To Tuscany with Love (37 page)

Lee realized after he clicked on “Send” that he hadn’t told his wife he loved her. And he knew that would be the first thing that Merry noticed.

Lee left the Internet café and headed back to the palazzo. Everywhere Lee looked, people touched each other—mother and daughter, teenaged girls with arms linked, senior citizens, horny twenty-year-olds and their sex interest for the night. When had he last touched Merry?

That night, Lee tossed and turned on the too-hard mattress. His butt found the crevice where the two single beds had been pushed together. He couldn’t stop thinking about the potential of living here, in Florence, for a year. A sabbatical.

He knew that Max wouldn’t care if the family moved to Italy, as long as he could play soccer here, too. Anne, his daughter, wouldn’t want to leave high school, so that might be a problem. And Merry? She had her thriving private practice. In fact, she had canceled her discreet ads in the theater programs because her patient load kept her as busy as she liked. Now, new patients, if she took them on at all, came solely from referral. Could Lee move here without his family?

The excited sensation he had felt standing in the studio this morning kept returning to him. He imagined himself in such a studio, his hands creating new work, starting with a blank slate, rather than treating patients with deformities, or those that had been mangled and damaged.

A soft knock startled him. Early morning light lit the room.

Lee padded to the door in his boxer shorts and T-shirt—Max had teased him out of pajamas.

“May I come in?” Meghan stood in the hallway, her thin frame wrapped in the complimentary white bathrobe, the width way too generous for her build. She looked like a young girl, dressed in her mother’s robe.

Lee stepped back, opening the door wider.

Seeing her here, in his room, made all the years fall away. Suddenly, he was young again. Lee cupped her cheeks with his palms and brushed his lips against hers. He felt her quivering response. He made himself pull his head back, away from those tender lips.

Meghan’s face relaxed into a comfortable smile. “That was very nice, but not why I came.”

Lee gulped air. Shit.

The fingertips of her left hand came up to silence his words. “I wanted to talk to you. Alone.”

It took Lee an agonizing ten seconds to recover his composure. “Of course.”

Meghan grabbed his hand and led him to the bed. She perched on the edge, took in an audible fortifying breath, and motioned for him to sit next to her. “You asked me yesterday if I ever wondered what would have happened if we hadn’t broken up. I did. I obsessed about it for a while. After a few years, I met someone, and we got engaged.” She frowned. “That was a huge mistake.” She looked at her lap, and then into Lee’s eyes. “He cheated on me. Made a fool out of me.”

He told her the truth.

“What a jerk. He was the fool.”

“Are you happy in your marriage?” The question took him by surprise. Was she still attracted to him? What about Giacomo? His breaths quickened and his groin perked with interest.

She drew a big breath. “I’m sorry. That’s not my business. But I’ve been afraid, you see, to love anyone. Rune told me he and Karen had hooked up that summer we were here. I always thought she and Ed had the perfect marriage, and before that, the ideal relationship. Now I wonder if it’s possible to be committed to only one person. That’s why I wondered about you and your wife.”

Oh. He went limp. Meghan was falling in love with Giacomo and wanted his advice on relationships. What could he tell her about his marriage? He chose his words carefully. “I do believe it’s possible to commit to only one person and be happy with them, when it’s the right person.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“No. I didn’t.”

Meghan gazed into his eyes. She squeezed his hand. “If that means what I suspect, then I’m sorry.”

Lee didn’t speak.

Her eyes cast down, and then they lifted and locked onto his. “Rune was blunt with me. He implied that I’m afraid to live. Do you think I act that way?”

He didn’t answer.

Meghan nodded. She stood and moved to the door, then turned to face him. Her hand trembled. She reached over and dead-bolted the door.

The click of the lock sent a shiver racing down Lee’s back.

“I’ll be honest with you,” she said. “I’m very attracted to Giacomo. But I can’t explore that yet because I’ve never forgotten you.”

Without a word or a moment of hesitation, he moved to join her. This time, her lips reached up to his. He was young again.

When their lips parted, Lee tilted his head back, and his eyes lingered over her face, her eyes, her lips. Kissing her made him lose all sense of time and place. Damn it. Now that he had stopped, even for a moment, his mind started buzzing. He felt like he was being ripped in two. As much as he wanted her, he knew he had to stop. “Meghan—“

“Shh.” Meghan’s fingers silenced his lips.

Lee clasped Meghan’s hand and lowered it. “I want you.” He trembled. “I do.” His hand caressed her cheek. He forced himself to say the next words. “My wife and I have grown apart, but,” he drew in a deep breath, “I made a commitment to her. I can’t be with you the way I want. Not yet.”

“I know. That makes me love you even more.” Her smile verified her words. She reached up and stroked his cheek. “You’ll always be more than merely my first lover. Kissing you is ... lovely.”

Her words were sweet, but Lee’s heart plummeted. Meghan didn’t say she’d wait for him to untangle his marriage. She didn’t say she wanted him, too.

“Come.” She grabbed one of his hands and pulled him toward the bed. “Let’s talk.” And they did. They confided in each other and shared their fears and dreams—one dear friend to another.

They heard footsteps in the hallway. Meghan stood up. She leaned over Lee and brushed her lips against his cheek. “Thank you.” Lee marveled at her natural beauty and the glow that kissed her cheeks.

“Meg.” Lee surprised himself. The nickname he had first used during their night of lovemaking all those years ago seemed so natural to him now. “Rune was wrong. You’re not afraid of living.”

Meghan smiled. “I’ve earned the right to really live and to do as I damn well please, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“If it works out with Giacomo, you may end up staying in Italy.”

She beamed. “Even better.”

“Who knows,” he said, “after I figure things out with my wife, I may be here, too.”

She opened the door to leave but stopped halfway through the threshold. “Good morning.” Meghan’s confident voice was directed to someone in the hallway.

Lee heard a muffled female voice in reply. A few more words were exchanged between the two women. Meghan didn’t move from the door. He heard footsteps retreating down the hall.

Meghan twisted to glance back at Lee. “Bella,” she said. She grinned. “I’ll bet she thinks we had wild sex all night, and I’m not going to tell her otherwise.”

43

A
fter seeing Meghan in Lee’s room, Bella wandered through the palazzo. She heard the sound of a child’s laughter and went to find the source.

Giacomo stood in the front driveway beside a young boy who looked like he was five or six years old. The Italian boy was playing catch with a baseball—with Phillip! Bella stood in the palazzo’s entry and watched.

The boy’s throws alternated between being way short of Phillip and off to his side. Phillip jogged to wherever the ball landed and made a grand show of picking it up and fumbling it in the air, crazily flipping it hand to hand, sometimes even dropping it, before gently tossing it back to the boy. Phillip kept up a constant conversation with the boy
in flawless Italian
.

She studied Phillip’s face. His relaxed happiness, as he played with the child, was the real deal.

The boy threw another ball that fell halfway between Phillip and himself. Phillip again jogged to the ball, picked it up and pretended to fumble it. He laughed at himself and in Italian declared that the ball must be covered in olive oil, as it was so slippery. He walked to the boy and made a show of placing the ball directly into the child’s hands. Phillip gestured back to the spot where he had been standing and instructed Giacomo to take his place.

Phillip demonstrated the proper throwing technique by pantomiming a throw himself. Then, he crouched behind the boy, whispered in his ear and moved the boy’s throwing arm once, twice, three times to let the boy feel the proper form. Phillip stepped back, clapped his hands and encouraged the boy to throw to Giacomo. The instruction helped. The ball reached Giacomo, only slightly off to one side.

Phillip alternated between teaching the child and catching the ball. The thing that surprised Bella the most was the joy on Phillip’s face as he laughed, joked, and feigned ineptitude.

A sedan drove up and a man and a woman got out of the car. The boy rushed to them and gave each a double kiss. Giacomo greeted the couple in the same manner. Phillip walked over and hugged both the woman and the man. All of them stood and chatted a few minutes. The woman gestured at the ball, and the boy ran to pick it up. Phillip again hugged the couple, and then the boy. He walked toward the palazzo.

Bella stood her ground.

“Good morning,” Phillip said when he saw her. “Have you been here long?”

“Long enough to see the results of your throwing lessons to the boy. Who is he?”

“Great kid. He’s Giacomo’s nephew. He watched television while we were at dinner and then slept on the sofa in Giacomo’s room last night. I guess his parents had a wedding to attend.”

“Your Italian is beautiful. You never said you had learned the language.”

His eyes fastened onto hers. “I couldn’t let go of Italy and my memories of our time here together.”

Right, she thought. Maybe you couldn’t let go of the memories, but you were sure quick to dump me.

“Bella,” he said, “I’ve been anxious to get you–”

“
Buon giorno
,” Giacomo said as he entered the palazzo. “
Grazie
, my friend,” he said, clapping Phillip on the back, “for playing catch with my nephew. He could not stop laughing and talking about how you could not catch and how much fun he had.”

“I’m the one who had the fun,” Phillip said.

Giacomo glanced at Bella, and then back at Phillip. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’ve played too long, I’m afraid. Now we must go to the courtyard, as our group will leave from there for today’s tour in a few minutes.”

Phillip looked at Bella. “Can we talk later today? It sounds like there’s no time now, and besides, I probably should change.” He gestured to his dusty blue jeans.

She nodded. He turned toward the stairwell to the upper floors. “Phillip,” Bella said. The thought that had kept recurring to her the night before—the incongruity of his nature—begged to be spoken.

He turned to look at her, with a smile on his face.

“Your offer to help Rune last night was very generous. It was kind of you.”

“I meant it. I’m happy to help him any way I can. It’s only money.” With that, Phillip turned and ran up the stairs.

His sincerity nearly knocked Bella off her feet.

When Bella reached the courtyard, she found Meghan, Lee and Giacomo sitting together. Now this was confusing. Which one was Meghan with?

“Good morning, Bella.” Lee touched his lips with his napkin. He smiled at Meghan and patted one of her hands with his.

Meghan winked at Lee.

Lee met Bella’s eyes. His shining face had dropped years of age since the day before.

Meghan’s face bore a quiet confidence. She lifted her chin. “Lee and I are very good friends.” Her face dared Bella to ask more.

Giacomo raised Meghan’s hand to his lips and kissed it, before returning it to the table. “And I am your ‘very good friend,’ too, am I not?”

Meghan giggled. “Most definitely.” The look she gave Giacomo said volumes.

“Oh.” Bella flushed scarlet.

Meghan met Bella’s eyes with a steady face and a soft smile. “Lee and I had a lot to catch up on, just us two. It seems we may both have Italy in our future.” Her hand reached out, not for Lee, but Giacomo. She stroked the Italian’s strong forearm.