Page 29 of Under A Sicilian Sky
He lifted his chin and focused his eyes on her directly. ‘Do you mean did I know you were a famous Hollywood actress?’
She had begun to hate that phrase recently. It had gone from being something to be proud of to something that stirred up a hornet’s nest of regret in her stomach. ‘Yes.’
His mouth turned up into almost sardonic grin. ‘How could Inotknow who you are, Ruby Locke?’
‘Not everyone does. Your neighbour doesn’t.’
Mitch scrunched his brow momentarily, appearing a little confused. He paused and shook his head. ‘Neighbour?’ Then he laughed with a look of incredulity in his eyes. ‘And I’m guessing he’s faking that.’
She shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. He’s just not a movie fan.’
He raised one eyebrow and tilted his head. ‘I’m not an athletics fan, but I know who Mo Farah is.’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you always this obtuse to your house guests?’ she asked with a tilt of her head and a smile.
He laughed. ‘I don’t usually host people.’
She scoffed but in good nature. ‘Figures.’
His smile faltered. ‘Seriously though, Ruby, if someone is saying they don’t know who you are, I’d be careful. It sounds suss to me. I mean, I don’t watch every single movie that comes out, but I know the most famous stars. And let’s face it, you’re on that list.’
She sighed. ‘Thank you for your concern, but he seems genuine and kind. I’m sure I’ll be fine.’
Mitch shook his head and sighed. ‘Aye, I hope you’re right.’
13
The days were passing painfully slowly and word from the US about the hacking wasn’t forthcoming, despite her numerous calls to Valerie, who seemed to be fobbing her off with excuses. She didn’t understand what the delay was, but it was driving her mad. Surely it should’ve been dealt with by now? And the more she thought about the changes Mitch had been willing to make to his home, the more guilty she felt. She wanted to be able to free him from it all. Despite their less than perfect initial interactions, he seemed like a nice man, and this was supposed to be a place filled with good memories for him. The death of his sister aside, he had spent so many happy times here with his family and she felt she was intruding and marring those wonderful recollections.
Early on, just after the hacking and subsequent break-up, Ruby had received a spate of calls from seemingly well-intentioned friends in the movie business, offering their condolences on her split with Tyler, or wanting to share gossip about him – in which she had no interest – everything had gone quiet. It was shocking how quickly she had become persona non grata.
Her days were being spent reading outside at the little bistro table, with Nero at her feet, or on her lap, enjoying the scent of the lemon trees as it wafted in the ever-warming air. Spring was on its way and she longed to be on the beach with Nero and her book instead. But as much as she loved books sometimes even reading became boring.
She was ten days into her period of hiding and Nero had become quite attached to her. Often, she would walk around the gardens with him or play fetch with his ball as Jacopo watched, laughing and shouting encouragingly to his dog in Italian. With Jacopo’s permission, she had even taken to letting the Yorkie sleep at the foot of her bed, where he curled up into a tiny ball and snored. Even though she craved some kind of normality, she knew it would be hard saying goodbye to the little dog.
She chatted on the phone and had text conversations with Clark, and he had invited her for coffee over and over, but she hadn’t plucked up the courage to visit him again after the drama of last time. More than anything, she wanted to leave the confines of the gardens and explore, and the more time passed, the more determined she became, regardless of Valerie’s protestations.
Her boredom was made worse by the fact that Kitty had gone away for a few days’ break. She’d told Ruby she should still contact her to chat, but Ruby was determined to let her best friend have the much-deserved, uninterrupted time with her family.
She watched the news on TV, but there were still stories about her, every so often, and even though she couldn’t understand what was being said, she guessed from the tone that her name was still mud and she was discovering how well mud sticks. Sometimes she missed the constant buzzing of her phone, the speedy catch-up with what was going on in the world via social media, but then she remembered why she was avoiding it and why she had deactivated her accounts. Although it was difficult going ‘cold turkey’, it wasn’t worth the stress to reactivate her accounts, even if she could access Wi-Fi. She knew there was probably Wi-Fi if she asked, but she didn’t want to open that can of worms – her willpower to stay offline would crash and burn if it was easy to access.
Mitch was busy working on the house with a couple of older builders, and when he wasn’t busy doing that he disappeared in his car. Thankfully, he asked if she needed anything and she had given him shopping lists of toiletries and magazines, even though she’d much rather be able to go by herself. Perhaps she was being incredibly conceited in thinking that she would be so well known over here? And perhaps Valerie was being overcautious?
It was the beginning of March and the sun was high in the cloudless sky above, deceptive considering she could feel the chill of the temperature outside through the opening of the covered terrace. Clark had texted to invite her over but had suggested she leave Nero at home on this occasion. She hadn’t answered, figuring she needed to speak to the security guards first.
Ruby wandered down to the gatehouse and found Jacopo leaning against the wall tossing the ball for his dog. Her little canine friend ran to her and jumped into her arms, giving excited yips.
She nuzzled his fur. ‘Hello, boy, I’ve missed you. Yes, I have,’ she told him.
Jacopo watched with a smile on his face. ‘I can help you with something?’ he asked.
Coyly, she nibbled her lip for a moment and placed Nero back on his four paws. ‘I’d like to go for a walk. Outside the gardens, I mean.’
He held up his finger and shook his head as he opened his mouth to clearly dispute her request.
‘Before you say no, I only want to walk to the next property. I… I made a friend there. I’d like to visit. To get out for a little while. You and Nero can escort me there if you wish.’ She pleaded at him with her expression and clutched her hands to her chest. She imagined she looked like the cat from thePuss in Bootsanimation but hoped it tugged at his heartstrings sufficiently for him to acquiesce. ‘I’m so bored, Jacopo, and I feel like a prisoner here. I promise I won’t stay away long. You can even come and collect me.’
He rubbed the back of his neck and cringed. ‘I don’t think this is a good idea to do. I don’t think—’
