When she reappeared in a loose green summer dress that slipped fascinatingly from one shoulder, they enjoyed a slow, chatty meal, avoiding, by tacit consent, the subject of Sheenagh.
‘This food,’ she said, indicating the risotto with her fork, and then the tomato salad, ‘is sublime.’ She kissed his cheek, which encouraged him to slide his arm around her and nuzzle her ear. The meal progressed ever more slowly and his heart grew fuller each time her eyes shone.
But, by the time the last morsel was eaten, Jade was smothering yawns. ‘Sorry.’ She widened her eyes, as if that would vanquish her fatigue.
He rose, pulling her from her seat. ‘Why don’t you get ready for bed while I clear up? Then, if it’s OK with you, I’ll join you.’
Her golden-brown eyes gleamed. ‘Sounds fantastic.’ She wiggled her pelvis against his and his blood roared away from his brain, almost making him abandon all thoughts of loading the dishwasher.
Reluctantly, he disengaged. ‘It’ll be the fastest clear up ever.’
But when he hurried into her bedroom, with its double bed and old-fashioned dressing-table and wardrobes, he found Jade naked in bed... but profoundly asleep, her hair storming over the pillows to the sheet, her lips parted.
He couldn’t find it in himself to be disappointed and, throwing off his clothes, slipped gently in beside her. Sleeping with Jade didn’t have to be about sex. He scooted closer, inhaled her perfume and listened to her soft breathing.
Perfetto.
Chapter Eighteen
The next Monday morning, Jade was nervous all over again. This time, it was because Erin and Rosalie were due to arrive in the late afternoon so they could all visit thenotaio, Mary Smith, on Tuesday, yet another step in the road towards a future Jade couldn’t have foreseen six months ago. Darling Gran was gone. Stalwarts of the pensione Vittoria and Carlotta too, in different ways: Vittoria now choosing between two apartments in Milan and Carlotta plunging into a new life in Ludovica’s mamma’s silk shop, where pocket squares cost sixty euros and intricately patterned dresses many hundreds.
In place of her dear, familiar loved ones had appeared two sisters and a mother. At least Geneva was proving to be quietly industrious. Each day she appeared punctually, listened to what was required and did it. She was nothing like the wild, heedless, unreliable and selfish woman Jade might have expected.
Today was Yara’s day off, so Jade was at the beck and call of Reception. As she answered guest enquiries, phone calls and emails, part of her mind was preoccupied with the pensione’s staffing situation. In the past few days, having sifted through multiple applications, she’d interviewed a guy called Luigi in his fifties and a woman called Nina in her thirties. Today she’d email job offers to both.
Should she also offer Geneva a permanent position? Her head said, ‘Yes,’ her gut said, ‘No,’ and her heart said, ‘Please don’t ask me. I don’t know what I feel.’
Leo would only say, ‘I haven’t seen her put a foot wrong.’ Helpfully unhelpful.
When Leo’s shout echoed down the stairwell, ‘Jade!’, accompanied by the sound of flying footsteps, she glanced up with curiosity rather than alarm because his voice rang with excitement. Still, she wasn’t about to holler back to him. He seemed to be pounding in her direction anyway.
He catapulted down the final few marble steps, hair flying, eyes shining. ‘I’ve had a call from the bank!’ With swift strides, he rounded the reception desk and swung her clean off her feet. ‘After what they call “developments” they’re about to retrieve my funds from the receiving bank. Whoo!’ With a quick glance to check they were alone, he planted several smacking kisses on her lips.
Laughing into his sparkling eyes, she struggled to be set down, her lips tingling. ‘That’s fantastic! Wow. You must be so relieved. Was it the result of Teddy’s arrest? Was it his account the money went to?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘I asked, but they say they’re unable to share that information with me. Frustrating, but the bank and the police seem to be working together so I guess I can leave them to it. The call arrived when I was fed up, cleaning the room of two men who arenotmodel guests.’ Bringing out a restaurant receipt with a flourish, he exhibited a note scrawled on the back.
Dear cleaners
Sorry about the mess. We had a party.
‘The room’s full of empty bottles and condom wrappers. They left a twenty-euro tip too. Now I can let Geneva have it all.’ Hiseyes widened. ‘Especially as I’ve left her to deal with it alone.Merda.’ One final kiss and he flew back upstairs like a kid on his birthday, leaving Jade smiling as she returned to work. Leo had confided what sort of sum had vanished from his accounts and it would have been an eye-watering amount to lose. No doubt his turn in fortunes meant she’d soon be without his helping hands, but that was her problem, not his. He’d been on tenterhooks for the bank’s call since Isabella had told him her dad had been arrested.
Again, the question of what to do about Geneva floated across her mind, conspicuously unaccompanied by answers.
It was early afternoon before she managed a late lunch in the quiet, well-worn, well-loved apartment kitchen. Geneva and Leo had whizzed through the rooms today. Probably, Leo was desperate to discuss his amazing news with his family.His family.Her stomach rolled uncomfortably. You couldn’t get much closer family than a mother, but she and Sheenagh hadn’t communicated since their cross words almost a week ago. Apart from the long history between Gran and Sheenagh, and also Jade and Sheenagh, if Jade wanted to continue to ‘see’ Leo – even if it never progressed further than seeing each other naked – then they owed it to him to clear the air. It wasn’t that Jade was averse to making the first move. She just didn’t see how she could until she’d decided what to do about Geneva.
At least the crack in her relationship with Sheenagh wasn’t mirrored by a crack in her relationship with Leo.
He’d stayed last night and waking up with him had been... joyous. When her alarm had heralded the day with a noisyDAT DAH DAT DAH, she’d watched him blink awake, search for his phone, realise the noise came from hers, fall back onto the bed, then regard her from sleepy eyes. And smile a hot, slow smile that qualified as a smoulder. Hair a bird’s nest, stubble bristling, cheek creased from her cotton pillows, he’d looked as if findingher beside him was like receiving a wonderful gift. Her heart had melted.
She didn’t dare peep too far into their future, but was glad that the hotel in Riva del Garda was now on someone else’s shopping list. He hadn’t said any more about the apartments here in Como yet, but then he’d only just heard that his bank account was to be refilled.
After lunch, she took a last look inside Gran’s old room to make sure all was ready for Rosalie and Erin, heart clenching at seeing twin beds instead of Gran’s double. She was snatching a break with her feet up on the sofa and a book in her hand when the reception bell sang out,ding-di-ding-ding, swiftly followed byknock-knock, knock-knockon the apartment door, and two muffled but half-familiar voices lifted in friendly chatter. It was 3.35 p.m., an hour before she’d anticipated Erin and Rosalie, and her first reaction was resentment that they’d cut into her reading time. Still, by not utilising the door code, they were providing warning that the apartment’s silence and privacy was about to be breached.
She levered herself up and discarded her book before padding to the door. Forcing a smile, she threw it open. Erin beamed, her geometric bob like silk. Beside her, Rosalie made a goofy face, her metallic-turquoise eyeliner ending in little curlicues beside her eyes. ‘Buongiorno,’ they chorused.
Unexpectedly, Jade found her manufactured smile turning into a genuine one. ‘Buongiorno.’ She stepped back to allow them to roll in their luggage – proper suitcases, she couldn’t help but notice, reflecting their longer stay this time.
