She had a shower in the little bathroom. It washed off the worst of the night, but she still felt the need to lie down for a nap.
When she awoke the sun was high in the sky, and her window showed her a car gliding up the hill. When it drew to a halt below she saw Luke and his father get out. They were smiling in a way that confirmed the good news. For a moment her instinct told her to rush down into his arms, but then she saw the others hurry out to them, heard the cheering, saw them all clap each other on the back.
She wasn’t needed there, she realised. Luke was back with his family, where he belonged. His mother wasn’t seriously ill after all, and the moments when they had clung to each other, full of intense, despairing emotion, seemed to come from another world.
She sat down on the bed, feeling a bleak sense of anti-climax.
Since her job sometimes called for her to travel at a moment’s notice Minnie kept a bag always ready, containing clean clothes and toiletries. She’d snatched it up before leaving and was glad now that she could dress smartly.
Greta came with coffee and a message to say that lunch was being served below. Luke was waiting for her as she descended the stairs. He looked unshaven but happy, and he enfolded her in an exuberant hug.
‘She’s all right,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘She’ll be home later today, and she’s longing to meet you.’
‘She must have got a shock when she saw your bandages.’
‘Yes, but I played it down, and she could see I’m all right. She’s mad at me for not telling her before, but I’ll be forgiven. She’ll probably try to pump you for more details-’
‘I’ll be the soul of discretion,’ she promised.
Now she must be introduced to the others, including Primo, whom she had briefly seen in the corridor that morning. She remembered Luke saying, ‘Primo had an Italian mother, so he calls me Inglese, as an insult.’
And there, with Primo, was Olympia, the black-haired woman of the photograph in Luke’s wallet. Meeting her now, Minnie saw that she only had eyes for Primo, and she embraced her willingly.
Carlo was missing and Luke explained that he’d gone to the airport to meet Justin, his wife and son.
‘I told you about him,’ he reminded her.
‘The child who was taken away from her at birth,’ Minnie remembered. ‘And she thought he was dead.’
‘Yes. They were married here a few weeks ago, and now they’re barely back from their honeymoon.’
‘The house is going to get very crowded. I should be going soon.’
‘No way, not until Mamma has met you. She-’
The shrill of his phone interrupted him. He answered impatiently and she heard him say, ‘Eduardo? Sorry I had to leave unexpectedly. I can’t talk now-I’ll call you back.’
He hung up quickly. Minnie was about to ask who Eduardo was when a noise outside caused everyone to rush to the windows to see Justin and his family arrive.
They had to be reassured that Hope was well and would be home later that day, and Minnie stood back while Luke was once more sucked into his family.
It was a fascinating sight, she thought, like watching the missing piece that completed a jigsaw puzzle. Always before she had seen him as an outsider. Now she saw the niche where he fitted. Even so, she could see deep into him now, and tell that the fit wasn’t perfect. In part he was still an outsider, from choice.
When she could escape she returned to her room and called Netta, who had been agog with curiosity at finding the two of them missing. She was all sympathy when she heard of Luke’s trouble, but added anxiously, ‘You will bring him back, won’t you, cara? You won’t let him stay there?’
‘Of course not,’ she said mechanically, and hung up quickly.
She felt winded. She should have seen this coming. And she hadn’t.
It hadn’t occurred to Minnie that Luke wouldn’t return with her to Rome, but now she saw the danger. For him Rome might be no more than a passing mood, to be put behind him once a convenient opportunity presented itself.
The closeness that had seemed to unite them could turn out to be no more than a chimera now that he was back with his family. They would still correspond about legal matters, but essentially it was over.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HOPE RINUCCI came home that afternoon. Toni went to collect her, insisting that nobody should come with him, as he wanted to be alone with his wife. When he handed her out of the car she looked well, smiling with pleasure at her family’s attention. It was obvious now that it really had been a false alarm.
Watching from the sidelines, Minnie saw an elegant, beautiful woman in her fifties, a woman who would attract admiring attention wherever she went, no matter what her age. She couldn’t help smiling as Hope’s sons converged on her. It was like watching vassals do homage. She almost expected them to kiss her hand.
One by one she hugged everyone-Justin, her eldest son, Evie, his new wife, and Mark, his son by his first marriage. Then Primo and Olympia.
‘We can really get down to planning your marriage,’ she told them.
When she’d kissed her twins, Carlo and Ruggiero, she looked around hopefully.
‘Franco?’
‘Later today, Mamma,’ Carlo said. ‘It’s a long way from Los Angeles.’
At last Hope’s eyes sought out the young woman who held back, watching and silent.
‘And you are Minnie?’ she said.
‘Yes, I’m Minnie.’
She came forward to be enveloped in a scented embrace. Hope gave her a genuinely warm hug, then drew back and looked at her.
‘Luke has told me how you brought him here,’ she said. ‘And I thank you with all my heart.’
Minnie, normally so assured, found herself suddenly awkward.
‘It was nothing-just a short drive.’
A sudden tension seemed to come over Hope. It was almost indefinable, an extra edge of alertness, a slight turn of her head so that her ear was closer to Minnie, the better to catch a familiar tone.
‘Three hours is not a short drive,’ she replied, ‘especially when you’ve been torn from sleep. I don’t think it was “nothing”. Also, Luke has told me how you’ve been looking after him since the explosion. We must speak more of this later.’
‘I’m glad you turned out to be all right, anyway,’ Minnie said.
Hope smiled and said something gracious, then gave her attention to Luke, who had been standing by.
Hope refused their suggestion that she should go to bed, insisting that she felt well and wanted only to be among them. Half an hour later a car drew up outside and the missing son appeared. Franco had been in Los Angeles for the last few weeks and had just stepped off the plane after a thirteen hour flight. He and Hope ran straight into each other’s arms.
‘I always thought he was her favourite,’ said Olympia, who was close to Minnie. ‘Of course, she’d deny that she has any favourites, but with Franco there’s just a little something extra-I think.’ Seeing Minnie looking at her, she added, ‘With Hope it’s never wise to be sure.’
‘I can see that she’s a very unusual woman,’ Minnie agreed.
‘She sees everything, she hears everything, she knows everything,’ Olympia said. ‘And she plots in secret.’
‘Plots?’
‘She thinks it’s time she had more daughters-in-law, and she’s not the type to just sit back and cross her fingers. Justin and Evie actually broke up, but she went to England and got them on track again.’
‘And you and Primo?’
Olympia chuckled. ‘I must admit that it was Luke who played Cupid that time. You wouldn’t think it to look at him, would you?’
‘He doesn’t look like Cupid, no,’ Minnie said, regarding Luke with her head on one side, and considering the matter seriously. ‘But then, Cupid comes in many shapes. Sometimes he can look like a good friend, until you’re ready for more.’