Page 38 of Never Too Late
‘Thanks.’ She couldn’t miss the fact that he didn’t ask for more help.
Neither of them made a move even to shake hands, let alone kiss, so she opened the door and climbed out, reaching back in to ruffle the dog’s ears as she did so.
‘Goodnight, Waldorf, goodnight, Rob.’
To her surprise, his hand reached out and caught hold of hers. ‘Good night, Steph, it’s been a wonderful evening.’ He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly before releasing her and returning his hands to the wheel. As he drove off, she could still feel the imprint of his lips on her skin and it felt good. Very good.
Chapter 17
That night she found it difficult to get off to sleep. Apart from the anticlimactic way the evening had ended, she found herself thinking about the scenario Rob had voiced. What if Keith and the others really did ask her not only to play with them for the album but to join the band and go touring with them? First and foremost, this would no doubt result in her making a lot of money. She would probably get a heap of money for every performance and maybe even a cut of the sales revenue of the album. Alternatively, they might just offer her a hefty annual salary, but this would most probably be much more than she was earning at present – and that would be hard to turn down.
There was of course the question of how long this might last. Keith was almost sixty and the others members were in their fifties so theoretically the band could very well keep going for another ten, even twenty years. After all, the Rolling Stones were still touring, and Mick Jagger was almost eighty. In twenty years’ time she would be fifty and her chances of settling down and having a family would have all but disappeared. Could she realistically hope to balance being a member of a world-famous band with a life of domestic bliss? Even if that were possible, there was the minor problem of finding the right man first. And the one she thought she might have found here didn’t appear to feel the same way about her.
The other big unknown was what the biopsy might reveal. If Keith and the others did offer her a place in the band, she might find herself saying yes to her great opportunity only to have to say no only a week or two later if the doctors told her she had cancer.
She got up feeling a bit jaded and went out for a walk, deliberately keeping away from Rob’s house. She didn’t want to put him in an awkward position. Last night had been going so well until he had started talking about death and she had had that premonition which had darkened her mood, but when she thought about it analytically, he hadn’t made a move of any kind before that, so he either just didn’t fancy her or he accepted the reality of the situation that within a matter of weeks or even days she would leave and that would be that.
She wandered about, enjoying the relative cool of the early morning air but noticed that grey clouds were approaching from the west. In fact, by the time she came back to her room, the sky had darkened as the cloud cover thickened. Still, she told herself, it was September after all.
Up at the villa at breakfast time the three band members were once again up bright and early and raring to go. Fortunately, so was Ethan and for the second day running he was looking and sounding on the ball. They were down in the studio just after nine and they worked all morning, not even stopping for a mid-morning coffee break. Ben was a changed man; joining in with the discussions, making suggestions and demonstrating that his musical talents hadn’t diminished over the past ten years. Steph was pleased to find that the men included her in their deliberations and appeared to appreciate her input. As for Ethan, he worked the controls masterfully as they set about recording a couple more songs in their near final form.
That evening the rain started and dinner was served indoors. Before the meal they reconvened in the lounge and Keith played back the recordings for everyone to have a listen, and looking around, Steph got the feeling that everybody liked the new music a lot. This even included Willow, who had reappeared from wherever she had been the previous day but for some reason was pointedly sitting with Ethan between her and Denver. Once the music had finished, Keith made a phone call to somebody called Sol to give him the monumental news that Royalty were coming out of retirement. It was only as Steph listened to the conversation that she realised that Sol had to be Solomon Phoenix, the head of the music division at the biggest media company in the world. Ethan had even referred to him on occasions as ‘God’. She could only hear Keith’s side of the conversation, but it rapidly emerged that God wasn’t going to wait for them to send him the finished article. He was coming to them.
After Keith broke the news to him that the group was re-forming, the great man was so enthusiastic he offered to come over to Italy in person to listen to the new material. Even Keith was taken aback despite, as Steph had told her mother before coming over here, Royalty re-forming being just about the biggest news of the year, if not the decade, for the music business. After putting down the phone, Keith explained to them that Solomon was a man who liked his food, and Italian food in particular, so he hadn’t taken long to start making plans to jump in his private jet and head over from the States in a few days’ time.
Keith gave Steph a little smile. ‘I didn’t tell him about our fabulous replacement keyboard player, so it’ll be interesting to see what he says when he meets you, Steph.’
Steph gulped.
After dinner she left the family in the dining room and went back to her room. The rain had passed by now and although the path was still wet, she got back to her room safe and dry. After phoning her mum, she set about washing some clothes in the bathroom, and she was still in there when her phone started ringing. Her heart leapt as she saw the caller ID.
‘Rob, hi.’
‘Ciao, Steph, I hope I’m not disturbing you.’ Wiping her hands on a towel, she sat down on the edge of the bed to talk to him.
‘Ciao, Rob, of course not, I’m delighted to hear from you. All well? How’s my four-legged friend? I haven’t seen him today.’
‘He sends his love. Thanks for your help and your company last night. It was a lovely evening.’
‘I feel the same way. It was great. When are you off to Sanremo?’
‘That’s the thing; I’m off early on Saturday morning and I wanted to see you before I go, so I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow night?’ Although the rational part of her brain immediately told her this would only prolong the agony by allowing her more time to fall under his spell, and that would just increase the hurt when she had to leave him and his dog behind, she felt an upsurge of excitement. She was about to reply eagerly when he hurried on. ‘Would you maybe like to come out for dinner again? I promise I’ll do my best to be cheerful and to keep you cheerful.’
‘I’ll hold you to that. I’d love to see you but there’s no need for you to buy me more food.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Tell me, do you like risotto?’
‘I love a good risotto, but it’s one dish I have great trouble making. It either ends up burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pan or a mushy inedible mess.’
‘Right, well, you might remember me boasting about how my dad taught me to make real Venetian risotto. I’d be happy to come around to your place and cook for you. We could even play a bit first, if you like.’ She was referring to music, but her subconscious could think of quite a few other ways they could play together, but she steadfastly refused to listen. For now.
‘Only if you’re sure. I’d happily take you anywhere you want.’
‘Thanks for the thought, but I’d be very happy just with you and Waldorf in that gorgeous house of yours.’ And, of course, there was no risk of paparazzi popping up there.
They arranged that she would come around the next day at six and she resolved to see Cesare at breakfast to see if she could scrounge a lift into town to buy the bits she would need. As the call ended, she lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, her mood suddenly a lot lighter than it had been only minutes before. Might this mean progress in their fledgling relationship? Of course, she reminded herself, even if it did, there were still so many potential stumbling blocks, ranging from her future career to that blasted biopsy.
Steph got up early and hitched a lift into Lerici with Cesare first thing on Friday morning to buy the necessary ingredients for dinner and was back at the villa by half past nine just as the others assembled at the studio. Keith had some news for them.
‘I woke up to find my work phone absolutely flooded with messages and emails. Sol must have been talking and the word has spread like wildfire.’
