Wife By Arrangement

Baptista took her by the hand and led her forward, saying, ‘Here is our guest of honour,’ to be introduced to some local dignitaries. Then she was seated at the head of the table, between Lorenzo and Baptista, becoming uneasily aware that everyone was deferring to her, like a queen.

It was delightful but it made her nervous to have every dish presented for her approval. The meal was practically a banquet, and Baptista explained that the kitchen was practising for the wedding reception. The finest Sicilian cuisine was on offer. To start with, a choice of stuffed baked tomatoes, orange salad, stuffed rice ball fritters, bean fritters. Then the rice and pasta dishes, Sicilian rice, rice with artichokes, pasta with sardines, pasta with cauliflower, and the main dishes still to come.

By the time they reached the braised lamb, stuffed beef roll, and rabbit in sweet and sour sauce Heather was running out of appetite. But she knew that to say so would cause offence to those who had laboured to bring forth this feast in her honour, so she ploughed on valiantly.

‘Perhaps you would rather have no more,’ Baptista suggested gently, seeming to understand.

‘But I must try those sweet dishes,’ Heather said. ‘They look so delicious.’

Watermelon jelly, fried pastries with ricotta cheese and candied fruit, pistachio cakes, nougat—she took a mouthful of each, and was rewarded by the looks of approval from every direction.

But the reward that touched her heart the most was when Baptista whispered, ‘Well done, my daughter.’

She couldn’t help being struck by the three brothers. All elegantly dressed in dinner jackets, they made an impressive sight: Lorenzo, the tallest, the most handsome; Bernardo, lean and dark with a gravity that made his rare smiles breathtaking—and Renato, dour, forceful, with his air of giving no quarter and asking none. He would be a difficult man to get to know, she thought, despite his evident intention of making her welcome.

Twice during the meal Renato was summoned from the table to take a phone call. In the gathering that followed Angie murmured, ‘Bernardo says that Renato is the worker of the family and Lorenzo the charmer.’

‘And what is Bernardo?’ Heather wanted to know.

Angie’s eyes twinkled. ‘Tell you later.’

As the guests began to leave Lorenzo took her hand, whispering, ‘Come with me,’ and drawing her out of the room.

Hand in hand they ran up the stairs and along a corridor, until he reached a pair of oak double doors. He flung them open, revealing a large austerely beautiful room, hung with tapestries. ‘There are going to be three uncles sleeping in this room,’ he said. ‘But after that—oh, come here!’

He pulled her into his arms and in the tenderness of his kiss she forgot everything else. It felt so good to be here, knowing that she’d come home.

‘Excuse me,’ came a voice from behind them. They jumped apart and saw Renato in the doorway, grinning. ‘Sorry to disturb you,’ he said. ‘How do you like your apartment?’

‘Our what?’

‘This set of rooms is almost self-contained,’ Lorenzo explained. ‘It would be just perfect for us.’

‘You mean—live here, instead of having a home of our own?’ Heather asked, dismayed.

‘But this will be a home of our own.’

‘No, it won’t. We’ll be right next to your brother.’

‘A terrible fate,’ Renato agreed.

‘It’s nothing personal—’ she started to say.

‘Oh, I think it is,’ he said, meeting her eyes.

‘If we’re here, Lorenzo will be at your beck and call. I dare say that’s how you prefer it—’

‘But will you have time to arrange a house before you marry in just over a week?’ Renato asked reasonably. ‘Of course Lorenzo could have chosen something already, but I thought you’d prefer to do that yourself. Why do you assume the worst of me?’

‘Instinct,’ she said, not mincing matters.

He grinned, unashamed. ‘You wrong me.’

‘No, I don’t.’ But she couldn’t help smiling back at him. He was a devil, but he could be a disastrously engaging devil.

‘You can start househunting later,’ Renato assured her. ‘Meanwhile, these rooms will be comfortable.’

It all sounded so reasonable, but her warning signals were flashing. Renato liked to keep people where he wanted them, and sounding reasonable was just another way of doing it. His teasing look showed that he followed her thought processes perfectly.

‘Just for a little while, then,’ she said at last. ‘As soon as we return from honeymoon—’

‘Not quite that soon,’ Renato said. ‘Lorenzo has a trip scheduled for New York—’

‘Oh, really—’ she began, up in arms again.

‘And I naturally assumed that you’d want to go with him.’

Her weapons clattered uselessly to the floor. She would die for a trip to New York.

‘That only leaves your honeymoon,’ Renato said.

‘Don’t tell me you’ve arranged that too!’

‘I thought you might borrow my boat for a couple of weeks’ cruising. The crew will do the work; all you need do is enjoy yourself.’

‘It’s a beautiful boat, darling,’ Lorenzo broke in eagerly. ‘A sloop, with air-conditioning and—’

‘And the two of you have settled it. Suppose I don’t like sailing? Suppose I get seasick?’

‘Do you?’ Renato enquired.

‘I don’t know. I’ve never been on a boat.’

‘Then the sooner you do, the better. Tomorrow Lorenzo has to go to Stockholm, to catch up on his delayed schedule. I shall take you out on the boat and you can let me know your decision.’

Heather had half expected Angie to come with them on the boat trip, but she was spending the day with Bernardo. ‘He’s going to show me his home village in the mountains.’

‘You only met him yesterday,’ Heather protested.

‘I know.’ Angie’s chuckle was full of delight.

‘You be careful.’

But Angie glowed with the self-confidence of a young woman who’d always been able to win any man she chose. She laughed merrily, and a moment later Heather heard her singing in the shower.

There was no mistaking the Santa Maria, a beautiful single-masted boat, over a hundred feet long, dominating everything in the little harbour of Mondello. Renato parked the car and handed her out. ‘What do you think of her?’ he asked in a voice full of love and pride.

‘She’s lovely,’ Heather admitted.