going to happen tomorrow is so overwhelming that it’s going to blot out everything else for a while. I’m here if you want me, but we can only go forward, not back.’
He nodded. ‘Nothing could blot you out. I’ll go forward if I have your hand in mine. Help me, Evie. With you I think I can manage anything. Without you-’ His face clouded.
‘But you don’t have to be without me,’ she said, taking him into her arms.
They made love tenderly, with her taking the initiative. She had never felt so strongly protective of him as at this moment.
Yet she could not ignore a small shadow at the back of her mind. He’d said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. It wasn’t exactly a proposal, but she knew she could have turned it into one, had she wished.
Why hadn’t she done so? Was it the old caution, that had held her back from marriage so often before? Or was it something more, something dangerous about this man, that warned her to beware, even while she felt the bands that linked her to him tighten around her heart?
The flight to Naples next morning went smoothly, and by early afternoon they were in the car sent to convey them to the Villa Rinucci.
Evie was so entranced to be back in Italy, and in a region that she’d always longed to explore, that she almost forgot everything else. It was the height of summer and the sun poured down over them as they took the coast road, then climbed up to the villa, with the Bay of Naples falling away below them.
Her first sight of the Villa Rinucci was pure magic. Seen from below, it was like a mini-palace made of honey- coloured stone. There were several wings and around the whole building was a covered terrace, the roof supported by high arches.
Looking out of the window, Evie thought she saw the figure of a tall, slender woman standing on the terrace, looking down at the car climbing the road. But the dazzling sun made her blink, and when she looked again the terrace was empty.
At last the car came to a halt in the courtyard on the other side of the house. A man was standing there.
‘That is my Uncle Toni, and Mamma’s husband,’ Primo explained.
He was out of the car first, going forward to take his uncle’s hand, then looking back to where Justin was getting out of the car, indicating him.
And there it was again, the slight start of astonishment as Toni Rinucci saw his wife’s features in her son.
Primo introduced them quietly to each other, the men murmured something and Toni ushered them all towards the villa. As they approached, Evie could see faces at the windows and guessed these were some of the other sons, hovering nearby, but keeping a discreet distance.
When they were inside the villa, Toni Rinucci studied Justin more closely for a moment.
‘Yes,’ he said at last. ‘Primo has assured us that you are the one, and now I see that he is right. If I did not believe that I would not let you near my wife. Since I told her she has been much disturbed, but she longs to see you. She is waiting for you in that room.’
Justin glanced at Evie, but she stepped back.
‘This is just you and her,’ she said. And he nodded.
Toni opened a door. Inside, a woman was sitting by a large window. The light was behind her, making her a silhouette. She rose as Justin entered, and Evie had a glimpse of the two of them moving slowly towards each other. A pause. Then Hope Rinucci’s hands flew to her mouth in a gesture of joyful astonishment. And then they were in each other’s arms.
Gently Toni closed the door.
‘Signorina Evie,’ he said, smiling, ‘forgive me for not welcoming you properly before. Please believe that you are welcome in our home.’
He opened his arms in a huge Italian hug and she felt herself engulfed.
‘My wife’s maid will show you to your room,’ he said when she finally came up, gasping for air. ‘When you are ready, you will come down and meet some of the louts who hang around this house.’
There was muffled laughter from the gaggle of young men who had come downstairs but were still keeping a respectful distance, doubtless obeying orders.
Maria, the maid, showed her upstairs. Evie had an impression of a spacious building with warm red and brown flagstones, furnished in traditional style, with a great deal of polished wood. The effect was rustic, she noted, but the kind of elegant rustic that would take a great deal of money.
When she had freshened up Primo came to escort her downstairs, where Toni hugged her again.
‘Primo has told us everything,’ he said. ‘How you helped and encouraged Justin in the search. My wife shall know of it. For now, you must have food and wine, and soon you will meet her.’
He led her out on to the terrace overlooking the bay and she stood gazing in wonder at the beauty until Toni offered her a glass of
Now the other sons came forward to be introduced-Luke, the adopted one; Francesco, the love child; Carlo and Ruggiero, the twins, in their late twenties, full of zest and young, masculine attraction. Although not identical, they were sufficiently alike to show that they were brothers.
They plied her with questions about Justin, while contriving to make it clear that they admired her for their own sake. Ruggiero winked and gave her a soft wolf whistle, which prompted Carlo to say sharply, ‘Mind your manners.’
He spoke in Italian and Evie immediately said in the same language, ‘It’s all right.’
That delighted them, and after that everyone spoke Italian. They were impressed by her and said so openly. Now the questions were about her, although only Ruggiero had the effrontery to look at her left hand and say, ‘Then you aren’t married to Justin? There’s hope for the rest of us?’
‘Behave yourself!’ his father growled.
Ruggiero fell silent, but there was nothing meek in his demeanour and he gave Evie a conspiratorial wink.
A charmer and a ladies’ man, she thought. He’ll flirt with every girl in sight and it’ll mean nothing. But he’s harmless and likeable.
‘Primo spoke as though you were already our sister-in-law,’ Francesco explained.
‘I’ve only known Justin a few weeks,’ Evie said.
‘But it was you who helped to set his feet on the road that led here,’ Toni said. ‘And it is you he chose to bring here with him. That means that in his heart you are his wife.’ He raised his voice to add, ‘And you will be treated as such by every man here.’
There were murmurs of, ‘
‘If any of my sons offends you, please inform me at once, Signorina, and I will personally beat him black and blue.’
‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary,’ she assured him, chuckling.
An hour passed, during which Evie made friends with them all. She was at ease and comfortable among these people. If only Justin could feel the same.
She thought of him, with Hope, the mother who had influenced his whole life by not being part of it. How was he coping?
At last there was a noise from outside. Someone hissed, ‘They’re coming,’ and the next moment Hope Rinucci appeared, her hand tucked in Justin’s arm. Together they came out on to the terrace.
Hope reached out to her husband, smiling through tears.
‘He came back to me, Toni,’ she said. ‘He came back, as I always knew he would.’
‘Of course he did,
Justin kept his eyes fixed on his mother, as though what was happening had left him dazed. Evie tried to imagine what this moment meant to him, but it was beyond imagining.
She studied his face, seeking some sign of emotion, but she saw nothing. His expression was set and slightly fierce, much as it had been when he’d first told her his story.
She’d been partly expecting this. Justin would die before letting the world know how he felt. Even with her he found it hard. But surely she knew him well enough to read the signs?
Then, with a start of dismay, she realised that there were no signs. His face was the blank of a man who didn’t even know what his feelings were.
At last he met her eyes and she saw his confusion. Years of dreading rejection had left him unable to react. She smiled back, trying to reassure him that it would happen later, when he wasn’t under a spotlight.
