‘So this,’ she said as a glorious thought occurred to her. ‘This is really our honeymoon?’
‘It sure is.’ He smoothed the flat of his hand over her bottom.
‘And…and how long will it last?’
‘How does for ever sound?’ he questioned huskily as his mouth moved down to cover hers.
EPILOGUE
THE afternoon sun was soft and so was the warm breeze which ruffled the hair of the two women as they sat watching the children play.
‘Oh, Eve,’ sighed Lizzy. ‘This is just so-o-o beautiful.’
Eve looked around her, trying to see it through her friend’s eyes, recalling her gasp of joy when Luca had first brought her here.
The house in Viale Monte Pincio was up in the mountains outside Rome and only an hour-and-a-half drive away from the city, but it was like being in another world. The entrance to the garden was through a tall, wrought-iron gate and there was an abundance of pine trees and bay bushes and many fruits growing there. Blackcurrant, raspberries, lemon and cherries.
‘Yes,’ she agreed quietly. ‘So very beautiful.’
On the grass, among the daisies, Kesi played with Oliviero. Luca and Michael had gone to find some cool drinks while Eve and Lizzy were sitting idly watching them, listening to the buzz of the bees and the call of the birds.
‘You’re so happy,’ Lizzy observed.
‘How could I not be?’ said Eve simply. ‘I feel like I’ve come home.’
She and Luca had both come round to the way of thinking that maybe the apartment wasn’t the best place for Oliviero to grow up in. They had decided to buy a house in the city itself, but more and more they came here, to this quiet, rural retreat. For the first time in his life Luca was taking time out to smell the roses. And the coffee. And proving to be the most hands-on father that Eve could ever have wished or hoped for.
‘And Luca doesn’t miss his apartment?’
‘Not at all.’ Eve shook her head. ‘Actually, he was the one who brought up the subject about moving. We talked about it and decided that, lovely as it is, it wasn’t really a family home.’
Lizzy sat up, which wasn’t easy as she was pregnant and lying in a deckchair. ‘You don’t mean you’re having another baby?’ she questioned excitedly.
Eve giggled. ‘No. Not yet. Maybe not for a while yet.’ She and Luca adored their son with all their hearts but knew that another pregnancy would bring about another change and felt that they had had quite enough change for the time being! They were enjoying their life, their son and their love. They were content to wait. And see.
‘And you don’t miss working?’ Lizzy questioned.
Eve shook her head. ‘Not a bit. Luca has friends in the television industry over here and, now that my Italian is quite passable, it wasn’t inconceivable that I could get a job in the business again—maybe editing or producing. Grazie, il mio uomo piccolo!’ This to Oliviero who had just tottered up and planted a battered daisy in his mother’s lap, before tottering off again. ‘But I didn’t want to,’ she finished. ‘Luca is around a lot and I…well, I love motherhood. I love being a wife. Luca’s wife. Who could ask for anything more?’
‘Not even a drink, il mio angelo?’ questioned the deep silken voice behind her which always had the power to make her shiver with longing.
She smiled up at him. ‘Oh, I think I could probably manage a drink!’
Michael flopped down on a deckchair and Luca put the tray down before sinking to the grass, leaning his head lazily against Eve’s knees, and she ruffled his hair as she so loved to.
‘It seems a long way from the Hamble,’ observed Lizzy sleepily.
‘A long way from anywhere. It’s just so peaceful,’ yawned her husband. ‘Well, you’re both very lucky, I must say.’
Luca glanced up at Eve and their eyes met in a long, precious moment. Yes, they were lucky enough to have the money to buy them houses in Italy, and to keep Eve’s on back in England, too. But the luckiest thing was to have found each other. It didn’t matter where they lived—they could make anywhere their home, just as long as they were together.
For they had both discovered that a relationship didn’t have to have a perfect beginning to have the perfect ending.