An Italian Dream

STELLA

Stella didn’t disturb Fern by messaging her. They’d spent the last forty-eight hours apart, although she had a pretty good idea what Fern had been doing and couldn’t be happier for her. Stella had embraced the time on her own. She’d always believed that she was someone who needed to be surrounded by people. Having spent much of the last twenty years as a single mum, she’d filled the time when the kids were with their dads with friends, socialising and dating, and when Chloe and Jacob were with her, she had a good network of mum friends. Recently, however, she’d realised that she was beginning to like her own company.

When it came to love, she’d made bad choices. Of course, she didn’t regret having Chloe and Jacob, but she regretted rushing into things with their dads. And she sure as hell regretted the mistakes she’d made with Paul. She was proud of Fern for standing up to him and for going through with the divorce. She knew Paul had doubted that Fern would have the guts. He’d have been happy to continue getting looked after while having fun behind her back. And Paul was out of Stella’s life for good. He hadn’t tried contacting her since they’d got back to the UK and she didn’t miss him in the slightest.

Fern still had much to sort out and even though Stella knew how anxious she was about striking out on her own, she was ready for a new start. Their friendship had been damaged, perhaps irreparably, but Stella was doing everything in her power to piece it back together again. In many ways, they were tied to each other like family, their kids as close as cousins, if not siblings. Fern was reserved with Stella, but they did talk and Stella was blown away by Fern’s ability to move forward.

Stella had had every intention on her fortieth birthday to announce to everyone the real truth about her Lottery win, but the series of events with Fern and Paul had put an end to that. It certainly wasn’t the right time to flaunt the fact that she was a multi-millionaire. What it had given her was more time, to think things through, to look into properties and investing, to talk to a financial advisor and the advisors at the National Lottery. She started to make plans for her, Chloe’s and Jacob’s futures. Their happiness and security were of the upmost importance. Her happiness too, although it seemed more and more unlikely that she was going to ever find that with a bloke. The last thing she wanted was a relationship. No, from now on she was focusing on herself, her kids and her friends.

It had been Stella’s idea for them to come back to Capri together, although Fern had refused her offer of paying for her flight. Stella knew that Fern was working hard on being financially independent. She got the sense that Fern didn’t want to rely on anyone but herself, although her head and heart were consumed by Matteo. Not only did Stella understand that Fern needed a push to see him again, she believed it would be a cathartic experience for them both, plus it was part of her plan to begin to make amends for all the wrong she’d done.

* * *

Stella thumped the large knocker on the impressively grand front door of Il Ritiro d’Arte. She hadn’t been here before, but even in the depths of winter, the place was majestic.

The door opened and she got her first look at Matteo. Fern had kept her time at the retreat pretty much to herself and the only photos she’d taken were of the villa and the garden. Matteo wasn’t on Facebook – Stella had tried looking him up, of course she had. But standing in front of him now, she was struck by his immediate warmth and welcoming smile. He had perfect white teeth, a shadow of stubble, good bone structure, beautiful smiling eyes and dark, slightly curly hair. No wonder he’d stolen Fern’s heart. A laddish, cocky, stocky ex-husband – although he could certainly be described as good-looking – wasn’t a patch on the Italian in front of her.

‘You must be Stella.’ He held out his hand and she shook it.

She stepped inside and he closed the door on the cold December day.

‘It’s nice to finally meet you,’ he said.

‘You too.’

She had no idea what he knew about the situation between her and Fern, but if he held any animosity, he didn’t show it. From everything she’d gleaned from Fern, he was one hell of a decent guy.

‘I’m a little early,’ she said, glancing around at the tiled entrance hall with its sweeping staircase. ‘But I was hoping to steal Fern away for a couple of hours.’

‘Of course, she’s just grabbing her bag. You must come back and have dinner with us later. We’d both like that.’

‘I’d like that too, thank you.’ She didn’t feel as if she deserved his kindness, but she could tell his openness was heartfelt. He understood that Fern being here with Stella was the start of repairing their friendship and he was willing to make things as easy as possible. Fern had finally found someone worthy of her love.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Stella and Matteo turned as Fern walked down dressed for a Capri winter in chocolate-brown boots, skinny jeans and a dove-grey jumper, her bag slung across her shoulder and a coat over her arm.

Stella had never seen her look so happy. Just the way she caught Matteo’s eye and the smile she gave him spoke volumes.

Matteo leaned in for a kiss. Stella turned away, pushed open the front door and waited outside.

Moments later, the door thudded closed and Fern joined her. There was a twinkle in her eye and, Stella realised, an essence of the Fern she used to know, except this version was far more content. A happiness emanated from her that had been absent for years.

‘If you can drag yourself away from Matteo,’ Stella said with a smile, ‘I want to show you somewhere.’

They walked together into the heart of Anacapri. The place was much quieter than earlier in the year, with many of the boutiques closed and far fewer people wandering the streets. It was as if the colour had drained from the place, the vibrant greens, the potent pink flowers, yet a quiet beauty remained, along with the mesmerising view to the cool blue sea.

Stella knew Fern well enough to know she’d talk about Matteo in her own good time. She wasn’t going to press her for details. She was satisfied enough by their smiles to know they’d been more than happy to see each other again. Although Stella had sworn herself off men, for the time being at least, she was immensely glad to see Fern looking so happy and deservedly so.

It wasn’t far to the villa. Stella caught Fern’s frown as she pushed open the gated entrance to a front garden filled with lemon trees. The green leaves and fresh yellow were bold against the white of the villa walls, a surprising sight in the depths of winter. They reached the front door and Stella pulled a bunch of keys from her bag.

‘I picked these up yesterday,’ she said.

Fern looked at her, wide-eyed with disbelief. ‘You bought it?’

‘Yep, I bought it.’ She pushed open the door and they entered.

It was cold and dim in the hallway and Stella suddenly felt nervous. She continued through and the villa opened up to reveal a large room with a curved ceiling and a fireplace.

‘It turned out pretty well hooking up with Luca on the yacht. I gave him a detailed list of the kind of property I was interested in and he said he’d let me know if something came on his radar that fitted the bill.’