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‘Get your kit off, then.’
Laura stripped off jeans and sweater, and held her arms up so Fen could lower the dress into place. Laura slid her feet into the satin shoes dyed to match and looked in the cheval mirror tucked into a corner. ‘Nice!’
‘Nice? It’s perfect—and about as near the colour of your eyes as mere fabric can possibly be. Am I a genius, or what?’
The amber crêpe sheath fitted closely down to the knees, where three finely pleated, satin-bound tiers hung to just above the ankles. ‘I had doubts,’ admitted Laura, ‘but it actually looks rather good. I could wear it with boots later on, maybe.’
‘It’s perfect,’ said Fen with satisfaction. ‘Let’s go down and show your mother, then come back up here so you can tell me what Laura did in Venice.’
Once the dress was safely hung away, they both curled up with mugs of coffee at either end of the bedroom window-seat, which had been a favourite perch for both of them from the first day Laura had moved to Briar Cottage. All the way home on the plane Laura had been dying to tell her friend about the man who’d met her at the airport, but the moment she mentioned him Fen held up a hand.
‘Didn’t Giando meet you off the plane, then?’ she said, frowning. ‘I suppose he pushed the job onto someone else! I know Lorenzo told him to meet you, because Jess reported back to me.’
‘A man called Domenico Chiesa came to meet me,’ said Laura slowly.
‘That’s the one. I forgot he goes by Domenico these days. He’s still Giando to the family, though.’
Laura eyed her with dawning suspicion. ‘Is this the Giando I think it is?’
‘You bet.’ Fen thrust her dark hair behind her ears. ‘He came to that language college in Cheltenham for a while when we were in school, but I don’t think you actually met him. Gian Domenico Chiesa is Lorenzo’s cousin. His mother’s a Forli. His father used to run the Venice hotels, but he’s retired now, so Giando—sorry, Domenico—is in charge. He’s a busy bloke these days, so I’m glad he kept his promise and went to meet you.’
‘He wasn’t very happy about it,’ said Laura, after a pause. ‘He hustled me off to the vaporetto so quickly I felt like an utter nuisance.’
‘Not his usual style,’ said Fen, surprised. ‘He’s normally a wow with the girls. Anyway, was the hotel all right? Apparently Lorenzo emphasised that you were on a tight budget, and very prickly on the subject of favours.’
Laura’s chin lifted. ‘I prefer to call it independent. Anyway, the hotel was lovely, and only a short stroll from the Piazza San Marco. No food, though. I had to eat out.’
‘So what did you do altogether?’
Once again Laura gave a list of restaurants and places visited as she took two parcels from the wardrobe. ‘Here you are. The small one’s a souvenir, so look at that first. The other one is your wedding present. I bought it in Murano. Not antique, but I hope you like it.’
Fen grinned as she took out a bright gold T-shirt with the Venezia logo. ‘Been there, bought the T-shirt, I see. Thanks, Laurie—great colour. Now, what have we here?’ Her eyes widened in delight as she took the candlesticks from their box. ‘Oh, my goodness. They’re absolutely beautiful!’ She sniffed hard and hugged Laura tightly. ‘Thanks a million. They’ll be perfect on our new dining table—well, old table, really. I can’t wait to show Joe.’
Laura smiled brightly. ‘And where is Mr Tregenna right now?’
‘In the bosom of his family in Cornwall this weekend.’ Fen heaved a sigh. ‘I’ve moved back home until the wedding, and it’s going to be a long, long week. I miss Joe already.’ She grinned suddenly. ‘I know Miss Ice Maiden doesn’t understand such things, but one day you’ll meet someone you can’t live without, too.’
With a sinking feeling that she’d done that already, Laura shrugged, smiling, and collected their coffee mugs. ‘Mother’s programme must be over now. She’s dying to see the candlesticks—or candeliere as they say in Venice.’
‘Show-off!’ Fen looked at her watch. ‘I’ll just pop in to see Mrs G, then I must fly. I’ll see you tomorrow night for the hen party—don’t be late. Seven sharp up at the house before we paint Pennington red!’
After Fen left Laura went out to the kitchen—officially to check on her laundry, but in reality to seethe in silence over Domenico’s silence about his relationship to the Forlis. Had Domenico been afraid she’d presume on it? No wonder he’d refused to take her to the Forli Palace to eat. The staff might have thought she was someone who mattered instead of just a holiday fling! Thank God she’d found out who he was before prattling on to Fen about shopping expeditions and candlelit dinners.
When Laura took two mugs of tea into the sitting room her mother looked up from the brochure of the Locanda Verona. ‘Nice little place,’ she commented.
‘Very affordable, too. I was given a discount because my room was small and I had to climb four flights of stairs to get to it.’
Isabel frowned. ‘It says here that there’s a supplement on single rooms, no mention of a discount.’
Laura looked at the price tariff long and hard, then sprang to her feet, snatched her phone from her bag and punched a couple of buttons. ‘Fenella Dysart, I want a word with you!’
‘You just had one, bridesmaid. What’s up?’
‘Did you do some number-crunching regarding my hotel in Venice, by any chance?’
‘I most certainly did not!’ said Fen indignantly. ‘Did they overcharge, or something?’
‘Or something,’ said Laura grimly. ‘It was under, not over. I was given a hefty discount on my room—in summer, in Venice. And in San Marco at that.’
‘Well, it’s nothing to do with me, honest. I just asked Lorenzo to organise a nice place you could afford. Do you want to ring him in Florence and give him hell?’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Then look on the discount as a windfall—’
‘Charity, you mean!’
‘No, I don’t, touchy! See you tomorrow.’
Isabel Green looked at her daughter’s set face with foreboding. ‘You think Lorenzo or maybe Jess paid the difference?’
‘I’ll ring Signora Rossi at the hotel before I make any wild accusations.’
‘Take it easy, darling. You were charged less, not more.’
Laura took her phone upstairs to her room and eventually got through to the Locando Verona.
After the pleasantries were over Laura came straight to the point. ‘Regarding my bill, Signora Rossi, I’ve just been looking at your hotel brochure, and there’s a supplement on single rooms, but no mention of a discount. I’m sure I owe you money.’
There was a pause followed by an audible sigh. ‘You owe me nothing, Miss Green. The difference in price has been paid.’
Laura stiffened. ‘In that case, Signora Rossi, it’s very important that you tell me who paid it, so I can thank them for such kindness. Was it Signor Lorenzo Forli, by any chance?’
‘No, Miss Green, it was Signor Chiesa,’ said the woman with reluctance.
‘Ah. I see. Thank you so much for telling me. Arrivederci.’
Laura ground her teeth as she disconnected. Other people booked their holidays over the Internet, or went to travel agents, but her hotel reservation had come via Fen’s brother-in-law, so it had never occurred to her to query it, even when she got a non-existent discount. But Domenico/Giando probably didn’t think of it as charity. Her eyes narrowed ominously. Maybe he considered it fair exchange for their session in bed.
Laura went downstairs to reassure her mother that she didn’t owe anything for her holiday after all. ‘Lorenzo told one of his minions to sort it. I’ll thank him at the wedding.’
Isabel smiled, relieved. ‘How kind of him. Now, go to bed, darling, you look tired.’
Laura went upstairs, but not to bed. Instead she curled up on the window-seat, watching the rain stream down the glass. When her phone rang a long time later, as she’d known it would some time, she pressed the button and said a toneless hello.
‘Laura, where have you been?’ demanded Domenico frantically. ‘You are safe? You did not ring—’
‘Good evening, Giando!’
‘Ah,’ he said with a sigh, ‘you have already spoken with Fenella.’
‘Oh, yes. I’ve spoken with Signora Rossi, too. I asked her to explain the discount on my bill, and she told me you paid the difference.’
‘So? I paid some of the charge. Is this so great a crime?’
‘No, it’s something I like far less—charity.’
‘Cosa?’
‘Carita,’ she snapped, then let silence fall for a moment. ‘Or maybe you just intended it as reimbursement.’
‘Dio, this is so difficult on the telephone,’ he said heatedly. ‘What do you mean by reimbursement?’
‘We made love, remember.’
‘You think I have forgotten—?’ He paused. ‘Are you saying,’ he demanded in sudden fury, ‘that I paid this money in return for that? Grazie!’
‘I’m the one who should be angry, Domenico. You were so forthcoming with your other confessions, why didn’t you just say who you were? Were you afraid I’d cash in on it if I knew you owned the hotel instead of just working there?’
‘I do work in it,’ he said harshly. ‘And my reason for secrecy is simple. I was acting on orders from Lorenzo. He said you would resent special treatment.’
‘A good thing he doesn’t know just how special your treatment was!’ she retorted.
There was silence for a moment. ‘It was special to me,’ said Domenico wearily. ‘The so-practical Miss Green will find this hard to understand. After I spent time with you that first evening I kept my identity from you because I am a romantic fool. I wanted to be liked for myself for once, not because I am cousin to Lorenzo and Roberto, or because I am in charge of the Venice hotels in the Forli Group. I would have told you everything over breakfast this morning, but a guest at the hotel needed urgent medical attention and I do not delegate such matters to others.’
‘I can understand that—’
‘Ottimo! Then understand this, too, Laura. I thought of a way to pay part of your hotel bill because I cared for you and wished to ease your financial situation.’ His voice hardened. ‘But if obligation to me is so intolerable the remedy is simple—send me the money. Arrivederci.’
‘Domenico—’ But he’d disconnected before she could say a word. She waited for a minute, then rang him back, but he’d switched his phone off. And, she realised miserably, he’d used the past tense about caring for her.
When she felt able to talk about it without crying her eyes out Laura went to her mother’s room to tell her the sad tale.
Isabel Green heard her out in silence. ‘Darling,’ she said gently at last, ‘you really must learn to accept some things in the spirit they are given.’
‘But not money, Mother!’
‘But if you didn’t know that Domenico paid it until now, it’s obvious he didn’t expect anything in return.’
‘I know.’
‘Then why all the drama?’
Laura raised wet eyes to her mother. ‘Because I’m in love with him, or at least with the man I thought he was.’
‘And what exactly did you think he was?’
‘Someone who merely worked in a hotel—not owned the damn thing! It was obvious he wasn’t short of money from his apartment and the way he dresses, but I assumed he had some management job, or whatever. If I’d known the truth I’d have kept my stupid mouth shut.’
‘About what?’
‘Domenico was so insistent that I go back to Venice soon, I had to explain why I couldn’t. I gave him chapter and verse about keeping to a tight budget.’
‘Did you include the bit about helping with Abby’s college fund?’
‘Oh, yes. The complete sob story.’ Laura’s mouth twisted in disgust. ‘When I found he’d paid some of my bill I felt as though I’d been hinting for a handout.’
‘Is he in love with you?’
‘He said he was. But I doubt that he is any more. He’s a typical Venetian male—proud as the devil, and takes offence easily.’
‘You two have a lot in common, then,’ said Isabel, lips twitching.
Laura stared at her mother, incensed, for a moment, but at last smiled reluctantly. ‘Am I so bad, then?’
‘Not bad—independent. You’ve had this bee in your bonnet about being the man of the house since you were ten years old.’ Isabel patted her hand. ‘Relax, darling. Things are different now. You don’t need to help with Abby any more. Apart from my windfall, I’m still only forty-seven, remember. I can carry on teaching for quite a while yet.’
‘I just wish you didn’t have to.’
‘But, darling, I love my job. What would I do with myself all day in this doll’s house if I didn’t work?’
Laura stared at her mother, taken aback. ‘I never thought of it like that. I assumed you went back to teaching because you had to.’
‘I did. But I’m fortunate, because it’s a vocation for me, not just a job. It helped me through that terrible time after your father died, and because I was lucky enough to get a place at the village school I was always there for you and Abby—with a little help in the babysitting department from Grandma.’
The mention of her much-mourned grandmother was the last straw. Laura laid her head down on the bed, sobbing her heart out, and Isabel stroked her hair in silence until the storm had run its course.
‘Sorry about that,’ Laura said hoarsely as she got up at last.
Isabel looked troubled. ‘If you really care for this man, can’t you mend things between you?’
‘I might have tried if he’d just been a hotel employee, but not now. Gian Domenico Chiesa is right out of my league. Don’t worry. I’ll just write off the experience as a holiday romance and forget about him.’
‘Can you do that?’ said her mother gently.
Laura shrugged. ‘I’ll have to. And in the meantime there’s Fen’s hen party to get through tomorrow night. That should chase the blues away!’
Abby backed into the room with a tray early next morning. ‘Room service! Hi, sis. Welcome home. Sorry to wake you up, but I just dashed home for a clean apron. I’m off to work again in an hour.’
Laura heaved herself up, smiling at her sibling as she received the tray. In spite of working the day before and partying well into the night Abby looked as fresh as a daisy. ‘Hello, love! Good party last night?’
‘Brilliant! Ma’s made your favourite scrambled eggs and soldiers, and orders you to eat it or else.’
‘You shouldn’t be waiting on me, Abby. You’ll get enough of that the rest of the day.’
Abby grinned as she fastened her gleaming dark hair back with an outsize barrette. ‘I gave in my notice yesterday. You heard about our amazing parent’s stroke of luck? It means I can use my café money to go to France with the Kents, and Ma can go off on that holiday to the Lakes she fancies. And you can spend your spare cash on orgies instead of on me.’
‘That’ll be the day. By the way, I brought you something. Over there on the dressing table.’
