Love at the Italian Lake by Darcie Boleyn

Author:Darcie Boleyn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781911591337
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2017-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

Joe walked up the incline towards Sophia’s grandmother’s house. The evening air was mild and fragrant with the sweetness of the flowers that bloomed in window boxes and burst from flowerpots outside front doors and shop fronts. He was warm in his grey polo shirt and black jeans but not uncomfortably so.

He’d been looking forward to seeing Sophia since they’d parted ways earlier that day. Ridiculous, as he’d spent the best part of the morning and early afternoon with her. But Sophia had got under his skin and though he kept telling himself she was just a friend, he couldn’t get the way her beautiful dark eyes seemed lit up from within, and the way she smiled so openly, out of his head. There was just something magnetic about her and he was being pulled into her field. Joe knew he should call this evening off and keep his distance for a bit, to allow his emotions to settle, but that idea made him irrationally irritated, and he kept finding reasons to justify seeing her again.

He knocked the front door then stepped back and waited. He put his hands in his pockets then pulled them out again but couldn’t find a comfortable way to rest them, so he tucked them back in.

He waited.

There was no response.

So he knocked again.

Nothing.

He’d definitely said eight. He checked his watch and it was five past eight. So where was she?

He took a step back and peered up at the first-floor windows. The net curtain over the one on the left billowed gently but there was no sign of life.

What should he do?

He’d booked a table at the small restaurant on the front and he wanted Sophia to see how beautiful it was there. So if he left now, he’d have to go straight there and cancel. Or eat alone.

He knocked again but there was still no answer. Concern churned in his gut. What if something was wrong and Sophia was hurt or needed help? If he left, then she could be inside, lying on the floor, willing him to enter and save her.

Irrational?

Maybe.

But he was starting to understand that he wasn’t always rational when it came to this woman.

He tried the handle and it gave beneath his hand, so he entered the hallway and closed the door quietly behind him.

‘Sophia?’

He walked through to the lounge but it was empty. Then he tried the kitchen but it was the same. She could be upstairs, possibly drying her hair and unable to hear him over the noise.

‘Sophia?’ He said it louder and this time there was a bang from upstairs, then he heard footsteps.

Sophia appeared at the top of the staircase.

‘I hope it was okay to come in but I was knocking and no one answered, then I got worried and… are you okay?’

She shook her head as she descended the stairs, clinging all the while to the banister.

When she stood before him, he could see that her eyes were puffy and red and she was clutching a tissue.

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