My Italian Heart

Chapter Sixteen

It wasn’t until I got out into the cold or warm, in my case, light of day that I realised I had nowhere to go. I mean, there were plenty of places, but David knew all of them. What I needed was somewhere that he couldn’t find me. It wasn’t even like I thought he would try to follow me, but forgetting about him would be easier if I knew it wasn’t an option.

Then it struck me. Luca’s house. No one even knew he was considering selling it, let alone that he had decided to live there. It was the one place no one would think to look for me, let alone David. I heard a movement behind me and assumed it was Em, checking on me again like the good friend she was. Not that I deserved it.

I headed straight for my car without looking back. If I stopped to speak to Em, then I would cave and tell her everything. It was hard not to when she was trying so hard to be there for me. Her kindness was what would break me.

I slammed the car door shut and turned the engine over without thinking about it. Pulling off as quickly as I could, but making sure it didn’t look like I was storming off. If it was Emily watching me, I wouldn’t want her thinking I was upset. She would only worry about me, and that wasn’t fair.

As soon as I turned on to the main road, peace washed over me as though I was lying on the beach with the sea lapping at me. I hated how David managed to get under my skin. I hated that I wanted him to change his mind. It made me feel weak, knowing that if he did, I would jump at the chance.

As I pulled up to Luca’s place, I was surprised by how busy it was. There were white vans parked all over, just sort of dumped. One had a glazers logo on the side, then there was a joiner and a roofer. I might have arranged each and every one, but I had still forgotten all about them. Cursing myself for trading one busy venue for another. At least there, none of them knew me.

I got straight out and headed up the stairs. None of the workmen even seemed to notice my presence. I grabbed a tub of paint from the upstairs hall and hauled it along with me. I had arranged all the paint for Luca and I knew what he had brought for where. The tub I had was a simple magnolia, destined for the guest bedroom.

I just wanted to lose myself in something manual for a while. Not that I was particularly dressed for painting, but I was past caring. I wasn’t sure I would ever want to wear the stupid green suit again, anyway. I dumped the tub on the plain wooden floorboards and grabbed the keys from my pocket. Using them to pry the lid off with difficulty when I heard someone clear their throat in the doorway.

I looked up at the tall, handsome and clearly well-built man blocking the doorway. He was studying me carefully and was clearly amused by what he saw. “Would you like a hand with that?”

“I’m perfectly capable.” As if proving the point, the lid popped off and splattered paint droplets across the front of my suit jacket. I looked down at it for a second. “s**t!” I might have been happy to risk getting paint on it, but it still pissed me off.

“It will come out. You just need to soak it and quickly.”

“It’s fine.”

“Don’t be daft.” He crossed the room to me and held out his hand. I took it out of instinct, but I had no idea why I had done it. As soon as I was standing, he held the back of my jacket as I shrugged out of it. “Holy hell.” It wasn’t until I followed his line of sight that I remembered that I wasn’t wearing much underneath. He whistled under his breath and it made me laugh, not to mention blush.

The mystery man just turned from the room and left with my jacket in toe. I stooped back down and started to stir the paint with a stray piece of wood lying on the floor. “Will you stop for a minute? That is not an outfit that deserves paint splashing on it.”

“I haven’t got anything else with me.”

“I’ve got some overalls in the van. Just hang tight a minute.” I did as I was told, but mainly just so I looked a little less crazy. I didn’t have to wait long as I heard him rushing back up the stairs. Trying to decide if the rush was because he didn’t trust me to wait or because of my attire. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” He made a point of turning his back to me, but I opted to nip into the bathroom instead.

“The bathroom has a plumber in it.”

“Today really isn’t my day.” He turned again, so he was facing away from me again. I had no choice but to take my trousers off. They were too wide-legged to have any hope of fitting under the dark blue overalls. As soon as they hit the floor, I wasted no time in shoving my legs into the overalls and pulling them up to cover my modesty. “You can turn around now.”

I grabbed a paintbrush and started painting around the woodwork. Hoping the mystery man would take the hint and leave me in peace. It was quickly clear that he wouldn’t be leaving me in peace. I heard the drill going first and tried to ignore it. Then, he started hitting at the hinges with a hammer. “Sorry, it’s an old place and the hinges have been painted so many times that I have no other way of getting them off.”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you moving in here, then?”

“No, it’s my brother’s place.” I just kept concentrating on what I was doing. Not wanting to appear rude, but also not wanting to chat while I worked.

“Ah, you live with your husband, boyfriend, maybe?”

“Neither. I live with my parents on the neighbouring vineyard. I run the business side of things.” For some reason, I didn’t want him to think I was living with my parents without knowing the reason.

“Do you…”

“No boyfriend or husband. I’m married to my job.” I knew what he was going to ask me. It was more than clear where he was going with the conversation.

“I know what you mean.” If he did, he wouldn’t be chattering away while I tried to get on. He would be concentrating on his own task.

I was grateful when he stopped trying so hard and started to get on with the task of hanging a new door. Luca had been specific about what he wanted doing in the house. It had made it much easier for me to arrange everything. I had never seen my brother quite so hell bent on doing anything since he had been trying to convince my parents to let him follow his passion for cooking. Even with everything going on, that in itself gave me hope.

Knowing that he and Rylie had been through so much and still made it work, they still managed to cling to their love for one another. It was enough to give anyone hope that love would prevail.

I had gotten all the way to the window before the joiner chirped up again. “Do you want a coffee? I’m heading down to get myself one.”

“How are you making coffee in that kitchen?”

“I keep a coffee machine in the van. A lot of the places I work don’t have working kitchens.” He laughed a little at the end and it was cute. Like he felt just as weird as me and felt the need to laugh it off.

“That would be great, thank you.” He had barely made it down the stairs when I spotted my phone lit up on the floor. I had taken it out of my pocket and just left it on the floorboards beside the paint. I picked it up and noticed how many missed calls I had. The call that had been coming through had gone off, though. I didn’t even realise it was on silent.

Unlocking it, I looked at the numerous phone calls from Emily, then it moved on to missed calls from David. No doubt Emily had asked him to call when I didn’t answer to her. The guilt filled me yet again, and I was so sick of the feeling. Huffing slightly as the phone rang again. It was David, which wasn’t ideal, but I had no choice but to answer, for Em’s sake.

“Hello.”

“Aurora, finally. Are you OK?”

“David, I’m fine. Tell Em to stop worrying so much, she’ll get wrinkles.”

“She’s been ringing you for ages. Then she forced me to do it while she organised a shipment.” I knew it wouldn’t be his choice to ring and check up on me.

“Well, you can tell her that I am absolutely fine. I’m just taking some time for myself.” It was as close to the truth as I was willing to go. Anything more and they would all know where to find me.

“Just come back to the office. I will leave.”

“I told you, I’m taking some time for myself and it’s nothing to do with you.”

“Hey, I went with my gut because I forgot to ask… sorry.” The joiner turned up in the doorway, carrying two cups of coffee.

“Don’t worry about it, thanks.” I took my cup and gave him a slight nod of thanks. Placing the cup on the floor beside me.

“Who the hell is that?” David’s annoyed tone rang in my ear. The jealously was clear, but he had no right. He ended it, not me.

“Like I said, I’m taking some time out. Right, I’m going because I’m busy.” I put the phone down, but I could hear David protesting as I did. Asking me who it was again and telling me just to go back to the vineyard. It was immature, but I was happy for him to think I was with another man. It served him right.