Turn Towards the Sun Book Two: After the Rain (21 page)

“Well, I have her number now. I’ll call,” he tells me.

“I’ll wait.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“I do believe you,” I insist. “I just think you don’t want to, and I think you’ll put it off as long as possible. I’d rather just get this over with, so we don’t have to keep talking about it.”

“Good point, signora.”

We walk inside the house and sit down together on the couch in the living room. I watch Enzo as he flips open his phone and takes a deep breath. He dials her number slowly. Any jealously I once felt over the situation is now completely gone. I just want him to make peace with the whole episode.

“Emma, it’s Enzo,” he says. His face changes to sadness as he listens. “Don’t cry, Emma. We need to talk. Can you meet with me?” He stands and paces the room. “That isn’t important.”

I can tell this is a tough conversation for him. She must be crying and pouring out her soul, because he’s quiet for several minutes and wearing an awkward look on his face.

“Listen, Emma, we can talk through this in person. My wife wants this to happen. Yes, she knows. Do you feel well enough for visitors?”

Enzo listens again and runs his fingers through his hair. “It has to be today. I’m leaving town tomorrow. Don’t worry about that, okay?” His tone finally softens. “Alright, I’ll be there in two hours. Does that work?” He looks up at me. “Okay, see you then.”

He closes the phone. “That was tough. She cried the whole time.”

“I assumed.”

“She feels terrible, of course. She wanted to talk to you, but I don’t think it is necessary. You agree, no?” Enzo asks me.

“I admit that I did want to talk to her at first, before I knew why she did this. That urge has passed, thankfully.”

“I don’t think I would be comfortable with it,” he says.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going with you. I’m going to make travel arrangements. I’ll be here when you get back.”

He smiles. “Promise?”

“Where else am I going to go?”

“The Amex card is on the table over there. I’ll call later today to get a card in your name. In fact, we need to get your name changed.”

“When we get home we can do that,” I suggest. “I hope we’ll only be gone a week or so.”

“I’m going to Girasole now for a few hours to get some things in order. Then I’ll be going to Emma’s.” He sighs.

“Are you going to her house?”

“I was planning to, yes.”

“What about the media?” I ask him.

“She said no one was there. After her health announcement, they’ve left her alone. Maybe there is hope for humanity after all.”

“Maybe…”

“You’re sure you want me to do this?”

“It’s already done. Besides, it obviously means a lot to her.”

He nods his head. “Okay, then, a presto,” he says, kissing my cheek.

“Ah, new phrase. A presto?”

“It basically means ‘see you later,’ loosely translated.”

“Ah, well in that case, a presto,” I say, grinning.

Enzo leaves again, and I stand in the vast living room looking around. The house is just so big – we definitely need to fill it up someday. It helps a lot that Cassie and Chris are here, even though they’ve been spending their days getting to know the area. It suddenly hits me that I’m starving. Wandering into the kitchen, I look around for something to eat, but only find some fruit and a lot of vegetables. Opening the freezer, I find a tub of soup. Perfect. As I pour it into a pot to warm it up, I hear my phone vibrate across the dining table.

HB&M: I love you. You’re the most amazing woman and I’m happy you’re mine.

Me: Per Sempre.

I take a deep breath. We’ll make it through this. It’s just a bump in the road. I pour myself a glass of water and walk over to the couch to sit down. I’m ready for all this drama to be over. As much as I didn’t want to go back to Colorado anytime soon, at least it’s a quiet place where we can get away from all of this.

I turn on my iPad and start searching for flights. I click on ‘Arizona to Colorado’ on Delta, and it returns with no search results. How is that possible? It isn’t like it’s a holiday or anything. I check another airline, but there are no flights either. Weird. I decide to call my parents.

“Hello?”

“Hi dad.”

“Hey, princess,” he says. “Welcome back, jetsetter. How are you?”

“Good but I was a little under the weather for a couple of days.”

“Oh. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes. Just a bug, I think. How are things out there? Where’s mom?”

“You didn’t hear? We’re expecting a blizzard tomorrow. Your mom is at the store grabbing whatever food she can.”

“Oh, a blizzard,” I say. “That explains why I couldn’t find any flights.” It also explains why I never want to live in Denver again.

“Flights?” he asks.

“Yeah, Enzo and I were thinking about coming out for a couple of days for a visit. He’s about to get very busy, so we just thought it would nice. But I guess it’s not an option now.”

“Ah, too bad, princess,” he says. “We’d like to see you both. Is everything okay? You sound a little down.”

“Just sad we can’t visit. But otherwise, I’m good.”

It’s just a little white lie. I don’t want to worry him.

“How was Italy?” my dad asks.

“Good,” I reply. Brightening up, I tell him all about our trip and the neat things we did. And then we talk for a few minutes about everything that is going on with my parents, too.

“And how are you after… the incident?” he asks.

“Incident?”

He can’t possibly know about the book. It wouldn’t be national news.

“Mad woman at your wedding, remember?” He sounds exasperated with me.

Oh, right. That incident. I’m losing track of them.

“Good, dad,” I tell him. “Really.”

“Okay. Oh, we’ve got a bunch of mail for you. I sent it off a few days ago, after we learned about the blizzard, so you should get it soon.”

“Thanks dad. Tell mom I said hi. I’ll call in a few days. Stay safe.”

“We will. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I sink down into the couch. Great. No trip. I guess I’ll just have to sit here and deal with all this shit until it passes. I pick up the phone and call Enzo.

“This is Enzo. Leave a message.”

Voicemail. He must be busy. Or maybe he’s with Emma already. I hope they both get the closure they need.

I check on my soup and ladle some into a bowl. I could watch television, I suppose. Sitting down on the couch, I flick on the TV, and aimlessly click through until I stop at a talk show I have always wanted to watch, but never could because I was at work. Finally, a benefit to being unemployed.

“The topic today is what to do when you catch your man cheating,” the host announces.

Yeah, not watching that. I flip to another channel. Besides, I’m positive that is one thing I won’t have to worry about, at least I hope not.

I look up as Cassie walks in the house, Chris following behind her.

“Hey girl, what’s up?” she asks, cheerfully.

“Are you busy, Cass?”

“Never for you – whatcha doing? You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better. Doctor thinks it was stress. I’m just bored,” I admit. “Enzo isn’t here and I don’t really have anything to do. He doesn’t want me to go out alone right now until things calm down.”

“That makes sense. Don’t you have anything you can do?”

“She’s going to die, Cass,” I blurt out.

“Who?”

“Emma, the woman who wrote the book,” I explain. “She did an interview last night and she has breast cancer. It’s terminal.”

“Shit. That sucks for her. But what’s it to you?”

“Nothing, I guess. It’s the reason she wrote the book – a confession, she called it.”

“Nice confession. Well, I guess the good news is she won’t be a problem for long, right?”

“That’s mean, Cass.”

“No, it isn’t,” she replies. “It’s the truth. It isn’t like she’s your friend. In fact, I would say she’s the opposite.”

“I sent Enzo to see her.”

“You did what?” Her voice rises. “Are you nuts? The sun must be frying your brain. Why would you want him to see her?”

“You should have seen her on TV, Cass. She was crying and asking for his forgiveness. It was so sad.”

“You lost me somewhere along the way. You felt sorry for her?”

“I guess so.” Now that I’m saying this out loud, it does sound pretty stupid.

“Okay, let me get this straight…” She takes a deep breath. “Some chick who had a twisted relationship with your husband writes a totally embarrassing book as a confession, and you feel sorry for her?”

Biting my lip, I reply, “I admit it sounds pretty stupid when you say it like that.”

“Oh good, so maybe you aren’t as crazy as you sound. Listen, Ava, your kindness is misplaced. You have no idea if this woman is legit. You don’t know whether she’s sincere or if she is really dying. For all you know, it might be a ploy to try and get Enzo back. Did you ever think of that?”

“No. Obviously,” I reply, feeling sick again. “Anyway, I trust Enzo. Even if it is a ploy, he won’t fall for it. She disgusts him.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but why set yourself up for that?” Cass asks. “Jesus, Ava, sometimes you shock me with how gullible you can be.”

“Excuse me, Miss Know-it-all, but I’ve never been in a situation like this before. No one gave me the damn handbook on how to handle public scandals with your husband’s ex. Maybe you can let me borrow yours.”

Cassie takes a deep breath. “Sorry, Ava, but I’m just trying to get you to open your eyes.”

“They are open,” I argue. “I just want this behind us. I thought it was the best way.”

“Maybe it is. What do I know?”

We sit silently for a moment.

“It’ll work out,” soothes Cass.

“Yeah…”

“I’m gonna take a shower.

“Okay,” I say.

Now I feel worse than I did earlier. What if Cass is right and this is all just one big deception to get Enzo’s attention? Emma’s tears seemed real enough to me, I remember, so if she was lying, she must be damn good at it. Although I wish Enzo would call or text, I don’t want to pester him, especially since it was my idea that he go and see Emma.

To take my mind off things, I finish my soup while watching a show on the Food Network. If I trust my husband, like I say I do, then I need to distract myself until he gets home, and stop worrying.

10 CHAPTER TEN

The sound of the garage door going up makes me jump and I glance at the clock. Five hours have passed since Enzo left the house. Fortunately, I found a good book to read and it kept me pleasantly occupied. I sit up and try to act nonchalant when he walks in.

“Ciao, bella,” he greets me. Although he is smiling, his face is creased with tension, he does not look happy.

“Ciao, tesoro, is everything okay?” I ask him.

“Yes,” he replies. “It was an exhausting day though. How do you feel?”

“Good. I ate some soup and it stayed down.”

“Where did you get that? Did you go out?”

“Of course not,” I answer. “I found it in the freezer.”

“Good. I’m glad you ate.”

“Did you eat?” I ask.

“Yes, I stopped by Silvio’s and grabbed a bowl of pasta. I was able to get quite a bit of work done, too,” Enzo adds. “Did you book our tickets?” I watch him remove his cuff links and set them on the coffee table.

I guess we’re not going to address the elephant in the room.

Shaking my head, I tell him, “No. They’re expecting a blizzard tomorrow, so no flights in or out.”

Enzo frowns. “That’s a shame. What do you want to do instead? We could go to Sedona or Vegas – anywhere you want.” He sits down next to me on the couch.

We sit silently for a moment.

“I’d like to tell you about my meeting with Emma,” he says.

I breathe a sigh of relief. “I’d like to hear about it.”

“It was very sad. Emma looks worse in person than she did on television, and her home is full of nurses and equipment. It took a lot out of her to do that interview, but she felt she had to. I got the sense that Emma knew the book would be shocking, but that she really did seem to think it was going to affect her more than the men she named.” He shakes his head. “She didn’t seem to understand how much trouble she caused until she got all the lawsuits.”

“You don’t think there is any chance it was meant as revenge?” I ask.

“No, mainly because she doesn’t feel vengeful towards the men she was with. She feels like she got herself into these situations and that her choices were wrong, not her relationships.”

“Did she talk about her feelings for you?”

“A little,” Enzo admits. “Emma told me she really did love me, but always knew I didn’t love her back. She asked me why. It was a very difficult conversation.” He rubs his forehead.