Chapter 14
‘You know when you’ve been looking forward to something so much that you know it’s going to be disappointing when it finally happens?’
‘Like when you’re a kid and you dream of getting a PlayStation for Christmas,’ said Leon, ‘and you end up with a new winter anorak instead?’
Lying in his arms in bed, Fen nodded. ‘Exactly like that.’
‘Go on then, break it to me. Am I the PlayStation or the anorak?’
She grinned, because they both knew the answer to that. Having waited long enough, they’d snuck away from everyone else shortly after dinner and come to Leon’s cabin. She’d never known it was possible for an evening to be so completely perfect.
And it wasn’t over yet.
‘You’re no anorak, put it that way. In fact, I’d say you’re pretty stupendous.
’ She ran her bare foot over his kneecap, along his shin and down to his toes.
Naked, he had an excellent body, tanned and finely muscled.
But even if it hadn’t been excellent, she knew she would still have just had the best sex of her life, because this was Leon and he was all she wanted.
With him, there were no inhibitions and no tension.
She was hot, naked and as happy and relaxed as it was possible to be with another person, which was what made the experience so extra-special.
‘You’re everything I’ve ever dreamt of.’ He kissed her shoulder as her fingers danced across his chest. ‘And I know that sounds OTT, but it’s true. All these years I’ve been waiting to meet the right person, and now I have. You’re the one.’
‘What a coincidence. So are you.’ She curled her arm around the back of his neck and pulled him in for another kiss.
‘I always hoped it would happen. But after a while, you start to wonder if it ever will.’
Gently, she bit his bottom lip. ‘You do.’
‘I guess I owe it all to Jamie for bringing me along with him on this trip.’
‘And Disa brought me.’
Leon slowly shook his head, brown eyes full of wonder. ‘What if they hadn’t? What if we’d never met? It doesn’t bear thinking about.’
‘But we don’t have to think about it. We’ve found each other. We’re here.’
They lay together in silence for a long moment.
Outside, the water lapped gently against the side of the ship.
Church bells began to chime, ringing in the hour.
Leon kissed her on the temple and murmured, ‘This, right here, is my favourite place in the world. This bed. This city. Everything about it is perfect. When I die, I want my ashes scattered here.’
Fen wrinkled her nose. ‘In this bed? Won’t someone else be sleeping in it?’
He laughed. ‘In the water, then. The Venetian lagoon. Will you make sure that happens?’
‘Me?’
He shrugged and stroked a strand of curly blonde hair out of her eye. ‘Well, I’m planning on living until I’m eighty-five, so we’ve got a while to go. We’ll have been married for over fifty years by then. You’d do that for me, wouldn’t you?’
Married! Of course he was saying it in a jokey way, but just the fact that he’d uttered the word made her quiver inwardly with delight.
There was no harm in picturing it, was there?
And what would he look like at eighty-five?
He might have lost all his hair and gained a lifetime of wrinkles, but he’d still be Leon.
And hopefully she’d still love him. She couldn’t imagine not doing so.
She pulled him closer. ‘If it’s what you want, of course I will. ’
‘He’s so fit,’ Kayla sighed. ‘He’s out of this world. And he has the best arms I’ve ever seen.’
‘Did he pay you back the money he owed you?’
‘Not yet. But he will.’
‘Did you ask him?’
‘Yes, because that’s the best way to make a man fall for you and want to see you again. Always a good look, nagging and complaining like an old fishwife.’
Hattie gave up. It was seven in the morning and Kayla had just floated into the cabin after spending a second night with Angelo the gondolier. At least this time she’d messaged Hattie at midnight to let her know.
‘I think you’re jealous because you don’t have anyone.’ Kayla stretched like a cat and yawned happily. ‘You were OK here, though, were you? Anything exciting happen?’
‘Just had a quiet evening.’ Hattie kept her tone casual. ‘There was a singer in the bar, he was really good.’
‘Did you have wild sex with him?’
‘Funnily enough, no.’
‘You should try it sometime. It’s fun!’
Yes, but I snogged my ex . . .
She didn’t say it, couldn’t take the risk. Kayla would never deliberately cause trouble, but sometimes words spilled out before she’d had time to wonder if it might be a better idea to keep some thrilling bit of newly discovered gossip to herself.
‘The singer’s wife was with him,’ Hattie said. ‘And he was at least seventy.’
Kayla yawned. ‘All this sex is exhausting. Will you be OK on your own today?’
Hattie nodded. This might not be turning out to be the holiday she’d been expecting, but Venice had captured her heart nonetheless. ‘I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. The private tour of the Doge’s Palace starts at nine.’
‘Wow.’ Another noisy yawn while Kayla shed her clothes. ‘So much excitement, I can’t believe I’m going to miss it. Give my love to the Doge, won’t you? Whatever a Doge might be.’
‘It’s going to be so interesting.’ Hattie had been reading up on the history of the city.
‘The palace sounds stunning, and we get to visit the prison too, connected to it by the Bridge of Sighs. It’s called that because men sentenced for execution would glimpse the lagoon through the stone windows and know it was the last time they’d ever be able to see the city they loved. ’
‘Fascinating.’ Spread-eagled face down on her bed, Kayla spoke in a muffled voice. ‘Absolutely riveting, but could you shush now, I have to sleep.’
The sun was setting in an apricot sky, the warm evening air in central Venice was heavy with garlicky cooking smells, and the sounds of an orchestra playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons drifted out from a nearby church.
The five of them were seated around an oval table outside the restaurant, in a small square lined with bars and shops and buzzing with tourists and locals alike.
Despite slathering on suncream during their afternoon on the island of Torcello, Fen could feel the heat blooming on her bare shoulders and see the veil of pinkness that would hopefully fade to brown by tomorrow.
Out of sight beneath the tabletop, Leon was holding her hand, slowly stroking her knuckles with his thumb while simultaneously resting the outside of his thigh against her own bare leg.
It was like the most delicious secret, because no one else had any idea it was going on, which made it even more of a thrill.
Until the waiter arrived with their main courses, and while everyone else’s attention was diverted, Jamie caught her eye across the table and murmured, ‘Sure you’re going to be able to concentrate on the food? ’
The low sun was shining directly into his sapphire-blue eyes as he observed her with amusement; the secret evidently wasn’t so secret after all. Determined not to blush, Fen glanced at Molly, sitting to his right, then back at Jamie, and drawled with matching sangfroid, ‘Are you?’
If he was making fun of her, she could make fun right back.
Because at this moment Molly might be comparing her food with Disa’s, but for the last forty-five minutes she’d evidently been finding it hard to tear her attention away from Jamie.
Seeing him again this evening had caused her face to visibly light up; her interest in him was unmistakable.
Now, as she turned to bring him into the conversation, lightly touching his arm as she did so, Fen watched and wondered if Jamie was as attracted to her as Molly was to him.
In a few days, this holiday would be over and he’d be flying back to the UK.
Thank goodness she and Leon would be heading back together.
Having also noticed the goings-on across the table, Leon gave her knee a squeeze.
Jamie was telling Disa he wanted to buy a Murano glass necklace for his mother.
Clasping his wrist, Molly exclaimed, ‘I can definitely help you with that – I know all the best shops. There’s one a couple of streets from here that has the most fantastic designs, and the owner doesn’t rip you off – I can show you where it is before it closes! ’
The rest of the food was arriving at their table, looking and smelling as superb as the online reviews had promised.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ said Jamie.
An hour later, the next two courses had been eaten and cleared away.
Wine and espressos were still being enjoyed and Disa had charmed their waiter into taking photos of the five of them as reminders of the evening.
Molly looked at Jamie’s watch and said, ‘That jewellery shop will be closing soon. We should shoot over there now.’
‘I haven’t finished my drink.’ Disa raised her slender glass of Strega, the clear yellow liqueur gleaming like a tiger’s eye in the candlelight. ‘You two go. We’ll wait here for you.’
‘Won’t be long.’ Jamie rose to his feet and Molly jumped up too.
‘We’ll find your mum something fabulous,’ she promised, looping her arm through his.
They disappeared together into one of the narrow streets leading off the square, and Disa said wryly, ‘So much for my matchmaking talents. I didn’t expect this to happen.’
‘Jamie’s like one of those giant magnets,’ Leon said cheerfully. ‘All he has to do is look at a woman, and donkkk, she superglues herself to him.’
‘Not every woman.’ Disa indicated Fen at his side.
‘Not every woman,’ he agreed, giving Fen’s waist a squeeze. ‘Thank goodness. But it happens pretty much all the time. You should see the way they—’
‘NOOOO!’ A panicky shout rang out behind them, and they swivelled round to see an older woman, another customer of the restaurant, grappling with a teenage boy who’d lunged at the expensive-looking leather shoulder bag she’d left hanging over the back of her chair.
‘Get off, get off.’ The woman, who was American, was fighting a losing battle, and her husband, also yelling, was too frail to help.
But Leon was already on his feet, his chair falling back with a clatter as he shot over to them, just as the teenager won the struggle for the bag and began to race away.
Leon took off after him like a bullet, scattering a group of pigeons, which flew up in alarm.
Everyone in the vicinity was watching them now, and a few people were shouting at the thief to stop, but no one else had joined the chase, possibly because Leon was gaining ground.
As the boy reached the edge of the square and was about to disappear down a narrow alleyway, Leon caught up with him and managed to grab the strap of the woman’s bag.
A brief furious tussle ensued, and the boy swung him round, slamming him into the wall with such force that Leon let out a gasp of pain and collapsed to the ground.
But he still had the bag clutched to his chest. The boy began frenziedly kicking at him to release it, but Leon refused to let go.
The next moment, twisting round and kicking out himself, he made contact with the teenager’s leg, causing the thief to yelp, curse and abandon his hold on the strap.
The boy spun round and raced off down the alleyway, vanishing in less than a second.