Chapter 42
Without pausing for breath, Bridget launched with gusto into every last detail of the gondola trip, which had lasted a whole hour and had been so much more wobbly and precarious than either of them had expected, because the narrow side-stretches of water might have been calm, but once you ventured out into the middle of the Grand Canal, it was like trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a canoe.
According to Bridget and Effie, at least. Having ordered a bottle of wine to calm their nerves, they were knocking it back at a rate of knots while mimicking the violent sideways rocking of their gondola as it was buffeted on both sides by the wakes of the larger boats overtaking them.
Effie cried, ‘I thought we were gonna tip over at any moment – like, a million times over. I was so sure we were gonna end up in the drink!’
Was it wrong to think that would be too much to hope for?
Fen was still nodding sympathetically, but they’d been gabbling non-stop for over ten minutes now, during which time she had exchanged many significant glances with Jamie.
Except there was simply no way they could make their excuses and leave while the dramatic retelling was still going on.
Finally, Jamie managed to interject, ‘But couldn’t you have asked the gondolier to stop and let you out?’
‘Are you crazy?’ Effie shot him a look of disbelief. ‘We paid over three hundred Canadian dollars for that trip and the guy refused to give us a refund, so no way was I gonna let him off that easy. Shysters, the lot of ’em.’
‘Wait till you hear what she said to him,’ Bridget exclaimed, topping up their glasses. ‘When he said he wasn’t going to give us our money back, Effie went ballistic and—’
‘Oh no!’ Fen checked her watch and let out a yelp of dismay.
Clutching Jamie’s arm, she said, ‘I forgot to tell you, we’re supposed to be meeting Molly at La Lanterna – it’s her last night working there, so they’re throwing her a big surprise leaving party and I absolutely promised we’d be there by eight!
’ She turned to Effie and Bridget. ‘I’m so sorry, we’re going to have to rush over there and grovel for being late.
Effie, it’s been good to meet you.’ Reaching for Jamie’s hand, she said breathlessly, ‘Quick, we need to go!’
‘Well done,’ he said as they hurried down the staircase. ‘I had no idea you were that good at lying.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘Although I’m glad you are. Now, your room or mine?’
‘It wasn’t a lie.’ Fen shook her head. ‘And we don’t have time for any of that. We should have been there twenty minutes ago.’
Jamie looked at her, horrified. ‘What? Really?’
His face. They’d reached their floor. Pushing him in the direction of the corridor that led to their rooms, buzzing with anticipation, Fen grinned and waved her key at him. ‘Nope.’
*
Outside the window, a chorus of church bells began ringing out across the city into a clear starlit sky, chiming the hour. It was midnight, and over the course of the last three hours on this momentous night in Venice, Jamie knew his life had changed for good.
In both senses of the word. It was as if a heavy velvet curtain had been swept aside to reveal a future he’d secretly longed for but never dared to believe could ever happen.
But now it had, it actually had, and Fen was everything he’d ever wanted in a partner wrapped up in one magical package.
She was funny, she was brave, and just the sight of her face and the sound of her voice made him ridiculously happy.
And if he’d thought she was irresistible before this evening . . . well, he now knew it for sure.
Even more than that, he was entirely aware that they both owed it all to Leon’s decision to write the letters that had enabled them to admit their feelings to each other.
He owed Leon everything.
Next to him in the bed, Fen’s left foot was resting against his ankle. He felt her wiggle her toes and smiled, shifting his position so he could tilt his head and see her face. ‘What’s that for?’
‘Sorry, I was remembering the last time I did that to you. It felt unreal.’
‘Erm, if you’d ever done that to me before, I’m pretty sure I’d have remembered.’
Fen pushed her blonde curls out of her eyes and twisted round to face him. ‘It was that evening in Amsterdam when you came back to the house. And I didn’t know how to say goodnight to you without giving myself away, so I went up to bed.’
He frowned. ‘Now I’m really confused.’
‘I woke up in the night and thought you were in bed with me. Our feet were touching. I wriggled my toes against your ankle. It was a massive thrill, and the thing was, you were fast asleep so I could keep on doing it.’ She pulled a face.
‘Until you woke up and I discovered it wasn’t you under the duvet after all. It was Tonia.’
Jamie laughed. ‘And she’d climbed into your bed because . . .?’
‘Hendrik was snoring.’
‘So you thought her feet were mine.’
‘I know, I know, hers are a size five. But I wasn’t concentrating, I was having too much fun to notice.’
‘For your information, I don’t snore.’
Fen’s smile was playful. ‘Definitely a point in your favour.’
Oh, that smile; it got to him every time.
Her mouth, the particular curve of her upper lip, was irresistible.
Yesterday had been the best evening of his life and today was on course to be even better.
Drawing her closer, Jamie caressed her hairline behind her left ear, felt her quiver in response to his touch, and gave her another lingering kiss.
Finally drawing back, he said, ‘Any other points in my favour?’
‘Gosh, it’s hard to think of any. You’ll have to give me a minute.’ Closing her eyes, she concentrated for a while, then said slowly, ‘I quite like it when you do that thing to the back of my neck.’
‘What, this thing?’ He resumed stroking the warm skin, this time at the nape of her neck, and felt her reaction. ‘You quite like it?’
‘OK, I like it.’ Her eyes opened, and the look she gave him sent a wave of adrenalin through his body. ‘I think I might like it a lot.’
He breathed in the scent of her skin. ‘I have other good points too, you know.’
Fen wrapped her arms around him and murmured, ‘I already know that.’
‘How are you feeling?’ It was the question he hadn’t put to her earlier, but it needed to be asked.
She met his gaze, understanding at once. ‘You mean do I feel guilty? I thought I would. Kept waiting for it to happen. But I don’t, not at all.’
He nodded, relieved. ‘I know. Me neither. It’s because of—’
‘The letters. It really is. We don’t need to feel bad because there’s nothing to feel bad about.’ Fen smiled as she said it. ‘We aren’t doing anything wrong. Leon’s on our side.’