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Leah and Hannah scan the grandiose entry with wide eyes and open mouths, seeming taken by the opulence that they’re experiencing for the first time.
“I told you she was a princess,” Hannah whispers to her sister. “She lives in a castle.”
Tia’s eyes meet mine as she covers her smile with her fingers, and I can’t help but chuckle.
“Thank you for joining us this evening,” I say as Signora Romney gives Tia a gentle but affectionate hug. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Famished,” Mayor Romney says, patting his robust belly.
“I thought we might enjoy dinner on the terrace, if that sounds nice,” I offer. “As my wife would tell it, she might just lose her mind if she has to stay inside any longer.”
They laugh, agreeing that the beautiful summer night and the soft glow that lingers on the horizon would make a perfect ambiance.
“How are you, Tia?” Signora Romney asks, her voice concerned as we all walk past the mirrored wall separating the entry from the ballroom. “Luke told me you took a fall and sprained your ankle?”
“Oh, just wait until you hear the story,” Tia says, her tone emphatic. She rolls her eyes as if in exasperation with herself. “But I’m doing much better now. The doctor thought I might be well within a week or so.”
“If she rests and stops overexerting herself,” I say pointedly. “Signora Romney, I’m hoping I might enlist your help in talking some sense into her. Today, when I got home, she’d worked herself into a sweat wandering around the house.”
“Running from something, my dear?” Mayor Romney jokes, but I can’t help noticing the slight edge that comes with it. He’s prying for any sign that she’s in danger.
But Tia laughs, the sound disarming any suspicion. “Yes, running from boredom. I’ll tell you, on a cold winter’s day, I could curl up with a good book for hours. But condemn me to bed for days straight during a beautiful summer like this? I don’t think so.”
Reaching the terrace beyond the ballroom, I pull out the nearest chair for Tia, and she settles into it gratefully. Before anyone can say a word about it, Leah and Hannah pick the chairs on either side of her.
“I’m so sorry,” Signora says, her hands going to her cheeks as she sees I’ve been ousted from my seat beside my wife by her two daughters.
“It’s quite alright,” I say, taking the seat across from her, next to Leah. “I can’t say I blame them.”
“Not to mention he’s been hovering over me since I hurt my ankle,” Tia says, her tone somehow both affectionate and exasperated.
“I’m glad to hear he’s taking such care of you,” the mayor says, and once again, I’m grateful to Tia for knowing exactly how to paint me in a flattering light.
“Wine?” I offer the couple, and they accept with friendly smiles.
A moment later, the hors d’oeuvres arrive, all foods I’ve confirmed with the kitchen have been acceptable to Tia’s palate. Foods that won’t leave her sprinting—or hobbling—for the bathroom.
“So, tell us, Tia, what’s the story behind your ankle?” Signora Romney insists as we sit and sip wine.
Despite my trust in Tia’s expertise to say the right thing in challenging situations, anxiety still grips me as I stress over whether Tia might let something slip.
But Tia does an impressive job of skipping past any incriminating information from the very start as she describes the event. “So, there I am, running near the far end of the Moretti property, only this estate is so monstrous and enormous that, despite my best efforts to learn the land, I still can’t find my way half the time. And I hadn’t realized there was a cliff nearby.”
Signora Romney gasps, covering her mouth with her hand as her eyes grow wide.
“Yeah, exactly,” Tia says, validating her fears. “I was running headlong toward it, but with the lighting, I didn’t see it was a drop-off. And Leo’s too far behind me, so when he calls me, I can’t tell what he’s trying to say. Then, all of a sudden, the ground just vanishes from beneath my feet.”
“How far did you fall?” Signora Romney asks with bated breath.
“Well, we reckon I only fell about ten feet. But I assure you, that cliff was over a hundred feet high.” Tia pauses, letting that sink in for a moment. Then, she finishes the explanation to relieve the suspense. “See, when Leo called to me, I turned and must have snagged a tree root with my foot. It tripped me. And it also saved my life.”
She glances my way, her eyes softening as she smiles. “Well, it at least stopped my fall. It was Leo’s quick thinking and bravery that really saved me. He scaled the cliff to come get me. Helped cut me free of the roots that I got my foot tangled in. Helped me climb back up despite my injured ankle.”
The mayor and his wife prove a rapt audience as Tia describes my heroic efforts to save her in great detail, describing the numerous times she thought she was going to plunge to her death only for me to rescue her time and again.
It’s a brilliant story, one that showcases me as the knight in shining armor. By the end of it, I could almost believe I’m a hero. Only I know the truth of why she was running in the first place.
At the end of her story, Tia receives a round of applause followed by immense relief from the mayor and his wife.
