‘PS. It’s a wee bit odd to be writing a letter to someone you love, but haven’t met. Even odder that if she’s reading it, you’re dead. But Jade can tell you that I don’t discount the existence of ghosts, so you never know... ha ha. Or mwahaha, whicheverfeels more appropriate. I once told Jade I’d try and haunt Pensione Three Sisters, so see you there.’Erin had to gulp before going on.‘And she drew a smiley face at the end.’
All three women laughed through tears. Jade’s head swam. ‘So, this is why you came and why you wouldn’t let me buy you out. It was so typical of Gran to worry about any of us being alone. It was as if she was trying to give us to each other, like gifts.’
Rosalie sniffed inelegantly again and shoved her letter at Erin. ‘Here’s mine.’
It was much like Erin’s, except when it came to:
‘Rosalie, you’re the one who’s shared her life with Joey. You lived with him for eighteen years, the same as I did. That’s weird, but Joey IS weird. Fairy child or not, I hope he was a good, human dad for you. I think he might have been OK at it, at least.
‘As you’re the only sister who had a relationship with Joey, try to understand if Jade and Erin are negative about him. None of you has walked in the others’ shoes.’
Jade blew her nose hard. ‘Darling Gran.’
Rosalie wiped streaming eyes. ‘And she called us sisters. I like it when you occasionally drop your guard and call us sisters too, Jade.’
Erin sniffed. ‘Agree.’
Jade sighed. ‘Gran really thought about what must be in our hearts – that I’d resent you both and that you might need pointers as to why. That Erin and I would feel weird about Rosalie knowing Joey. I’m glad she wrote the letters to help us understand.’
Oddly, it did seem as if hearing Gran’s wishes for each of them, her chirpy voice coming through in the letters, washed away Jade’s resentment, jealousy, disappointment and even some of her grief.
It was a spark of light in the darkness of losing Leo.
Chapter Twenty-Three
How many days was it since Leo had left? Eight.
How many times had Jade called his phone and reached only voicemail? Felt like hundreds. The number of times she’d thought of Leo with a great empty hollow inside her? Millions.
It was bearable during the day, because the pensione distracted her. Erin and Rosalie were out more, exploring Como and the lake as new employees Luigi and Nina had started. They were experienced hands. Luigi, a small man, said, ‘Sì, sì,’ whenever asked to do anything, as if perpetually in top gear. Nina had three young children at home and took out her phone to show you their photos at the least excuse, but she worked well too.
Unexpectedly, Jade missed the quiet presence of Geneva. They’d met for coffee one afternoon, but her mother had been resolute in refusing to return to Three Sisters. ‘No,non posso. I have a job in a bar now,’ she’d said. ‘This time it is true.’ She seemed happier and wore a pretty dress, so maybe it was.
Jade missed Vittoria and Carlotta too, of course, but accepted their lives had diverged.
Leo’s absence, however? That was on Jade, and an enormous black cloud over her head. He’d been right. She’d been waiting for him to fail. Leave her. And she’d helped him exit...
Gritty-eyed and heartsick, each evening she visited Villetta Nascosta and knocked, though it was obvious there was no one home. Sheenagh denied hearing from him and seemed so disappointed in Jade that a fresh silence had grown between them.
On the ninth night, Jade rounded a turn in the path and stopped breathing. A light streamed from the open door of Villetta Nascosta.
Her heart leapt, then flopped into her stomach with a giant WHUMP.
Advancing slowly, she thought her pounding blood might be louder than the scrape of her footsteps on the path. Leo had certainly heard something as he appeared, silhouetted, and stared into the early dusk.
Throat dry, she stepped onto the terrace. ‘Hi.’ Beyond him, she saw a suitcase. He could be in the process of unpacking... or packing.
‘Hi,’ he replied guardedly, filling the doorway as if reluctant to let her into his space. Since she’d last seen him, he’d had a haircut, shorter than she’d ever seen him wear it. It made his browbone more prominent and his jaw stronger. Or maybe it was just that his expression was hard.
‘I owe you a giant apology,’ she said, swallowing. ‘I’ve left messages and I’ve called round every night.’
He nodded, not exactly reaching to grasp her olive branch.
Doggedly, she continued. ‘I’m sorry for leaping to conclusions. You’d done nothing to make me assume you were trying to grab Three Sisters from me. I’d had an emotional meeting with Geneva and I went into overwhelm. I suffered some... misconnection over... everything. I suppose that Erin being so pleased with herself, and you looking the same, it seemed as if everything I’d been scared of was happening.’
‘I understand. You’d spent months fighting the feeling that your sisters were interlopers,’ he said tonelessly.
‘That’s being generous,’ she answered dubiously. ‘After everything we’d been to each other I had no right...’ Her voice cracked. When he left her floundering, she asked, ‘Are you going back to the UK for good?’ She moistened her lips. ‘To Isabella?’ Privately, she thought Isabella a nightmare, but he’d had a years-long relationship with her. She was also blonde and gorgeous.
