“I guess so.” I run my hands along the rough stone. “But we wouldn’t rent it out all the time: we’d keep a few weeks free so me and you could come here too.”
Theo waggles his eyebrows. “I must admit, that does sound appealing.”
My heart’s thumping. “Why don’t we come here in the summer and just get on with it? You’ve got the school holidays—we won’t get that opportunity for another year.”
He frowns. “Yeah, but I’d still have work to do.”
“Well, I could get Wi-Fi installed and you could do it from here.” I slap out a rhythm on his thigh. “What do you reckon?”
Theo chuckles. “It does sound superb. But what about the kids?”
I feel a clutch of fear. “Didn’t you say Kate’s taking them to the States?”
“Yeah, she’s taking them to her sister Shona’s. So I’ll probably only have them for a week anyway.”
I release a breath. “Well, you could always fly home for that week.”
“Or I could bring them here. …”
Shit.
I suddenly realize my plan could backfire. What if Theo finds out how much his kids hate me? I wouldn’t be able to cover it up if we were together all the time. And then he might get scared. He might realize how difficult the relationship’s going to be, long-term. He might look to the future and decide the relationship’s impossible.
“But do you think they’d like it?” I attempt, meekly.
“Ads, how could anyone not like this?” His forehead puckers. “Alright, they might moan a bit at first but I’m sure they’d fall in love with it in the end.”
I pause and watch the sun disappear behind the mountain.
I smile back at him. “Go on, let’s do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’s only a week. What could possibly go wrong?”
Three months later
Chapter 1
“Six weeks?”
We’re in my kitchen and Theo’s on the phone, talking to his ex-wife. He has her on speaker as he irons his work shirt for tomorrow. At the start of the conversation I was happy to listen in, sitting at the island pretending to do my online Italian course. But then Kate told Theo she’s had a change of plans for the summer: her sister in Atlanta has found her an interior design job and it runs over the entire school holidays, so she won’t be able to take the children after all. She said they’ll have to come to Italy for the whole six weeks. At which point Theo stopped ironing and I spilled my glass of wine—thankfully not on my laptop. I stand up and grab some paper towels to wipe it up.
“Kate, it’s not as if I don’twantto spend the summer with them,” Theo says, resting the iron in the cradle. “You know I was gutted when you said I could only have them for one week. But all six? It changes our whole summer.”
“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” snaps Kate. “I can hardly dump them on Shona.”
I put the sodden paper towels in the bin as quietly as I can and tiptoe back to my seat.
“I’m not suggesting that,” protests Theo, unplugging the iron. “But couldn’t we split the time?”
Kate huffs. “Theo, I can’t leave them with her forthreeweeks. She’s got a job, remember?”
“Oh yeah.”
He widens his eyes at me as if to say, “What can I do?”
I slosh more wine into my glass.
