‘Be sure to let me know how much I owe you,’ Gustavo said firmly.
‘Get first class,’ Freddy called. ‘More leg room.’
‘You’ll fit yourself into whatever I can get,’ she called back cheerfully.
Left alone, the two men eyed each other. Gustavo’s dislike was mixed with unease, but he doubted if anything in the world could make Freddy uneasy, unless it was a bill and no Joanna to pay it.
CHAPTER NINE
JOANNA managed to get three first-class tickets to Rome, landing at seven o’clock that evening.
‘I called Billy and said I’d be there tonight,’ she told Gustavo as they flew over France later that day.
‘Did you weaken after all, and tell him his father’s coming?’
‘No, I don’t want to spoil the surprise. But he’ll be thrilled. They’re just kids together. My only fear is that Billy’s growing up so fast that he’s soon going to find his father a little young for him. But he’s so kind-hearted that I expect he’ll hide that.’
‘Freddy’s a lucky man. Tell me something-has Billy ever blamed you for Freddy’s disappearance?’
‘You mean in the way Renata blames you? No. But then Freddy hasn’t actually disappeared. They’re in touch all the time, either talking or texting.’
Gustavo sighed. ‘Yes, that’s it, isn’t it?’
‘Do you hear from Crystal?’
‘I believe she’s in Paris right now, with her gigolo. She’s sent Renata some postcards, mostly talking about the wonderful time she’s having.’
She squeezed his hand sympathetically, and he squeezed in return. But she knew it wasn’t the moment to try to draw him back to the mood that had been shattered last night, especially with Freddy sitting just across the gangway.
At Rome they went through the formalities of entry. As they came out of Customs Joanna, who was walking first, saw Carlo with Billy. She made frantic signs for the boy to look behind her, then stepped aside, giving him a good view of Freddy. The next moment the child’s shriek and the man’s yell split the air.
Then they were in each other’s arms, hugging tightly, swinging around and around, while people passing by stopped to stare and smile at such happiness.
Laughing with pleasure, Joanna turned to see Gustavo, also watching them, and the look on his face broke her heart. There was no child here to greet him.
‘Renata’s in bed,’ Carlo said quickly. ‘She didn’t sleep well last night, so Laura thought-you know-’
‘Of course,’ Gustavo said in a toneless voice. ‘I’m sure Laura knows best.’
Getting everyone into the car was a tight squeeze.
‘I didn’t know there was going to be a third person,’ Carlo explained apologetically.
‘No matter,’ Gustavo said. ‘You all go ahead, I’ll get a taxi.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Joanna said.
‘No, go with your son.’
‘Are you kidding? He’s got his father; he doesn’t need me right now.’
But Billy called to her, ‘Come on, Mum. Come in here with Dad and me.’
‘Go on,’ Gustavo said quietly and walked away without waiting for an answer.
Billy came and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her to the car. ‘It’s gonna be great, all being together,’ he said.
‘Of course it is, darling,’ she said cheerfully, not wanting to spoil it for him.
But inwardly her heart ached for Gustavo, returning to his home alone because there was nobody there who wanted him.
At the
‘My new room?’ she queried.
‘His Excellency telephoned me with instructions that Signor Manton was to be put in the Julius Caesar room and move you to a suite on the next corridor.’
‘I thought it would be nice for him to be next to Billy,’ Gustavo said when she went to find him. ‘I was sure you’d feel the same, since you are so anxious for them to enjoy each other’s company. I don’t think you’ll have any complaints about your new accommodation.’
It was certainly magnificent, and it seemed as though nothing could be more genial than Gustavo’s concern for his new guest, although she suspected him of a hidden agenda.
Freddy, popping along to see her, whistled at the sight, and immediately pinpointed her suspicion.
‘He’s taken care to put you a long way away from me, hasn’t he?’
‘Nonsense. He was thinking of you.’
‘Sure, and I’m very glad to be next to Billy. But why did he move you as far away as this?’
‘Freddy, I’ll get cross with you in a minute.’
‘That’s right, darling, you do that. I always knew when I’d hit the nail on the head, because it made you so mad.’
He laughed and went off to find Billy, leaving Joanna wishing she knew what to think.
Almost at once she was plunged back into work. The team descended on her, eager to bring her up-to-date, and for days she hardly left the dig.
She felt as if she was floating in limbo. She had shared with Gustavo a moment of incredible sweetness, spoiled by Freddy’s untimely arrival. Now she longed to reach out and catch once more at the whispering shadows of that moment, perhaps even reclaim it entirely. But somehow the time was never right. Freddy’s presence in the house was an inhibition, and Gustavo himself seemed content to let things remain like this, not going out of his way to be with her. Sometimes she almost wondered if she had imagined everything.
But then she would look up and catch an unguarded expression in his eyes. She hadn’t imagined anything. What she’d sensed that night was still there, but he was trying to deny it.
He seemed to have withdrawn, not just from herself, but from everyone. He no longer tried to reach out to Renata, as though finally accepting her rejection and unwilling to risk a further snub.
To make matters worse Renata had an instant rapport with Freddy. He and Billy had quickly admitted her as a third to their mutual-adoration society and she knew no greater joy than to help Billy show his father around.
Freddy even knew enough basic Italian to get by with his son’s help. Although academically useless he had a good ear and could muddle his way through a conversation, making up anything he didn’t know, and reducing both children to giggles.
Sometimes the three of them came out to the dig. Renata had warmed to Joanna, evidently feeling that Billy’s mother must be all right. She was there on the day Hal discovered an unusual decorative tile that caused everyone to become excited.
‘This pinpoints it,’ Joanna said. ‘They used this style of decoration at the start of the fifth century, which means-’
She wasn’t sure how much the children understood, but they joined in the cheers. In the middle of the commotion Joanna looked up to see Gustavo standing there, watching, isolated, and her heart ached for him.
That night he was missing from the evening meal, but as Joanna was about to go upstairs he opened his study door and beckoned her in.
‘Do you remember Pietro and Maria Faloni?’
‘Yes, they came to dinner when I was here before. They were-very elegant.’
She couldn’t have spoken of them more warmly than that. They had been a newly married couple, pleasant company, but rather too socially conscious to appeal to Joanna. She was sure Maria thought her dowdy.
‘They want to give a party in your honour,’ Gustavo said.
‘Really? My stock must have risen in the world.’
