He stood to put some distance between them. ‘I’ll… um… The accordion? You don’t need any more help, do you?’ He barely waited for her to shake her head before he bolted.
When he escaped the kitchen and saw the jackets hanging on the hooks by the door, the sight stopped him cold. He’d managed toforgetfor a moment why he shouldn’t risk getting attached to Julia. The guilt that washed in with that realisation was almost as bad as the ache when he saw the jacket.
No matter how many times Berengario winked at him, even if her eyes were pretty and his skin tingled every time she was in the room, the best thing for both of them was to get her out of Italy before those tingles turned into something real – something that could hurt.
He took Berengario to task on Thursday evening as they drove to choir rehearsal. ‘Do you have any idea how tired she is every evening? Does Maddalena? She’s working too hard – for no pay!’
‘Are you sure she doesn’t have Friulian heritage?’ was all Berengario said in reply.
‘No, Calabrian Volpe apparently.’
‘I think she has Friulian heritage. Hard worker, that girl. Like she belongs here.’
Alex stifled a groan.
‘If not with you, maybe with Davide.’
Not Davide… He’d never got on well with Maddalena’s son and he couldn’t help thinking Davide wouldn’t appreciate Jules, but Berengario knew that. God, the old man knew how to press his buttons. ‘She’s not here for your matchmaking service.’
‘It’s not impossible that she’d fall in love with Davide. It was quite funny when they met. The dogs went wild and she fell over. It would make a good story to tell their grandchildren. Perhaps a little matchmaking is a good idea.’
‘She’s not falling in love with Davide or anyone else!’
The small smile Berengario didn’t manage to hide showed Alex he’d fallen into the trap. ‘But I thought you two weren’t together,’ he said smugly.
‘We’re not! But someone has to show some casual concern for Maddalena’s labourer.’
‘Casual “concern” is it? I thought it was casual something else.’
‘Ha! Can we change the subject?’
‘Youbrought her up. You’ve talked about nothing else since we got in the car.’
Was that true? Alex certainly thought about her too much. ‘She has no one looking out for her.’
‘I won’t be on the farm after the harvest, by the way. I’ve got plans with Elena.’
‘On top of everything, she’ll have to walk there?’ He could take her. Perhaps he should, although she’d probably get up early and walk just to prove she didn’t need his help.
‘Julia’s hardy, a Furlan Volpe. She’ll be fine,’ Berengario insisted.
‘When did you last get your hearing tested? I said her family is from Calabria.’
‘When you admit you like her, I’ll hear it crystal clear.’
Alex gritted his teeth so hard that Berengario could probably hearthat. ‘You know it’s not that simple. Stop pretending it is.’
‘Alex!’ he said, his voice high, as though he was the frustrated one in this conversation. ‘We all lost her! Don’t you thinkshe’dwant you to find love?’
‘Do you want me to have the guilt of disappointing a dead person as well as everything else? Of course she would want that. ButIdon’t. I won’t go through that, especially not with someone who’s determined to leave the country as soon as possible!’ He sounded desperate even to his own ears. ‘It’s not the first time I’ve slept with someone, if you really want to know,’ he added, hoping to shock his friend into silence.
Of course it backfired. ‘But it’s the first time you’ve wanted to take care of someone.’
‘Because she has no one else,’ he insisted. ‘Do you know she moved to Italy for a boyfriend and then had nowhere to go when they broke up and stayed living with him for a whole year? Her family is half the world away.’ Cutting himself off when he realised he was babbling about Julia again, he could feel Berengario’s gaze, even though he kept his own firmly on the road.
‘It’s not because she’s alone,’ the old man contradicted gently. ‘You want to take care of her because you’re waking up again – because it’s who you were before…’ Before everything he’d had to dofor love.
‘I know you mean well,’ Alex said quietly, ‘but this isn’t going to happen. She’s not staying. She has to have a day off next week for her passport appointment and she won’t be here long after that.’