The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop Part 28

'You need to do what's right for both of you, not base your future on me,' Carolina said. Anna nodded. She could see that Carolina was getting tired.

'Listen, I'll leave you to sleep,' Anna said gently. She reached over and stroked Caroline's hair. 'If you need anything just let me know.'

Anna and Matteo sat together on the terrace, the square bustling in the early evening, but their flat, finally, calm. Bella was asleep and Carolina was reading in her room.

'It feels good to have her here,' Matteo said. 'To be able to watch over her and know that she's safe.'

'She's very strong,' Anna said. 'The doctors said they were expecting her to recover quickly. Although, of course, with the baby she'll have to take things slowly.'

'The baby. I'm still getting used to that. Carolina, a mother. But I know she's going to be a wonderful mum.'

'The best,' Anna agreed.

'She's always been so caring. She'll manage fine better, in fact, without Filippo around. I don't know what his plans are but she's told me to stay out of it, and she's probably right. If it were down to me, well . . .' His expression took on a harsher edge as he thought about the man who had broken his sister's heart.

'She's perfectly capable of fixing her own life. You know that, don't you?' Anna asked.

'Yes,' he replied. 'But I guess old habits are hard to break. She might be older than me, but it's still my job to look after her.'

'We're all here to look after her. That baby is going to be very loved.'

Chapter 41.

With her feet up on the sofa, Imogen typed out an email to her sister.

To: Subject: Don't youuuu forget about me Hey Anna, SO happy to hear that Carolina is recovering OK, and that it's all going well with her pregnancy. You must all have been very worried. I hope Bella is keeping you all smiling and dis.h.i.+ng out her best cuddles. Oh, how I miss those.

I've sent B a little parcel something for you to play with on the beach. Do you remember how we used to go down to the beach with Granny V and fly kites? Well, I thought she should have a go too it's a McAvoy tradition, after all.

You asked how things are going here. With a little nudge from me, Evie's written to Luigi . . . and sent some photos I took of her looking HOT. So it's now down to you to follow the progress at your end . . .

In other news, the guesthouse is still fully booked. Amazing, eh. Uncle Martin's over the moon. And that's even without Clarissa she's gone back to London now, but is still coming down at weekends to see her grandparents. They all came to the guesthouse last week Clarissa wanted them to see it how it is now, and to meet me and Martin. It was all pretty emotional! I even saw Martin welling up. Vincent and Catherine are warm, lovely people, and Clarissa seems so much happier since she met them.

And me? Well, I've also moved out of the guest-house. Something came up. I'm getting back on my feet.

Imo xx 'We're all out of tea,' Lauren said to Imogen shaking the empty box of PG Tips.

'Right, I'll go out and get some,' Imogen said, swinging her legs off the sofa and slipping her flip-flops on.

'Like that?'

Lauren eyed her pyjama bottoms and hoody.

Imogen shrugged. 'Why not? I'm only going across the road.'

The two of them were up in the flat above the photography studio that she shared with Lauren. Imogen was renting her box room, setting up the sofa bed at night, and it was working out Lauren needed the extra cash, and Imogen needed somewhere to live that wasn't her family's guesthouse, with her parents coming round every few days to check up on her.

'Could you grab a newspaper at the same time?' Lauren asked. 'There's a bacon sandwich in it for you.'

'Sure,' Imogen said. They'd been out at a bar the night before and were both feeling worse for wear that morning.

Outside, the cobbled lanes were bright with suns.h.i.+ne. Imogen ducked through the early-morning shoppers and across to the newsagent, picking up a newspaper and a large box of PG Tips. She grabbed a packet of jammy dodgers for good measure.

As she left the shop, she saw Finn walking past outside. He glanced towards her and their eyes met. He came over to her. Imogen's heart raced, and she desperately hoped he wouldn't glance down at her pyjamas.

'Jammy dodgers for breakfast?' he said at last.

'Lauren's favourite,' she said, pointing up at the flat. 'We've got a lot of editing to do this afternoon. Figured we could use the fuel.'

'Is that where you're living now?' Finn asked.

'Yes. Lauren's got a spare room. It's working out OK.' She shrugged.

Finn's eyes seemed to glaze, and he looked down. 'There are still a lot of your things at my place. Clothes. DVDs, kitchen stuff. Do you want me to drop them round now that you've got somewhere more permanent?'

She wondered if it was sadness she'd detected in his voice, or just an air of finality. Without seeing the look in his eyes she couldn't tell.

'Sure,' she said, her voice cracking a little. 'Thanks. I'd appreciate that. How has everything been going with the surf school?'

'Well, actually,' Finn said, 'it's all ready. The shop opened last week.'

'Really? You got everything set up quickly.'

'Fewer distractions I guess,' he said, with a shrug.

The words were gently spoken, but crus.h.i.+ng to Imogen. He had started to see the positives in a life without her, free from the ups and downs and drama that seemed to follow her.

'Look, I-'

He shook his head. 'Let's not go over what happened,' he said.

'OK. Sure.' Imogen nodded. 'Well, if you're in this evening, I'll come round for my stuff.'

'I'll be there, yes,' Finn said.

As she put her key in the door to Lauren's flat, hot tears fell onto her cheeks. This was it. A new stage for them both. She and Finn were really over.

'Come over here, beside the rose tree,' Imogen said, leading the bride and groom over. It was Sat.u.r.day, a week after she'd collected her stuff from Finn's house.

Sarah, the bride, tripped up on something and her new husband Joe helped her get her balance back, gently holding her waist. Their eyes met; Imogen saw the trust and care that was there between them.

'That's good,' she said, capturing the photo.

They carried on laughing together and Imogen took photo after photo. Away from the wedding guests, their love came to life. It was as if she weren't there, exactly what she wanted. When she'd got the photos, she walked with the couple back to the wedding group.

'How did you two meet, if you don't mind me asking?'

They exchanged a glance, and, without a word, seemed to decide who would tell the story.

'At Brighton General Hospital.'

'Do you work there?' Imogen asked.

'I do. I'm a nurse,' Joe said. 'Sarah was just visiting.'

'You could call it that,' she said, with a smile. She turned to Imogen and said directly, 'I'd just found out I was very ill.'

Imogen felt her cheeks colour. 'I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked.'

'Don't be sorry,' Sarah said, taking her husband's hand. 'I met Joe when I was at rock bottom, and he pulled me right back up.'

'We got her happy again.'

'And, two years later, I'm still here. And we're married.'

Imogen looked at them, content and at peace in each other's company. 'You have a lot to celebrate,' she said softly.

'That's how we see it,' Sarah said.

That afternoon, Imogen photographed Joe and Sarah's family and friends in the gardens of the Brighton Pavilion. They were taking the chance of happiness they'd been given and running with it. A wedding wasn't just a show, she thought to herself. It was so much more than that.

Chapter 42.

'Two tangerine sorbets coming up,' Matteo said, pa.s.sing the ices over to the customers waiting at the counter.

'They look delicious,' the woman said, pus.h.i.+ng her sungla.s.ses up on top of her head and taking a scoop. 'You're the talk of the Amalfi coast, you know. We stayed at a hotel up in Positano and the guests were all on about how we must come here.'

'Thank you. And that's good to hear,' Anna said. 'We're very new around here still, so it's always nice to get feedback.'

'We've only heard wonderful things.'

She sat with her friend at an outside table, and the shop fell quiet. Anna turned to Matteo. 'Do you think things might finally be settling down?'

'Don't say it!' Matteo said, putting his arms around her waist and kissing her on the neck playfully. 'Let's wait until we get to the end of the day.'

'It was nice of your mum to take Bella out to the market today. Certainly makes it easier to run things here.'

'You know it makes her happier than anything.'

'Well, I appreciate it. I feel like it's getting a lot easier between us now. She's a very generous woman.'

'And she respects you a lot. I wish she had been better at showing that from the start but at least you two got there in the end.'

'Good things take time, I guess,' Anna said. 'I had to talk Carolina out of joining them, you know. Now there's a woman who really can't handle the concept of rest.'

'Well, she's going to have to learn how: the doctors said she needed to take it easy for a month at least, possibly longer depending on how the pregnancy progresses.'

'I'll get her some good books. She's always saying she wants to read all of Jane Austen and now she's got no excuse.'

Matteo drew Anna near and brushed a hair away from her face. 'I'm glad I met you, Anna McAvoy.'

'Me too,' Anna said. 'Partly because you make the finest cappuccino gelato I've ever tasted. But a few other things, too.' She kissed him, and the drama of the last few weeks that had consumed them so completely seemed to drift away.

'So, how's it going at your end?' Anna asked. 'I don't know what you've been up to, but Luigi's been grinning from ear to ear these past few days.'

'Excellent,' Imogen said. 'I'm just supporting Evie in her communication, that's all.'

'Well, it certainly seems to have kick-started something. Luigi gave me and Matteo a free carafe of his best wine last night at dinner.'

'She was a bit reluctant at first. I guess she's settled into her own ways over time. I think she was scared of reopening old wounds, getting hurt again. But when she got the first reply from Luigi she came into the ice cream shop and it was obvious she was delighted.'

'I got her on Skype with him too. I set her up and then-'

'Spied through the crack in the door?' Anna said.

'Noooo . . . Anna, come on. I tactfully withdrew to the kitchen. Where I just happened to be able to overhear some of the conversation.'

'Ha! Go on, then, spill.'

'Well, let's just say I think there's still a whole lot of feeling there. I've never heard Evie laugh like that before.'

'That's lovely. So, what's the next step?' Anna asked.

'Getting her out there, of course.'

'Right. Yes. I don't think Luigi's going to need any persuading. I get the impression he can't wait to see her.'

'I just happened to stumble on some reasonably priced flights to Naples,' Imogen said, 'and have printed out the details for her. So, perhaps you should tell Luigi to clear a s.p.a.ce in his diary.'