‘Mummy. Tio Rico.’
Ben’s insistent call came again. Lizzy could hear alarm in it.
‘I’m coming, Ben,’ she called up. Her voice was shaky.
‘Me too,’ echoed Rico. His voice was not steady either.
He cast another look at her, then pulled his gaze away. It wasn’t safe to look at her. Not here, not now.
Later…later he would look.
More than look—
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a sense of exultation crashed through him.
With light, lithe steps, he led the way up to the terrace.
Emotion was surging through Rico. Strong, overwhelming and consuming. The universe might have turned itself upside down, but right now he didn’t care. How it had happened was irrelevant. Completely irrelevant. It had happened, and that was all that he was registering.
Adrenaline pumped through him. More than adrenaline. Exhilaration. Something quite incredibly amazing had happened, and he didn’t want explanations—he just wanted to…to go with it.
‘Here we are, Ben,’ he announced as he gained the pool terrace, and he waved his hand at the little figure perched obediently on the upper level, straining his eyes downwards.
‘Where is Mummy?’ Ben demanded.
‘Here—’ said Lizzy, hurrying up the steps as fast as she could in her flimsy sandals. Her heart was racing.
It had nothing to do with her rapid ascent.
As she gained the terrace Ben stared at her, paying attention to her for the first time, instead of to his new fort.
‘Is that your new dress?’ he asked.
She swallowed, nodded.
He tilted his head sideways, inspecting her. Then he frowned.
‘You look all pretty. Like in a magazine. But you don’t look like Mummy.’ He frowned, confused and bewildered.
Rico put an arm around his nephew’s shoulder. He knew just how Ben was feeling.
‘She’s the new-look Mummy. And you’re right Ben.’ His voice changed. ‘She does look pretty. In fact she looks…’ He paused, and held her eyes. ‘Breathtaking,’ he finished softly. ‘Quite, quite breathtaking.’
For a long, endless moment, he held her eyes.
He saw her eyes flare—uncertain briefly—and then, suddenly, it had gone again.
‘It’s true,’ he said quietly to her. ‘Quite true. I can’t believe…I can’t believe that all this was there, all along. Just…hidden.’ He paused, and then, in a low, clear voice, said, ‘And you are never—do you understand me?—never going to hide it again.’
For one last, lingering moment he looked at her. Sending his message loud and clear.
Then, abruptly, he turned his head.
‘Right, then, Ben. Time for tea.’
CHAPTER NINE
SHE was moving in a place that was completely dissociated from what she was doing. What she was actually doing was pouring out a cup of perfectly brewed Assam tea from a silver teapot, while Ben was industriously, if inexpertly, coiling spaghetti around his fork. The DIY fort had been cleared away for the moment, and the westering sun was bathing the terrace in rich, deep golden glow.