My Italian Doctor

Chapter Twenty Six

I excused myself from Aurora and headed down the stairs. If I was going to confront George, it had to be out of the way of everyone else. I headed down to one of the fields nearest the road. I wanted to be as far away as possible. The last thing I needed was anyone overhearing my conversation. I had already decided I would have to call him. I had no way of knowing if it was him sending the messages and not his wife.

I did one last check to make sure there was no one around and seated myself on the grass. Leaning up against a little grey brick wall before I hit the button to call him. With each ring, I got more and more nervous.

"Hey, beautiful."

"I need to speak to you."

"Is that not what we are doing right now?"

"Turn off the charm, George."

"What's wrong?"

"I met your wife last night."

"What? How?"

"So, you don't deny that you have a wife?" I couldn't believe he was being so matter-of-fact about it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"There was nothing much to tell. I told you she was my ex."

"Except she isn't your ex. She's your wife."

"Were separated. How did you meet her?"

"She messaged me from your phone to meet her, then accosted me in the toilets of a club. To tell me that you guys are still married and that I'm a whore."

"I don't understand... f**k, she must have taken my phone."

"Ya think?"

"She dropped Amiee at mine last night after I got back. Amiee didn't sleep well. She never does when she comes back from her mum's place. I was so busy trying to settle her, I didn't even realise my phone wasn't where I thought it was until the early hours and I was too tired to care about it. Sharon turned up this morning first thing with some things Amiee forgot. She must have taken it last night and then left it here again this morning."

"For an excuse, it's a bit far-fetched. Her and you still living together, as she said, makes much more sense. You said you split up years ago, so why would she confront me if you guys weren't together?"

"She's not exactly over it. I'll speak to her."

"You can do what you like. It's nothing to do with me anymore. I won't be dragged into the middle of your drama. First, you don't tell me you have a daughter, and then you fail to tell me you have a wife. They aren't small details. Is she your wife or not?"

"Yes, but we've not been together for years."

"So, why are you still married? Why not divorce her?"

"Because I'm catholic, Emily, we don't get divorced. I had no reason to. I planned to stay single. It was the only way not to go against my beliefs."

"If your beliefs are so important to you, why sleep with me? I'm pretty sure that breaks a s**t tonne of catholic rules."

"Because you came along. I didn't expect it. I didn't even want it, but the minute I set eyes on you, I had no choice in the matter."

"I don't believe a word you say anymore, George. You've hidden huge details of your life from me one too many times. When it was just a holiday romance, it would have been one thing, but you asked me to stay here with you. You made it something more serious, not me. You also promised we wouldn't keep things from each other."

"You sounded pretty serious when you said you loved me."

"Wow, you're going to use that against me now. I don't love you, George, I never loved you. It was just something I said. There was no meaning behind it. This thing between us, whatever it was, is over. I don't want to speak to you ever again." I put the phone down on him and let the tears flow. It might have been a lie, but it was one I needed to tell for my own sanity. I just needed to believe it myself, that I had never loved him, that he was nothing to me.

Within seconds, my phone beeped.

George: You can't just not talk to me.

Emily: Watch me.

George: Fine, I'll come to you.

Emily: Good luck with that. Not only am I not at the vineyard, but Aurora is. She was there when your wife turned on me, so good luck surviving her wrath.

George: Please, I can explain. You've got it all wrong.

I ignored the message and left my phone beeping away to itself in the grass. I felt like a weight had been lifted just by telling him it was over. One thing was for sure, I would not be heading back to the vineyard, just in case George did turn up. Before long I was snoozing in the grass. It was hardly surprising given how badly I had slept the night before.

I hadn't even realised I had drifted off until the shrill tones of my phone startled me awake. I checked it, despite assuming it was George, but I was wrong.

"Hey, Aurora. What's up?"

"You need to get back to the house now. Rylie's left."

"What do you mean, she has left?"

"I don't really know. Luca came back and found a note saying she had left for England early. That's all I know."

"I'll be there in five." I leapt to my feet and ran faster than I ever had before heading towards the house. I nearly fell over on uneven ground multiple times but kept going, regardless. When I finally crashed through the door, I could barely breathe and instantly bent over double, trying to catch my breath.

Everyone was seated around the kitchen table when I walked in. I joined them and took the glass of water Mamma passed me. Drinking deeply before trying to work out what was going on. "What's happened?"

"I got back about an hour ago. I had to bring Amelia back to collect her things and then dropped her at the nearest bus stop. I think Rylie must have seen me and jumped to conclusions."

"Well, after everything, what did you expect? Why didn't you give one of us a heads up?"

"I just wanted to get it over with and get her out of our lives for good. She left a note for Aurora at the cottage saying that she was leaving to catch a flight to England tonight." He dropped his head into his hands and I could see he already knew how badly he had screwed everything up and chose not to put the boot in.

"It's time I filled everyone in on what has happened. I've been in love with Rylie for years." I felt bad for him, he looked so broken.

"I thought you were telling us something we didn't already know." Aurora was clearly not happy with him and happily jibed at him.

"I got drunk one night and thought I had slept with Amelia, although it turns out that it didn't even happen. I didn't know that at the time. Amelia came to me afterwards and told me she was pregnant and essentially blackmailed me into getting married. Then recently I found out that she was never pregnant, to begin with. I've dipped into my inheritance to pay her off and get her out of our lives. She made threats to Rylie and the baby. That's why I made her come back with me to get her stuff so I could make sure she didn't get near Rylie."

"So what happens now, dear?" He smiled up at his mother, doubtless because she was the one friendly face around the table.

"I came back here to collect my things and then I was going to fly with Rylie and Emily back to England. I didn't want Rylie doing so much on her own, so I was going to go and help her pack up. Not to mention trying to make things right between us."

"Well, we have to find her." I was still annoyed with him, but there were more important things to think about. I watched as he ran up the stairs out of nowhere, leaving the rest of us looking at one another. He returned minutes later with Rylie's laptop and his suitcase. I watched as he set it up on the dining table and opened up her internet banking. I wasn't remotely surprised that he knew her banking details. She was hardly careful about concealing them. I knew them too.

After a few minutes of looking through the transaction on there, he looked up, confused. "There's a ticket for the Lake Garda ferry. Why on earth would she be on a ferry?"

"Don't look at me. I've got no idea." I really didn't. It seemed so random.

Pops looked awkwardly at the floor. "What is it Pops? You have to tell me." Luca and his dad had a strained relationship at the best of times and the revelations of the conversation wouldn't have helped matters. I could hear the begging in Luca's tone, I just wasn't sure Pops would cave to him.

"It was a private conversation." He looked over at his wife and that was all it took for him to know he had no choice but to spill everything he knew. "We talked about her father and I told her that the photograph she brought with her looked like the harbour at Malcesine. That's all I know, but she has a reason to go there and the ferry would get her there. It's the only reason I can think of."

"Keep trying to call her." That was all we got out of him before he grabbed his case and legged it out of the door. I heard the door slam on Pop's truck before it sped away from the house. The fool hadn't even bothered to tell us what his plan was. I picked up my phone and did as he asked, calling her multiple times, but it didn't even go through.