AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * *
Elene longed to run after Mattia, glue herself to his side. They mightn’t have sorted out anything to do with Aimee and their future lives, but she felt safer with him than with these strangers who obviously had questions fizzing at the edge of their tongues, in their voices, their sideways glances at her and Aimee. Even Mattia wasn’t immune, but he strolled through it all with the confidence that being a loved member of this family gave him. While being a wimp wasn’t going to help her cause, nor Aimee’s, it was very tempting to hide. Yet these people were her daughter’s relatives and she had to—and would—respect that. After all, it was one of the reasons she’d come all this way.
Finding everyone watching her, she wondered what she’d missed. Digging deep, she smiled around the room and said, ‘I hope you’ll all be patient with Mattia and me while we work our way through things.’ Her main focus was on his mother, Maria, since the woman hadn’t relaxed with her as everyone else had. Not even close. Protective mother hen to the fore. She’d have witnessed Mattia being hurt once, wouldn’t want that happening again. Relax, Maria, it isn’t on the cards.
Though there’d been a sharp intake of breath at Elene’s words, Maria’s slim shoulders relaxed a little and she asked in a kinder tone, ‘Would you like to sponge your frock before it stains?’
‘Yes, please. It’s brand-new and I’d hate to ruin it already.’
‘It’s a gorgeous dress, and you look stunning in it.’ A friendly arm slid around hers. ‘Come on, I’ll show you where the bathroom is,’ Sofia, Mattia’s sister-in-law, said.
‘I’m coming too,’ Alessia, the other sister-in-law piped up.
‘No show without Ali,’ said Sofia with a laugh. ‘Papà, make that another glass of wine, please. We can’t remove stains without a glass of wine in hand.’
So this wasn’t going to be a short trip to clean her dress. Elene took the proffered glass. ‘Grazie.’ She might need it because, sure as chocolate eggs at Easter, she was in for a grilling. All she hoped was she survived intact.
Mattia caught her eye and winked, as though saying she’d be fine, these two wouldn’t behead her. Showed how little he understood females. But she returned his smile before following the women down an enormous hall and into a bathroom the like of which she’d never seen in her life. Marble fixtures, shining taps, gleaming mirrors and a couch on one wall. Who had a couch in their bathroom?
The Riccos, obviously. Her mouth dried as she looked around, well aware she was giving herself away, but unable to stop the sense of sinking into a deeper pool of problems than she’d ever envisaged. She wanted out, fast. This was not her, and never would be. Her family were well off, but wealthy beyond her imagination? No. And that was how she liked it. It was what she was comfortable with. Hey, you’re not part of this family, and so none of this matters. True, but she might have to see a fair bit of them over the years ahead. All those Sunday lunches loomed in her brain.
‘You’re stunned.’ Sofia laughed and took her hand to pull her over to one of the basins. ‘You’ll get used to it. The first time Marco, my husband, not my son, brought me here, I thought he was having me on, playing games with me and that I’d wake up back in reality.’
‘It was similar for me,’ Alessia told her. ‘But don’t worry, the family’s not snobby, and almost don’t care about what they have. Well, they do, but they share it, give it away to others who need it, and downplay it all the time.’
Elene looked from Alessia to Sofia, then around the room again. ‘It’s daunting. I really didn’t understand before.’ If she was giving away too much about herself, then too bad. Her reaction was honest. ‘Where do I find a cloth?’
Sofia opened a couple of drawers before extricating what was required. ‘Is it true you and Mattia are not lovers?’
If she hadn’t put her glass on the counter the whole lot would’ve tipped down the front of her dress, and there’d be no saving the fabric from red wine. ‘Yes.’
‘Yes, you are, or yes, you’re not?’ Sofia’s tone was friendly and fun.
‘Not.’ Elene wanted to believe Sofia meant no harm with these questions, but this could be a clever way of finding out more about her and her position in Mattia’s life than either of them were willing to share. Not that they’d worked it out for themselves yet, but she was certain becoming lovers wasn’t on Mattia’s agenda. Though that kiss hinted it was possible. Down, hope, down.
Alessia took the cloth from her lifeless fingers and held it under a tap. ‘Sofia, leave Elene alone. Give her a chance to get to know us a little. We’re not her tell-everything-to girlfriends. Yet,’ she added with a gleam in her eye.
‘You two are that close?’ Why did Alessia hope they’d form a friendship with her? Did she want to see Mattia settled down? Nothing made sense and she wasn’t about to delve into things that in the long run would have nothing to do with her. Fingers crossed, she’d be back in New Zealand in two weeks, getting on with her life. You’ll more likely be packing up to return here so Aimee can be close to Mattia. Her heart squeezed for her little girl. And for Mattia. He already loved Aimee unreservedly, which was the best outcome of this trip. But where did it leave her? Because he had said he wanted Aimee with him permanently. Would he move to New Zealand for that? Maybe she would need these two on her side.
Alessia tapped her arm to get her attention. ‘We’re very close. Sofia was engaged to Marco when Jon introduced me to the Riccos. If it weren’t for Sofia I’d probably have run and never stopped. It was scary.’
‘You were a shy little rabbit.’ Sofia laughed. ‘Now look at you. No one in this family would dare argue with you.’
Alessia gave an exaggerated shrug. ‘Take no notice of her, Elene.’
‘So you didn’t come into this bathroom full of questions?’ Sofia asked, still laughing. ‘Mattia hasn’t been serious about any woman he’s brought to family functions in the years I’ve known him and yet here he is with a child—his, apparently—and he’s also brought Elene along. Who’s beautiful, by the way.’
‘Stop it, you’re embarrassing Elene,’ Alessia said.
‘And—’ Sofia pa
used for effect, locking her eyes on Elene ‘—I’ve never seen him look at a woman the way he does you.’
A thrill of excitement rippled through Elene. How did Mattia look at her? Other than when he was angry or wanted something she wasn’t prepared to give, she couldn’t imagine what Sofia might be referring to. Not that she was asking. That would encourage the woman’s curiosity, but boy, did she ever want to know. A sudden image of the intensity in his eyes as he withdrew from kissing her last night shook her. But he wouldn’t be looking at her like that in front of his family. Would he?
Alessia’s laughter broke through Elene’s disturbing thoughts.
‘The cloth?’ She held out her hand. These women were warm towards her, but she had to remember whose family they were a part of, whose side they’d take if it all turned out bad. ‘If you really want to know, Mattia and I couldn’t stand the sight of each other when he was working at the same hospital as me in Wellington.’ Um, there was that night. Yeah, but one night didn’t a relationship make. Not a good one, anyway.
‘That was more than a year ago. Anything can change in that time.’
‘Until I turned up last week we’ve had nothing to do with each other since then.’ Sponging the fabric carefully, she was relieved to see the dribble disappear. ‘Hopefully that’ll dry back the way it was.’ She looked across to the two women watching her and saw nothing but friendship in their faces. Her hand shook when she raised her glass to her lips. That she had not been expecting.
Sofia leaned over and tapped her glass against Elene’s. ‘To you and Aimee.’ She sipped, then added, ‘And to Mattia. Now, we’d better join the others before Mamma drags us out there.’
‘She hates lunch to be held up for anything,’ Alessia agreed. ‘Or anyone.’
And today that’d be especially me, Elene mused as she followed the women to the dining room and took the seat indicated beside Mattia. ‘Where are the children?’
‘There was hell to pay when we tried to seat them at the children’s table. They’re having too much fun playing so it’s been agreed to leave them to carry on, and we’ll give them food when they’re ready.’
