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start to clench with tension as she sat stiffly in
the passenger seat of the hired Bentley. Lorenzo negotiated
the narrow lanes as they dipped down between
familiar grey stone walls and passed the sign
that marked the boundary to the town.
Up ahead of them lay the pretty town square, with
its traditional wool merchants" houses lining its narrow
streets, beyond which the road started to rise towards
the Cotswold uplands where sheep still grazed,
as they had done for so many centuries. Its wool market
had made the town prosperous, and that prosperity
was still evident in its buildings.
Her own little cottage was hidden out of sight down
a narrow lane, its garden tucking its feet into the small
river that ran behind the main street. A pang of mingled
pain and nostalgia gripped her, but it wasn’t so
severe as she had dreaded. Anywhere could be home
if it was shared with the person you loved, she realised.
A small sign indicated the opening between two
houses that led to the yard belonging to John’s father"s
building business, and Jodie exhaled sharply as
she saw John’s car parked at the side of the road close
to it.
"What is it?" Lorenzo demanded.
"Nothing."
And that was the truth. The sight of John’s car,
which in the early days of their break-up would have
filled her with aching pain and loss, now didn’t affect
her at all — apart from a slight feeling of relief once
they had driven past it, in case John himself should
have appeared and seen her.
At the end of the town, set in its own pretty green,
was the church, small and squat, its stained glass windows
picked out by the sunlight. Preparations were
obviously already in hand for tomorrow"s wedding,
Jodie recognised as she saw bunches of white flowers
tied up with white ribbon and netting ornamenting the
old-fashioned gate.
John’s family, like her own, had been here for
many generations. John’s parents were relatively well
to do, and their converted farmhouse with its large
garden was just outside the town.
"Can we stop?" Jodie asked Lorenzo.
"If you wish." He swung the car round into the
small car park, and brought it to a halt.
There was one thing she did want to do, Jodie acknowledged.
One very personal visit she had to make.
"there’s no need to come with me," she told
Lorenzo as she reached to open the car door. "I shan’t
be very long."
"I may as well. I need to stretch my legs," Lorenzo
answered her.
She could see him frowning when she headed for
the church. And his frown deepened when, instead of
using the main gate, with its floral decorations, she
chose to make a small detour and open a much
smaller gate which led across the immaculate green
and then behind the church to the graveyard.
No one else seemed to be around, but even if there
had been, and she had seen someone she knew, Jodie
would not have allowed herself to be detained. She
had known when she stood in the church in Florence,
making her vows to Lorenzo, that this was something
she wanted to do.
She took the familiar narrow path that wove its way
between large mossed grey tombstones, so ancient
that their engraving had almost worn away, heading
deeper into the graveyard until she came to the place
she wanted.
There, set into the mown grass beneath a canopy
of soft leaves, was the small plaque that marked a
shared grave.
"My parents," she told Lorenzo simply.
Tears blurred her eyes, and her hand shook slightly
as she reached into her handbag and carefully withdrew
the small box in which she had stored the petals
from her wedding bouquet. Taking them out, she scattered
them tenderly on her parents" grave.
When she turned to look at Lorenzo a huge lump
formed in her throat. His head was bowed in prayer.
"It’s silly, I know, but I wanted them to know…"
She stopped and bit her lip.
"Do you want to go inside the church?" Lorenzo
asked.
Jodie shook her head. "No. They’ll be getting it
ready for the wedding and I Don’t want…"
"You Don’t want what? To confront the friend who
stole your fiance.? I thought that was why we are
here?"
"John’s an adult. No one forced him to break his
engagement to me for Louise." Her head had begun
to ache slightly. "Can we go back to the car?"
Lorenzo shrugged. "If that is what you want."
What she wanted was for Lorenzo to love her as
she had discovered she loved him. What she wanted
was to be back in Florence with him, living her life
with him, creating a future with him.
"I’m getting a headache," she told him instead.
"It is probably anxiety. What exactly are you hoping
for tonight, Jodie?"
You. I’m hoping for you to look at me and love me.
"I’m not hoping for anything."
"No? You’re not hoping secretly that John will see
you and recognise that it is you he wants after all?"
"that’s not going to happen."
"But you want it to?"
"No."
They were back at the car, and Jodie was so engrossed
in rejecting Lorenzo’s suggestion that she
didn’t notice the woman looking sharply at her until
a familiar voice a
heavens! I thought you were still away."
Lucy Hartley — whose husband worked for John’s
father!
Somehow or other Jodie managed to produce the
necessary smile. "It’s just a flying visit," she explained.
"I wanted to show my…my husband—"
"Your husband? You’re married?"
To Jodie’s relief, Lorenzo stepped forward and extended
his hand. Quickly Jodie performed the introductions,
watching Lucy’s eyes widen as she did so.
"You’ll be going to John’s parents" open house
party this evening, will you?" she enquired.
"We certainly hope to do so," Lorenzo answered
smoothly, before Jodie could say anything. "If we
won’t be encroaching. Jodie has told me so much
about her home and her friends, and I’m looking forward
to meeting them."
"Oh, no. I’m sure that Sheila and Bill will be only
too delighted." Lucy was beaming. "I’ll certainly tell
them I’ve seen you. Where are you staying, just in
case anyone asks?"
Reluctantly Jodie told her, and saw how her eyes
widened a little more in recognition of the exclusivity
of the hotel.
"My! You have gone up in the world, Jodie!"
Jodie could feel her face starting to burn.
"We must go — but hopefully we shall see you this
evening," Lorenzo offered politely, quickly steering
Jodie away before she could give vent to her feelings.
"That woman is such a snob," she complained angrily
as Lorenzo unlocked the car and opened the
door for her. "The moment I mentioned the hotel she
was all over us like a rash. And she doesn’t even
know about your title."
Lorenzo closed the passenger door and walked
round to get into his own side of the car.
As soon as he had started the engine, Jodie told
him fiercely, "Lorenzo, I Don’t want to go tonight.
When I first said that I wanted to, I wasn’t thinking
things through properly. I Don’t think we should go."
"We can hardly not go now," Lorenzo pointed out
calmly. "We will be expected."
She ought to be grateful to Lorenzo, Jodie knew.
He had rearranged his schedule in order to accommodate
this visit for her, and now here she was, telling
him that she didn’t want to be here.
Lorenzo looked at Jodie’s averted profile. He could