Page 51 of An Italian Wedding Adventure

Petra’s cheeks went pink and Caro laughed.

‘Because Mama overdid the drama when he told us about you,’ his sister explained.

‘I was happy for him,’ Petra insisted. ‘He’s always been so lonely – you know he’d never admit it. He never felt he quite fit in at home on the farm. He had Miro, but Miro always had Toni. But then he had… you, Sophie.’

The goosebumps that skittered up her arm were out of place on the hot day. ‘Surely he’s had other girlfriends – before that and since?’

When Petra shook her head, the goosebumps dug in. ‘Very few we’d heard about and no one he really loved.’

She didn’t mean Andreas had loved her, Sophie was certain.

‘He was living at home at the time, saving money for Gasherbrum,’ she said, her tone growing dismissive as she said the name of the mountain. ‘When it got to around six o’clock each day, he’d start glancing at his phone obsessively, picking it up and putting it down and going out to the garden and back inside. Then the phone would ring and he’d disappear upstairs, like a child going to the Christmas tree.’

Sophie’s stomach twisted as the image burrowed into her heart in vivid focus.

‘I did wonder whether you’d come – after Gasherbrum, after Miro?—’

‘Mama,’ Caro scolded gently. ‘It’s not Sophie’s fault, especially after what Andreas did, turning her down.’

‘He took it hard didn’t he? Miro’s death?’ Sophie asked, thinking of Andreas’s tone the night before. He was still grieving, as much as he’d tried to reason with what had happened.

‘Very hard,’ Petra confirmed gravely. ‘For a little while, I hoped at least one good thing might come of it: that he’d stop taking these risks. But he was even worse after he recovered from Miro’s death as well as his own injuries.’

The renewed twinge in Sophie’s stomach was uncomfortable, especially with her mind running wild with images of Andreas sick and injured. She’d read reports about the expedition, but she’d never allowed herself to picture what it had meant that he’d lost his best friend and sustained injuries himself. Part of her wished she’d been there for him, but she was trying to be sensible about her feelings and nursing him through a difficult time would only have dug her in deeper.

‘We really thought you’d broken up with him then, during that awful time,’ Petra said with a grimace.

‘Although I wouldn’t have blamed you,’ Caro added. ‘He was a wounded bear, nipping at everyone who came too close.’

‘I still don’t know why he led you to believe I broke up with him.’

‘He said you weren’t at the airport to meet him when he got back.’ Petra looked as though she could have added more.

‘I didn’t even know when he was coming back. He never contacted me a?—’

An uneasy thought struck her, a split-second decision she’d made with her heart bruised from his rejection, convinced he’d only been letting her down gently by suggesting they go on a break. But surely he wouldn’t have tried to contact her after the way they’d parted.

‘He hasn’t told me a lot about that time,’ she said. ‘Not that I expect him to. We’re colleagues now – friends.’

‘Friends, hmm?’ Caro said with a chuckle as Sophie shook off her confusion. ‘I think you’re the only person who could convince him to attend a wedding!’

‘I haven’t convinced him yet,’ she insisted, catching sight of a three-piece suit in a shop window. ‘And I don’t think there’s any way I could convince him to come to the reception. Does he even own a suit?’

‘I think Andreas would go up in flames if he ever touched a suit,’ Caro said wryly.

Sophie managed a distracted chuckle. ‘I think you might be right.’

20

‘And… buy yourself a suit, Andreas,’ his mother said in a withering tone the following morning as she was about to leave for home.

He wasn’t sure where the idea had come from, but his collar felt tighter just hearing the word. He’d walked Caro and his mother to their car, hoping they didn’t work out he was ushering them off quickly so he could get back to Sophie.

As he’d fidgeted all the way through their late lunch in Verona the day before and lost every round of cards against Caro last night, they could probably guess he wanted them gone.

‘It won’t hurt you to help Sophie with her weddings, confront your fears,’ his mother continued.

‘Myfears?’

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