Chapter 24
24
ROSE
Ben was right.
She’d got everything wrong.
Everything . Rose paced across the garden shaking her head as she searched for Luna before checking her watch.
It was almost midday, and she had a lot to get sorted if the wedding was going to go ahead tomorrow.
As Isabella had said, some things could and should be fixed, and Rose was going to do everything she could to make sure they were.
But the first thing she had to do was call Luna’s mum.
She stopped by the swimming pool and quickly dialled Deborah Kennedy’s number while she watched sunlight throw multicoloured sparkles across the water.
‘Rose?’ Deborah answered swiftly.
‘Is everything okay with Luna? She told me the wedding’s been cancelled.
’ She sounded miserable.
‘It has,’ Rose said carefully.
‘At least for now.’
‘It’s awful,’ Deborah wailed.
‘I feel like it’s all my fault.
I lost my mother’s necklace and then Luna decided to call the whole thing off.
’
‘I know,’ Rose soothed, pacing to the edge of the pool.
‘But everything’s going to be okay.
’ She was going to make sure of it.
The older woman ignored her — too caught up in her own unfolding disaster.
‘I’ve called the taxi and train company, but either they haven’t found the necklace yet or no one’s handed it in.
’ Her voice wobbled, the emotion in it almost tangible.
‘I double-checked in the hotel too, but I can’t find it anywhere.
’ She sobbed, which was out of character for the normally calm and efficient scientist. Rose went to sit on a bench beside the pool, the one she’d seen Marco and Ben talking at just a few hours ago, trying not to go over everything she’d heard.
Analysing it, remembering all of Ben’s denials — how she’d ignored them — wasn’t going to help fix anything.
‘The necklace has been in my family for generations. Luna was supposed to wear it tomorrow. She’s devastated,’ Deborah sniffed.
Rose sighed. ‘I’m going to put everything right.
But first, I need to tell you none of this is your fault and second, I’m going to sort it, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.
’ She pulled a face because she had no idea if she could really pull it off.
Her stomach was already in knots anticipating what she was going to have to do this afternoon, the familiar fear gnawing at her insides.
She was terrified, but knew she had to finally face her fear and move on.
‘You didn’t cancel your flight, did you?
’ she checked, praying the older woman hadn’t got around to it.
‘No.’ Deborah sighed.
‘I’ve spent all morning trying to track the necklace down.
’
‘Don’t cancel,’ Rose ordered, momentarily shutting her eyes as a wave of relief rolled over her.
At least one thing had gone her way.
‘Catch the flight, but don’t tell Luna you’re coming yet.
’
‘Why not?’ Deborah asked, sounding surprised.
‘Because I’ve got a lot to do before I convince her to go ahead with the wedding,’ Rose confessed.
‘And she’ll just tell you not to come.
’
‘But what about the necklace?’ Deborah asked.
‘She needs something old, borrowed and blue. She won’t marry Marco without it.
How are you going to solve that if I can’t find it?
’
‘Leave it with me,’ Rose said, smiling as she drummed her fingers on the bench.
‘The Love Doctor has a plan.’ And for once it had everything to do with bringing a couple together again.
Rose paced around the Citroen clutching the car keys like an amulet.
She could do this. She wasn’t afraid.
It was time to move beyond the memories of her childhood.
To finally release herself from the things that had held her back for so many years.
Her rules, anxieties, prejudices, everything had to change.
Starting with this.
She took in a long breath as she reached for the door handle on the driver’s side and almost jumped out of her skin when Coco suddenly barked.
Rose spun around, expecting to find Luna, but instead she saw Aurora standing on the driveway in a glittery orange dress.
She looked magnificent.
‘ Leonessa ,’ the clairvoyant said approvingly.
‘Aldo told me I’d find you here.
You are finally facing your demon, si ?
’ She nodded at the car as the shih tzu came bounding up to Rose and growled.
‘Which one?’ Rose asked dryly, keeping one eye on the dog’s jaws.
‘And where’s Luna?’
‘She is sleeping in my room,’ the older woman soothed.
‘She’s upset and I said she could hide away in there and lick her, what do you say, wombs .
’
‘I think you mean wounds,’ Rose said.
‘Perhaps.’ Aurora nodded, looking serious.
‘Aldo says you are going to fix the wedding,’ she added, her gaze travelling back to the car.
‘You have places to go?’
Rose nodded, feeling a fresh bubble of anxiety climb up her throat.
‘I’ve not got much time,’ she croaked, before turning and opening the driver’s door.
Coco let out a delighted bark and immediately scrambled onto the passenger seat.
‘Get out!’ Rose demanded, skirting around to the other door and yanking it open.
She signalled to the dog that it needed to move, but Coco simply growled.
‘It seems you will have some company on your journey. Perhaps you two need some time alone?’
‘I don’t know why,’ Rose muttered.
‘She hates me.’ She signalled to the dog to move again, but Coco didn’t budge.
‘I haven’t got time for this!
If you’re coming, you need to get in the back,’ Rose muttered angrily, slamming the door.
If the dog wanted to come, she wasn’t going to try to move her — she valued her limbs too highly.
She turned back to Aurora.
‘I need you to speak to Leonardo, Elena and Francesca, to tell them to make sure everything’s ready for the wedding tomorrow.
Marco already knows.
’ Rose walked around to the driver’s side again, expecting the older woman to ask her more.
‘It’s going to go ahead.
’
‘Already done.’ Aurora grinned.
‘How? I only just decided,’ Rose asked, but Aurora simply tapped her temples.
‘ Aldo …’ Rose muttered.
Or just powerful intuition.
‘Of course!’ the older woman chuckled.
‘Oh, and I just saw Isabella and Cesare walking towards the olive grove. I believe you had something to do with that too?’
Rose shrugged.
Cesare had obviously finally persuaded his wife to go and look at the new olive tree shoot, but Rose doubted that would fix things between them.
She only hoped the older man would listen to the other advice she’d given when they’d spoken earlier.
Getting Isabella to agree to go to the wedding was one of the final tasks she had to complete, but she wasn’t convinced Marco’s Nonna was ready to let go of her resentment yet.
‘It’s not the time to worry about that now,’ she muttered, taking in a deep breath and climbing into the car before moving the seat backwards and forwards to get it in the right place.
She switched on the engine and saw Aurora wave.
Rose felt her chest grow heavy.
‘Aldo says remember to breathe,’ Aurora shouted.
‘Great advice.’ Rose swallowed.
‘I can do this,’ she murmured, switching off the airbag for the front seat because the demon was clearly not going to budge, then putting the sat nav on and programming in the address, grateful she could remember it.
When the voice said something loudly in Italian, Rose momentarily closed her eyes.
‘Aldo, I don’t believe you exist, but I could really use your directions right now,’ she muttered as she took off the handbrake and Coco let out a joyful bark.
‘Weird time to become my cheerleader,’ Rose grumbled, giving the shih tzu a distrustful look.
Was the dog lulling her into a false sense of security – did the demon plan to murder her on the way?
She put her foot on the accelerator, ignoring the drone of the sat nav as the voice continued to give her instructions, and she steered the car slowly down the driveway.
A car whizzed past the Citroen on the motorway and Rose had to stop herself from slamming on the brakes and screaming.
She swallowed, her chest heaving, her forehead dripping with sweat, despite the air conditioning being turned up so high her hands were almost blue.
‘Only an hour to go,’ she croaked to Coco, checking on the dog who was curled up on the front seat looking like an angel – a fallen one in any case.
She hadn’t moved or made a sound since the journey had begun and her company was oddly reassuring.
Which meant Rose was clearly going mad.
Rose sighed and took in a long breath.
Then again, the drive so far had been uneventful, aside from the heavy traffic which just kept building.
But she was tired, probably because she was so stressed.
Her head hurt and she could only hope that when they arrived at their destination, she’d be able to park easily.
She had to pick something up and then head back to Bellemilia in time to speak to Luna so she could convince her to go ahead with the wedding.
Hopefully, she’d still have time left to speak to Isabella and Cesare too.
A car beeped behind them, getting too close, and Rose shrieked, gripping the steering wheel tighter, remembering Ben’s hands clutching it in the same way.
He had good hands, tanned and large, and hers seemed so small in comparison.
She kept her gaze on the road, trying to concentrate on breathing as her mind wandered to the night in the cellar.
Would he ever forgive her for being such a coward, for rejecting him when he’d allowed himself to have feelings for her?
Another car shot past, its engine firing loudly, and Rose let out another loud shriek.
Her brain trapezed to the moment in Paris when her parents had been arguing.
She could almost hear the crunch of metal, the churn in her stomach as the car had rolled – it had been chaotic and terrifying.
But perhaps the worst thing about it had been that her father had continued shouting, her mother too.
Neither of them had been concerned about one another or Rose.
They’d simply used the accident as a weapon – a new crime they could lay at each other’s door.
Were Ben and Isabella right, had she ever mattered to them, or had she always been a pawn in their relationship war?
She squealed when something rough touched her trembling arm.
‘What are you doing?’ she yelped when she realised Coco had moved into the centre of the car and was now licking her forearm.
‘I’m not food — and eating the driver is a terrible idea.
Besides, this is dangerous.
’
She tried to ease the dog away with her elbow while keeping her eyes on the road.
But Coco licked Rose’s arm again, her rough tongue gentle.
‘You are one weird dog,’ Rose grumbled, giving up as the shih tzu continued to dab at her skin.
The repetitive motion was soothing, and she let herself go with it, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, matching the dog’s movements.
She continued to follow Aldo’s advice as she drove, allowing herself to consider why she’d chosen to carry all that fear with her for so many years.
Wondering if it was finally time to let it go.
After a few moments, Coco eased away and curled up on the front seat, leaving Rose feeling oddly bereft.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered as the dog began to snore.
Half an hour later, Rose pulled up in Montotta and parked in the same spot Ben had used a few metres down from the café.
She let out a prayer of thanks when she saw the curiosity shop was open, and as she hopped out of the car, she called for the shih tzu to follow her inside.
She had something important to collect, and time to save the wedding was running out…