Flower Of Hope – Episode 31
Flower Of Hope
« Previous Post- 28. Flower Of Hope – Episode 28
- 29. Flower Of Hope – Episode 29
- 30. Flower Of Hope – Episode 30
- 31. Flower Of Hope – Episode 31
- 32. Flower Of Hope – Episode 32
- 33. Flower Of Hope – Episode 33
- 34. Flower Of Hope – Episode 34
THE following days at the pensione were alive with preparation. Paola insisted Jane must wear green for the wedding.
“Italian brides must wear green for good fortune!” she said, triumphantly finding the very trim she wanted in her work basket. “Then there is the food . . .”
The food was of such importance, it seemed, that Caroline hardly saw Paola in the days that followed.
But at last, once the most solemn part of the celebration was over, Caroline found herself smiling at the edge of a swirling crowd of wedding guests and well-wishers.
Jane and Fabio, she knew, were at the centre of this gathering, and Paola appeared and disappeared among the laughter and bobbing heads. Everyone was swept up into the singing and dancing.
Caroline spotted her father. William was seated but smiling and clapping in time to the music, very much part of the occasion.
A small, warm hand crept into Caroline’s. She looked down to see Nico, wearing a new shirt and an angelic grin.
“You like dance?” he asked, bouncing on the tips of his toes.
“Am I allowed?” Caroline asked, laughing in spite of herself.
For answer, Nico pushed her smartly into the whirl. She couldn’t manage any particular steps, but that didn’t seem to matter.
“I like!” Nico shouted.
Caroline liked it, too, until the boy steered too close to a table set with food, and she thought they’d better stop.
“Perhaps I should sit with my father now.”
Nico skidded to a halt and gallantly took Caroline’s hand, leading her to sit beside William.
Paola appeared, and laid a hand on her son’s shoulder.
“I hope he is no trouble?” she asked. “He’s so happy now he understands his friend Jane won’t be leaving. We all are! It’s good you stay for the wedding.”
“Papa wished to complete some work before we leave, and I’ve been invited to visit the gardens tomorrow.”
“The gardens of Signor Kellard?” Paola asked, taking a seat beside Caroline. “Be careful, please.”
“I don’t frighten easily,” Caroline said, recalling a similar warning from Luke.
“Signor Kellard, he is, how to say? A man who takes every opportunity,” Paola said. “He advised the original garden owner on planting – and was there at the right moment to become the owner when the old man died. Everyone says how lucky for Florence the gardens were saved by such a plantsman. But . . .”
“But you suspect something underhand?” Caroline murmured.
“Si,” Paola said with a half smile as she moved away. “I speak only to alert you to his clever ways.”
The music surged, far off. Caroline smiled to catch sight of Jane and Fabio, locked in each other’s arms. She moved back towards the house slowly, feeling unaccountably alone.
