Page 53 of Far from Home
‘I don’t know if you’ve spoken to your brother yet, but I’m having a party on Thursday night and you’re invited. I’m celebrating the fact that I finally made up my mind to leave London and settle here in Sant’Antonio.’
‘No, I haven’t seen Danny yet and, yes, I’ll be delighted to come to your party. Let me know if I can bring anything or do anything to help.’ He opened the bottle and filled the two glasses she had set on the table. Picking up his glass, he held it out towards her. ‘Cheers, I can’t tell you how pleased I am that you’re going to settle here. Have you managed to figure out how you’re going to spend your time?’
She explained to him about her new role in the company and his enthusiastic reaction was the same as his brother’s. ‘It sounds as though you’ve got your life mapped out. I’m so glad for you.’
She was desperately curious to ask him about his former fiancée, but she knew it wouldn’t be appropriate – at least not yet. Instead, she just clinked her glass against his and took a sip before changing the subject. ‘So how come you decided to cut short the Somalia trip? Did you run into trouble?’
He looked uncomfortable. ‘No, it all went well and we got some excellent footage but…’ She saw him take another mouthful of wine. ‘…to be completely honest, the reason I came home early was you.’
‘Me?’ Her ears pricked up.
He nodded. ‘I got a text from Danny telling me about your decision to settle down here and I knew I had to come back and see you, to speak to you.’ He was still looking very insecure and she took pity on him.
‘It’s a beautiful evening. Why don’t we take our wine outside into the garden and you can say what you want to say.’ She led him out through the French windows to the bench under the palm tree and they sat down side by side. Max trotted out behind them and slumped down at their feet. The sun was starting to drop towards the horizon and there was a sweet scent of pollen in the air – accompanied by a continuous background buzz of bees. Apart from that, there was near perfect silence. Even without Adam and any possible revelations he might have, it would have been lovely out here, and she could feel a smile forming on her face. She settled back and glanced sideways at him. ‘Feel like telling me what’s on your mind?’
He answered immediately. ‘You. You’re what’s on my mind and you’ve been on my mind ever since I first saw you sitting outside the Corona Grossa that time.’
He hesitated, but Amy didn’t interrupt his train of thought, not least because she had a feeling she might find it hard to speak. Her mouth had suddenly dried as she began to register what might be happening. It sounded as if he was in a similar state as she heard him clear his throat before speaking.
‘All the time I was over there in Somalia, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. The idea that you had effectively disappeared from my life was unbearable. How could I have been so stupid as to let you go off without saying anything? I couldn’t concentrate on my work; I was a mess.’ He had been looking down at the dog but now he raised his head and caught her eye. ‘I like you a lot, Amy.’
She took a sip of wine and struggled to reply in even tones. Her mind and her heart were racing and she felt as though she was going to be swept away by a tsunami of emotion. ‘Well, I like you too, but I wasn’t so sure about how you felt towards me. You’ve kept any feelings pretty well hidden.’
‘I had to; it wouldn’t have been fair on either of us.’
After what she had heard about Jennifer, Amy felt sure she knew what he was talking about but she let him tell it his way.
‘For the last nine years, ever since I set up the company, I’ve been focusing on building it up and making it a success.’ He paused for a moment and she saw his fingers twisting and turning nervously. ‘A few years ago, back in LA, I met a girl. We got engaged but we ended up splitting up because of my job. The only thing that mattered to me back then, more than anything else, was my work. I felt that way right up until a few weeks ago when I first set eyes on you. Don’t laugh, but in the darkest moments over in Amazonia, with snakes all around and the constant assault of vicious bugs, it was the thought of you that kept my spirits up. All the time over this past week in Somalia, when I thought I’d lost you forever, I’ve been unable to concentrate on the job in hand. When I got the message from Danny saying that you’d come back again to stay, it felt as if something had exploded inside me. I knew what I had to do.’
‘And what was that?’
‘I had to tell you how I felt.’
‘And how do you feel?’
He reached over and caught hold of one of her hands and squeezed it gently. ‘I want you in my life, Amy, if you’ll have me.’
A wave of joy swept through her, but she had to be sure. ‘Youarein my life. Maybe not as fully as I would want, but we’re good friends and that’s not going to change. Are you saying you’d like to be more than friends?’
He didn’t say a word; he just gave her hand another little squeeze and nodded his head. Delighted as she was at this admission, Amy needed to be sure.
‘Last week, after three days back at work, I went to my boss to hand in my notice. Do you know why? Because, just like you’ve been describing, I found I couldn’t concentrate fully on the job. I kept thinking about this place, my father, and the friends I’ve made here.’ She placed her free hand on top of his and gave him a little smile. ‘That means you, in case you didn’t know it. The thing is, the way I resolved my dilemma was to change the nature of my job. From what you’ve told me and from what your brother has told me, that’s not something you’re prepared to do.’
‘You don’t understand…’
‘I like you an awful lot, Adam, but you need to know something. My mother screwed up her life for all sorts of reasons, and one of them was that she married a man who was doing a dangerous job, and the job killed him. The idea of allowing myself to get close to somebody like you who’s forever zooming off to one warzone or another is just too frightening for words. I can’t bear the idea of ending up like my mum or…’ She paused, wondering if she should give away what Danny and Pierpaolo had told her before taking the plunge. ‘Or Jennifer.’ She saw his eyes open wide and rushed to explain. ‘The boys told me what happened. It would break my heart. I get that you love your job and that you want the company to thrive and prosper, but I’d prefer to lose you now than to go through what my mum went through – or Jennifer, for that matter.’
She would have said more, but he stopped her. ‘That’s what I came back to tell you, Amy. When I was over there in Somalia I made a decision and I promise I’m going to stick to it. First thing tomorrow morning I’m going to start advertising for a presenter, a roving reporter if you like, somebody who’s prepared to spend a few nomadic years travelling around the globe for the company, dodging the bullets like I’ve been doing. That way I can concentrate on the creative and administrative side of the business – and on you, if you’ll have me.’
Amy’s immediate instinct would have been to throw her arms around him and kiss him madly, pledging her life to him, but something still held her back. She threw out a quick question to see what kind of answer it provoked.
‘You’re saying you’re prepared to change your whole way of life just for me?’
‘That’s pretty much what I’m saying… if you’ll have me.’ He was repeating himself but she barely noticed.
Her head was swimming with the ramifications of what he had just told her. There was a movement by her feet and the next thing she knew there was a heavy Labrador head resting on her lap and a pair of big brown eyes staring up at her in solidarity. She removed one of her hands from Adam’s and gently stroked Max’s ears before looking back at Adam.
‘Have you ever seenCasablanca, the film with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman?’
