Page 79 of Winter With You

‘But she doesn’t care enough to change it because she thinks it’s too late.’

Gabriella shook her head, scuffing her boots on the icy ground. ‘Is this what she’s said to you?’

‘Of course not,’ Phoebe said. ‘She doesn’t say anything of substance to me. She talks about nice things, pretty things, soft, gentle things that won’t hurt me but things that ultimately don’t matter.’

‘And you let her?’

Phoebe shrugged. ‘She’s not ready for anything else yet. I don’t know if she ever will be, but I do know that nobody can change somebody unless they want to change.’

Gabriella swallowed. There was so much bare truth lying in Phoebe’s words about things she didn’t even know about.

‘But I think you want to change, Gabriella,’ Phoebe said with certainty. ‘Because I think you were forced to change who you are already. By Grandmama and Pop-Pop. Little by little. And then by Mum. And also by me and⁠—’

‘No, Phoebe. Nothing is down to you,’ Gabriella said fiercely.

‘Lots of things are down to me,’ Phoebe stated.

‘Nothing that I would change.’

‘But there are many things that you could change. Like with the books,’ Phoebe said. ‘Stop papering over the cracks and try a deep repair. Maybe beginning with you.’

What Phoebe had said was hitting parts of Gabriella that were so tender, bits that had been taped together but never fully mended. And also her niece was right in so far as the bits weren’t the same as they’d been. It wasn’t just her path in life that had been altered, it was the whole shape of her.

‘Do you want to get doughnuts?’ Gabriella asked her.

Phoebe looked directly at Gabriella with those eyes that reminded her so much of her sister. ‘Is this you avoiding conversation and the points I eloquently raised?’

Gabriella shook her head. ‘No. The points have been taken on board. I just thought you might be hungry and I also thought… well, maybe we could talk some more.’

Phoebe smiled then. ‘Can Mr Darcy have doughnuts?’

‘How about we find a doggy-friendly alternative?’

‘OK,’ Phoebe said, nodding.

‘Good,’ Gabriella said.

And then she paused, just momentarily, and opened up her arms a little. Should she try? Not force it, but just make a movement of offering a space to physically connect. ‘I love you, Pheebs.’

Phoebe leaned a little towards her, her head connecting with her shoulder. ‘Love you too, Gabriella.’

It was a start.

48

LA FAÇON, MANHATTAN

‘Mr Manning, is everything OK in here?’

Luca looked up at the sound of Sybille’s voice. He hadn’t even heard her come into the main room but somehow she was standing next to him in front of three jackets he had been deliberating over for the past thirty minutes or more. One of them had that new garment smell he liked and it was trying to affect his decision-making. And there was another decision he had made after speaking to Steffi. His sister was a Marcello and there was no wanting to distance herself from that, unlike him. But someone else. Gabriella. Who already had more than enough to handle in her life. He needed to keep her as far away from that toxicity as possible.

‘Yes, everything’s great,’ he answered, nodding.

‘Really? Then who are these terrible coats destined for?’ Sybille asked.

‘You don’t like any of them?’

‘Not for Gabriella Felix. And, that is who they’re for, is it not?’