Page 27 of Bound by a One-Night Vow

Izzy always felt sad when she thought of her mother. Talking about her made her realise how much she still missed her. Missed what they’d once had before tragedy struck. ‘I was close to her before Hamish got sick. We had a happy family until then, or so it felt from my young, childish perspective. It was happiest when my father wasn’t around, though. That’s why I loved going to my grandparents’ house so much because Dad never came with us. He didn’t get on with his in-laws. But then Hamish got sick and Mum was understandably devastated. She felt she’d failed as a mother, as a wife. Then my grandparents got killed in a car crash a couple of years later and Mum retreated further into herself and soon after she got liver cancer. It was like our family was cursed.’

Andrea’s expression was full of concern and compassion. ‘How did your father handle it all?’

Izzy puffed out her cheeks on another sigh. ‘He worked. He went away a lot, which suited me because we only ever argued when he was around. He couldn’t see me without making some cutting comment about how I was dressed or how badly I’d done in my latest test or how much I disappointed him with my behaviour. I used to dread him coming home, and yet often I would deliberately set him off because it was a way to get his attention. Immature, now that I think about it.’

‘So you were never close to him? Even as a younger child?’

Izzy gave him a pained movement of her lips that was not quite a smile. ‘He wasn’t comfortable around little kids. He didn’t understand their needs, or perhaps didn’t want to. Mum let slip once that he was the same with Hamish until Hamish grew up a bit. But then, even when I got a bit older, I realised I would never be good enough because I wasn’t a boy. It was all my father had ever wanted. A son to carry on the family line. I was close to my mother’s parents, though. They were lovely to me and, of course, to Hamish.’ She met his gaze. ‘That’s why I want my inheritance. I want to buy back their home. My father insisted it be sold after they were killed. My mother didn’t want to sell it but he talked her into it.’

‘Where is it?’

‘In Wiltshire,’ Izzy said. ‘A few kilometres out from a quaint tiny village no one’s ever heard of but to me it’s like paradise. Some of my earliest and best memories are of being at my grandparents’ house with Hamish and Mum. It was the happiest time of our lives. I won’t rest until I get it back. The current owner has promised me they won’t sell for another six months.’

‘What will you do with it once you buy it? Will you live there?’

‘That’s the plan,’ Izzy said. ‘I have to iron out a few more details but I’d like to open it up as a short-term holiday place for families going through difficult times. Maybe even kids with cancer. There’s a lovely little gardener’s cottage that could be done up to house guests as well as the main house.’ She picked up her bread roll and tore off a piece. ‘I suppose it all sounds a little hare-brained to a hotshot hotel owner like you. It’s not like I’ve got a business plan or anything. I haven’t even been down to see the place in years.’

He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘I started small and built up gradually. You’ve got passion about the project, which is far more important than anything else.’

Izzy glanced at their joined hands, her wedding and engagement rings winking up at her as if to remind her of the terms of their marriage. She pulled her hand away and went back to buttering her bread roll. ‘Do you ever see your mother?’ He was silent for so long she looked back up at him. ‘Andrea?’

He blinked as if bringing himself back to the present. ‘No.’

‘Have you ever tried to make contact?’

‘What would be the point?’ There was a line of hardness around his mouth that hinted at the bitterness he still carried about his childhood.

Izzy chewed her lip, wondering if she’d strayed into dangerous territory. ‘I don’t know... I just thought it might help you understand why she did what she did.’

‘She made her choice. That’s the end of it as far as I’m concerned.’

‘But what if it hadn’t been her choice?’ Izzy met his black-as-pitch gaze. ‘What if she was frightened of your stepfather? Of what he would do to her, to both of you, if she left with you? Maybe he forced her to tell you to go away and never come back.’

Something flickered over his face like ice cracking on the surface of a frozen lake. ‘She’s had plenty of time to find me if she was so inclined. I’ve not exactly been hiding under a rock.’

‘But would you agree to see her if she did come looking?’

A cynical glint appeared in his eyes. ‘And what do you think she’d want from me all these years on? Money?’

‘I can understand why you’d feel so cynical about her motives but surely—’

‘Isabella. Please, can we change the subject?’ His matter-of-fact tone brooked no resistance. ‘You have your father issues. I have my mother ones. Let’s leave it at that.’

‘But your mother might still be alive,’ Izzy said, trying to ignore the jab of pain just below her heart. The pain of guilt and regret that it was now too late for her to make her peace with her father.

Andrea’s eyes lost their glaze of hardness and he reached for her hand again. ‘Cara...’ His voice was softer now, almost tender, his touch a soothing press of fingers against her hand that made her feel understood and supported. ‘Forgive me. My stuff happened a long time ago. So long ago it feels like it happened to someone else, not me. But your grief is still fresh. Raw. Your father was wrong to make you jump through hoops. But he had his own issues. Unhappy people hurt others because it’s a way of controlling them.’

Izzy forced a stiff little smile. ‘I wonder what he’d think of you marrying me. Do you think he envisaged it might happen?’

He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. ‘Who knows? But the main thing is you get your inheritance once the six months is up.’ He gave her hand a little Mexican wave-like tap with his fingers and withdrew his hand. ‘Which reminds me—I have my business colleague’s wedding coming up in two weeks. It’s being held in Venice. It will be a glamorous affair so let me know if you’d like help choosing an outfit. I’ll pay, of course.’

‘You don’t have to buy me clothes.’

He shrugged and reached for his champagne. ‘Think of it as one of the perks of the deal. Any amount of money is worth spending when it gets you what you want.’

‘Why do you want this business merger so much?’ Izzy asked. ‘You have lots of hotels now. What’s so special about the one you’re trying to buy?’

‘The hotel in Florence is the one where your father found me begging for food. For years I’ve wanted that hotel and when I set my sights on something I don’t give up until I achieve it.’ The determined set to his mouth reminded her of his iron will and take-no-prisoners attitude. ‘Patrizio Montelli’s hotel is small by industry standards but I won’t rest until I own it. But first I have to solve the issue of his stepdaughter.’

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