Sailing to Capri by Elizabeth Adler

Author:Elizabeth Adler [Adler, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-312-33965-4
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2006-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

27

Montana

Rosalia was waiting for him on her patio, sitting in a carved wooden chair. “Welcome, again, Señor Montana,” she said.

He stepped closer. “Can you understand me, Señora? Or would you prefer me to write down what I have to say?”

“You speak good Castilian Spanish, I can read your lips perfectly.”

“Thank you for agreeing to see me, Señora Ybarra.”

“It’s Ybarra Delgado,” she corrected him, “though somehow I have the feeling you already know that.”

Her brown eyes met Montana’s and he saw she was nervous. “I’m a messenger from a man you once knew,” he said. “A man who loved you dearly. A man who missed you to the end of his days.”

“Of course you mean Roberto.”

“Sir Robert Hardwick. Yes.”

“I read about the accident,” she said quietly. “I knew he died.”

“I’m sorry.”

“This is the second time I’ve lost Roberto,” she said. “It doesn’t get any easier, which just goes to prove the old saying ‘Time heals all things’ is quite wrong.”

“Bob was a remarkable man.”

“You knew him well?”

“For more than ten years. I admired him, and I respected his honesty.”

“He was a Yorkshireman; he was always true to his roots and to his code of honor.” She looked steadily at Montana. “We were very much in love, all those years ago. You never lose that feeling for a man, not even when you’re an older woman like me. But there was no way we could stay together. Roberto had this terrible ambition, and I was a simple girl from an Andalusian hill village. All I wanted was what every other girl I knew wanted. A husband who loved her, children of her own … to be ‘a family.’” Rosalia sighed. “It became obvious it would never work.”

“This may sound strange,” Montana said, “but I come bearing an invitation from Robert.” He handed her the envelope. “He hoped you would join a cruise on a private yacht. It’s to celebrate Robert’s life, and he asked only people whose lives he had touched. You were the most important name on that short list.”

She looked bewildered. “On a yacht? To celebrate Roberto’s life?”

“He left a letter saying he wished he could be there, but he wanted everyone to have a good time and to remember him.”

She shook her head, sighing. “I don’t know. I really don’t know if I can …”

“He wanted you to be there for the reading of his will at his villa in Capri,” Montana added. “He will make you a gift of one hundred thousand dollars if you will take the cruise—to remember him.”

She got to her feet, and he could see she was disturbed. “I must think about it,” she said. “It’s late …” She held out her hand and Montana bent respectfully over it.

“Thank you for listening to me, Señora,” he said. She smiled as she turned away. “It was Roberto I was listening to,” she said as she walked back into her house.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.