Page 116 of Prelude To You

Sophia bumped James’ shoulder playfully and when he looked at her, I could see the love they shared. But as happy as I was for them, it did nothing to soothe my current state of mind. Why couldn’t Roman be an ordinary man who fell in love with me? Just thinking about it made my heart ache.

“I’ll teach you to make pasta from scratch, Sophia,” I told her. “Dry pasta should only be used in emergencies, like today.”

Sophia beamed.“Sì,please, please!”

“I’ll ask Mrs. Sheldon when I can make lasagna for everyone, then you can help me. It’s way easier than it sounds.”

James excused himself because he had to install new lights in one of the million hallways.

Once we were alone, Sophia and I switched to Italian. The first thing she asked me was why I looked so miserable. I was surprised. Here I thought I was putting on an award-worthy happy-go-lucky front. But apparently, I wasn’t even fooling Sophia.

Without going into any detail I told her it was to be blamed on my own stupidity over a man. She commiserated with me, telling me someone as nice as I was deserved the very best, and not some unworthybastardo, her words not mine.

Before I knew it tears welled in my eyes, which made Sophia cry, and when Mrs. Sheldon walked in she was immediately alarmed. “Girls, girls, what on this sweet earth!”

Before I could stop her, Sophia grabbed Mrs. Sheldon’s hand. “It’s a man!Bastardo.”

Mrs. Sheldon was taken aback and maybe a little outraged. “My James?”

Sophia vehemently shook her head no and pointed at me. “No!Bastardobreak Isabel’s heart!”

The entire scenario went downhill from there because the more I said it was nothing and that I was fine, which I wasn’t really, the less they listened. Next thing Mrs. Sheldon was making me a cup of tea, the English answer to all the ups and downs of life. All the while Sophia was patting my hand, mumbling encouraging words in Italian.

Why did I have to say anything?This was what happened when I couldn’t text Meg.

Mrs. Sheldon tasted the tomato-and-basil pasta and claimed the leftovers for herself. I was then invited to use the kitchen whenever and for whatever reason I wanted. It seemed even Mrs. Sheldon wasn’t a big fan of Mrs. Sheldon’s cooking.

I managed to tear myself away from the staff dining room after a very dramatic sendoff. Mrs. Sheldon told me there would be fresh coffee in the staffroom at four o’clock. I made a mentalnote of that. Sophia hugged me and again wished a loveless future on thebastardowho broke my heart.

During the walk back to Henry’s room, I allowed myself the smallest of daydreams. One where last night didn’t end the way it did. Where Roman meant everything he said in the note. And where my mom was still alive to give me the wisdom I so desperately needed right now. I could still hear her soft voice whisperingQue sera sera, what will be, will be.

The afternoon with Henry was mainly me reminiscing about parents ruining their children’s lives. Cases in point: the wedding couple from last night, and James and Sophia today. How could a father shun his daughter for loving a good man, just because he was English and not Italian?

I unpacked the goodies from my black bag to cheer up the room. I draped the fairy lights around the bedpost. I found a discarded wall planner in the staffroom and put it up next to the bed. I wanted to write down what I read to Henry every day and the page I stopped on to make it easier for Miss Leyland to pick up where I left off.

I chatted to Henry all the while, so he knew someone was there with him. “You can’t choose who you love, right?” I asked him. “And unless you’re hitched to a serial killer, no one should have any say in who you want to be with. I’m just saying. As if it’s not enough trouble to fall for someone who doesn’t like you the same way, but that’s altogether a different story I won’t bore you with. I mean—"

A warning cough snapped me to silence. The two nurses who came at midafternoon stood in the middle of the room, staring at the fairy lights and wall planner, questions embedded in their frowns. I smiled at them, but only one smiled back. They were probably surprised I still had a job.

“Wouldn’t want to be you when Miss Leyland sees this,” the one said. The other one nodded in agreement.

“If she doesn’t like it, I’ll take it down,” I replied. “At least it makes the room a little warmer, don’t you think?”

One nurse agreed with me. The other one not so much. “It doesn’t matter what we think,” the surly one said. “It’s what Miss Leyland thinks.”

Suddenly I was rethinking my decorating choices. Did I really want to lose my job over a bunch of fairy lights? The nurses were waiting for me to leave. And with that, I took my fifteen-minute break and left them to do whatever nurses did.

My first thought was to get some of the coffee Mrs. Sheldon had promised would be percolating in the staffroom. My lack of sleep was catching up with me, and one sure way to lose this job was if Miss Leyland caught me sleeping while drooling over a book.

I headed to the staffroom with confidence, only to find myself getting lost in the maze of hallways. Of course I forgot to bring the map and nothing looked familiar. How long would it take them to find me, I wondered.

A voice startled me. “Excuse me, what are you doing in the south wing?”

Oh God, how did I get into the forbidden zone, AKA the south wing?

When I spun around, one of the senior staff members stood there with a granite expression on her face. If only I could remember her name.

“I was looking for the staffroom—” I stuttered.

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