But marriage had taught her one thing. She was like a bull in a china shop when it came to relationships, and she shouldn’t repeat the experience. Rose twisted her mouth at the irony of it all. The better man that Matteo proved himself to be, the more she should stay away from him.
Not right now, though.
She wanted to see David safely back home and, anyway, staying away from Matteo didn’t mean she couldn’t see him from time to time. William liked him, and if Matteo wanted to spend some time with him, it was always good for her son to get a man’s point of view on life. Just as long as she kept the difference between a friendship and a romance very clear in her head.
* * *
Each time he looked in his rear-view mirror Matteo half expected to find her gone. But Rose followed him all the way to the pleasant villa that David and his wife had rented just outside Palermo.
They ushered him inside, and Matteo set about closing the wound on David’s head with a couple of stitches from the first-aid kit he carried in his car. He somehow managed to drink the cup of instant coffee that Nina had made him, taking the taste from his mouth with a biscuit.
Then he left his mobile number with Nina, telling her to call him if she had any concerns. He and Rose walked outside together into the early evening sunshine.
Everything seemed more vibrant. The sound of the gate as he opened it for her and the metal hinges squealed. The feel of the breeze on his face. The scent of her hair. It was as if he was suddenly at the mercy of even the smallest of sensations.
‘That was nice of you. To leave your number.’ She looked up at him, strands of hair straggling untidily in the breeze. Even tired and dishevelled, she looked fabulous.
‘She shouldn’t need it. It wasn’t a major attack and he has no symptoms now.’
‘Just in case, though.’ Rose smiled at him.
‘To reassure her. It’s stressful wondering how you’d cope if you did need medical attention.’ He should say goodbye now, but there was something that had been nagging at him and somehow his tongue overruled his better judgement.
‘I want to apologise. I should have said that the tremors would feel stronger in the open air and...’ He shrugged. ‘That must have frightened you.’
‘No.’ Rose’s automatic reaction to anything that implied any emotion on her part always seemed to be to deny it. Matteo raised one eyebrow.
‘Just a little?’
‘All right. It scared the living daylights out of me. I thought I’d get back and find you both buried under a pile of rubble...’ She stared up at him, obviously deciding she’d said enough.
‘That’s better. It was brave of you to come back.’
‘It seemed like the only thing to do.’ She shrugged, but she was smiling. Breaking through her cool outer shell, finding the woman underneath, never failed to make Matteo’s heart beat a little faster.
‘I’d better be going.’ She felt in her bag for her car keys.
‘Early night?’ He couldn’t move. Couldn’t break away without some small hope of seeing her again.
‘Yes, I’m... I think I’ll go up to the site in the morning. I want to see what’s beyond that last cave.’
‘Wasn’t it just a hole?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think so. We’ve mapped those caves and unless we’ve got it really wrong, the last cave is a good thirty metres from the surface.’
Something stirred, deep inside him. He preferred to think that the curiosity was completely centred around the cave, and had nothing to do with Rose.
‘So you’re going to find out.’
‘Of course I am. Don’t you want to know?’
He chuckled. ‘I’ll admit to being curious. Very curious, actually.’
‘Well, if you want to drop by over the weekend, give me a call. I still owe you the rest of the tour of the site anyway.’
It couldn’t hurt. And the nagging thought that she might go into the cave on her own was all the justification he needed. ‘What time are you going up there tomorrow?’
‘I’ll be there from about six. It’ll give me some time to have a look around while it’s still cool.’