“Where’s it going to, love?”
That little hole in the country, as Cole called it. “Um, Mudgee. I’ll confirm the address with you on Friday if that’s alright.” After I confirm with my parents that I can stay with them.
“Sure thing, love. See you at 7:30 sharp. Gonna be hard to get a park in that street if we don’t start at sparrows.”
She hung up and looked at the phone for a moment before dialing again. “Mama, I need to ask you something.” For the next twenty minutes a rapid fire of Italian sounded over the phone as Lena told her mother what had happened. She brushed aside her tears and her mother’s protests of indignation over the way Cole was treating her and Kyle. “Mama, I need to come home.” She sniffed and wiped her hand across her cheeks, not noticing the tears had been flowing. Her mama would save her, she had to. There was nobody else to turn to.
The waitress appeared and pointed at her cup with a question in her eyes. Lena smiled and nodded. “Grazie.”
“Mama, can I speak to Kyle please. You tell Papa for me, okay? I’ll see you on Friday night or Saturday morning.”
She listened for another moment while her mother made her promise to drive carefully and called out for her son. He came on the phone with a burst of energy she missed while he spent the holidays with her parents.
“Hey Mum, everything okay? Nona is crying and running outside calling for Papa.”
This is harder talking to him than I thought it would be. “Oh honey, Cole and I couldn’t fix it.” She heard his intake of breath and her father in the background cursing in his loud voice. “I’ll be up on the weekend. Looks like we’re staying with the family for a while until I can sort something out.”
“You mean we might not be going back home?”
It’s not home any longer, baby. It’s not ours. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, honey. I wanted you to know before Nonna said anything to you. We can talk about it when I get there, okay? And never forget I love you more than anything. Can you put me onto Papa please?”
“Sure, love you more.”
She waited while Kyle handed the phone to her father.
“Do you want me to come up there, Pollo, and sort him out for you?” Her nickname of chicken brought the tears back. He was the most generous man she knew and suddenly the thought of seeing him again was too much. She needed her papa. She needed the comfort of home where problems seemed halved when shared the Italian way. Oh Papa, Saturday is too far away.
* * *
When Lena got back to the restaurant, she walked in the door, ignoring the calls of hello from the staff working in the open kitchen under the watchful eye of her soon to be ex-husband. It still had to go through court to be finalized, but as far as she was concerned, they were over from the moment she’d signed away all but her son. She wouldn’t regret it for a moment. What she would regret was not realizing what an arrogant thieving bastard Cole was. After she mulled it over while drinking her espresso, she’d come to the conclusion it was what he must have wanted all along. The fame and notoriety they’d built up over the years sat well on his shoulders. She should have noticed it sooner, but she was content being stuck in the kitchen churning out her favorite dishes while he was the one to go out and greet the diners after they finished their meal.
More and more it was photos of Cole that appeared in the magazines and newspaper articles. Cole’s opinion was the one people called for when discussing a new trend in food or wine. Cole was the one who appeared in the advertisements he insisted they put in the good food and wine magazines even though they had more than enough clientele already.
Lena hurried up the chunky wooden stairs to the apartment above it. She walked into their bedroom and opened a closet, surveying what was hers. May as well start now. She dragged out suitcases which she threw on the bed. Never a dressy person, she didn’t have an extensive wardrobe. What she had consisted of black and white checked pants and white shirts. Her downtime wardrobe was nothing more than a few pairs of well-worn jeans and comfy T-shirts. It took her little time to throw her clothes in the cases and zip them up. They were left against the wall by the door as she went hunting for boxes to pack her kitchen goods in.
The hardest room to pack was Kyle’s. Relegating her son’s belongings into a box brought home to her how much they were losing.
Chapter 2
Adam Chapman stood at the entranceway to the farm. The driver had called to say he’d just left town and was heading this way with Adam’s precious cargo on board. He picked at a long strand of grass growing up against the aged fence posts and leaned with his back to it waiting for his new stock to arrive. A puff of exhaust breaks and a cloud of dust heralded the arrival of the truck and he signaled him to follow down the driveway to the paddock he’d set aside at the back of the farm.
At last! Adam jumped up on the side of the truck and climbed in when the driver stopped. “There’s somewhere to offload them down here where
