Page 111 of Winter With You

Gabriella smiled. ‘You’re right, I kind of forgot there for a second.’

‘And Phoebe is front row,’ Luca said. ‘It’s gonna be special for her.’

‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘It is.’

‘Hudson Williams is also front row and I’m a big fan,’ Errol stated.

‘OK,’ Gabriella said, taking a breath. ‘So, how long do I have?’

‘Five minutes before we need to move,’ Luca said.

* * *

It was a strange feeling waiting in the wings of the show, knowing there were hundreds of people either side of the large runway making all the exclamations about the new collection of clothes while photographers and Instagram influencers captured it all on camera too. Gabriella was used to the press now, didn’t worry about an audience, but she was beginning to realise that a lot of the time before now she had been using the book as a prop to help herself deal with her grief, pushing it to the forefront while she backed away, hiding in plain sight.

She could see some of the front row from her position, a little more as she moved in the line, closer to her time to walk. There was Phoebe, no phone out to capture any moments, just staring in wonderment at the models as they made their way past her. Next to her, Sybille, talking, gesturing a little as if narrating the styles with her hands. Cheyenne was also there, eyes down on her iPad as per. Gabriella focussed back on Phoebe. It had been right to come to New York, right to bring Phoebe with her. It might not have been the relaxing winter escape amid the promo she had hoped for, but the city had gifted them both many other things. A new understanding of each other and the trauma they had lived through. A different outlook for the future. Even a dog it seemed…

‘You OK?’ Luca asked, touching her arm.

‘What are you doing here?’ she gasped. ‘I’m on in like three people’s time.’

He took her hand. ‘I just wanted to tell you that I think what you’re doing is… perfect.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘You’re perfect.’

‘No one’s ever called me that before,’ she said with a half-smile as another model took their turn and she shuffled along, Luca moving with her.

‘How about “beautiful”?’

‘Once. In a thick South London accent. A scaffolder hanging from the roof of a building and he preceded it with “alright”.’

‘How about “mine”?’

She turned away from the line, looking directly into his green eyes. There was no witty remark escaping her lips, no quick comeback. Nothing. Only a sensation in her belly that this really was something that might be something. Something good. Something stronger than anything she’d had before.

‘Gabriella! You’re next.’ She was called forward.

But she reacted fast. To Luca. ‘I love that. I really love that.’

‘You’ve got this, Gabriella!’ she heard him call as she made her way to the start of the runway.

She took a deep breath and blocked out everything but her thoughts. Dressed in an ankle-length denim blue dress that was cinched in at the waist, paired with high-heeled silver boots and a silver scarf covering her hair, it was giving ‘space’ and ‘cowboy’ in all the best ways. And, on her wrist, the bracelet Luca had chosen, thick, mesh, silver and blue, pretty indestructible looking. As the bassline of the music thumped a heavy introduction, Gabriella wasn’t tuned into it whatsoever, didn’t care if she was matching each step in time, because her mind was in another place; in fact, it was in many times and places, all the memories associated with one person.

She started to reach the end of the runway and it was then she began to unfasten the hidden zipper with trembling fingers. Let this work. Don’t let this be for nothing. Let me achieve this dream.

Where she was meant to stand, pose, turn around and then make her slow walk back, she stopped, pulled the zip fully and the front of her dress fell down to reveal an image on a pure white background, from a photograph made into artwork by Luca and Errol from thousands of sequins. Lulu. Her beautiful sister.

There were gasps from the audience, flashes from cameras and monumental applause, but all that was going through Gabriella’s mind was a rewind of time. Lulu laughing as she played the piano. Lulu screaming as Gabriella chased her with a captured moth telling her it was a baby bat. Lulu crying tears of joy when she first saw a newborn Phoebe. Unforgotten moments. An unforgettable person. And as Gabriella finally turned, revealing the front-on image to more of the auditorium, her eyes met with Phoebe’s and there was the biggest smile on her niece’s face. Because she knew what this meant. Finally, although not in the way any one had hoped for, Lulu was getting her moment to shine on a New York stage.

68

VALENTINO’S, LITTLE ITALY

It was the following evening and it was Gabriella’s last night in NYC. Luca couldn’t believe that was a fact. Didn’t want it to be fact. But he also knew that not wanting something to be true didn’t change it, nor did it stop time… As he and Gabriella walked through his family’s neighbourhood, heading for the restaurant he had really thought he would never visit again, he contemplated how much had happened in such a short space of time. And, last night, at the fashion show, it had been a culmination of his and Gabriella’s worlds colliding in the best kind of way. Her risk had also reaped reward, for everyone it seemed. Highlighting the charities doing amazing work with mental health, showcasing him, Errol and Sybille and celebrating the life and aspirations of Lulu. But there was another collision of their worlds to come.

He squeezed her hand in his as they continued down the street, the light snowfall landing on lampposts and car hoods before settling on the sidewalk. The weather knew Christmas was definitely coming.

‘I promise I will put my phone away in a second,’ Gabriella told him. ‘But this article, they mention you and Errol twice and there’s a link to the La Façon website.’

‘That’s good,’ he answered. ‘I can pay my rent for another month maybe.’