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‘I can understand that. It’s entirely your decision.’
That was what Alec had always said. Entirely your decision. But whenever she’d made the decision, either way, he’d sulked about the consequences. Rose couldn’t imagine Matteo sulking for more than about five seconds but, still, he’d said the words. It was her decision and she’d make it the only way she knew how.
‘Thanks. I appreciate it.’ She wondered whether he heard the note of irony, but it seemed not because he didn’t react to it.
‘I’m sorry the reconstruction has been a disappointment. We’ll work it out, though.’
‘Yeah.’ Rose took a deep breath. ‘Look, thanks for coming. I’m sorry I shouted.’
He shot her one of his delicious, melting smiles. ‘You didn’t shout. If that’s the best you can do, I know a very good ENT specialist.’
She couldn’t help but smile. ‘Thanks. But I really should be getting going.’
‘Yeah. Me too. I’m meeting Isabella and her husband for dinner later on. I think it’s entrapment, and that Isabella’s got something for me to do.’
‘Which, of course, you’ll say no to?’ Rose doubted that somehow.
‘Of course I will. I’m going to insist on at least three weeks’ grace before we even whisper the words “health centre”.’
‘Good luck with it, then.’
Matteo chuckled. ‘I’ll need it. Catch you later?’
‘Yes. For sure.’
* * *
He’d swallowed down his rage that Rose should have been so badly let down by her ex-husband, and had tried to respond rationally for fear of hurting her. But it hadn’t worked. All that had happened was that the tables had turned and her fire had been met with his tepid attempts at reassurance. In the end they’d both backed off and declared an uneasy truce.
And it seemed that Rose was still backing o
ff. She didn’t call him the next day, or the day after that, and Matteo decided to give her some space. It wasn’t as if she owed him any explanations.
But on Thursday the nagging feeling that maybe she wouldn’t call got the better of him, and he called her to see what time he should pick her up for the market on Saturday. She hesitated, then apologised a couple of times and said she couldn’t come.
Matteo laid his phone down on his desk. The feeling that she’d shut him out and that he wouldn’t see her or William again was depressingly familiar. He’d thought she was different from Angela, and she was, but the ending was just the same. He should have backed off a little sooner, before he’d got too close to either of them.
He drove home, throwing his keys down on the coffee table and himself into a chair. He didn’t feel like swimming, and he didn’t feel like eating either. Pulling his wallet out of his pocket, he opened it, feeling in the small, hidden compartment behind his credit cards for the photograph. Rebecca and Joe, Angela’s two children. Rebecca would be almost sixteen now, and this image was just a memory. He’d known Rose just a few weeks, but somehow the ache of the past seemed so much sharper in the face of her rejection.
His phone rang, and when he looked at the caller display he almost didn’t answer. But even now he couldn’t help himself...
‘Rose. What’s up?’
There was a small pause at the end of the line. ‘I was wondering... William asked if we were seeing you on Saturday and...’
‘Yeah?’ Why was she telling him this? Surely she was quite capable of saying no to the child, and leaving it at that.
He heard her take a breath. ‘It was wrong of me to make a decision about Saturday without taking what you both wanted into account. It’s up to you, of course, but if you’re passing and you’d like to drop in for coffee, I know he’d like to see you. And you’d be very welcome.’
Matteo almost dropped the phone. Rose had remembered what he’d told her, and was trying to do this differently, giving him an opportunity to see William if he wanted to.
He’d made up his mind to go up to the vineyard for the weekend, but suddenly he didn’t want to miss this chance. ‘I can drop by on Saturday morning...’
‘Yes, of course. I might be working but Elena will be here with the children.’
‘Tell William that I promise—’
She cut him short. ‘I’ll go and fetch him. You can tell him yourself.’ He heard her footsteps and then the sound of her calling her son.
