Chapter Five

Mallory Swanson still lived in the same apartment where she’d raised her two daughters. Keira always felt a strange sense of nostalgia whenever she returned home. Though her childhood had been filled with love and laughter, the absence of her father was always presence. That he’d lived in that house with Bryn and her mom before she had been born was always at the back of her mind, because shortly after she’d been born, he’d left the family. She’d always grown up feeling like his shadows lurked in the house, like things just weren’t quite at they were supposed to be.

She and Cristiano took a cab straight from town. Keira hadn’t wanted to return to Bryn’s apartment first and have to endure the journey with all three of them in the cramped conditions, so had told her sister just to meet them there. At least Bryn’s ability to keep time was useless so they’d have a bit of breathing space on arrival.

They walked up the steps to the red brick apartment building. The basement apartment was owned by the same old woman who had been living there for her whole life. Her numerous cats lay out on the sidewalk or sat perched on the railings meowing at them.

Keira rang the bell and a moment later, her mom appeared at the door. She was wearing a stained apron over her clothes and her hair was in disarray.

“There she is! My wandering nomad of a daughter!” Mallory cried. She flung her arms around Keira and squeezed tightly. Then she released her and looked at Cristiano. “Well, aren’t you handsome?” she gushed. She hugged him too. “Now, quick, everyone inside. I left the lasagne in the oven and I don’t want it to burn.”

She ushered them inside. Keira walked up the dingy staircase that led to the first floor apartment. It seemed narrower than usual, the dark green walls more stained than she remembered. It didn’t help that most of the bulbs in the corridor had blown. It gave the corridor a horror film vibe.

They made it into the apartment and were immediately assaulted by heat radiating from the oven. The smell of strong cheese permeated the air.

“So this is where you grew up?” Cristiano asked, looking politely around Mallory’s modest apartment.

Keira nodded. It was a far cry from his parent’s villa in the hillsides of Florence. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture in the house that looked like it belonged on the pages of a designer furniture magazine. It couldn’t even be claimed that the house was shabby-chic. It was just shabby.

Keira felt the weight of embarrassment pressing down on her. She had worked so hard at school and college specifically to leave this sort of life behind. She worried that the impression Cristiano was getting of her must be a million miles away from what he’d been expecting when he first agreed to get on that plane with her. So much for the high flying reporter from New York City. There was no way of hiding that she’d come from humble beginnings now.

“Why don’t you take a seat?” Mallory yelled over her shoulder as she busied herself in the kitchen.

Keira gestured to the table. Her mom had covered it in a weird vinyl table cloth. Cristiano sat in one of the chairs. Keira noticed it wobbling beneath him but of course he was too polite to say anything.

Mallory came over with a steaming dish and placed it on the table. The lasagne was a mess to look at, the tomato sauce bubbling up through the pasta, the cheese burned to a crisp at the edges. It was probably a world away from what Cristiano was used to eating back home in Italy!

“What are those?” Keira asked, pointing at small, round balls on the top.

“Hazelnuts,” Mallory said.

“On a lasagne?” Keira asked, frowning.

“I read it in a magazine,” Mallory replied ambivalently.

Keira felt her body growing heavier and heavier.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Bryn?” she asked her mom.

“I told her seven,” Mallory replied. “She can read a clock. It’s her fault if she’s not here on time.” She grinned at Cristiano and poured a glass of wine for him. “I hope you like rosé.”

Keira hunkered in her seat, remembering how much of a wine connoisseur Cristiano was, how he knew what wine to have with what dish. You didn’t need to be a connoisseur to know that rosé didn’t compliment anything!

Politely, he picked up his glass of pink colored wine.

“To our handsome guest,” Mallory announced, and they all clinked glasses.

Keira was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear.

The door opened then and in waltzed Bryn. Any signs of the hangover she ought to be sufferings were completely gone. Her eyes were bright, her hair clean and glowing, and she’d dressed to impress.

Keira couldn’t help the jealousy she sometimes felt over her beautiful older sister. She had years of memories of boys swooning over Bryn to back it up. The only saving grace was that her sister was a bit on the unstable side. You just wouldn’t know it to look at her. To look at her, you’d think she was a supermodel, all grace and poise.

Bryn sat down at the table with flourish and helped herself to a large portion of lasagne.

“I did an hour and a half in the gym today,” she boasted. “I’m allowed to treat myself.”

Keira couldn't remember the last time she herself had been to the gym. In fact, the last two months had been a blur of eating and drinking. From all the Guinness and fried breakfasts in Ireland, to the pastas and gelatos of Italy, she was quite frankly surprised to have not yet become obese. It was only thanks to all those hills in Italy and muddy walks in Ireland that she’d managed to stay in any kind of shape at all.

“Do you work out a lot?” Cristiano asked Bryn. He seemed interested rather than suggestive, which relieved Keira, although she couldn’t understand why he’d want to know.

Bryn nodded. “Spinning is my main thing. Oh, and climbing. They have a great wall at my local.”

Cristiano looked excited. “I love to climb!”

“You do?” Keira asked, surprised. Somehow that had never come up in conversation.

“Yes,” he said, nodding excitedly before turning his attention back to Bryn. “You will have to take me sometime.”

“I’d love to,” Bryn replied.

Keira cringed. This whole conversation was putting her on edge. She wanted to put as much distance between her sister and Cristiano as possible.

Mallory seemed suitably impressed by Cristiano’s climbing background. “What else can you do, then?” she asked. “Physically?”

“Mom,” Keira groaned. “What kind of a question is that?”

“I like to swim,” Cristiano replied. Then with a wink at Keira, he added, “And dance the night away.”

“Really?” Mallory asked. “Do you Flamenco?”

“That’s Spanish, mom!” Keira cried.

Cristiano burst out laughing. Bryn chuckled too. Even Mallory seemed to find her error amusing. Keira was the only one who didn’t. Maybe Bryn was right about her being uptight?

“So how was your Italian adventure?” Mallory asked Keira, leaning over the table to pat her hand. “Another success?” Her eyes darted to Cristiano.

Keira felt the blush rise in her cheeks. “It was beautiful,” she said, trying to steer the conversation away from the fact she’d instigated another romance and towards the country itself. “The scenery is out of this world. The food is incredible. And the culture!”

“Don’t forget the men,” Bryn added, wiggling her eyebrows.

Keira shot her a look. “Yes, the people are wonderful too. Cristiano took me to meet his parents in Florence. They were super friendly.”

Mallory looked over at Cristiano, impressed. “You’re close with your family?”

He smiled and nodded. “Very. Apart from when I’m working out of town, I see them at least once a week.”

“That’s so nice,” Mallory said, looking down contemplatively at her lasagne. “My girls are always too busy to see me. I’m only a cab ride away but I may as well live in Canada.”

Bryn rolled her eyes. “We’re modern women, mom. We work.”

“I’ve spent about forty eight hours in New York City in the last two months!” Keira added.

Mallory just shrugged, keeping the wounded expression on her face for maximum effect. Bryn seemed immune to that sort of thing, but it always irked Keira. She felt like her relationship with her mom was pretty good. She certainly spoke to her on the phone a lot, and visited her frequently. And it was hardly like Mallory was a lonely old woman sitting at home all day! She may be retired now but she had friends a plenty and all kinds of hobbies to occupy herself with.

“How’s your lasagne?” Mallory asked Cristiano then. “I suppose it doesn’t compare to your super mom’s recipe, does it?”

Bryn just laughed at her mom’s forlorn tone. Keira wasn’t in the mood to mollycoddle her. She responded before Cristiano even had the chance to, attempting to relieve him of an awkward social encounter.

“Of course it doesn’t,” she said. “Our food is completely different. Most of it is imported. I mean the Italian ingredients are so fresh and nutritious.” She prodded her rubbery pasta with her fork. “Even the tomatoes taste different in Italy.”

“But American food is good too,” Cristiano added diplomatically. “Keira and I had bagels for breakfast this morning. It was very exciting.”

Bryn made a face that indicated she found Cristiano's bagel excitement adorable. Keira couldn’t stand the way she was looking at Cristiano like he was a cute puppy.

“And how long are you staying in New York?” Mallory asked.

‘Great,’ Keira thought. ‘That question again.’

“I don’t know yet,” Cristiano replied. “I have no reason to rush off though.”

A small furrow appeared on Mallory’s forehead. “No? Don’t you have a job at home to get back to?”

Cristiano shook his head nonchalantly. “I only do casual work and most of that is during the summer. Tour guiding. Waiting tables. That sort of thing.”

Keira noted the way the furrow on her mom’s forehead deepened.

“Casual work?” she repeated, the tone in her voice betraying her distaste.

“Things are different over there,” Keira explained. “The culture is different. People aren’t clamoring over each other for promotions like they are here.”

“But he’s not a kid anymore,” Mallory said with exasperation to Keira. “Shouldn’t he have some idea what he wants to do with his life?”

“Mom!” Keira cried.

Cristiano just laughed, somehow finding humor in the situation. “I’ll find my path one day, Mallory,” he reassured her. “I’m not in a hurry.”

He turned his serene gaze down to his lasagne. Over his head, Mallory shot Keira a pained expression. If she thought Keira was leaving it late to settle down and have kids, what on earth must she think about the fact Cristiano hadn’t found a career path yet?

With their plates empty, Mallory went to fetch dessert. Ice-cream. Keira had eaten so much gelato in Italy it was the last thing she wanted, especially the poor American substitute her mom bought. But Cristiano was as polite as ever and made all the appropriate noises as he ate.

“Are you all squeezed into Bryn’s apartment at the moment?” Mallory asked.

“I’m letting them have the bed,” Bryn said, looking proud of herself for actually putting someone else’s needs before her own for possibly the first time in her life.

“Why don’t you stay here?” Mallory suggested. “Keira’s has her own bedroom.”

“You do?” Cristiano asked, frowning slightly as though he couldn’t understand why Keira had chosen her sister’s couch over her own room.

Keira shook her head. “It’s not a good idea,” she told him under her breath. “The commute to work from here is such a pain.”

“What’s she saying?” Mallory asked Cristiano in a loud voice. “Let me guess. The commute. It’s always the commute. When she moved out of her apartment with Zach she went straight to Bryn’s! As if I didn’t even exist. And when I ask why, oh, it’s the commute.”

“Mom, it takes me over an hour to get to work from here,” Keira told her for what must have been the millionth time.

“An hour is standard,” Bryn replied. “You were just lucky before with where your apartment was. And that’s only because Zach paid for most of it.”

“Bryn!” Keira scolded her. Then, folding her arms stubbornly, she added in a quieter voice, “It belonged to his cousin. We both got cheap rent.”

Cristiano looked very confused. “Who is Zach?”

“No one,” Keira told him. She cast appealing glances at her mom and sister, willing them to keep their big mouths shut for once.

Mallory smiled at Cristiano. “You’d like to stay here for a bit, wouldn’t you, hun? I can show you around the local areas tomorrow.”

Keira’s eyes widened. “No way, mom. Cristiano has better things to do with his time.” The thought of her mom having him for the whole day filled her with dread.

“What things?” Bryn challenged her with a laugh. “Someone has to show him around. Keep him entertained. You know I could always do it.” She crossed one of her lean legs over the other.

“No!” Keira said more forcefully. She did not trust either of them around Cristiano!

“Actually, I’d like to explore by myself,” Cristiano said, finally getting a chance to get his own voice heard. “When I’m in a new city, anyway. Is that okay, Mallory?”

“Of course,” she chuckled. Then with a grin, she added to no one in particular, “He is so polite.”

“But I do think it would be nice to take up your offer of us staying here,” he added. “Keira got to see my home and I would love to see her old room too.”

Keira buried her head in her hands. This was about the last thing she wanted to happen! But then she thought about the complete lack of privacy they had at Bryn’s. Even with her offering up her bed to them it was still very crowded. Not to mention messy and noisy. At least here Mallory would go to bed early and they’d get a bit of space and privacy.

“Fine,” Keira finally replied. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept over at her mom’s. But thanks to Cristiano it was about to happen for the first time in years. “We’ll stay.”

“Wonderful!” Mallory cried, and she topped up everyone’s wine glasses with more sickly pink wine.

* * *

Keira and Cristiano shared a cab with Bryn to her apartment so they could collect some things. Cristiano stuffed his clothes into his satchel, and Keira collected toiletries, fresh underwear, her makeup, perfume, and an outfit for work, including heels, something she’d not worn for the entire time she’d been in Italy!

When they left, Keira was relieved that it was just the two of them again.

“I’m sorry about today,” Keira told Cristiano as she curled up beside him in the back of the cab.

“Sorry?” he asked. “What for?”

“For my family. They’re nuts.”

He laughed. “I actually really like them.”

Keira pondered over whether he just meant he liked Bryn but tried not to dwell on it.

“And are you sure you’re going to be okay on your own tomorrow?” she added. “I could see whether one of my friends might be around to meet up with you?”

As she said it, she thought of Shelby who was very safely engaged. But Shelby would definitely be at work. Maxine would be free, but she was single. Keira just didn’t trust this relationship enough yet to loosen the reins.

“I’m very sure,” Cristiano told her decisively. “I already said I like to explore. I made it my job, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” Keira admitted, “But New York City is kind of different to Italy.”

Cristiano pressed a hand to his heart. “I am a big boy,” he told her. “I can look after myself. Even in New York City.” He kissed her lightly.

They reached Mallory’s apartment, and, after paying the cab driver, went inside, settling down for a quiet evening on the couch watching TV. A little after nine pm, Keira’s plan paid off – Mallory did indeed retire to bed.

Then for the first time in ages, Keira felt herself finally relax. She’d been pretty on edge ever since landing back home. Between Bryn’s craziness, her mom’s craziness, and a whistle-stop tour of the city, she felt like she had hardly had time to catch her breath. At last she could really take stock of things, of Cristiano and the fact he had traveled halfway across the world to be with her.

She kissed him, savoring the taste of him. There was something different now in their kisses. A greater intensity. Now she was on home turf, everything had become very real. He’d made something of a commitment and that changed things for the better.

“I suppose you’ll be wanting to see my room soon?” she asked, using her sultry voice.

Cristiano picked up her tone immediately, raising his eyebrows in excited anticipation. “I definitely would.”

She stood from the couch and reached down, offering her hand.

“Then you’d better follow me,” she purred.

Looking like the cat who caught the cream, Cristiano did exactly as she said.