nodded, clearly not quite trusting herself to open her mouth.
He crushed a stem of basil, held it beneath her nose and in a moment she was breathing again. ‘Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry about that.’
‘Don’t apologise but for future reference is that cheese in general, pecorino in particular, or is it a morning sickness thing?’
‘I don’t know why they call it morning sickness,’ she said. ‘The vomito can hit at any time.’
‘Vomito?’
She told him about the scene at the porto, the border official who’d changed from suspicious to kindness itself once he’d realised the problem.
‘He was the first person you told about the baby?’
‘I’m sorry, Cleve. It should have been you.’
‘Don’t stress.’ He kissed her forehead. ‘If I hadn’t hung around in Cyprus...’ Delaying his departure, knowing that he would have to talk to Miranda on his return. Not knowing what he would say. ‘If I’d been there...’
She waved it off.
‘If ifs and buts were candy and nuts—’
‘Every day would be Christmas?’
They both grinned then Miranda said, ‘There are, apparently, a whole heap of things I can’t eat. Until a couple of days ago it didn’t matter because I couldn’t face anything but now I’ve got my appetite back I’ll have to look it up on the Web.’
‘I’ll take my phone with me tomorrow and check the list when we go into San Rocco.’
‘No, don’t!’ She shook her head. ‘Take no notice of me. I’m being silly. I’m just afraid that once the outside world breaks into this time alone it’s all going to fall to pieces.’
‘HEY...’ CLEVE PUT his arms around her and drew her close.
‘It’s those wretched hormones on the rampage,’ she said. ‘Of course you have to check for messages.’
‘No, I don’t.’ He wasn’t immune to the feeling that this was too good to be true, that something would leap out of the woodwork and mess it up. ‘Your hormones are working overtime to take care of you and we’ll respect them.’
She shook her head, but her eyes were overbright and she was blinking hard to keep the tears from falling.
‘Shall we have lunch out tomorrow?’ he suggested. ‘I noticed a restaurant overlooking the sea about a mile outside San Rocco. Maybe we could take a look around the island? This is supposed to be a holiday. I imagine even the drystone-wall builders are allowed time out to look at the view.’
‘Only when they stand up to straighten their backs,’ she said. Then grinned. ‘Is the pasta done?’
He let go of her and turned to check. ‘Just right.’ He drained it, mixed it with the sauce, stirred in some olives and then shared it between the two bowls. ‘A few olives on the top, a leaf or two of basil and we’re done.’ He checked to make sure he’d turned the oven off then said, ‘Shall we take it outside?’
They ate their supper sitting side by side, not quite touching, with the lights of Baia di Rose below them.
‘Mark Twain said that nothing improves the view like ham and eggs,’ Andie said after a while. ‘I think I’d add a bowl of pasta to that quote.’
‘What this view, this food needs, is some Neapolitan love song playing in the background.’
She laughed, shook her head. ‘I didn’t take you for a sentimental old romantic.’
‘Didn’t you? What would you choose?’
‘Sofia used to love Sinatra. When we sat out here in the evening she’d put on one of his mellow late night song albums. “In the Wee Small Hours...”’
Cleve reached for her hand and began to sing very softly.
‘I’ve never heard you sing,’ she said, when he’d finished.
‘I’ve never had anything to sing about before.’
‘Cleve...’
He lifted the hand he was holding to his lips. ‘Is it too soon to be talking names?’
‘Names?’ Andie, her hand in Cleve’s, enchanted by the sound of his voice, was jolted back to earth.
The baby... She had to remember that this wasn’t about her. It was all about the baby.
‘Far too soon,’ she said, making an effort to keep up the smile. ‘Whatever we choose we’re bound to think of something completely different when we see him or her.’
‘Where does Miranda come from? Are you named after an aunt, grandmother?’
‘Shakespeare’s heroine in The Tempest.’
‘You’re kidding.’
‘Portia, Miranda, Imogen and Rosalind?’ she prompted. ‘Mum and Dad met at Stratford. They were sitting next to each other at a performance of The Merchant of Venice. The rest, as they say, is history.’
‘I’d never made the connection but, just so you know, if it’s a girl I’m putting in a bid for Daisy.’
‘Daisy Finch? It’s a deal,’ she said, doing her best not to read too much into the fact that he’d chosen her favourite flower. ‘Unless she looks like a Violet, or an Iris, or a Lily.’
‘Or a Poppy. Or a Primrose. Or a Pansy.’ He grinned. ‘I think we’ve found our theme.’
Theme? ‘It might be a boy.’
‘Let’s worry about that when you’ve had a scan. That’s if you want to know?’
Did she? Suddenly everything was moving too fast. This was supposed to be thinking time but all she’d done so far was react to situations as they’d arisen.
‘I’ll need notice of that question. Ask me something simple.’
‘Okay. What’s your favourite movie?’
‘While You Were Sleeping.’
‘Why? Tell me about it.’
‘It’s a chick flick,’ she warned.
‘I can handle that.’
‘Who are you?’ she asked. ‘And what have you done with Cleve Finch?’
‘If I’m going to have a little girl I need to get in touch with my feminine side.’
Unable to help herself, she laughed and they spent the evening sharing the things they loved: food, music, films and then, when it was too cold to sit out, they went to bed and shared each other.
Afterwards, Andie lay awake in the dark, the only sounds the quiet breathing of the man beside her, the soft susurration of the sea lapping the beach below them.
She’d grabbed at marriage to stop Cleve from slipping back into the darkness. To ensure her child had a place at the centre of his world. But what about her?
She had wondered if Cleve would want to sleep with her. Question asked and answered. He was a passionate man and clearly he was taking their marriage seriously, anticipating more children. A posy of little girls...
But where was love in all this?
He had freely admitted to having sleepwalked into marriage with Rachel, to having failed her.
A divorce would have been financially painful but once there were children...
His