Leo turned to Jade. ‘I don’t hear Mum speak Italian very often. It sounds cute.’
She smiled. ‘Sheenagh’s the best.’ She glanced at her watch.
‘How did the rest of the weekend with the sisters go?’ Only once the words were out of his mouth did he realise that he’d said it only to detain her. A fly whizzed past his face and he batted it away.
She wrinkled her nose. ‘It was patchy. They can’t help but realise I have issues with the situation. When I found out that Gran had been keeping Rosalie and Erin a secret, it felt like a disaster and materially it is, if you compare it to me inheriting alone, which is what I’d thought Gran intended. Erin and Rosalie, on the other hand, are inheriting one third of Pensione Three Sisters when they didn’t know it, me or Gran existed. I’m sounding entitled,’ she added. ‘And I know life’s about more than owning things. But will that life be richer for having two sisters in it? I don’t know. We’re so different that at times we annoyed each other.’
He thought of Massimo, hard-working and earnest, but also a bit of a know-all. ‘I can’t imagine not having my brother. He’s fantastic – but, yes, annoying too. That’s siblings for you.’
‘Really?’ She sounded unconvinced. ‘Rosalie and Erin were having a job to speak to each other by the time they got on the train. None of us hugged goodbye. We just said, “See you soon.” When they come back, it’ll be to become my partners.’
Sheenagh returned, muttering about having to turn her blessed phone off to get any peace. They discussed the charm of Villetta Nascosta for a few minutes, and then Jade finished her coffee and rose. ‘Work calls.’ She dropped a farewell kiss on Sheenagh’s cheek and nodded at Leo. He’d rather have had a kiss, he couldn’t help thinking as she started back through the gardens, sunlight flickering over her.
Sheenagh sighed as they watched Jade let herself through the gate before turning across the lower garden towards the hotel. ‘I suppose Mairead thought she was acting for the best, but those sisters have been a shock.’
Leo’s retinas felt imprinted with the image of Jade striding purposefully back to work. She hadn’t changed that much since he and she had been together. Perhaps she was more solitary, but she was still strong and compassionate. And he really liked the way she moved – with a swing of her hips that magnetised his eyes and got the full attention of the rest of his body. As Jade vanished from view, he murmured, ‘But I think she’s more shocked by Mairead keeping the sisters secret than by the sisters themselves.’
Today, Monday, would be the start of a couple of weeks of hell, unless Jade got hold of agency workers capable of servicing rooms and with the required record for honesty, she thought grimly. But now they were into August, it was peak season and agencies would have sent out all their personnel. She’d risen at five-thirty to start breakfast prep, praying for guests to drift down at intervals rather than arriving at nine-thirty in a stampeding herd, when breakfast closed at ten.
Someone did wander into the breakfast room at seven. But it wasn’t a guest. It was Leo Sartori.
Jade, heading for the buffet with her arms full of plates, stared at him, mouth agape like a fish.
‘I’m the casual worker Mum sent.’ He pulled folded black fabric from his pocket. ‘I even brought an apron.’
Automatically, she objected. ‘You can’t.’
‘I can.’ Calmly, he tied the apron over his jeans. ‘I have food hygiene and safety certificates. They’re from the UK, but you know I’m safe to be let loose carrying trays and scrubbing sinks. I don’t want money, I want to help out, OK? OK.’ He answered himself, brown hair shining in the artificial lights. Sunlight had put caramel streaks in hair he didn’t appear to have had cut since he’d arrived back in Como. The tousled look suited him, emphasising his cheekbones at the same time as softening him.
Wordlessly, she stood back to admit him to the kitchen and watched while he located the hand-hygiene station and washed his long, capable hands. She didn’t really know how to feel.
Yes, she did. She felt relieved because she’d been facing a day of non-stop work and worry. ‘Well, if you’re sure.’ The words trembled on a wave of gratitude.
He regarded her with a wry grin. ‘You must be at your wits’ end if you’re not even going to argue.’
Without comment, she handed him a pad and pen, and, hearing voices in the breakfast room, they went out to find a young American couple selecting a table. ‘Buongiorno. Would you like a hot drink?’ She displayed one side of the pretty card menu and then flipped it to display the other side. ‘And here’s our small selection of hot food. We also have the buffet where you can help yourself to delicious pastries, chilled juice and everything else. Leo will be your server.’
Competently, Leo began taking orders and running them out to tables while she cooked and acted as barista. The hotel beingfull they were soon busy, but she didn’t trip over him or catch him in a single error. When she peeped into the breakfast room, he was smiling and chatting with a guest with a walking frame, filling her plate from the buffet while she chose food. The guest was beaming, of course.
Finally, only three young British women remained, lolling over their table and bemoaning hangovers. Leo took them another round of espressos, then returned to the kitchen. ‘All clear apart from table seven. I think they need a slow start to the day. In their place, I’d have stayed in bed.’ He pulled a face, but his eyes laughed.
‘Then don’t rush them.’ Jade did a lightning appraisal of the kitchen, which, between them, they’d kept fairly clutter-free. ‘I think we’ve earned a cappuccino before we clean down. Then I’ll start the rooms.’ The prospect of servicing sixteen rooms single-handedly made her feel as if she’d signed up for a marathon, but at least the kitchen and breakfast room would be done first. Before Leo’s unexpected appearance, she’d anticipated throwing herself into the guestrooms while Yara handled Reception, then tackling the kitchen and breakfast room late in the day. And she hated the breakfast-room tables not looking beautifully laid when guests could see in from Reception.
Leo made the cappuccinos, proving himself an experienced barista as he used the back of a teaspoon to create feather shapes in the froth. There being nowhere to sit in the catering kitchen, they carried their drinks to a corner table in the breakfast room. The three young women were still soaking their hangovers in coffee.
‘Thanks for working breakfast.’ Jade dropped into a carved-back chair. ‘You saved my life. We have four check-outs today, which means fresh linen for a quarter of our rooms. And I didn’t sleep well.’
He sipped his cappuccino froth and licked the residue from his lips. ‘Missing Mairead, worrying about sisters or feeling swamped because you’re short-handed... or all three?’ His eyes, the grey-blue of worn denim, twinkled.
She sipped her creamy, chocolatey, reviving drink, then reached for the last few pastries from the buffet. She wouldn’t normally eat in front of guests, but the three hungover women were now discarding their empty coffee cups and stumbling from their chairs. Devouring a crème-légère-filled cornetto in a bite, relishing the light custard taste, she nodded. ‘All of those things, but also... Rosalie sent photos of Joey, from when she was a teenager.’
His thick brows shot up. ‘Wow. That must be surreal.’
Because it was good not to have to explain that to him, she took out her phone and went to the WhatsApp groupJoey’s kids, tilting the screen so Leo could see. When his head hovered closer, she was aware of the apple smell of his shampoo, even over the aroma of coffee, and pushed the phone closer so he could hold it himself.
He gazed at the three photos she indicated. They’d been ‘real’ photographs, which Rosalie had scanned in and captioned economically.A friend’s barbecue.Rosalie looked to be about ten, in jeans and a pink hoody.Someone’s birthday sleepover.She appeared a couple of years older, wearing an oversized white T-shirt and inexpert make-up, braces on her teeth. Then cameSchool-leaving bash. There, she was the kind of blossoming beauty that ad agencies searched for, with gorgeous skin and silky hair to go with a perfect smile. Her stretchy dress was the palest lilac and shimmery. Rosalie had typed: I thought he was going to swing for the teacher who demanded to take a photo of Dad and me when he came to pick me up from the leavers’ party.In each photo, Joey scowled into the camera, a tall man with untidy dark hair and an unkempt beard. Invariably, hewore creased jeans and a washed-out top. In the final photo, he’d grown his hair into a ponytail and plaited the beard, as if he didn’t care how much they grew as long as they needed the minimum of attention.
Both Jade and Erin had written,Thanks, Rosalie.
