Sicilian Dreams (26 page)

Cassie was quiet on the drive, thinking about Marco and how he must be feeling. She felt she knew so much more about him now, what made him tick. How he covered up his serious side with a jokey exterior, always playing the gallant, macho Sicilian. She had to admit it was a good foil for the sadder, darker person beneath the lighthearted facade. Later, as she lay restlessly in bed, she decided not to text him, much as she wanted to.

She would wait until he called in the morning. She turned over once again and finally fell into a fitful sleep.

Her phone ringing woke her up the next morning, and she pushed the hair out of her eyes, scrambling to find it on the bedside table.

‘Hello.’ she mumbled.

‘Buon giorno princess.’ said Marco, his deep voice instantly waking her up.

‘Marco, how are you? How is your father?’ she said in a rush.

‘He is resting, but the doctors are pleased with his progress. They gave him and ECG and checked his blood pressure. It was a spasm of the arteries, which led to the heart attack. Fortunately, there is no lasting damage to the heart muscle but they have put him on medication for the angina. He is a lucky man. My mother said he has complained of indigestion for over a year but would not go to the doctor.

‘Oh, that is good news’ said Cassie. ‘How is your mother coping?’

‘She is being very strong for everyone, me included’ he said. ‘She is relieved that he is going to be okay and now she is just very tired. I am going to take her home now for some rest. She has the housekeeper at home and she hasn’t asked me to stay with her, but I will regardless. I miss you.’ he added softly.

‘I miss you too,’ said Cassie, with feeling. ‘It’s good that you are staying with your mother. She will need you there even if she says she doesn’t.’

‘Si, I will call you later,’ he said simply. Thank goodness his father was going to be okay, thought Cassie. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the kitchen, enjoying the feel of the cool tiles beneath her feet. Liz and Kat’s door were still closed and she quietly made herself a cup of milky cappuccino, carrying it back to bed.

It was another beautiful morning and as she threw open the shutters, she marveled once again at the reliability of this southern Mediterranean climate, with day after day of perfect weather. She sighed and stretched her arms up above her head, as Liz popped her head in the door.

‘I’m taking it that is a sigh of contentment?’ she grinned at Cassie. ‘Want another cuppa?’

‘Yes please.’ said Cassie. ‘I’ll come and help you.’

‘No, stay there, I’ll be right back.’ She reappeared a few minutes later bearing two large cups of coffee. Handing Cassie her one, she sat on the end of the bed, legs curled up under her.

‘Have you heard from Marco?’ she asked.

‘Yes, he called a while ago. His father is resting comfortably in hospital and the doctors are hopeful of a full recovery.’

‘Thank goodness.’ said Liz. ‘How did he sound?’

‘Better, less stressed.’ replied Cassie. ‘He is going to stay with his mother in Palermo’ until his father is given the all clear by the doctors and can go home.’

‘Well, that’s a relief,’ said Liz. ‘I don’t even know his parents, but I feel concerned for all of them right now. We’ve had such a fantastic time here and Marco has been so kind to us, it’s hard not to feel a part of the place and everyone connected with it.’ She sipped her coffee reflectively. ‘I feel a creative cooking spree coming on today. I think I will make some more of the spinach and ricotta ravioli, but I’ll make the smaller ones this time, without the egg yokes in the
center. In fact, I might just pop down now and see if Marta is around. I want to ask her about the Involtini, the meat rolls she made for us, and another recipe for Pollo Cacciatore, Hunters chicken, with sausage and white wine and rosemary, which sounds absolutely delicious.

‘Do you know, you get a dreamy look on your face whenever you talk about food.’ commented Cassie.

‘I know,’ said Liz, dreamily, ‘it’s my passion, and my downfall.’ she laughed.

‘I’ll walk down there with you if you like.’ said Cassie. Ten minutes later, they tip toed out the front door, leaving Kat to sleep in.

‘I hope you’re keeping track of all these recipes, so you can impress Doug with your new repertoire when you get back to California.’ They walked along briskly, chatting and enjoying the relatively cool morning air, and soon they had reached the main house. Marta was around in the kitchen garden, watering the tomato plants, and she seemed happy to see them and take a break. They spent the next half an hour sitting at the big marble topped table with her while she made them coffee and they chatted about the recipes Liz was interested in.

‘Come here tomorrow and I will show you
how to make the real Siciliana Cassata,’ said Marta at the end. ‘I am busy today. I have to go to the hospital in Palermo and see Antonio. I am taking him some food, no one should be forced to eat hospital food,’ she added with scorn. ‘It is no good. These troubles have started because he does not eat properly at home anymore. I have told him their housekeeper is no good, but he does not listen. Now he will eat my food and get better,’ she said with conviction, getting to her feet. She gave Liz the smaller ravioli cutter and they followed her back out into the garden where she handed them a basket filled with freshly picked tomatoes and lettuces, zucchini and fresh herbs.

‘Remember, don’t work the pasta dough too much, otherwise it will become hard.’ she called to Liz as they walked back out onto the gravel road.

‘Si, okay, thanks Marta.’ replied Liz. They giggled to themselves on the way back, thinking of Marta trying to stuff her food down Antonio’s throat to make him better.

Kat was awake and sipping her coffee at the kitchen counter when they walked back in.

‘Oh, more fresh produce, yum. How is Marta this morning?’ she asked.

‘Full of indignity at hospital food. She is on a
one-woman mission to bring Antonio back to the land of the living.’ said Cassie, and Liz laughed.

‘Apart from that, I got a recap of the recipes I want to try, so I’m going to get busy this afternoon and cook a feast for dinner,’ she said happily.

‘Another one’ said Kat. ‘I swear I’ve put on two kilos already.’ She patted her flat stomach with concern.

‘Nonsense. Out of my way skinny, I need breakfast,’ said Liz, getting out the large wooden chopping block and choosing some peaches and nectarines from the bowl.

‘Do you need anything from in town?’ asked Kat, taking a cardboard tray of plump, juicy strawberries from the fridge. ‘Here, add these and let’s put a dollop of that thick, creamy ricotta on top of the fruit and then drizzle some honey over the whole thing.’

‘If you are going into town, I need some chicken thighs, bone in, chopped into three pieces, and some more of that spicy, fennel sausage,’ said Liz. ‘It’s for the chicken and wine dish that Marta was explaining to me.’

‘Do you want to come with me?’ she asked Cassie and Liz. ‘I need a new bikini because...’ she stopped mid sentence.

‘Because?’ said Cassie.

‘Because Davide has invited me on to go on the boat charter with him tomorrow and I’ve said yes so I have to have a new bikini and a wrap.’

‘Of course you do. There’s no way you can wear another one of the six pair that you brought with you that Davide can’t possibly have seen yet,’ said the ever practical Liz.

‘The bikini’s here are much sexier. There’s not much to them, but they are sensational and very flattering,’ said Kat.

‘Only if you’ve got an ass that doesn’t span two axe handles,’ replied Liz. ‘You can get away with that look, sadly I can’t,’ she added.

‘You could Liz,’ said Kat, ‘It’s all just a matter of confidence.’

‘Well, I feel more confident and comfortable with a fully covered derriere thank you’ said Liz, laughing.

‘When is Marco coming back?’ asked Kat.

‘I’m not quite sure yet’ said Cassie. ‘He wants to wait until the doctors give his father the all clear and he can leave the hospital. He said the doctors are very pleased with his progress so far. I think I will stay here this morning Kat and catch up on some emails.’

‘No problem. I’ll finish my breakfast then I’ll get going. You can always text me if you think of anything else you need Liz. The shopping comes first, then I’ll stop at the market on my way out of town.’

Liz and Cassie spent the morning happily pottering around the villa, swimming and sunbathing. Cassie wrote a long overdue email to Maggie without mentioning Marco too many times. She knew Maggie would be delighted if she thought that Cassie was finally over her break up with Rick, but she didn’t feel ready to confide in anyone at this stage about her strong feelings for Marco. It was all just too new and uncertain to make her feelings public, even to Maggie.

Kat returned to the villa at lunchtime and gave them a fashion parade. She had bought two new bikinis, several colorful silky wraps and three pairs of dangerously high heels.

‘Your not wearing those on the boat tomorrow are you?’ asked Liz, pointing at her shoes, as Kat came out wearing a hot pink bikini. It had a tiny gold chain, which ran from the bandeau bra top down to the tiny triangle of the bikini bottoms. She had added a pair of matching hot pink patent leather wedges and she almost tottered as she did her elongated model walk onto the terrace.

‘Of course.’ replied Kat. ‘It’s all designed to go together.’

‘On the catwalk love, not on the gangplank.’ said Cassie, laughing. ‘Somehow I don’t think Davide will mind. He will gallantly come to the rescue if you do fall overboard.’

Later that afternoon, Liz got busy in the kitchen making her ravioli while Kat and Cassie sunbathed and read by the pool.

‘Look how brown you are,’ commented Kat. ‘Your legs look great.’ She lifted one of her long legs to examine the progress of her own tan. ‘Getting there. The tinted moisturizer gave me a good head start on it anyway.’

‘Me too.’ said Cassie, putting her book down and picking up her phone as it began to ring.

‘Cassandra.’ said Marco, and her heart skipped a beat. ‘I am coming back to the estate. Meet me at the main house at six.’ The line went dead. Well, that’s a bit rude, thought Cassie. That man needs to learn some phone etiquette. She felt piqued at his abrupt tone.

‘Was that lover boy,’ asked Kat?

‘Yes, he has requested my company at 6pm sharp at the main villa. It sounded like a military command. Should I go?’

‘He is probably still stressed to hell about what happened to his father. Or he could just be an arrogant sod who is used to giving commands on a daily basis. Probably a combination of the two.’ she added, grinning. ‘But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Yes, you should go.’

Cassie glanced at her watch. It was just after 5:30pm. She had time for shower before she met Marco.

‘Alright, you’ve talked me into it.’ she said, grinning at Kat.

‘Yeah right, you were going to go meet him anyway, weren’t you? You’re just a little annoyed at being ordered around.’ Kat laughed.

Cassie had to concede that Kat was right, but she wasn’t going to admit it and she hurried off to take a shower and wash her hair. Ten minutes later, she stood in her bedroom trying to decide what to wear. The pile of dirty laundry heaped in the corner of the room far exceeded her remaining clean clothes. She finally unearthed a clean maxi tee shirt dress from her case and pulled it over her head. It had high side slits and the soft, khaki green fabric clung to her curves.

She added a fine, gold chain necklace with a tiny gold ingot pendant, which sat neatly in the v of her cleavage, and completed her outfit with flat gold sandals. Fluffing out her hair, she put a touch of bronzer on her cheekbones and a little gloss on her lips and pouted at herself in the mirror. That would have to do. She hadn’t seen him for nearly thirty six hours. Not that she was counting, she told herself sternly. She felt a bubble of excitement in her stomach, despite the fact that he had ordered her so brusquely to meet him. Anyway, why wasn’t he picking her up here?

She found her sunglasses and her camera on the table in the sitting room and called out to Liz and Kat who were now enjoying a glass of champagne by the pool.

‘See y
ou later for dinner. The Pollo Cacciatore smells amazing Liz.’

‘If Marco wants to join us for dinner he’s more than welcome. I have made plenty of food.’ replied Liz.

She set off down the road at a leisurely pace, enjoying the late afternoon stroll towards the main villa. The light here is incredible she thought, stopping every now and again to take scenic shots, or close ups of the giant cacti which seemed to grow like weeds here on the sides of the roads. She had almost reached the house when she saw Marco’s car pull into the circular driveway with a screech of tires and a cloud of dust. Someone is in a hurry she thought.

‘Cassandra.’ he said, leaping out of the car and striding over to her, taking her in his arms immediately and hugging her close.

‘Hi Marco. Where’s the fire?’ said Cassie, laughing and lifting her face up to his for a kiss.

‘Here.’ he said, gesturing towards the front of his low-slung jeans. ‘Here is the fire, amore. I have come to put it out. With your help of course,’ he chuckled, pulling her closer and kissing her fiercely.