The bougainvillea, lately pruned, had bloomed, filling their inner courtyard with color and immersing them in its sweet smell. Today it failed to entrance Nora. Neither the flowers nor her niece’s dear attempts to teach distracted her from thoughts of her husband.
“Did you hear me, Aunt Nora?” Isabella demanded, putting a hand on Nora’s face. “It is your turn. Say ‘rosa.’”
Nora repeated what Isabella wanted without thought. Questions swirled over and over in her mind.Where did Jamie go so early this morning? What was it that made him look so unhappy?No answers came to her.
“I think you don’t want to do this,” Isabella pouted.
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Nora said, her mind elsewhere. He was late, she realized.What if he doesn’t come home at all?
“Aunt Nora is tired today,” Nora said, forcing a smile.
Isabella seemed to accept that. “Can I bring Julianna out here to teach her English?” she asked.
Nora’s smile widened to something more genuine. Isabella hadbeen “teaching” the doll since she got her. “May I,” Nora corrected, “And yes, you may.”
If he didn’t come home, she would be alone with Isabella. A month ago that might have been more than enough, as much as Nora had ever allowed herself to hope for. Now the thought left her empty. She feared her insecurity had driven him away. She cursed herself for being a fool.
Isabella skipped out carrying her little friend. She propped the doll next to her books and began to chatter in Italian. A smattering of new English words accompanied the lesson.
Nora’s eyes strayed continually to the door by the foyer. She had no idea how to go on when he came home. She feared she could not live with silence and secrets. Edmund’s secrets usually involved drink, gaming, money, or all three. Edmund’s secrets usually resulted in Nora’s harm. But Jamie was not Edmund. He had never hurt her. Why, she wondered, couldn’t she just trust him?
Her hands would be rubbed raw from fidgeting. She needed to stay busy.
“Aunt Nora needs to fetch her tatting,” she said. Isabella merely nodded and went on chatting to Julianna.
Nora had only taken two steps into the foyer when the door opened, and Jamie handed his hat and gloves to the waiting footman. Sunlight on his hair made gold strands shine among the brown; it took her breath away. The door closed, and her husband stood across the foyer, looking wary.
“You’re late,” she blurted. It sounded like a reprimand, even to her ears.
“So I am. Sorry I didn’t send a message. Giovanni wanted me to look at some trade documents and assist in translation.” He covered the distance between them.
When he kissed her cheek, she sighed but didn’t reach out for more.
“Trade documents? They would share such a thing with an outsider?” she asked.
“Don’t you believe me?” Jamie responded, frowning.
“Of course I believe you,” she said too quickly. His eyes gave nothing away; she hoped hers did the same.
The pause became awkward. Jamie chewed his lower lip as if sunk in thought.
“Tea was put back,” she said to break the silence. Nora had agreed to keep an Italian household, but the cook soon learned that Nora held teatime sacred. “I’ll tell the cook you’re here.”
“Excellent,” he said. The ghost of a smile lurked in his sad eyes. “Are there lemon cakes?”
“I ordered them especially for you.” If she couldn’t speak with him, she could at least keep him well fed.
“Cook’s lemon cakes make my day perfect,” he sighed, giving her his arm. “Lemon cake and my lovely wife,” he added with a wink. “Shall we go indulge?”
His double entendre made her face heat. Her husband had decided to charm her; he succeeded.
She smacked his arm playfully. “Don’t be naughty. Here comes Isabella.”
The little girl launched herself at Jamie with a gleeful shout. “Uncle Jamie! You are home at last. Did you hear there are lemon cakes for tea?”
Jamie and Isabella walked to the little breakfast room rhapsodizing over lemon cake. Nora followed, her heart only slightly lighter than before he came home.
She would allow him his secrets, but she had no idea how to stifle her fears about the consequences of those secrets. She would have to endure them.
