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‘Yeah. Careful when you get rid of that. Put it straight into the dustbin, along with the gloves.’
‘Okay. Back in a minute.’ Rose leaned over to kiss William, and received a watery smile from her son.
She collected a high stool from the kitchen and carried it upstairs. William was snuggled in Matteo’s arms, and clearly the hot water was making a difference.
‘How does it feel now, sweetie?’
William gave her a nod, not letting go of Matteo’s T-shirt. He was okay, and now she could turn her attention to the next thing that needed to be done. She picked up the stool, planting it next to the basin.
‘Sit down.’
‘Don’t you want to hold him?’
‘Keep your fingers in the water and sit down.’ Her words sounded pretty much like an order, but that was okay, because she wasn’t taking any argument.
‘Sì, capo.’ Matteo grinned, holding William steady as he sank down onto the stool.
She knelt down, looking carefully at the sting on his leg. It was inflamed and looked painful, but there was little swelling and there were no more stingers embedded in it. ‘How long are we supposed to be doing the hot water for?’
‘Thirty or forty minutes.’
‘Right. Well, I’ll fetch a bowl from the kitchen in a minute.’ Rose turned the bath tap on, holding a flannel under the hot water and squeezing it out. Then she laid it over the sting on Matteo’s leg. ‘How’s that?’
He nodded. ‘Better. Thanks.’
‘Good.’ She leaned over, wrapping her arms around both of them and kissing William.
‘Are you kissing me better, Mummy?’ William hadn’t seen the kiss that she’d placed on Matteo’s lips.
Matteo shot her a smile, that lazy, come-to-bed look in his eyes. ‘Yeah. Mummy’s kissing it better.’
* * *
He’d applied cream to William’s leg and then a light dressing to stop him from scratching the sting, then allowed Rose to do the same with the weal on his own leg. That hadn’t been strictly necessary, but he’d seemed to want her to do it.
‘I should take him home.’ William was drowsy now, snuggling on her lap.
‘I’d rather you both stayed here. If he has any kind of secondary reaction, I can be there straight away.’
‘Is that likely? A secondary reaction?’
He shook his head slowly. ‘Not really.’
It was what they both wanted, though. No father could have done more for William than Matteo had just done and Rose wanted him close. ‘I’ll call Elena. Let her know not to expect us home tonight.’
‘Thanks. That would put my mind at rest.’
Somehow it seemed that it didn’t. Matteo had seemed restless and distracted all evening, and when he went upstairs to check that William was still sleeping peacefully, Rose followed him.
‘He’s okay. Don’t worry.’ She reached for Matteo’s arm and felt it stiffen.
‘I’m so sorry, Rose.’ He wiped his hand across his face. ‘So sorry.’
She pulled him out of the room, leaving the door ajar, and hustled him back downstairs. ‘What are you sorry for, Matteo? Being there for William when he needed you?’
Rose had wondered whether that was what Matteo was brooding over. That this evening had made the truth far too clear to him, and that he could no longer pretend that he wasn’t getting attached to William. But he shook his head.
‘I shouldn’t have let him walk ahead of us like that. I should have been watching him.’
