That was, however, proving a much more major challenge than she had expected, Lizzie acknowledged heavily. Almost insurmountable problems were forming ahead of her like a string of dangerous obstacles. They could not afford to pay a higher rent when the tenancy came up for renewal and that reality would render them homeless. They could not even afford to live if the bank demanded that the loan be repaid as they were threatening to do. And where would they live, if the worst came to the worst? Her father had no savings. Yes, it was all very well following her conscience, Lizzie conceded wretchedly, but right now it was no good at all as a blueprint for economic survival.
Sadly, the stress of the constant arguments and anxiety was taking the edge off Lizzie’s usual happy anticipation at the prospect of having her sister home for a couple of days. Chrissie, pale silver hair caught up in a sensible ponytail, blue eyes sparkling with affection, was waiting outside the station, two big cases by her side and a bulging rucksack on her slender shoulders.
‘My goodness, you’ve brought back a lot of luggage...but it’s not the end of term,’ Lizzie remarked in bewilderment, thinking out loud while Chrissie concentrated on giving her a fierce hug of welcome.
‘I’ve missed you so much,’ her sibling confessed. ‘And I’m going to ask you all over again—why have you still not had your hair dyed back to normal?’
‘I haven’t had the time...or the cash,’ Lizzie muttered, hoisting a heavy case and propelling it across to the Land Rover.
‘No, you’re still punishing yourself for not marrying Andrew.’
‘They’re teaching you psychology now on your English course?’ Lizzie teased.
Luggage stowed, Lizzie drove back home. ‘I should warn you...Dad’s on the warpath.’
‘He wants you to marry the Italian and make our fortunes, right?’ Chrissie groaned in despair. ‘Dear old Dad, what a dinosaur he is. He tried to pressure you into marrying Andrew for the sake of the farm and now he’s trying to serve you up on the altar of that stupid island! Well, you don’t need to worry, you’re not going to come under any pressure from me on that score. We’ve lived all our lives without the excitement of being rich and what you don’t have, you don’t miss!’
In spite of her stress level, Lizzie managed to smile. After an unrelieved overdose of her father’s reproaches, Chrissie, with her positive outlook, was like a little ray of sunshine. ‘You’re right,’ she agreed even though she knew that her kid sister was not very grounded. Chrissie had always been a dreamer, the creative one with the fluffy romantic and idealistic ideas.
In fact, while she watched Chrissie hurtle across the yard to pet her elderly pony, Hero, and feed him an apple from her pocket, her heart sank from so bald a reminder of her sister’s tendency to always look on the bright side even if there wasn’t one. Didn’t Chrissie appreciate that if they lost their home, Hero would be one of the first sacrifices?
‘I’ve got a surprise for you...’ Chrissie told her, almost skipping back to Lizzie’s side to help her unload her luggage. ‘I’m home for good!’
Lizzie turned incredulous eyes on the younger woman. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’m dropping out of uni...I’m coming home,’ Chrissie proffered, her soft mouth set in an unusually firm and purposeful line. ‘Even with the two jobs and the student loan, I can hardly afford to eat and my overdraft is massive, Lizzie. I’m fed up with it, especially when I know you’re slogging away here every hour God gives and still barely scratching a living. I’m going to get a job and help you whenever I can. I’m all grown up now—it’s past time I pulled my weight on the home front.’
Shock was reverberating through Lizzie, closely followed by dismay. Much as she missed her sister, the very last thing she wanted was to see Chrissie throw away her education to come home and vegetate. In any case, it was a moot point that they would even have a home to offer her sibling in a few weeks’ time. ‘I didn’t realise that you were having such a struggle.’
‘I didn’t want you worrying,’ Chrissie confided. ‘But I’ve learned a lot. I’d no idea it cost so much just to live. I can’t possibly work any more hours, though. I’ve already had a warning from my tutor about my standard of work slipping... I’m so tired I’m falling asleep in lectures.’
And that was the moment when Lizzie reached her decision. What security her family had was vanishing fast but it was within her power to change everything for the better. How could she stand by and simply do nothing for her family while their lives fell apart? At the very least she should go through with the wedding to enable Cesare to take his grandmother back to the island for a visit. Whatever he paid her for that service would surely settle their outstanding bills and enable her to find a rental property in the village. But how could she go further than that? How could she have a child with him so that he could legally buy Lionos and resolve all her family’s financial problems?
The answer came to Lizzie in a blinding flash of light and she could barely credit that she had not seen the solution sooner. Cesare had said he was very practical and the answer she came up with would not only make the threat of intimacy with a stranger unnecessary but would also be a supremely sensible approach. Suddenly the sensation of weighty responsibility and dread on her shoulders and spine evaporated and she straightened, even cracking a brief smile at the heady prospect of finally being in full control of her life again.
‘You’re going back to university on Sunday, young lady,’ Lizzie told her kid sister firmly. ‘You will quit your part-time jobs and concentrate on your studies. I will ensure that you manage.’
‘You can’t marry the guy, Lizzie!’ Chrissie gasped in horror. ‘You simply can’t!’
Lizzie thought fast and breathed in deep before she sat down at the kitchen table. ‘Let me be honest with you. I’ve spent eight years working round the clock on this farm. I’ve had no time for friends and I’ve had very little social life. I have no decent clothes or jewellery and I don’t even know how to put on make-up properly.’
‘But that doesn’t mean you have to give way to Dad and make a sacrifice of yourself.’
‘Has it occurred to you that maybe I want to marry Cesare and have a child? He’s a very handsome man and you know how much I’ve always wanted a baby. I also would like to have enough money not to worry myself sick every time a bill comes through the letter box!’ Lizzie declared, her heart-shaped face taut with vehement composure as she watched Chrissie frown and suddenly look unsure of her ground.
‘I’m deadly serious,’ Lizzie continued with dogged determination. ‘I want to marry Cesare. It’s the best thing for all of us and, believe me, I’m not the sacrificial type.’
‘I never thought...I never dreamt...’ Bemused and uncertain of such an explanation from the big sister she had always loved and admired, Chrissie shook her head, frowning at her sibling. ‘Are you sure, Lizzie? Have you really thought this through?’
No, Lizzie hadn’t thought it all through and was determined not to run the risk of doing so before she had tied the official knot. Whatever happened she was going to marry Cesare Sabatino and miraculously sort out her own and her father’s and Chrissie’s problems. No other action now made sense. So, it would be scary and would entail deception—well, she would get braver and she would learn some new skills. My goodness, hadn’t she just told a barefaced lie to the sister she loved?
She walked into her bedroom and lifted the business card Cesare had left behind. Before she could take fright, she tapped out the number on her mobile phone and then studied the blank message space.
* * *
Will agree to marry you. Talk about the rest when we next meet.
Cesare blinked down at the text and then glanced across the dinner table at Celine, whose sleek blonde perfection had entranced him for longer than most women managed. In his mind’s eye, however, he was no longer seeing the French fashion model, he was seeing a slender platinum blonde with luminous green eyes surrounded by soft brown lashes. Surprise was cutting through his satisfaction, perhaps because he had had the weirdest conviction that Lizzie Whitaker would say no to the temptation of the cash he had offered. He wondered why he had thought that, why he had assumed she would be different from any other woman.