finding out that we had a scientist in the family. Her idea of drawing was a flow chart and computer spreadsheets.’ Then she swallowed down a lump of guilt and regret. ‘But of course that put even more pressure on me to fly the flag for the family and carry on my legacy. So when I announced that I was moving to photography...it hit them hard. So very hard.’
‘What did you do?’
‘What could I do? For a while they did everything they could to try and make me change my mind. That I was making a huge mistake and throwing away my career and that people would start commissioning portraits again. I just had to carry on and learn my craft and be patient and it would all work out.’
She glanced quickly over one shoulder towards Scott, who was breathing hard and fast on to the top of her head.
‘Ever wondered what proud artists do when they don’t have any work coming in? They borrow on the only real asset they have left. This house must have been mortgaged and re-mortgaged four times. A commission comes in, they pay some of the loan off, then the money runs out and they borrow again and...I learnt the hard way that putting your home at risk to pay the gas bill is a stressful way to live.’
‘Your family? Other relatives? Couldn’t they help out?’
‘Oh, no. My father was a stubborn man and he would never have contacted his Italian side of the family. A Baldoni would never sink so low. So he dropped his prices and offered to paint children and local people. Said that it was his way of being generous.’
She chuckled and sniffed. ‘They needed me to work and work hard to create commercial pictures they could sell quickly to bring in some income. And that is what I did. Nights and weekends. There are children around here with a genuine Baldoni portrait on their walls!’
‘Did you sign them?’
‘Of course I did. A. Baldoni. They didn’t know that it was an Antonia Baldoni and not an Aldo Baldoni work they were buying—why should they? Everyone called me Toni. The local mayor would have been very upset if he knew. I think he is still bragging about that painting to every visitor to his official office.’
She wiped away one tear and whispered, ‘Very upset. Seeing it was the last one that my father claimed to have painted before he died. It’s his claim to fame.’
‘How did it happen?’
‘A train crash in Italy. It was June. They had been invited to a family reunion and scraped together the rail fare with some sort of excuse about them hating flying. It was...brutal to lose them both at the same time. Horrible, really. I was just about to leave school...’
Her eyebrows squeezed together tight. ‘And that was the end of my hopes and dreams. How could I go waltzing off to my dream course in New York to study photography when I had a sister to take care of? So I stayed in London and went to college when Amy was at school and did the best that I could with grants and loans. And we worked it out. The two of us together. I got a job with a media company which meant that I could stay in London as much as possible. It was fine. Until I got a call from a certain Freya Elstrom.’
‘My sister is a well-known troublemaker.’
Toni nodded. ‘I thought that I was ready to put all of the painting behind me. Amy and I spent Christmas sorting through so much rubbish and clutter so I could get the house ready to decorate and rent out. The only room I didn’t touch was the studio.’
She flashed Scott a half smile. ‘The plan was to donate the unused canvases and equipment to the local school. Amy’s art teacher would have taken everything if she had the chance. But somehow I couldn’t bring myself to do it. You were my excuse.’
‘I like to be useful.’ Scott smiled back.
‘Amy is no fool. She saw through my little pretence straight away so I convinced her that this was going to be my last portrait. Ever. One more painting and I would be done. End of an era. But then I met you. And my world has never been the same since.’
Her hand swept out, her eyes hot and fierce, and she tapped the heel of her hand against the hard planes of his chest. ‘I blame you for everything, Scott Elstrom. All of it. I was happy to leave painting behind until you came along. My life was all planned out. Neat and tidy. Until you walked into my birthday party and blew me away. I have done things this month that I never imagined possible.’
She pressed the fingers of both hands hard against her forehead. ‘Because do you know what I have done? Exactly the same thing as my dad did. I have borrowed money on my house to invest in Elstrom. And it is all your fault!’
Scott stared at Toni for a few seconds before he finally made the connections.
‘It was you! You bought the shares from Travis.’
He looked to one side for a second as though his mind was trying to process what she had done. But when his gaze locked on to her face it was full of warmth and utter astonishment.
‘You put your home on the line. For me! That is the most amazingly generous thing that anyone has ever done for me. And I don’t even know where to start to thank you. Those shares will give me...’
‘Your freedom,’ Toni interrupted. ‘I wanted you to be free of the past, Scott. You are an Elstrom. Your destiny is to be travelling the world exploring trade routes to some distant shore, not sorting through old pamphlets. You can do what you want now, Scott. Stay. Go. Be with who you want, where you want. All I am doing is returning the favour. There is no need to thank me.’
‘I cannot believe that you did that for me.’
Gulping down her fears about how this proud man might react to her working behind the scenes without his permission, Toni looked up into Scott’s face and what she saw there wiped away any doubts.
‘You know why I did it. I love you, Scott Elstrom, and a girl will do anything for the man she...’
Toni never got to finish her sentence because her lips were far too busy being crushed by Scott’s hot mouth.
She reached up and stroked his cheek, her eyes brimming with tears.
‘I haven’t stopped thinking about what you said. And you were right. This is the biggest risk of my life, your life, anyone’s life.’
She breathed in, her heart thudding so loudly that she suspected he must have heard it. ‘I know now that I will always love you, Scott Elstrom, and it doesn’t matter where you are in the world. And if that means that I have to let you go, to be free to do your work—’ she licked her lips ‘—then that is the way it has to be. I want to be with you. Love you. If you still want me to wait for you?’
Scott stood very still, staring at her, and she bit her lower lip in fear. She might have just made the biggest mistake of her life but this was the way it had to be and she was prepared to be turned down.
‘I could be away for six or seven months at a time, you know,’ he told her gently, his voice low, sensual and intimate.
‘Probably longer. But that is the way it has to be. I didn’t fall in love with an office clerk; I fell in love with you. I have to let you go and do what you have to do, wherever that is, so that you can be true to who you are. Because, just maybe, we can still get back together one day. I love you, Scott, and that is not going to change whether you’re in Alaska or the Himalayas or down the road.’
Scott didn’t answer, but she slid her fingers from his so that he could caress her face, his gaze scanning from her grubby nose to her roughly tied back out-of-control hair.
‘You love me, but you are willing to let me go and do this work which means so much to me? Is that right?’
She nodded, too afraid to trust her voice. ‘As long as you are somewhere in this world loving me, then I shall be fine. My heart will be your beacon home to my love. You don’t