A Mother for His Daughter

Gran-nonna sent her a sideways smile as though she knew she was being humoured. These Siracusas were too smart for their own good.

‘He was the king of the business world,’ the elder lady went on regardless. ‘A workaholic, determined to keep the villa flourishing and his mortgage business booming. He thrived on success. Even starting up offices in London. Only when Sarina died did he take a step back. That day he removed himself from the seat of power in his company and devoted all of his time to Mila.’

Gracie was completely enthralled by the older lady’s unsolicited spray of information. She listened for and heard the continued clacking of computer keys. ‘You mean he hasn’t worked in a year?’

The old woman shook her head. ‘He works, but he has not once been into the office. They send reports, which he dutifully reads and sends back with comments, but only late into the night once Mila is asleep. During her waking hours, he is at her beck and call.’

Picturing Mila cooing away on the rug, Gracie believed it. ‘Luca brought me here to give Mila my waking hours instead. Is that what you mean by him needing my skills?’

Gran-nonna said nothing and Gracie was pretty sure the older lady was turning her in knots entirely on purpose. ‘He seems to be doing OK working from home,’ Gracie said, probing.

Gran-nonna shrugged. ‘He fits in as well in the country as he does in the city. His youthful dream was to set up a lost-dogs home on the property until his grades meant that he was sentenced to a working life in town.’ Gran-nonna zeroed in on Gracie with such intensity she lost her breath. ‘He often brought strays home as a child too.’

Gracie felt her cheeks bake under Gran-nonna’s stare, which had all of the concentration of Luca’s but not much of the warmth.

Gracie knew that the cover story of her being nothing more than a tutor had not washed with this smart lady. She sent the woman an understanding smile, giving the old lady as good as she got. ‘I guess I am no surprise, then?’

After a few moments of silent contemplation Gran-nonna said, ‘Oh, I don’t know about that, dear. I’m quite hoping that you will be the first of many new surprises. This family is in danger of complacence, and needs a shake-up every few years, and the time for one is long overdue.’

And with that, she walked away. A smile, a nod, a cryptic response or two and off she went, leaving Gracie feeling completely outwitted.

Gracie tripped when the door opened against her shoulder. She moved out of the way to find Luca looking at her in puzzlement.

‘Did I just hear Nonna?’ he asked, taking a hold of her shoulder as he looked around her.

‘That you did,’ Gracie said. She was pretty sure that the word that flew from his mouth was not one he would want her teaching Mila, and she quite enjoyed the fact that he wasn’t such a perfect gentleman after all.

‘Don’t sweat it, Luca. I think she kinda liked me.’

Luca let her go just as naturally as he had taken a hold. He blinked, his gaze zeroing in on her fully. ‘And what makes you think so?’

‘Women have instincts about these things. We can tell if someone likes us or not pretty much instantly.’

Luca shifted until he was leaning against the doorway, his hands disappeared into his trouser pockets and he crossed his ankles. He relaxed and gave her every lick of his attention. ‘Can you now?’

Gracie wrung her hands together and rocked back and forth on her toes. ‘Mmm. Yep. Uh-huh.’

Silence fell between them. The steady tick-tock of a grandfather clock in the hallway was their only companion.

After several moments, Luca ran a hand over his face, his fingers massaging around his eyes, as though trying to rub some life into his tired skin. ‘Well, I am glad. And is everything OK? Are your accommodations suitable?’

‘They’re lovely. Thank you. I am apparently in the “Blue Room”. Pretty swish. In my apartment back home there’s the small room or the even smaller room. I had never thought to differentiate by colour. Maybe that would have made all the difference. Perhaps I could have charged more for flatmates if I had.’

The silence returned, though it felt altered. It felt cosier.

‘Would you like dinner?’ Luca asked, his voice likewise softer and more intimate. ‘Cat could prepare you a dish.’

Gracie held a hand to her tummy. ‘Still full. But thanks. Anyway, it’s a big day tomorrow, my first day of school and all. I think I am going to spend an hour in the shower, washing away the lingering scent of hostel bedding, and rediscovering skin beneath all this grime.’

Luca smiled indulgently and Gracie had to measure her breathing.

‘I noticed Mila was with you,’ she said, not yet ready to leave, even with her very own shower beckoning her. ‘Would you prefer if I took her to bed so you can get some work done?’ She took a step inside the doorway to find Mila asleep on the couch, thumb in her mouth. Caesar was snoring on the rug. ‘Or I could take Caesar for a walk.’

Luca followed her gaze and she glanced up to find a smile lifting his tempting lips. ‘That won’t be necessary. He has the run of the place and exercises himself into a deep sleep every day.’

Thank goodness! Gracie thought, and she could feel Luca’s knowing laughter though no sound had been made. She flicked a glance his way before focusing on his less vexing daughter. ‘Do you want me to take her to bed?’

Luca shook his head. ‘No, thanks. It is one of my greatest pleasures, seeing her sleep peacefully.’

By the strength of his statement, Gracie had the feeling peaceful sleep was not something he experienced for himself. No wonder, if he was looking after his daughter all day, running a business by night, as well as looking after the welfare of household staff and an ageing grandmother. Now she had been thrown into the mix she would do all she could to ease his burden. Because the more time he had for himself, the more time he had to help her find her father.

They looked to one another again and their eyes locked. Even in the low lighting, she could feel the zing of awareness, but she was not sure if she was doing the sending or receiving. Either way it was time for bed. Alone!

Gracie backed out into the relative safety of the hallway. ‘Great. Groovy. Cool bananas. I’ll leave you to it. Sleep tight and I’ll see the two of you tomorrow.’

‘Buona notte, Gracie,’ Luca said, still leaning at his post in the doorway. ‘Sleep well.’

Gracie cocked both hands like a pair of pistols then turned and walked away, feeling his dark, knowing eyes burning a pair of holes into her back all the way.

Only once she had reached her room did she remember she had gone in search of a phone and instead had found herself with more than a bit of a crush on her housemate.

Sunday morning Gracie awoke to a view of sunshine streaming through a set of French windows. She stretched her sleepy limbs, the feel of expensive cotton sheets slithering along her arms too good to pass up. Then she sat up with a start.

‘Where am I?’ she asked the blue wallpaper. When it didn’t answer back, she closed her eyes and squeezed her brain until it all tumbled into place. Luca. Mila. English tutor. Last chance to find her dad.

‘Alrighty, then.’

Gracie slipped out of the massive canopy bed, feeling just a tad out of her element in her favourite brown T-shirt with Chocoholics Anonymous emblazoned across the front, oddly matching leopard-print underpants and utterly mismatched pink bed socks which had seen better days. She padded over to the window, her eyes slits as she squinted against the disgustingly bright sunshine.

Yawning, she yanked open the French windows and padded outside onto a large concrete balcony. Something a heck of a lot more descriptive than jeepers creepers shot from her mouth at the view before her.

At the rear of the villa, a large rectangular lawn led to a set of slim stone steps. From there a sand pathway on the left meandered to wooden stables big enough to house several horses. A dressage ring took pride of place in the far centre. And on the right a jade-green creek split acres of natural woodland that crawled up a massive hill, dwarfing the smaller hill on which the house resided.

Gracie leant her elbows against the cool concrete columned wall, closed her eyes and let her face be warmed by the weak spring sunshine that had managed to peek out between the slow-travelling clouds. ‘Bello,’ she whispered on a contented sigh.

Only moments later she was roused from her reverie by the scuffle of claws on concrete to her right. She spun about, shocked to find Luca striding towards her with Caesar at his heels. It seemed her balcony was not as private as she had assumed. In fact it ran, unobstructed, the entire length of the upper floor.

‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ Luca asked, seeming not to notice her insufficient attire. He, of course, looked faultless, decked out as he was in black trousers and a black cashmere sweater, the arms pushed up to his elbows.

Gracie grabbed the front of her baggy T-shirt and dragged it as low as could be to cover the tops of her bare legs, but, as she was trying to keep Caesar from snuffling at her feet at the same time, it was fairly difficult.

Once he was within a couple of metres, Luca stopped and leant against the balustrade and looked out over his land, giving Gracie some respite from her struggle to cover herself.

‘There is a lot of land for this big lug at least,’ he said, looking down at Caesar so Gracie had to do her contortionist act again. ‘Is he bothering you?’

‘No. Not really. But he is about twenty times the size of the only dog I have ever been this intimately acquainted with.’ Gracie had Caesar by the snout as she tried to disentangle his teeth from the bottom of her T-shirt, where a small chocolate stain had garnered his rapt attention.

Thankfully, after one brisk whistle from his master, Caesar dutifully upped and seated himself at Luca’s right and Luca once more looked out upon his land rather than towards her bare, goose-pimply legs.