The Italian’s Miracle Family

‘In there with her.’

Beside her Alysa felt Drago stiffen, about to launch a thunderbolt, but her grip on his hand stayed him.

‘Please take me up to them,’ she said.

They went up the stairs, along a corridor, with Drago determinedly following them, but keeping a cautious distance. At last they stopped outside a door. Alysa tried it but it didn’t give. From inside she could hear the sound of Elena sobbing.

‘Hello?’ she called.

‘Go away,’ Elena screamed.

‘Elena, please let me in.’

‘Go away! You tell lies, all of you. I won’t let you lie about her.’

‘Tina,’ Alysa said. ‘Are you there? It’s Alysa.’

Then came Tina’s voice by the door. ‘I’m here.’

‘Can you open the door for me?’

A pause, then a click as the bolt was shot back. But then there was a scream of, ‘No!’ from inside, and the sound of a scuffle. As Alysa entered she saw that Elena had managed to seize Tina and drag her to the other side of the room. Now she was sitting on the bed with the little girl in her arms.

For a moment Alysa felt a spurt of temper. How dared this woman subject a child to such pressure? But then she saw Elena’s face streaming with tears, her eyes crazed with misery, her chest heaving with sobs.

Through finding each other, she and Drago had come to terms with their own grief, but Elena’s loss could never be healed in the same way. She knew it, and the knowledge had driven her to desperation.

‘You’re all liars,’ Elena choked. ‘You say wicked things about my daughter, but they’re not true, they’re not true.’

Alysa had a split second to make her decision, or rather to recognise that the decision had already been made. As the words came out of her mouth, she knew that she could have said nothing else.

‘No, they’re not true,’ she said. ‘But nobody has been telling lies. It’s a simple misunderstanding, and I’m here to put it right.’

She reached out to Tina, but Elena tightened her arms and drew the child away towards the head of the bed.

‘Don’t come any nearer,’ she said hoarsely.

‘Just this far,’ Alysa said, and sat down on the bed, close enough to Tina to reach out for her hand and feel the little girl grip her hard.

‘They said Mamma wasn’t coming back,’ she whispered. ‘They said she didn’t love me any more, and she just left me.’

‘That is nonsense,’ Alysa said firmly. ‘Listen, darling, I’m going to tell you something. I met your mother on the day she died, at the waterfall. I’d gone there with James, a friend, meaning to go up in one of those chairs. While we were waiting for the next ride we went to a little coffee shop nearby. Your mamma was there, also waiting, and we started to chat.

‘She told us about her husband and her little girl, and how she was looking forward to getting back to them. She’d been away on business, and her route back lay past the waterfall, so she’d stopped off for a ride because she loved the excitement. “Then I’m going home to my darlings”, she said.’

Tina’s gaze was fixed on her. Alysa drew a long breath, knowing that she must tell the next bit carefully.

‘I enjoyed listening to her,’ she said. ‘Because I was in love, and I wanted to get married and have children that I would love as much as she loved you. She made it sound so wonderful.’

‘Truly?’ Tina whispered.

‘Truly. She loved you more than anyone in the world.’

‘What about Poppa?’

‘Yes, she loved him too, but you most of all.’

‘And she wasn’t going to leave me?’

‘No, she wasn’t, or she couldn’t have spoken as she did that day. She was full of plans about all the things you were going to do together.’

Vaguely she was aware that Elena had grown still. Her grip on Tina had relaxed, and her gaze was fixed on Alysa as if she too was hanging on every word.

‘Then we walked out to the waterfall,’ Alysa went on, ‘to get into the rides, but at the last minute I lost my nerve and stayed on the ground. I never had much head for heights. It was really James who wanted to go.’

Somewhere behind her she heard Drago draw in a sharp breath, but she couldn’t let herself be distracted now.

‘Was James your friend who died?’ Tina asked softly.

‘Yes. I backed out at the last minute, so he and your mother went up together, and then-Well, they died together. He was the man in the chair with her. That’s why I was there at the memorial, the day we met. I couldn’t tell you before. I couldn’t bear to speak of it.’

She held her breath, wondering if she’d done enough to ease the little girl’s heart. She had her answer a moment later when Tina pulled herself free of Elena and threw herself into Alysa’s arms.

‘Did you love him terribly?’ she whispered.

‘Yes,’ Alysa said quietly. ‘I loved him terribly.’

‘And do you love Poppa now?’

Alysa turned her head to where she could see Drago, watching her in the doorway, his eyes full of fear and hope.

‘Yes,’ Alysa said. ‘I love Poppa now.’

‘Does Poppa love you?’

‘Yes,’ Drago said. ‘He does.’

Tina struggled free and ran across the room to be seized up in his arms. Alysa watched them a moment before looking back at Elena, who’d folded her arms across her body, shaking.

‘So you’ve got what you wanted,’ she moaned. ‘But I’ve lost everything.’ Her wail filled the room.

‘Alysa, let’s get out of here,’ Drago urged.

‘Not yet. I still have something to do.’

She moved along the bed to where Elena was huddled, and put her arms around her.

‘You haven’t lost everything,’ she said. ‘Tina is still your granddaughter. She still loves you and she always will.’

‘But he won’t let me see her, not after this.’

‘Drago won’t part you from Tina,’ Alysa assured her. ‘He knows she needs you too, because you knew Carlotta longer than anyone.’

Elena turned suspicious eyes on Drago. ‘Does she speak for you?’ she demanded.

‘She does,’ he said gravely. ‘Whatever she agrees to, I will honour.’

‘You say that while she’s here, but-’

‘I’m going to be here for a long time,’ Alysa said. ‘You have nothing to fear.’

Elena looked at Drago. ‘Don’t hate me,’ she pleaded.

‘I’ll never hate you,’ he told her. ‘You are still Tina’s grandmother.’ He glanced at Alysa. ‘It is just as she says. It always will be.’

‘But you’ll forget Carlotta.’

‘No, he won’t,’ Alysa said quickly. ‘Carlotta will always be his real love.’

‘You say that?’

‘I’m just second best. That won’t change.’

She was watching Elena, so didn’t see Drago staring at her just before he carried Tina out of the room. Alysa, her heart torn with pity, gave Elena a final hug then went out to speak to Leona.

‘I think she really needs to see a doctor,’ she suggested.

‘I know,’ Leona said. ‘Don’t worry, she can stay with me a while, and I’ll make sure she gets help.’

She looked at Alysa and Drago standing together, and gave a little nod of sad acceptance.

In the car the three of them sat together in the back seat. Tina was in her father’s lap, clinging to him, eyes