Chapter 25
25
ROSE
After hours of driving, Rose pulled into the driveway at Villa Paradise and switched off the Citroen before laying her head on the steering wheel.
She waited a beat until her pulse finally steadied.
Beside her in the passenger seat, Coco let out a long, contented sigh.
‘We’re back.’ She carefully pried the bag she’d got from the curiosity shop from beside the dog and opened the door.
‘You’re home!’ Aurora boomed, suddenly appearing from around the corner of the villa.
She leaned down to pat the shih tzu, who’d exited the car out of the driver’s side and immediately bounded up to say hello.
‘Is your emission accomplished?’ Aurora asked.
Rose nodded and rattled the bag.
‘My mission was a complete success.’ She smiled as she looked around, turning back to see the older woman holding up a mobile phone.
‘This is fantastico . Your aura says you had a good journey,’ the clairvoyant declared, beaming before pointing the phone at the dog.
‘And Coco is relaxed too.’ She glanced up, looking curious.
‘You have put your differences behind you?’ she asked.
‘You both have vibrant colours – the drive was not too stressful it seems.’
‘It improved,’ Rose told her.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever love being in a car, but somehow driving to Montotta had helped her to murder a few long-held demons.
She glanced at Coco.
Old and new.
‘What’s with the phone, I thought you didn’t have one?
’ she asked as Aurora continued to hold it up, gazing through it intently as she swept it back and forth, checking their surroundings.
‘It talks to me even more than my spirits,’ Aurora declared as it pinged in her hand.
‘But it has aura and tarot card apps. I thought I’d try them out.
Aldo says it’s good for me to be part of the future.
’ She frowned suddenly looking mournful.
‘But Luna’s aura is very dark.
Her heart is broken.
’
‘Hopefully, I’ll be able to help with that.
Where did you get the phone?
’ Rose asked, hoping her suspicions were correct.
‘Cesare.’ The older woman’s forehead creased.
‘He said he had no need for it anymore. Told me I can keep it. I didn’t want it at first, but then Cesare told me about the apps.
’
Rose nodded, trying not to smile.
The chat she’d had with Marco’s grandfather after speaking with Isabella had obviously reaped rewards.
She’d told him about Isabella’s heartbreak, how he’d been ignoring her for the past few months and encouraged him to think about parting with his phone – he’d clearly decided to listen to her advice.
She glanced towards the garden.
‘Do you know where he is now?’
The older woman waggled her eyebrows looking delighted.
‘Sitting in the garden with Isabella. If you go now, you might catch them. Their auras are very green.’ Her eyes flashed.
‘That means they are excommunicating .’
‘Do you mean communicating ?’ Rose guessed and Aurora nodded.
‘I’ll go and see them now, then I need to track down Luna.
’ Wherever her friend was hiding.
‘She’s still in my bedroom,’ Aurora told her, putting the phone back in her billowing pocket.
‘I’m about to go and see if she wants something to eat.
She’s starved herself all afternoon.
’
‘Can you tell her that I’ll come and join you in a moment please?
I’ve got some things to explain and make up for.
’ Rose glanced at the bag she was carrying, hoping it would be enough.
‘Of course, leonessa .’ Aurora smiled.
‘We will see you soon.’ She nodded at Coco and signalled towards the villa with her chin.
The dog sniffed a couple of times, before trotting up to Rose and rubbing her small body against her leg in a gesture of, what…
? Solidarity, friendship, insanity ?
Baffled, Rose gazed down at her, then she watched as Coco followed the older woman inside.
Rose could see Cesare and Isabella as she wandered slowly through the garden, watching the last rays of the sun begin to disappear.
They were sitting at a small table set up equidistant between their two houses.
Beside the table was a pot and as Rose drew closer, she could see a tiny shoot emerging from the inside.
Was it the olive tree?
‘Rose,’ Isabella said as she looked up and spotted her.
She waved a glass of wine indicating that she should take a seat before disappearing into her house.
Cesare sat concentrating.
He was gluing pieces onto the fertility statue, and it was obvious he’d been working on it for a while.
The fragments that Isabella had stuck in the wrong places had been put right and the original form was beginning to re-emerge.
‘You’re doing a great job,’ Rose said as she sat and watched him work.
Were the couple still planning to give the statue to Luna and Marco?
If so, she’d have to ask Marco to stage an intervention.
The gift wouldn’t help their cause.
Isabella returned and put a glass of crisp white wine in front of her.
‘My husband is doing well.’ Her eyes twinkled as she gazed at him.
‘I want to thank you for speaking with us both today.’ Her voice was thick with emotion.
The older man nodded.
‘You helped to fix what couldn’t be fixed.
’ He nodded to the shoot and then the statue, before beaming at his wife.
‘And now we are beginning again, together. All in a new spot.’ He waved his hand at the pot and then their houses.
‘You gave your phone to Aurora,’ Rose commented, sipping some of her drink which tasted tart and refreshing.
She could hear crickets singing in the olive grove, could smell heat and sunscreen and was reminded of Ben.
Her stomach did a slow somersault, but she ignored it.
She might have helped to heal this couple’s relationship, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever mend what had broken between her and Ben.
All those words that couldn’t be unsaid, all that misunderstanding…
Cesare shrugged. ‘I no longer need my phone. I’ve got more important things to keep me occupied.
My wife has given me a long list of tasks.
’ His eyes sparkled and he picked up the glue and another piece of the statue and waved it before winking at Isabella who flushed endearingly.
Rose leaned back in her chair enjoying the sensation of a job well done.
All those years of working with her parents and she’d never come close to healing any of their relationships.
Perhaps it was easier when people wanted to make the changes?
‘Marco came to see me earlier,’ Isabella said.
‘He said perhaps the statue isn’t the best gift for him and Luna at the moment.
He didn’t want to upset me, but he said they wish to wait for their bambini .
That getting married is just about them.
’ She frowned. ‘Perhaps this is okay. Marriage—’ She gave her husband a long look.
‘Will be good for my grandson I think.’
‘It’s finita !
’ Cesare declared as he put down the glue.
Then he carefully spun the statue around, before pushing it across the table towards Rose.
‘Which is why we’ve decided to give it to you!
’ Isabella said, clapping her hands.
‘To thank you for what you have done for me and Cesare.’
Rose gulped as she stared into the statue’s face.
It looked like it was laughing at her.
‘We’ll give it to you tomorrow after the wedding, once it’s dry,’ Isabella said.
‘For now.’ She glanced towards her house.
‘I have things to do.’ She winked at Cesare.
‘And we both have a wedding outfit to find.’
Aurora opened the door to her bedroom just as Rose arrived.
From where she was standing in the hallway, Rose could see Luna looking solemn sat on the bed beside Coco.
Her friend jumped up as soon as she entered the room and Aurora shut the door.
Then the shih tzu hopped off the bed too and came to rub herself against Rose’s leg.
‘Woah,’ Rose said, startled.
‘I’m really not sure what that behaviour means.
’ She stared down at the dog, baffled.
She’d expected Coco to revert to normal as soon as they got back to the villa.
This was odd.
‘It means she’s starting to like you,’ Luna said, sounding shocked.
‘ Finally . What did you do?’
Rose considered, still staring at Coco.
‘The demon came for a drive with me this afternoon to keep me company. Then instead of biting, she licked me when I started to get stressed.’
‘Aldo says it’s because you showed her your true self — your vulnerability,’ Aurora interrupted.
‘You drove?’ Luna gasped, her dog instantly forgotten.
‘What possessed you?’
‘It was about time…I’ve held onto that fear for far too long.
’ She paused absorbing the truth, considering how many years she’d wasted.
‘Besides, I had something important to pick up.’ She offered Luna the bag.
‘I owe you an apology.’
‘Why?’ Luna frowned but took the package.
‘I know I got upset with you earlier, but I’ve had time to think, and I know you’ve always had my best interests at heart.
’ She sighed and went to slump on the edge of the bed.
‘The engagement all happened in such a rush. I should have listened to you. Marrying Marco tomorrow would have been an awful mistake, you were right.’ She grimaced.
‘I was wrong , Luna,’ Rose said, feeling the punch of the words in her chest. The truth of them.
‘I can see that so clearly now. Marco loves you.’
Luna’s eyes widened to almost twice their normal size.
‘Sorry?’ she spluttered.
‘What’s happened? Did being in the car rewire your brain or something?
’ She frowned. ‘A few hours ago, we found out the man I love asked Ben to seduce you to keep you out of the way.’ Her voice rose an octave.
‘Worse than that, Ben did.’
Rose felt something pinch in her chest. ‘It was a misunderstanding.’ She sighed as she went to sit on the bed beside her friend.
‘You know I have trouble trusting people. I’m always looking for problems. I’ve spent a lifetime homing in on them – even the ones that weren’t really there.
’
When Luna opened her mouth, Rose held up a palm.
‘As a psychologist I know better than anyone what the root cause of that is.’ She winced.
‘But how could I spend my life trying to fix relationships, when I’m not even sure I ever truly believed that a healthy one was possible?
’ she pondered unhappily.
‘I’ve looked for perfection and then jabbed and criticised when I didn’t find it.
’ She felt ashamed. ‘Because there’s no such thing as perfection.
At least not when it comes to two people trying to make each other happy.
’
She thought about Aldo and Aurora, about Isabella and Cesare, about her clients.
Their marriages weren’t perfect, but somehow, despite that, they could and did thrive.
‘Things can work, but you can’t always rely on rigid rules.
It’s up to the individuals to discover the right path for them.
I’m not saying I’m always wrong, I’m just saying…
’ She screwed up her nose as she tried to find her way through the words, to articulate everything she’d recognised since her conversation with Ben.
‘I might need to ease up a little.’ Her voice lowered.
‘Marco loves you. You light up when you’re around him and he does the same.
You’re supposed to be together.
’
‘But we’re so different,’ Luna complained.
‘You said so yourself. He doesn’t even like tea!
’
Rose shrugged. ‘When I saw him earlier, he was drinking a cup.’ She didn’t add that he still hated it.
‘That tells me a lot. It means he’s prepared to try it for you.
He wants to make you happy.
For your relationship to work.
So he lost his head for a bit, made some stupid decisions.
I think what really counts is that he wants to put them right.
’
He was willing to learn and change, something neither of Rose’s parents had ever wanted to do.
Instead, they made the same mistakes over and over, continually pulling her into their mess.
It had coloured everything for her.
Ben was right, it was time for her to walk away.
‘He wants to put them right?’ Luna cooed, her face brightening.
Rose nodded. ‘But he can’t unless you talk to him.
’
Her friend frowned.
‘I suppose I could.’ She swallowed, brushing a hand across her face looking unsure.
‘But the wedding still can’t happen tomorrow.
Mum’s not here, my grandmother’s necklace is gone, and Isabella is refusing to come.
’ Tears pricked her eyes, and she blinked, shaking her head.
‘That’s just too much wrong for it to be right.
’
‘What if I told you your mum’s agreed to catch her flight in the morning.
She’s going to arrive in plenty of time for the ceremony,’ Rose said as Luna’s unhappy expression changed to shocked.
‘I’ve spoken to Marco’s grandparents too.
’ She smiled. ‘They’ve decided to come to the wedding, after all, together.
’
Luna’s jaw dropped.
‘How did you pull that off?’
Rose gave Aurora a quick wink.
‘Let’s just say I used my intuition.
Plus, I talked and they listened.
There really wasn’t much more to it than that.
’
Luna’s answering smile suddenly dimmed.
‘But what about my grandmother’s necklace?
Even you can’t do anything about that,’ she said quietly.
‘I can’t help your mum find it if I’m still in Italy,’ Rose agreed.
‘But I’m hoping this might make up for it a little.
I know it’s not the same, but perhaps it’s the start of a new tradition.
’ She nudged the bag that Luna had put on the bed towards her.
Then watched her friend take out the velvet blue box the owner of the curiosity shop had placed inside.
Luna opened it and gasped.
‘It’s a sapphire necklace,’ she gushed, taking the jewellery out and holding it up, watching it sparkle when the light overhead caught in the vibrant blue stones.
‘It’s not exactly the same as my grandmother’s — but it’s silver and it looks old.
’
‘It is…I bought it for you, it’s yours.
’ It was the one she’d seen when she’d gone with Ben to pick up the fertility statue.
If she was feeling fanciful, she might even say it was like it was meant to be.
Aldo or Aurora would probably tell her the same.
Rose took a smaller box out of her pocket and opened it.
‘I brought these sapphire earrings to go with it – for me.’
‘It’s like they were made for each other!
’ Luna cried, bouncing excitedly.
‘I thought you could borrow them tomorrow. Something old, something blue…’
‘Something borrowed,’ Luna finished, grinning and then leaping forward and wrapping Rose in a hug.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
‘I can’t believe you put my wedding back together.
’ She drew back suddenly, and her expression turned stormy.
‘But what about Ben? Aren’t you furious with him?
Surely, you don’t want to be maid of honour with him as the best man?
’
Rose shrugged. ‘It’ll be okay.
I think we got him wrong.
He’s a good man. Besides, I think we’re both adult enough to stand side by side and watch our favourite people in the world get married.
’
‘Are you sure?’ Luna asked.
‘I’m sure.’ Rose felt the churn in her stomach again.
It would be hard, but she’d do it for her friend.
She sighed. ‘But it’s up to you now, Luna.
The only thing that really matters is whether you want to do this.
Do you want to be with Marco for the rest of your life?
’
‘I do!’ Luna whispered, then louder, ‘I do, I do, I do!’ She suddenly vaulted off the bed making Coco bark frantically.
Then her friend swung open the bedroom door and bolted into the hallway, on her way to track down her fiancé.
Rose followed, pausing on the threshold and savouring Luna’s happiness, as she allowed herself to wish just for a moment, that things could be different for her…