Aja snatched her arm back and asked, “Where are you taking me?”
“To the first-aid room. We need to put something on the rash.”
Aja stopped and folded her arms. They itched and burned, but she was damned if she was going to let him know how uncomfortable she was. “I’m fine. Can I get back to work now?”
He stared at her like she was a bad puppy that had just peed on the floor. “Are you crazy?”
“Apparently.”
He laughed.
Aja was surprised at the change that came over his face. The crease between his brows smoothed out, his eyes twinkled and he flashed a beautiful set of white teeth. They looked nice against his tanned skin. “I’m impressed with your stubbornness, but you need some salve. If you don’t get it treated right away, it’s going to get worse. You’re allergic to the vines.”
“Allergic?” Aja rushed past him, frantically looking for the first-aid room and the promised salve.
He followed, laughing. “It’s not deadly. You’ll be fine, but you’re not going to be able to work in the fields, Aja.”
Marco squeezed Aja’s upper arm and directed her into a small room near the back of the house. He led her to a bench and began pulling various items out of the cupboards, mumbling to himself.
He probably did something to the vines to make me react to them.
She held her arms out and sucked in her breath. They were bright red and sore looking. She couldn’t believe how quickly it had spread.
“Please hurry, it’s getting really bad.”
“Marco,” he said.
Aja stared up at him in confusion.
“Marco. My name is Marco.”
“Oh. Nice to meet you. And my name is Aja. A-J-A, not Asa. It’s pronounced like the continent.”
“Pleased to meet you Aja.” He took her arm and started spreading a sticky salve over the rash. It surprised Aja how quickly the itching eased. The warmth of Marco’s hand was too pleasant for Aja’s comfort and she decided she didn’t like it a bit. She kept repeating it over and over in her mind while he ran his hand up and down the inside of each arm. She kept her head turned away and thought of kittens and clowns, anything to distract herself. There was no way she was attracted to the boss’s arrogant son.
When he was done, Aja snatched her hand back and stood up. “Thank you, Marco. I guess that’s it. I better leave now.”
She felt dejected that her first job had to end so quickly and for such a stupid reason. Allergic to the grape vines.
Who the hell is allergic to grape vines?
“Aja, wait. I’ll be right back.” He left without another word, apparently believing she would wait just because he told her to. She waited.
While he was gone, Aja looked around the room. The villa seemed small from the outside, but inside it was spacious. The walls were rough and painted beautiful, earthy colors. The rooms she’d passed seemed to be painted all slightly different shades. It looked lovely, like a garden.
She spent a few minutes dreaming of owning her own villa before the fantasy was interrupted by Nona. Marco wasn’t with her.
“Aja, let me see.” She had motherly concern on her weathered face.
Aja held her arms out for Nona to see.
“Oh, you poor girl.” Nona sat beside her on the bench and pulled her arm closer. “I’ve seen this before. You couldn’t have known it would happen. Don’t worry, I convinced Marco to let you work somewhere else.
Aja’s head shot up. “You did?”
Nona smiled, her face suddenly beautiful and Aja caught a glimpse of what she must have looked like as a young woman.
“Thank you, Nona.” Her eyes watered. It was a relief that she didn’t have to try and find work elsewhere.
Nona barked out a laugh, oddly large for such a small woman. “Keep your thanks until you know what the job is.”
“I don’t mind as long as it doesn’t give me a rash.”
“It might,” she said, her tone cryptic.
Nona took Aja’s hand and let her out the back of the villa to a small, quaint building. “It might give you diaper rash,” she said with a flourish and threw open the door.
In front of her were about fifteen kids in various stages of development; from newborn all the way to two and three-year-olds.
Aja groaned. Diaper rash indeed.
Very funny.
She glared at Nona for a second, forgetting that it was still a job, something she very much wanted. There was only one problem. Aja had never gotten close to a child, let alone had to care for one. She was probably less qualified for this job than the last one.
“We have this place for the ladies to leave their children while they work. Just today the main girl told me she can’t do it anymore because she’s having a baby,” Nona said.
How ironic.
“You’ll have a couple of helpers. Some of the older girls that can’t yet work in the field help out with the babies.” Nona looked Aja over. “Have you ever cared for children before?”
Aja gulped, terrified. She wanted the job, but… babies? “Sure,” she lied.
Nona gave her a knowing look, but didn’t call her on the obvious. “Well, you’re a woman. Women instinctively know how to care for children.” She led Aja across the room, pointing out the various stations for baby care.
I think I’m missing that particular gene!
The diaper station caused Aja the most terror. The thought of changing a diaper had her checking her gag reflex. Hopefully she wouldn’t puke all over the first child. Then she thought of the helpers mentioned.
Hallelujah! I’m saved. They can change all the diapers.
Nona pointed at a rocking chair. “That’s where you can rock the more fretful ones to sleep.”
Fretful ones? Oh, God.
Aja nodded as though it were all in a day’s work. She was seriously thinking of having her head examined for getting into this mess in the first place.
How am I going to talk to the babies for crying out loud? I don’t speak Italian!
“You don’t have to speak to most of them, honey, they’re babies. The toddlers can speak to the helpers.”
Did I say that out loud?
Nona led the way outside and closed the nursery door.
“Nona, how do you and Marco speak such good English? You have to be the first people I’ve met here that speak it so well.”
“My husband was Canadian.” Nona smiled, the memories misting her eyes.
“Canadian? Really? That’s amazing. I’m Canadian.”
“I know. You have that look.”
She didn’t explain what she meant by that. Aja wondered if Nona’s husband had always had a slightly panicked look about him.
“He raised his son to speak English and wanted him to learn as much about Canada as he could. His dream was to come to Italy to build a winery, which he did.” She gestured at the perfect rows of grape vines. “My family owned Cielo Bello for generations, but it was always small. Robert turned it into something special and Marco works hard to make it world-class.”
Nona led Aja to a bench under a lemon tree. The citrus smell was nearly overpowering, but Aja loved it.
“Robert wanted to go back to Canada with all he’d learned and start a vineyard there.” Nona sighed. “He died before he could fulfill his dream.” Her lips pinched together and she stood up, business-like again. “Come, I’ll show you where the workers stay. You’ll have to be here at six in order to get everything ready for the babies.”
Aja resisted protest. There was no turning back now. Nona had braved her stick-in-the-mud son in order to give her this job. She wasn’t going to let her down.
Chapter 14
After Nona showed Aja to the tiny apartment she would be staying in, she left with a smile and an encouraging squeeze of her arm. Nona was a well-meaning person. Aja liked her a lot and hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed to learn she knew nothing about babies.
Aja needed to go to town to get her things from the hotel. She had the rest of the day to prepare for the new job as nanny. Aja thought how her family would laugh their asses off to see her now. She’d never had to work before because Daddy had always provided for her. Aja had gone to university because she didn’t know what else to do with her life. She still hadn’t figured it out when the thing with Stephen happened.
It didn’t take long to get back into town. She dropped off her rental car and then walked the short distance to the hotel. After cleaning out her room, Aja paid her bill and placed a call to her parents. She wanted to let them know that she was okay and settling in. She wasn’t going to talk about the job, however. She hoped her mother wouldn’t answer the phone - she tended to keep her only daughter as close as possible without actually tying her up in her apron strings.
Okay, that’s a figure of speech.
Aja had never seen her mother in an actual apron. She had however seen her in nearly every other type of clothing, including furs, high fashion garments, ball gowns, and anything else that struck her fancy. Aja’s mother was a high society woman. She would never think of actually entering her own kitchen.
I don’t think she even knows what one looks like.
Aja’s thoughts made her uncomfortable as she listened to the phone ring. She adored her mother most of the time.
She has a heart of gold
, she told herself at least a few times a day.
She must, for it cost daddy a lot to buy her heart judging from the ring on her finger.
“Hello?” It was Daddy, thank God.
“Hi Daddy, it’s Aja.”
“How’re you doing? Ready to come home yet?”
“Daddy, I just got here. I’m enjoying my holiday. What’s going on at home?” If she let her father have his way, he would soon be on a plane to get her. She needed to steer him somewhere else and quick.
“Well. It’s still pretty crazy around here. The press hasn’t given up the story since you left. Now they think you have something to hide,” he said, anger in his voice. “How could they think that after the way Stephen...”
“Daddy?” Aja interrupted. “It’s okay. The press means nothing. People who really know me will know the truth.” There was a lengthy pause and her stomach knotted. “Daddy? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Well, there are some rumors floating around, but don’t worry about it. Your brothers and I are dealing with them.”
Oh God.
“Daddy? You guys aren’t hurting anyone are you?”
“No one that didn’t deserve it,” he said, his tone defensive.
“Daddy, we’ve already talked about this. You can’t go around beating people up.” Aja gripped the table so hard, her hand began to cramp. She had to force herself to let go. “You’ll end up going to jail.”
“No, they usually shut up when I pay them enough,” he said, matter of fact.
Aja sighed. Some things never change. There was no getting through to him.
“How’s mom? The Brothers?”
Aja noticed the desk clerk watching her and scooted closer to the wall. He seemed to be listening, but he probably didn’t speak English.
“Everything’s great, Aja. Don’t you worry about a thing. How long are you going to be away?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll call as often as I can.” She hoped that would be enough for him.
“That’s not good enough, Aja. I need to know how long so I don’t worry.”
So much for hope. “You don’t have to worry, I’m fine. I’m staying in a nice hotel and enjoying the sunshine. I just needed to get away from all the excitement. I’ll call in a few days.” Aja’s tone was final. She seldom used that tone with her father, so he accepted it, although grudgingly.
“Alright, honey. Do you have a number we can reach you at?”
Aja nearly yelled, “No. I’ll call.” The thought of giving her number to her parents sent shivers up Aja’s spine and tremors through her legs. She’d never get away from them. They’d call every five minutes wanting to know when she’d be back. Before he could protest, Aja said goodbye and hung up the phone. It took her a few minutes to recover her wits. Talking to anyone in the Rain family was a matter of second-guessing every comment and thinking twice about each response. It was a battle of who could be the most manipulative, though it was all done in love of course.
Yeah, right.
Aja looked up to see the hotel clerk looking at her, sympathy in his eyes. So, he could speak English. She’d come to Italy expecting to meet people who couldn’t speak to her. That seemed to be the best way to hide. So much for friggin’
Non parlo italiano
.
She had one more phone call to make; Mia. Thinking of her made Aja feel a sharp pang of homesickness. She hadn’t been away from Mia for more than a few days since they were small. Well… smaller. She and Aja became friends in grade school, at first because they both had strange three-letter names. They stayed friends because they were so much alike. Aja knew Mia was the best friend any girl could ask for. She wished at that moment Mia was with her, but she had a wedding to plan.
I’m a terrible friend, not helping her with the wedding.
Mia told Aja she still wanted her to be maid of honor, but Aja was sure her new husband, Brad, wouldn’t want a castrating bitch at his ceremony. It might rub off.