide what to do when this trip was over.
Today she was in the mood for exploring, and while she’d asked the others if they wanted to come along, Annie had gone back to bed after her late-night exploits, and she suspected that Colette didn’t want to leave the villa in case Luca chose today to come and visit her.
Both had become so wrapped up in their love lives lately, and despite her joke about being left out, Kim truly had no interest in that; not at the moment, anyhow. Romance could be such a humbug, and her life was complicated enough without throwing a vacation romance into the mix. Though she would definitely welcome a charmer like Luca to wine and dine her a little, in order to take the strain off her rapidly depleting line of credit.
She sighed, resigned to the fact that if she wanted to stay here, or indeed anywhere else for much longer, she’d need to think about finding a job.
Thank goodness she’d decided to rough it and that the villa was cheap enough that she could stretch her stay to another few weeks at least.
After that, she’d either have to wing it or head home to her parents with her tail between her legs.
Given her most recent conversation with her mom – when Kim had come clean about her journey diversion – that was the worst possible option. Her parents knew by now, of course, that she hadn’t gone to England as planned, but they didn’t know where she actually was, and she felt it was unfair to have them worry unnecessarily.
Assuming they cared.
When she’d finally plucked up the courage to call, the phone in their house on the other side of the world rang for a long time, so long that Kim suspected there was no one home. Then, all too soon, her mother’s voice could be heard complaining about the hour of the night, and the inconsiderate nature of what Kim had done. No requests regarding her whereabouts or assurances about her safety or indeed any hint whatsoever that they might have been worried or afraid for their only child.
‘Mom,’ Kim had said firmly, ‘shut up.’
