The Skye Collection, page 44
12
Sleep evaded Ruby for the rest of the night, so the following morning she eventually gave up and clambered out of bed with a thumping headache – no doubt due to both the copious amounts of coffee she’d consumed with Clark the previous day and the realisation that the Italian builder was in fact the Scottish owner.
She fired off a text to Valerie to ask the name of the villa’s owner, explaining that there was a Scottish man here that she wasn’t expecting. Valerie replied quickly.
His name is Mitch Adair. I wasn’t aware he would be there either. Sorry about that. Crossed wires. He’s apparently a nice guy though and only 34, wink wink. So you should be fine. V x
Ruby chuntered that he was so nice he’d let her carry on thinking he was Italian when he wasn’t and she’d made a fool of herself because of it.
She made her way down to the kitchen and found Mitch sitting at the table drinking fresh coffee. The smell of it turned her stomach.
‘Bon Jovi,’ he said, and she glanced over to see him smirking. ‘There’s still some coffee in the pot.’
‘I’m good thanks. Water’s fine. I think I have a coffee hangover.’
‘Ah yes, from when you escaped.’ He chuckled, but she didn’t find his choice of words amusing.
Silence fell and Ruby tried to decide if she was hungry or if the queasiness she felt was simply a combination of yesterday’s coffee overload and irritation.
‘How’s the roof?’ she asked, thinking back to the events of last night.
Mitch huffed. ‘A mess. I’ll need to get some professionals in to sort it out. It’s a bit much for one man, I’m afraid.’ He sighed. ‘Look, I’m sorry I snapped at you last night. I wasn’t in the best frame of mind and you happened to step into the firing line. And I’m sorry for stringing you along with the whole Italian thing. I honestly thought you were kidding around at first but then… Anyway, I’m sorry. I’m Mitch by the way.’ He held out his hand and she shook it.
‘I know that now. Although I don’t think that’s what Jacopo called you.’
He nodded. ‘Ah no, Jaco calls me by my given name, Miceli. It’s Sicilian for Michael. He started off calling me Signor Adair, but that made me feel ancient. He wouldn’t call me Mitch though. I think it’s a respect thing.’ He shrugged.
‘Right. Well, I’m Ruby… it’s English for Ruby,’ she stated simply with a wry smile as she sipped on her water. ‘And you should be sorry. It was totally uncalled for and a bit mean.’
He smirked again. ‘Aye, I know. Well, I’ve apologised now, eh?’ His stubble was thicker, and his hair was messy and stuck out at all angles. Annoyingly, he still looked like something off a magazine cover.
She tilted her head and eyed him. ‘While you’re feeling apologetic, you can say sorry for taking the piss out of me too for writing the note,’ she insisted defiantly, willing to brook no dissent.
He scrunched his forehead. ‘I wasn’t intentionally taking the piss. Honestly. I actually thought, at first anyway, that you were trying to be funny.’
She huffed. ‘By apologising in what I thought was your language? A language I don’t even speak? I thought I was being nice and all you could do was laugh. I baked those cookies to show I was sorry for shouting at you when you caught me crying.’
‘Aye, I got that. But English is my first language. I figured you must have been told that.’ He shrugged.
That familiar heat, a tell-tale sign, rose in her cheeks. ‘Well… I wasn’t, obviously. I mean, you even look Italian with your dark hair and olive skin. How was I to know? And maybe you could have made it clear that you were actually Scottish instead of letting me make a fool of myself.’
‘Aye, but you did it so well. The cookies were really good, by the way.’ He smiled and her stomach betrayed her by flipping.
‘Thank you.’ She wasn’t about to start giving in to that sexy smile.
He pursed his lips, evidently trying to hide his mirth again. ‘But the note… man… that had me in stitches.’
Anger bubbled up inside her. ‘How is me being sad, lonely and a sobbing wreck amusing to you?’
He stood from the table and grabbed the note from the countertop. ‘Allow me to translate, eh?’
‘You don’t need to do that. I know what it says.’
He pulled his lips between his teeth for a second and shook his head. ‘Oh, but I don’t think you do. I think you know what you wanted it to say…different thing entirely.’
She felt the colour drain from her face. Shit, what did Kitty send me?
He proceeded to read aloud the note she had written with such care and consideration. ‘Dear builder, I’m sorry for shouting—’
She placed down her glass and folded her arms across her chest. ‘What’s wrong with that? That’s exactly what I meant to say.’
He held up a hand and continued, ‘It was the whore’s moans or dolphin hens making me sad.’
Colour returned to her face, with a vengeance, and she feared spontaneous human combustion. ‘What? That’s not what I… that’s… my friend…’
He smiled again. ‘Whore’s moans? Dolphin hens? I mean… what the hell were you trying to say?’
Ruby covered her face with her hands. ‘Oh bollocks. I’ll throttle her.’
‘So, you see, I wasn’t intentionally taking the piss. But I am sorry if I offended you.’ His voice had softened and he crouched to meet her gaze.
She sighed. ‘Hormones and endorphins. It was supposed to be hormones and endorphins.’
He grinned. ‘Ah. Well, it was a good try.’ He was clearly trying not to laugh again but failing miserably. ‘I mean… you were close.’ At that point, he burst out laughing and she stormed out of the room. ‘Oh, come on! Have a sense of humour!’ he shouted after her, but she ignored him, so he added, ‘I thought you were really sweet to write it!’
She could hear him chuckling as she ran up the stairs to hide.
Once back in the safety of her room, she grabbed her phone and dialled Kitty’s number. As soon as it connected, she blurted, ‘Did you do that on purpose, Kitty? I’ve never been so bloody embarrassed in all my life! It wasn’t funny. Well, not to me, anyway. Mr bloody Italy thought it was hilarious of course. I can’t face him again after that.’
There was a pause before Kitty replied. ‘Whoa, whoa, hold your horses, missy. What are you on about?’
‘The note! The translation I asked for. It made no bloody sense.’
Kitty laughed. ‘Yeah, I know. How did you come up with it? And what the hell were you talking about? Are you near a brothel or something? A brothel on a farm by the sea? You had me and Gerry in hysterics.’
Her cheeks burned. ‘It wasn’t meant to be funny! When I called, I asked you to send me the translation as an apology because I had shouted at the builder.’
Kitty frowned. ‘Well, why were you talking about whores? And what did dolphins and hens have to do with anything?’
‘I wasn’t talking about whores, Kitty! I asked you to translate that I was sorry but that my hormones and endorphins were all over the place. Good grief, didn’t you hear any of what I asked for?’
‘It was a really bad line. I did say so. It’s kind of funny though.’ Ruby could sense the amusement in her voice as Kitty relayed the story to Gerry. She heard coughing and spluttering and Kitty burst out laughing. ‘Haha! Gerry almost choked. He’s had to dash to the kitchen because he has coffee coming out of his nose.’
‘Gee, thanks, you two. I won’t be asking for your translation services again.’
Kitty giggled. ‘Oh honey, I really am sorry.’
‘No, you’re not, you shithead.’
Kitty laughed harder. ‘You love me though, eh?’
Ruby rolled her eyes. ’It’s a bloody good thing that I do.’
For the rest of the day, Ruby stayed in her room as much as possible for fear of running into Mr Italy again. She wasn’t sure she could take the embarrassment of having him laugh at her further. As a distraction from her predicament, she texted Clark, who seemed happy to hear from her and invited her over again. Knowing she would need to tell Jacopo and Luca this time, she said she would love to visit, but she just wasn’t sure when it would be.
She called her mum and dad to check in with them, and her mum was on the verge of booking a flight to come and visit. But Ruby knew how much she hated flying – her dad refused to fly at all – so she managed to convince her that it wasn’t necessary. She loved her for offering though.
She had almost finished Rebecca and was wondering what to read next when there was a tapping on her door. She walked over and opened it to find Mitch standing there. ‘Oh, hi. What’s up?’
He wore jeans again, but this time with a pale blue button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. She was mildly distracted by his forearms for some peculiar reason.
‘I wanted to see if you were hungry. I’ve got pizza in the oven and a bottle of Chianti breathing in the kitchen if you fancy?’
She was a little surprised by the invite. ‘Oh… erm…’
He held his hands out at his sides. ‘Look, I’m sorry for how we got off on the wrong foot. I’m trying to make amends here.’
Guilt tugged at her and she caved. ‘Okay, that would be nice, thank you.’
His smile was warm and genuine. ‘Great. See you in the kitchen in five?’
‘Sure.’ She nodded and he turned and left.
She quickly changed into navy capri pants and a white shirt, not because she wanted to impress, obviously, but because her clothing was crumpled from lying on the bed reading all day.
Pushing through the kitchen door, she was greeted with a rather romantic sight. The farmhouse table was laid with two place settings, wine glasses, napkins and candles.
‘Ooh… anyone would think we were on a date or something,’ she said nervously as she took her seat.
His face crumpled. ‘What? No! The bulb blew in the storm and I haven’t been able to get a new one, that’s all. Believe me, romance is the furthest thing from my mind.’
All right, you could sound less disgusted at the prospect. ‘Good,’ she replied.
Mitch poured wine into both glasses and put a huge, rustic-looking pizza on a board in between them. It was piled with colourful vegetables, meat and olives and her mouth watered as she inhaled the delicious, spicy aroma.
Her stomach rumbled. ‘This looks amazing. Where did you get it from?’
He frowned and shook his head. ‘The pizza oven in the garden.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘Oh. You made it?’
‘Don’t sound so surprised.’
She took a slice and bit the tip. The herby tomato sauce mixed with the flavours of the rest of the toppings in her mouth and she couldn’t help groaning. She snapped her eyes open and found him staring at her with a grin on his face.
He licked his lips. ‘Good, eh?’
She put a hand in front of her mouth and nodded. ‘Really, really good,’ she replied around the mouthful of food.
‘You were brave to wear a white shirt though.’ He laughed as sauce dripped down her front.
‘Oh bugger! Dammit.’
Mitch grabbed a damp cloth from by the sink and passed it over. ‘You’ll have to wash it tonight or you’ll have a stain.’
She nodded as she dabbed at the red splodge and inwardly cursed herself. How much more could she do to make herself look ridiculous?
They ate in silence for a while and Ruby sipped at the Chianti. She felt herself relaxing and the tension that had tightened her shoulders before she came downstairs began to ebb away.
‘So, you’re clearly Scottish but speak fluent Italian. How come?’ she eventually asked.
‘My dad is Scottish, and my mum is from Sicily. They met when my dad was on a business trip on the island. I grew up mainly in Scotland, but my mum made sure I knew Italian because we spent our summers over here.’
‘Oh wow. You must’ve loved that. Has the house been in your family long?’
He nodded. ‘Aye, although it wasn’t always this big. It’s been extended over the years.’
‘Do you have brothers and sisters?’
‘I did. I had a sister, but she… erm…’ He cleared his throat. ‘She passed away when I was a teenager.’
Ruby gasped and covered the damp patch of fabric over her heart. ‘Oh no, I’m so sorry.’
He nodded and took a large gulp of his drink. ‘Aye, thanks. It was a long time ago. When she passed away, the property was neglected. My folks couldn’t bear to come over.’
Silence fell between them again and Ruby struggled to find something to say, anything that would lift the heavy cloud that had descended upon them.
Finally, Mitch spoke again. ‘So, you’re escaping the public just now, eh?’
She paused and placed her slice of pizza back on her plate. ‘I’m guessing you know the whys and wherefores,’ she said, without making eye contact.
He shrugged. ‘I don’t judge folk.’
‘There’s nothing to judge. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was hacked.’
He widened his eyes. ‘Shit, that’s bad. You see that’s why I avoid social media like the plague.’
She nodded. ‘I can completely understand that after what I’ve been through recently.’
‘Aye, no one needs to know what I’ve had for my breakfast, or that I’ve been shopping for new shoes.’ He chuckled.
She smiled. ‘No, true. But for me it was a lifeline. It can be quite a lonely life being famous. You’re very limited to where you can go and with whom. Online I had so many friends. So many people who I thought had my back, others in the business. We didn’t get to meet often, but just knowing there was someone there who I could chat to about things, and they’d understand, you know? People were so kind. It made me feel less lonely. Then it all went wrong, and I was dropped like a hot brick, regardless of whether I was innocent or not. It was all so fast I almost got whiplash.’
Mitch sucked air in through his teeth. ‘Ouch. Sounds shitty.’
‘It was. It still is.’ She swallowed hard. ‘It’s difficult not knowing who I can trust any more.’
Silence fell again.
Nervously, she broached the subject that had been intriguing her. ‘Have you had issues before? I mean, the security at the gate is pretty intense.’
His cheeks coloured. ‘Erm… I’m afraid that’s all for you. It was a guest house before. But I was told there had been threats to harm you physically, so it was necessary. They’ve assured me it will all be put back to normal once this is over for you.’
Ruby’s heart sank; he had sacrificed so much for someone he didn’t even know. ‘Why on earth did you let me come here?’ she asked with a deep sigh and a shake of her head.
He shrugged. ‘I was told that a friend of a friend was in danger and needed a place to crash for a while.’
‘Did you know who I was?’
He lifted his chin and focused his eyes on her directly. ‘Do you mean did I know you were a famous Hollywood actress?’
She had begun to hate that phrase recently. It had gone from being something to be proud of to something that stirred up a hornet’s nest of regret in her stomach. ‘Yes.’
His mouth turned up into almost sardonic grin. ‘How could I not know who you are, Ruby Locke?’
‘Not everyone does. Your neighbour doesn’t.’
Mitch scrunched his brow momentarily, appearing a little confused. He paused and shook his head. ‘Neighbour?’ Then he laughed with a look of incredulity in his eyes. ‘And I’m guessing he’s faking that.’
She shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. He’s just not a movie fan.’
He raised one eyebrow and tilted his head. ‘I’m not an athletics fan, but I know who Mo Farah is.’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you always this obtuse to your house guests?’ she asked with a tilt of her head and a smile.
He laughed. ‘I don’t usually host people.’
She scoffed but in good nature. ‘Figures.’
His smile faltered. ‘Seriously though, Ruby, if someone is saying they don’t know who you are, I’d be careful. It sounds suss to me. I mean, I don’t watch every single movie that comes out, but I know the most famous stars. And let’s face it, you’re on that list.’
She sighed. ‘Thank you for your concern, but he seems genuine and kind. I’m sure I’ll be fine.’
Mitch shook his head and sighed. ‘Aye, I hope you’re right.’
13
The days were passing painfully slowly and word from the US about the hacking wasn’t forthcoming, despite her numerous calls to Valerie, who seemed to be fobbing her off with excuses. She didn’t understand what the delay was, but it was driving her mad. Surely it should’ve been dealt with by now? And the more she thought about the changes Mitch had been willing to make to his home, the more guilty she felt. She wanted to be able to free him from it all. Despite their less than perfect initial interactions, he seemed like a nice man, and this was supposed to be a place filled with good memories for him. The death of his sister aside, he had spent so many happy times here with his family and she felt she was intruding and marring those wonderful recollections.
Early on, just after the hacking and subsequent break-up, Ruby had received a spate of calls from seemingly well-intentioned friends in the movie business, offering their condolences on her split with Tyler, or wanting to share gossip about him – in which she had no interest – everything had gone quiet. It was shocking how quickly she had become persona non grata.
Her days were being spent reading outside at the little bistro table, with Nero at her feet, or on her lap, enjoying the scent of the lemon trees as it wafted in the ever-warming air. Spring was on its way and she longed to be on the beach with Nero and her book instead. But as much as she loved books sometimes even reading became boring.
She was ten days into her period of hiding and Nero had become quite attached to her. Often, she would walk around the gardens with him or play fetch with his ball as Jacopo watched, laughing and shouting encouragingly to his dog in Italian. With Jacopo’s permission, she had even taken to letting the Yorkie sleep at the foot of her bed, where he curled up into a tiny ball and snored. Even though she craved some kind of normality, she knew it would be hard saying goodbye to the little dog.
