No, in the state that she’d been in on that fateful Friday, she’d latched on to the only constructive thing that had rushed into her mind – Eduardo’s offer of a job that would take her miles away from the trouble she’d caused.
Gabriela
would probably be horrified to know it, but unwittingly she’
d
helped her
– she’d told her that Eduardo was attached to someone else. If it hadn’t been for that, she would never have move
d
back into Eduardo’s life again. Even if she hadn’t fallen for Tom, Eduardo would never have been her type and it wouldn’t have been fair to have given him false hope.
As she’d run from Tom’s house to Hampstead Tube Station, she’d phoned Eduardo
to
ask him if the offer of
work
was still open. He’d been audibly surprised to hear that she
was considering taking
the job after all, but he’d quickly recovered and told her that the
position
was still
her
s if she wanted it
.
Not only was there a job for her, he’d assured her, but
the first items of
Tom’s
furniture were to be delivered in a
couple of days
, and
he
’d just started look
ing
for
someone to
be
at the house
.
If she
wanted to
be that person
, he need not look for anyone else.
Such an arrangement would help them both.
She’d
instantly
said no, that it wouldn’t be right. But Eduardo had insisted
. T
he co-operative was excellent,
he’d said, but
it was disorganised and the furniture was unlikely to be delivered all at once. It would be so much easier for him to know that there was someone at the house in the day. And if she was going to be there all day, she might as well stay on in the evening.
What’s more, he’d added, there’d been
a robbery
last week
in
an
empty second home owned by Americans, so it was a good idea to have someone
living
in
Tom’s
house as much as possible.
The thought of going back to Tom’s house had been irresistible, and she’d been willing to let Eduardo persuade her.
S
he’
d stay there, she finally
agreed
,
but only until the furniture had all been delivered.
One of his cousins had some apartments in Todi, Eduardo
had
told her, and he would make sure that she had the first one that became available. In the meantime, he was sure that
Tom would appro
ve of
their arrangement
.
She’d hastily cut in that
she’d prefer
Tom
not to
know
that she was
in Italy, and Eduardo had agreed not to tell him. He’d also reminded her – and there’d been a smile in his voice as he
’d
said it – that Tom would find it rather difficult to understand anything he told him
,
unless
he
happened to be with Gabriela at the time
.
And nor should he tell Gabriela where she was, she’d quickly begged. As
Gabriela
and Tom were friends,
she’d added
to soften her words,
it wouldn’t be fair to ask her to keep a secret from him.
If
Eduardo had
thought the whole thing very strange, he hadn’t said so. All he’d said was that he’d pick her up from
Rome
Fiumicino later that evening – she
must
let him know
he
r
time of arrival as soon as she’d booked her ticket – and he’d take her straight to Tom’s house. She wouldn’t need to hire
a car as he’d find her a car. A
fter all, she was
going to be
working
for him
so
she’
d need transport.
‘
Grazie mille, Eduardo
,’ she’d whispered gratefully into the phone
. She’d entered the tube station, and the line had gone dead
.
When he’d met her at the airport, he’d clearly
seen
that she was in a real state and wouldn’t be able to cope with questions, so their journey had passed in friendly silence. He’d left her
at Tom’s house
, saying that he’d come up the following day
and they’d
go and get some provisions and
collect
a car for her
–
but
that
she was to have a holiday before she started work. That was an order, he’d added, and he’d kissed her lightly on the forehead and driven back down the mountain road.
The following evening he’d taken her out to dinner and told her that he could sense that something
was
troubling he
r, but
that
he wasn’t going to pry. H
owever, if at any time she felt like confiding in him, he would be happy to help her in whatever way he could. The most important thing was that she sorted out her problems before she tried to do anything else.
She’d thanked him and added, without thinking, that his fiancée was
dead
lucky
to have him
.
Fuck, she’d screamed inwardly. Gabriela had stressed that no one should know what was on the cards for Eduardo until the arrangement had been formalised. Wanting to kick herself for making such a slip, she’d started to apologise for what she’d said, but she
’d
s
een
the amazement on his face and her words
had
died away.
What fiancée? He didn’t have a fiancée and never had done. He had only ever met one woman he’d have wanted to bear that title, but regretfully he knew deep in his soul that her heart belonged to someone else. He’d glanced quickly across the table, then looked back down at his plate.
She must have misheard Gabriela, she’d said hastily, and
she’d
furiously twirled her tagliatelle on to her fork.
That lying bitch, she’d thought angrily. While that lie had done her a massive favour – she would never have contacted Eduardo without it – Gabriela had landed poor Eduardo in a situation that could cause him a lot of unhappiness.
Her
sandals
hit a patch of hard earth
, and s
he came
ba
ck to the present with a jolt
.
She
stopped walking
and l
ook
ed
around
her
. S
he
was
standing
in the middle of
two rows of olive tree
s
. I
t was
the
very
spot where Tom had first kissed her
, she real
ise
d
.
She put her fingers to her lips.
There might never be any more such kisses
. A
sharp pain ran through her.
How the hell was it possible for someone to hurt so much and for so lo
ng, she thought i
n despair,
and
she turned round and started to make her way back
along
to the house.
As she walked,
she thought she heard an engine coming up
the mountain road, and she
stood still and
listen
ed. B
ut she couldn’t
tell
where the noise was coming from
as
the hills and trees
were
distort
ing
the sounds of the night
. T
he sound died away
,
and
she started walking again.
Leaving the
shadowy
groves behind her, she went up the slope to the illuminated pool and
walked slowly a
ll the way round
its edge, s
tarin
g down at the cool, clear water
, remembering the time she’d sat there with Tom
.
She’d
have one last swim in the morning
before she left
,
and then she’d go back to London.
B
ack to London.
It was the first time she’d let those words come into her mind, but the moment she’d done so, she knew that that was what she wanted to do more than anything else in the world.
Being in
Umbria had given her the breathing space that she
’d
needed
, but she was ready to go home
.
And she
now
knew what she
was going to do
.
Of course she hadn’t been able to find peace of mind in Italy – she’d never find that until she knew that she’d done everything in her power to make
Tom
believe
that
she hadn’t betrayed him. Maybe she wouldn’t succeed in convincing him, b
ut she wouldn’t know until she
tried, and hiding away in Italy was not trying.
There was no way she was going to let
Tom
go without a massive fight
, and
not only
was
she
going to fight for him, she was go
ing to win. T
he thought of not being with him for the rest of her life was unthinkable
,
just
unthinkable
. She started
to
run
towards the house
. L
ate though it was, she
had
to start packing.
H
urr
ying
through the arched glass doors into the sitting room,
she
pulled
the shutters
closed
behind her,
locked
the
glass
doors, switched off the spotlighting and
ran
across
the room to the hall. With every step that she took, her excitement
grew. With luck, the following night she’d be home
.
P
assed the wide stone stair
ca
s
e
that led up to Tom’s bedroom,
she
paused for a moment
and
star
ed
up
at
the landing. If only he was up there
in his room,
waiting for her, she thought
in a moment of
intense
longing
.
If only.
Then s
he
tore herself away and
continued across the hall to the bedroom she was using.
She pushed open the door.
A thin shaft of moonlight cut into the darkness, sending tall shadows into the far corners of the room
and u
p to the wooden rafters. S
he went
over to
the lamp that stood on the bedside table nearest
to
her
and switched it on
.
The l
amplight bathed the
centre of the room
in a warm golden glow. S
he stood next to the lamp
and
look
ed
slowly
around
the room
, trying to lock an imprint into her memory so that she could take it with her when she left. Her gaze came to rest on the centre of the bed
, and she
drew her breath in
sharply
.
In the middle of the white sheet lay a small black scorpion. The beam of the table lamp
was
bounc
ing
off its hard shell, and it shone with ebony lustre.
She
took a hesitant step
towards the
scorpion
, lean
ed
toward
it
and
peer
ed
intently at
it
. It
was motionless – there was no movement
at all.