Chapter Five
GAbrIEL HAD THOUGHT it all out, down to the finest detail. He’d been shocked and panicked by his mother’s sudden show of vulnerability when, on the health front, good progress was being made after her heart scare.
She was stoic by nature. To have seen her break down had hit him very hard. She despaired of him? Despaired that she would die without seeing him settled? Couldn’t see the point of anything?
It had felt as though the bottom had suddenly dropped out of his comfortable, well-ordered world, and he had been besieged with guilt.
He’d looked back over his shoulder to his workaholic lifestyle, interspersed with casual relationships that came and went without leaving so much as a ripple.
He’d thought about how work had prevented him from coming to visit as often as he’d wanted during her recent convalescence.
No amount of video calling could make up for his absence.
He’d always thought he’d been doing the right thing.
Working hard to restore and maintain the family finances, assuming the role of the responsible male in the family, bearing in mind the antics of his loser father.
Therefore, to learn that his dedication to the massive responsibilities he’d carried on his shoulders had, in fact, been a growing source of unending stress to his mother had come as a severe shock to his system.
He had immediately gone into damage limitation mode and had prided himself on coming up with the perfect solution to the problem.
Foolproof, in fact.
A series of steps, all of which would lead to the desired outcome.
His mother wanted to see him in a serious relationship?
Needed that for her to climb back on the road to full recovery?
No problem. He would produce one for her benefit.
No one from the proverbial little black book, because that would be inviting a whole world of potential trouble, but the one woman he knew he could always count on and, more importantly, the one woman he knew would fit the bill.
Jennifer.
Jennifer would agree because it would be no more than a harmless piece of fiction, and she loved his mother almost as much as he did.
Granted, that hadn’t gone as smoothly as anticipated, but he’d got what he’d wanted in the end, and the fact that he’d persuaded her to accept money for what she’d be doing was icing on the cake.
Because it would draw a defining line between fact and fiction and turn it into a proper arrangement.
He liked that. Aside from anything else, he’d wanted to help her out financially for a while and had never understood why she couldn’t just accept the help he’d always been keen to give her.
She really needed to find a place of her own.
Step two would be the vineyard. He would take them both there.
Away from prying eyes, he and Jennifer could play the loved-up couple while his mother benefited from the change of scenery.
Buying the vineyard had been in his sights for a while.
He had developed a relationship with the owners, Luisa and Roberto.
They were a traditional Italian family who had been making noises about meeting his family.
It meant a lot to them that they sell to someone of whom they personally approved, because money wasn’t everything.
What better solution than for them to all go there together, and Luisa and Roberto had leapt at the suggestion with alacrity.
It helped that they were traditional enough to ensure sleeping arrangements that suited a phoney relationship.
Separate bedrooms.
He was sure he’d heard them expressing horror at the thought of either of their daughters living in sin. Excellent principles when it came to ensuring that he and Jennifer were positioned on opposite sides of their house to avoid any hanky-panky. Or so he’d assumed.
So what could possibly go wrong?
‘This isn’t quite what I expected on the sleeping arrangement front.
’ He did a full circle of the private cottage they’d been placed in.
It was far enough away from the main house to be completely private and was rustic and charming, with worn, pretty rugs on the floor and photos of the vineyard in frames on the walls.
Inspection over, he finally stopped, his dark eyes landing on Jennifer, who was staring at him accusingly with her hands on her hips.
‘I’m sure it isn’t,’ she said with dripping sarcasm and raised eyebrows.
‘Life can be unpredictable,’ he offered.
‘Really? I thought you didn’t like the unpredictable, so you always made sure to ambush it before it could show up unexpectedly on your doorstep and ruin your life.’
‘How well you know me. I like that. Let’s sit outside, admire the scenery and have a chat.’
Jennifer clicked her tongue with exasperation.
Of course, true to form, he had barely raised an eyebrow when the very traditional Luisa and Roberto had proudly informed them that one of the cottages in the grounds had been set aside for them.
This from the couple who, he had assured her, would never countenance a couple co-habiting unless rings were on fingers, church bells had been rung and vows had been made.
Francesca, they had said warmly, hugging her to their hospitable bosoms, would stay in the main house with them so that they could get to know her better.
Unless anyone objected.
No one had, including Francesca, who had been delighted because she’d taken to the older couple on sight. She, likewise, had bought into the idea that the lovebirds would appreciate time to themselves.
‘I thought you knew Luisa and Roberto well enough to be certain that we would have separate bedrooms? Weren’t they supposed to have strict ideas about couples not sharing bedrooms until they’d walked up the aisle?’
‘We have separate bedrooms. In fact, I count three plus the office in this cottage. I suppose this was used for the manager of the vineyard before his role became redundant. Poor guy. Still, businesses fail. There’s only a skeleton crew here, although I’m willing to give jobs to any of the old staff, as agreed with Roberto.
What would you like to drink? Tea? Coffee? Brandy to blunt the shock?’
‘You should have seen this coming.’
‘Even I am infallible and can’t predict the future.’
‘I’ll have coffee if there’s any.’ Jennifer gave up because she was getting nowhere, and there was no point allocating blame when the situation couldn’t be changed.
And he was right. There were three bedrooms in the cottage. Yet…something about sharing a private space with him like this made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
She’d already started noticing him in ways that made her heart beat just a little bit quicker, but she knew it was imperative not to dwell on any of that. It meant nothing.
She looked at him as he began checking cupboards and drawers in the compact kitchenette and then opening the fridge and inspecting the contents.
He turned to her and lounged against the fridge, having shut the door.
‘I’m glad to see that they’ve provided us with an ample amount of red wine.
I think this will have been laid down before the vineyard began running to seed.
Should be good. I had some when I came here a few months ago to do a preliminary inventory of what I was letting myself in for. Sure you won’t have a glass?’
‘I’ve had enough for tonight,’ she said. ‘You were right when you said that they’re a lovely couple, Gabriel. They are. And I suppose…’ she cast an eye over the cottage, which was small and perfectly formed ‘…it was thoughtful of them to consider that we might want some privacy.’
‘Agreed.’
‘I didn’t think your mother would be happy about that,’ Jennifer admitted. ‘I mean about staying with people she doesn’t know at all when it wasn’t in the original plan.’
God, he looks amazing, she absently thought as her eyes drifted idly over him.
Designer-clad and coolly, effortlessly elegant.
He looked as though he belonged here, here in this sun-drenched, beautiful country, but of course he would.
His father had been Italian. She’d been too young when he’d left to remember what he had looked like, but she was assuming from the little she’d gleaned over the years that he’d been tall, dark and handsome.
Her mind did a little more wandering. She was brought back down to earth when she realised he was standing in front of her with a mug of coffee in his hand for her.
‘She’s going with the flow,’ he reasoned.
‘Yes, but…’
‘Let’s go sit outside. Balmy night. Nice view. We can talk a little more about the details of this arrangement. You can continue raising doubts, and I can continue knocking them back.’
He hadn’t drunk much over the lovely dinner Luisa had prepared, but he had a glass of red wine in his hand now as he preceded her outside, where a cluster of wooden chairs were stationed to make the most of the expansive view of the vineyards.
The sky was velvet black now and studded with stars, and the rustle of the breeze through the vines was a soothing background noise.
‘I’m not raising doubts,’ was the first thing Jennifer said as soon as they were sitting side by side like the real couple they weren’t. ‘I was just expressing surprise that your mum was so keen to stay in the main house when we were out here.’
‘It’ll do her good,’ Gabriel said thoughtfully.
‘I’ve noticed just how much she’s withdrawn from her social circle over the past few months.
Luisa and Roberto are very welcoming hosts.
She senses that and…what can I say? Some of her that was lost in depression is beginning to resurface.
My mother, as you know, used to be a very sociable woman.
’ He turned and looked at her averted profile. ‘Tell me you don’t begrudge that.’
‘Of course I don’t.’
‘Good. So now we’ve dealt with that misgiving, let’s move on to the next.’
‘Stop being annoying when I’m trying to be serious, Gabriel.’