When room service arrived with an order of hot toast, it was Lucas who spread the butter and then deftly cut windows and a door before presenting it to the little girl.
Watching, Emma wondered if he even realised what he’d just done.
‘Oh!’ Ella’s face brightened as she stared at the plate. ‘A toast house. With a chimney. I want my toast like this always and for ever. You have to teach my dad.’
Lucas stared at the plate, his breathing shallow.
Staring at the intimidating set of his features, Ella’s smile faltered. ‘I forgot the please again,’ she said in a small voice. ‘You’re angry because I forgot the please.’
He squatted down to her level and smiled at her. ‘I’m not angry. And I’m glad you like the toast.’
‘It’s the best thing ever.’ Ella hesitated and then reached out and picked up the chimney. ‘I’m eating the chimney first. Then I’m going to eat the door.’
Over the top of her head, Lucas’s eyes met Emma’s briefly and then he turned his attention back to the child. ‘Ella, this is my friend Emma and you’re going to play with her for a while because I have to—’
‘You can’t leave.’ Ella slipped her hand into his. ‘Our house isn’t finished. If you’re hungry, you can share my toast.’ Carefully, she selected a window and slid it into Lucas’s mouth.
‘Ella—’
‘More?’
‘No.’ His voice was hoarse. ‘No more.’
‘You forgot to say thank you.’ Ella gave him a sympathetic look. ‘Don’t worry. Remembering is hard, isn’t it?’
Lucas breathed deeply. ‘Yes. Remembering is hard.’
‘I’ll help you if you help me.’ Ella crawled onto his lap with the rest of her toast. ‘I like staying with you. It’s fun and you don’t tell me off when I forget to say please. Can we do this again?’
Emma discovered that she was holding her breath. Perhaps it was too much. Perhaps it just wasn’t going to—
‘Yes—’ Lucas rescued the plate before the buttered toast landed on his lap ‘—we can do this again. I’m going to be coming to Sicily soon to discuss a new hotel with your daddy. If you like, I could build that playhouse for you.’
‘Perfect.’ Ella beamed and flung her arms around his neck and Emma turned away quickly, tidying up some crayons to hide the tears on her face.
He’d made her a toast house, the way he used to with his daughter. And now he was promising to help her build the playhouse. That was progress, surely?
It was too soon to be sure, but she was confident that Cristiano’s idea had been a good one. He’d trusted his friend with his most precious possession and that trust would hopefully propel Lucas forward a few steps.
And she had to move forward too. She had to stop avoiding things that she found difficult and face them.
She had to have an honest conversation with her sister.
Knowing that it was time to leave, she made her excuses and left the two of them together while she returned to her own bedroom to pack, breaking off only to send an email.
‘This came for you.’ Lucas stood in the doorway, an envelope in his hand and his eyes on the suitcase. ‘You’re still planning on leaving today?’
‘I want to spend time with Jamie. Has Ella gone?’
‘Cristiano just picked her up.’ His eyes were still on the suitcase. ‘Apparently Chiara is doing fine.’
Emma kept her eyes down, afraid of revealing that there had never been anything wrong with the eldest Ferrara daughter. They’d all agreed that only the threat of an emergency would have induced Lucas to look after the little girl and it had been worth the deception.
His hand covered hers as she pushed a pair of shoes into the case. ‘If I asked you to stay another day, would you?’ His tone was raw and her heart pounded.
‘Is some aspect of my work unfinished?’
‘This isn’t about work. The work is done. If you stayed it would be about the two of us.’
Emma closed her eyes because it was so, so tempting. It would have been so easy to stay. So easy to fool herself that if she stayed his feelings might change. But she wasn’t going to do that to herself. Or to him.
Reluctantly, she extracted her hand from his, horrified by how difficult it felt to do that. ‘I have to go, Lucas.’
‘One more day.’
‘I can’t.’
There was a long, tense silence and then he stepped back, his eyes guarded. ‘Right. Good decision. I’ll see you back in the office after Christmas. Aren’t you going to open the letter?’