Chapter 9
Juliette
“There are worse things than being stuck here, that’s for sure.” I sipped my cappuccino.
Wes stretched his legs out. “I’d have to agree with you on that.”
We’d just parked ourselves at a table in front of a café in Fanusa, a neighboring village, after picking up a bathing suit for Wes. He’d been oddly resistant, but we got the task done.
We’d spent the morning on a bike ride exploring the area and were on our way back to Ortigia.
The bikes had been in storage at my grandmother’s property, and it seemed a shame not to put them to use.
I’d nearly forgotten how beautiful it was here: the sun-bleached limestone streets, turquoise water, and open-air markets.
I turned to him. “I don’t think I realized how damn stressful it’s been living in the States lately until I got here. It’s exhausting feeling like I have to watch my back every second.”
He nodded. “I do understand what it’s like to watch your back every second. That’s my job.”
“My literal backside you mean?” I winked. “I don’t think that was part of the job.”
It was bad enough that I’d given Wes that poolside burlesque show yesterday after we arrived. Did I need to pour salt in the wound by bringing it up? It was just too much fun to mess with him.
“Keep your literal backside and your literal front side to yourself from now on, please. Maybe get a swimsuit that actually covers your ass, while you’re at it. For someone who was hung up on my shirtless chest for so long, you sure as hell changed your tune.”
“It’s Italy.” I shrugged. “I feel like a new woman here.”
“Yeah, well, tell her to cover up, whoever she is.” He scoffed.
I chuckled and looked around. “Have you ever seen such beautiful architecture in your life?”
Wes licked foam from the corner of his mouth. “An earthquake decimated this place back in the late 1600s. Everything had to be rebuilt. All of the intricate ironwork and beautiful designs you see today come from that.”
I raised my brow. “Someone’s been studying the history of Ortigia?”
“I was up for a bit last night reading about it online. Had trouble sleeping.”
“Any particular reason you had trouble sleeping last night?”
“Not one you’d be interested in.” He crushed his empty cup.
I sighed as I sipped the last of my coffee. “Any guesses on how long we’ll be here?”
“No clue. Vince hasn’t given me any guidance on that.”
“Well, just for the record…” I held up my empty cup in a salute. “I’m in no rush to head back.”
“This from someone who didn’t even want to get on the plane.” Wes laughed.
I waved that away. “That was mostly defiance over my father controlling my life. But I’d also forgotten how peaceful it is here. Seriously, why would anyone choose to live where we do when you can live like this every day?”
“Money?” He chuckled. “It’s a little expensive for most people to just take off and live someplace like this. Unless you can find work here, I suppose.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Or in my case…” he continued. “I can’t live where I want because I’m indebted to a mobster for life. I just happened to get lucky when he sent us here.”
“Well, I’m also bound to him for life. So we have that in common.” I sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll have a job to go back to in California. I’m missing so much work being here.”
“Can’t you do some of it remotely? I mean, I would think you can write screenplays from anywhere.”
“I can, but I’m constantly getting called into meetings, and in Hollywood, they like to do everything in person over expensive coffee, so I can only get by for so long being MIA.”
“I hear you…”
We eventually got back on our bikes and returned to the house. I was ready for an afternoon nap when there was a knock at the door.
Wes’s body immediately went rigid. We should’ve been safe here, but it was a bit jarring since we weren’t expecting anyone; we knew no one here.
Wes headed to the door and cautiously opened it. “Can I help you?” he asked.
A woman with dark hair pulled back into a bun stood at the threshold. She held a plate of something. “Ah, you are American. I suspected that,” she said in an Italian accent.
“And you are?” he asked.
“I’m your neighbor, Natalia Romano.”
She seemed safe enough, so I stepped forward and introduced myself.
“I’m Juliette.” I turned to him. “And this is Wes.”
“Are you visiting, or have you moved here?”
“Visiting.” I smiled. “Well, it’s a bit longer than a quick visit, but not permanent, either.”
“An extended stay,” Wes chimed in.
“Well, I wanted to welcome you.” She set the plate on the entry table.
“I brought you some bread I baked. Our houses are so close together, it felt wrong not to stop by. There’s rarely anyone here.
I know the woman who takes care of the property for the owners, and she mostly just keeps the place clean. ”
“Thank you so much for the bread. That’s very kind,” I said. “How long have you lived in the house next door?”
“Only a year. The house belonged to my grandmother. My mother inherited it after Nonna died, and I bought it from Mama. My husband, Mario, owns one of the shops here in the town.”
“Oh, we’d love to visit his store.” I beamed, deciding to keep my own grandmother story private. “What does your husband sell?”
“What doesn’t he sell is more like it—ceramics, jewelry, perfumes…”
“Does he sell one-piece bathing suits?” Wes asked her.
I rolled my eyes.
“Never mind him.” I shook my head. “We’ll definitely check the store out. What’s the name of it?”
“La Conchiglia. It means the seashell in English.”
Wes turned to me. “Maybe we can get you an early anniversary present there.”
I narrowed my eyes. He was pretending to be my partner. We hadn’t discussed how to explain ourselves to people here. And now he’d made the decision for us.
“How long have you two been married?” she asked.
I began to explain, “Oh, we’re not married—”
“We’ve been dating for five years,” Wes interrupted.
“How nice…” She grinned.
“Yeah…” I muttered.
“Do you have plans for dinner tonight? I’d love to have you over.”
“We don’t, actually,” I answered. What the hell? She seemed nice.
“I’m making fried eggplant, pasta, and ricotta salad.”
“That sounds absolutely delicious.” My stomach growled just thinking about it. “What can we bring?”
“Please. Just yourselves.”
“Nonsense,” Wes said. “We’ll pick up dessert at that bakery down the road.”
“If you must…” She shrugged.
“What time should we be there?” I asked.
“Nine thirty? Does that sound good?”
“Sounds wonderful.” I grinned.
“See you then!” Natalia waved before heading back toward her house.
After the door shut, Wes chuckled. “Nine thirty for dinner? That’s a little late, isn’t it?”
“Not in Italy. Dinner is later here than in the US.”
“Ah, yeah. I should’ve known.”
I crossed my arms. “Why did you tell her we were a couple?”
“Are you forgetting that people aren’t supposed to know what we’re doing here together? There’s no other explanation that would make sense.”
“You could’ve said you were my brother or something…”
“That would be weird. I’m not that good of an actor.”
“If we have to pretend anyway, what’s the difference?” I tilted my head.
“Because I probably don’t look at you like you’re my sister. And it would be creepy if they caught me checking out my sibling.”
“Ah, so now you admit to checking me out.”
“And you now like testing me.” He glared. “I’m only human.”
“You weren’t testing me every time you walked around the house without a shirt on?”
“No, I truly wasn’t, Juliette,” he said, not a hint of sarcasm on his face.
Actually, I believed that, and I needed to stop while I was ahead.
I changed the subject. “Well, now that we’re going to dinner at the neighbor’s house, we have to come up with a story and make sure we’re both on the same page. Who should we be tonight?”
“You already gave her our real names, which was dumb. But as far as who we should be… Let’s be who we wish we could be…”
“Who’s that for you?”
He paused for a moment. “I’m a cop. Let’s say in LA—since we have to be in the same city in order for this to work out.
We probably don’t live together yet because you keep the damn house too hot.
” He winked. “I own a modest, ranch-style home in a quiet neighborhood right down the road from you. I have a big German shepherd named Knight. You and I will probably move in together eventually, once we’re engaged, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Life is good, honestly.” He raised his chin. “What about you?”
I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fantasize for a moment.
“I just sold my first screenplay for a major motion picture. My parents are so proud of me—they’re together back in New York.
My father is a used-car salesman with no rap sheet.
My mother is a teacher. I had a pretty uneventful childhood in a loving, happy home.
I met you when you stopped me for speeding, but we didn’t start dating until you recognized me at a bar a month later. ”
“Nice.” He laughed. “I think that’s a good start on the basic fundamentals. We can wing the rest.”
That sounded dangerous.
***
“How long will you stay?” Natalia asked us from across the table.
“We’re not sure yet.” I turned to Wes and smiled. “We’re sort of seeing where the wind takes us with this trip.”
Their house was gorgeous, featuring high ceilings with dark wooden beams and ceramic-tile floors.
Vibrant artwork covered the walls, which were painted in bright colors like terracotta and aqua.
While they had two children—a twelve-year-old girl and ten-year-old boy—the kids hadn’t wanted to join us for dinner, each retreating to their room to do homework after briefly coming out to meet us.
Mario turned to Wes. “How were you able to get time off from your work as a cop?”
That was a damn good question.