Page 84 of A Family Of His Own
This time, Evelyn heard her. When she looked around, Diana smiled and tipped her head toward where the males were making for the villa. “We’re going. Come along.”
Evelyn glanced back at whatever had caught her attention, then turned and ran to Diana’s side. Seeing Diana’s and Giulia’s loaded baskets, Evelyn grinned and raised hers. “I have lots of things, too.”
Giulia peered into the basket and nodded in approval. “Those little tomatoes will do well for lunch.”
“We can share them,” Evelyn declared, and when Diana waved her on, she skipped ahead of Diana and Giulia all the way back to the villa.
The household gathered in the kitchen to sort their purchases and put them away, with Evelyn donating her small pile to the communal stores.
Diana gathered the boys and Evelyn with a glance. “Why don’t you take the cutlery and set the table for lunch while we adults get the food and drinks ready?”
The trio readily agreed, and soon, the occupants of the villa were sitting about the table under the vines and enjoying a delectable meal.
* * *
More than an hour later,replete and relaxed, Diana was lazing at the table in the loggia’s shade. After the platters had been emptied and the table cleared, the children had taken themselves off to play, Lucia had gone out, Giulia had retreated to the kitchen to potter, and Helga had gone upstairs to mend a rent in Bryce’s jacket in the cool of her room. That left Giovanni, Toby, and Diana lingering about the table, semisomnolent in the warmth of the afternoon.
Diana glanced at the men. Both had their heads back, their eyes closed, and their hands clasped over their stomachs.
Wondering if she would soon hear snoring, she shifted her foot and encountered an obstacle. Glancing down, she found Bruno sprawled on the paving. Smiling, she stroked the dog’s coat with her shoe. “Anyone would think you’d come with us this morning.”
Deeming the dog too likely to get overexcited when faced with the temptations of the market, they’d left him with Helga at the villa.
Diana glanced across the lawn to where the boys were perched on the lakeside wall, rods in their hands and lines angled out over the water. With her foot, she lightly tapped Bruno’s side. “You’re not even on duty with the boys.”
With his eyes still closed, Toby huffed. “He just gorged himself with scraps from the table. He’s too sensible not to sleep it off. He’ll come to life when the sun goes down.”
“Hmm,” Giovanni murmured. “Dogs are wise.”
Diana chuckled and relaxed in the chair. It was so peaceful, so calm, it was difficult to even imagine that the likes of the Prussians existed in the same world.
Unhurried footsteps approached through the dining room.
Diana turned her head and saw Helga, faintly frowning, step out onto the terrace.
She glanced around, scanning the area, then looked at Diana. “Have you seen Evelyn?”
Puzzled, Diana replied, “She was playing with Rupert in the drawing room.”
Toby opened his eyes and turned to Helga. “She was on the settee there the last time I looked.”
Helga frowned more definitely. “She’s not there now, and I didn’t hear her come upstairs. She didn’t come to our room.”
Toby glanced at Diana.
Giovanni rose from his chair. “We will come and look. Perhaps she is playing at this hide-and-seek.”
Leaving Helga searching downstairs, Diana, Toby, and Giovanni climbed the stairs and methodically searched the rooms on the upper floor.
Diana checked the room Evelyn shared with Helga; as she’d expected, Rupert the Bear wasn’t there.
When she rejoined the others, including Giulia, at the foot of the stairs, they were all looking increasingly concerned. Diana caught Toby’s gaze. “Wherever she’s gone, she’s taken Rupert the Bear with her.”
His lips tightened, and he nodded.
The front door opened, and Roland and Bryce, whom, apparently, Helga had sent to search the front garden, raced in. The boys skidded to a halt and, wide-eyed, looked at the adults.
Roland focused on Toby. “The gate in the wall wasn’t latched.”
