The Year of Luminous Love (23 page)

“I’d love the company.”

He pulled out a chair. “Where are your mates?”

Sensing his disappointment over not seeing Eden, Arie said, “Don’t worry. We’ll all be here tonight.”

Garret’s grin was quick. “I’m obvious, right?”

“In a cute way.”

“Can I ask you a few things?” She agreed and he said, “What can you tell me about Eden?”

“She’s a great person.”

“We’re in agreement there, but what else? Why is she so”—he searched for a word—“skittish? She’s friendly and talkative, likes to party and dance and have fun, but she won’t talk much about herself. I want to know more about
her
.”

Arie scooped her hand through her too-long bangs. She thought about all of Eden’s baggage, so she chose her words carefully. “Garret, you’ll need to dig answers out of her.”

His brow furrowed. “I’ve tried, but she turns questions away.” The shops around the perimeter of the square began their locking up routine. Garret drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “Will you answer yes or no to a few questions? Maybe it can give me some hope. I don’t want to tumble and then get shot down.”

Arie figured he’d already tumbled but felt sorry for him. She knew what it felt like to be nuts about someone and not have the feeling returned. She wanted Eden to be happy, because Tony had burned her badly. “Try a question out on me. I’ll see if it’s answerable without me blabbing too much.”

“Does she have a bloke back home?” The question leaped from his mouth.

Easy one. “No.”

His face brightened. “That’s good. It’s what I was hoping.”

“Next question.”

“Does she have a fear of falling? You know … falling in love. Some girls do.”

Harder. “Maybe.”

“Did some bloke break her heart?”

His question was too complex for a simple yes or no. Tony had used Eden, turned whatever feelings she had for him into fear. Arie reached out and placed her hand on Garret’s. “You’ve wandered into quicksand. You have to keep pressing her for answers. She’ll need to trust you first. Please understand.”

He smiled, his blue eyes shot through with understanding. “You answered the most important question. She’s unattached. I’ll just keep pouring on my Aussie charm until I break her down.”

Arie laughed and squeezed his arm. “She hasn’t a chance against genuine Aussie charm.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “That’s what I was thinking.”

Still laughing, Arie scooped up the laptop. “See you all tonight.”

Eden looked forward to the time she spent with Garret and his friends in the town square. Each evening after a late supper, they all settled around the fountain, talking, laughing, playing guitars, and dancing. No one drifted away until after midnight, in spite of having early job check-ins. She listened avidly to spirited debates between the kids from different countries and cultures. They spoke about politics, about hunger in Africa, about jobs a few had taken with world relief organizations. They talked about home and friends and music and about where they wanted to go on their walkabout and their plans for the future.

She was beginning to grasp how big and diverse the world was, and how small her world had been back home. Hearing of the magnitude of world problems, hers seemed like a soap opera with a shallow plot. Ciana spoke of farming, and its difficulties, costs, rules, and regulations. Arie talked about medical issues and drug research, and discussed pros and cons with two kids who’d grown up under socialized medicine. Arie never divulged a thing about her own cancer battles, but her knowledge about medicine astounded Eden. What had she to share except stories of the sordid underbelly of drugs and addiction?
So she said little, unwilling to confess to her past, ashamed of it and how she hadn’t followed any world issues, only her own small life.

She often felt Garret’s eyes on her, watching her. She was attracted to him. Who wouldn’t be? He was likable, funny, cute—all the things Tony had never been. And yet she’d been drawn to Tony at sixteen and had become addicted to him, even though now, under the Tuscan stars, she couldn’t remember why. Even with an ocean between them, she was afraid of Tony. An email to her mother was never answered. She wasn’t surprised, certain that Gwen had fled home the minute Eden was gone. She hoped Tony hadn’t hurt her mom. She realized he’d probably tried to scare her and she fled. The safety of Italy would evaporate in two months, and Eden would have to return home and face him. She kept pushing it out of her mind, focusing instead on the here and now.

The first time Ciana and Arie wanted to head back to the villa early, Eden protested. “I’m a night owl,” she said.

“Not me,” Ciana said, yawning.

“Ditto,” said Arie.

“But you’ve got the car. If you both leave, I’ll have to go with you.”

“Sorry,” Ciana said, fetching the keys from her jeans pocket.

“I can run you, Eden,” Garret said. “That is, if you don’t mind doubling on my scooter.”

Eden was hesitant. She’d love the scooter ride, but being too close to Garret made her nervous. She really didn’t want to become involved again, and it would be too easy with a guy like Garret.

“It’s settled,” Arie chirped. “We’re off.”

Eden watched her friends desert the square.

“I won’t bite,” Garret said. “And I won’t run out of petrol like in the movies.”

Seeing that she had no choice unless she chased after Ciana and Eden, she agreed. When the evening broke up, she walked with Garret to the parking area outside the city wall and to a lone scooter under the light of the moon. He handed her his helmet. “Take this.”

“What will you wear?”

“The wind in my hair.”

She suppressed a smile. “What if we crash and you fall on your head?”

“It’s only a ride up the road. I think I can dodge disaster for a few clicks this late at night.”

So she threw her leg over the scooter behind him and tentatively embraced him.

Over his shoulder, he said, “You’ll have to hold on tighter than that. Think of me as a last bit of toothpaste in a tube and squeeze.”

She chuckled and squeezed him tightly.

The moon turned the road into a silver ribbon on the ride to the villa in the cool October night. When Garret approached the villa, he cut the motor and coasted into the driveway. “Don’t want to wake your mates.”

“Impossible,” Eden said, slipping off the helmet and resting it on the scooter’s seat. “They sleep like rocks.”

“Nice place,” he said, looking upward at the villa.

“Ciana chose it. Arie and I love it.” She pulled back from further explanation, realizing her only contribution to the Italy trip had been desperation.

“What’s around back?” Garret asked as he began to move along the side of the house.

“Patio,” she said, jogging after him, torn between wanting him to stay and wanting him to go.

On the patio, he settled on a lounge chair, put up his feet, and lay back, turning his face toward the moon. “This is the life. Now, don’t let me get burned.”

Cautiously she sat on the edge of the chair, just out of arm’s reach. “I think you’re safe.”

“Seems I’m safe from getting a good-night thank-you kiss too.”

Her heart lurched as she recalled nights with Tony. She recoiled. “I … I didn’t know the ride had strings.”

He leaned forward, his expression serious. “Hey, hey. Don’t panic. There are never any strings with me, Eden. I was teasing.”

Her heartbeat slowed and she felt foolish. Impulsively she dipped forward, kissed him lightly on the mouth, pulled away. “Thank you.”

His grin was as bright as the moonlight. “I like bringing you home. Maybe we can do it again.”

“Maybe,” she said. “Now go away. I need my sleep.”

He stood, still with the silly smile on his face. He backed to the edge of the patio, saluted her, and said, “G’night, Eden.”

She heard him whistling as he started up his scooter. She remained on the patio, listening until the sound of the motor faded into the night. She turned her face skyward and lifted her arms, offering herself to the moon, letting it wash over her, as if to cleanse her mind and heart from a past that she couldn’t change and that still frightened her.

“I’ve got the dish on the Bertinalli clan.” Eden looked up from the laptop as she spoke.

Ciana sat in front of her makeup mirror, smoothing on mascara. “I hate mascara. I look like a raccoon after a couple of hours.”

Arie, lying on her belly across Ciana’s bed, was leafing through a travel book about the art treasures in Rome and offered, “My lashes are the color of sand—when I have eyelashes.”

“Are you listening to me?” Eden snapped. “I’ve done some major research and Web hunting on Enzo and his family.”

“Did I ask you to research him?” Ciana was uptight about the upcoming date but refused to let her friends know. This was a new avenue for her, dating a man like Enzo, a native Italian, who looked as if he belonged on the cover of
GQ
magazine. He was way out of her comfort zone. As if she had one when it came to men. Except for one man, the one she
couldn’t have. But it was time to move on, and why not here in Italy?

“Listen, missy, we’re not sending you out on a date with him without knowing more about him than what he told us last week. Maybe he’s a liar.”

Ciana turned to Eden, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the dressing table. “I’m going out with him in broad daylight. I think I can handle it.”

“Humor me.”

“Yeah, humor her,” Arie echoed.

Ciana returned to her makeup mirror chores. “Is he a liar?”

“No. But you need to know some things. Stuff he didn’t tell us. He’s twenty-nine, the youngest sibling of three. Kind of old, don’t you think?”

“Ten years. That’s not so much of a gap.” She’d had a birthday in late July.

“His brother, Gino, is thirty-six and a real playboy. Sleeps with movie stars and models and other men’s wives. Had some party on his yacht last year and three people fell overboard and almost drowned.”

“I’m not going out with his brother.”

“And his sister just married some prince in Austria. She’s thirty-two, and this is her third marriage.”

“And Enzo? What do the tabloids write about him?”

Eden sniffed. “Actually, he appears to be the only heir who’s serious about the family wine business.”

“Fascinating,” Ciana said drolly. “And after all that hard surfing work you did. Turns out he’s just what he says he is.”

“Not so fast. He’s a serial dater. He’s with a different woman in every photo.”

“So what?” But a glance at the computer screen told Ciana she wasn’t approaching the glamour level of Enzo’s typical arm
candy. And yet when he’d called and asked her to spend the afternoon with him, she’d been flattered and had agreed. Now she was anxious.

The sound of a car engine made all three girls jump. Arie made it to the bedroom window first and looked out at the front driveway. “Wow. He’s driving a Ferrari.”

“Seriously?” Eden pushed Arie aside and looked down.

A sleek jet-black convertible with red upholstery came to a stop directly below.

“Eric had a poster of one on his bedroom wall when he was a kid.”

Ciana craned her head over those of her friends. The car
was
impressive. She watched Enzo as he walked to the front door. Seconds later, the chime rang. Her palms were sweaty and she took deep breaths to slow her pulse.

“Wait,” Arie called. “I’ll grab my camera. Eric will eat his heart out.”

Ciana groaned. “Don’t embarrass me.”

Arie and Eden exchanged mischievous glances. Arie turned to Ciana and with wide-eyed innocence said, “Please, we’re your friends. Are we going to embarrass her, Eden?”

“Of course we are,” Eden said. “It’s our duty.”

They clambered down the stairs, jockeying for position, jerked open the front door, and ran into the bright sunlight to pose with a laughing Enzo and his gorgeous F430 Spider.