Bella (20 page)

W
eeks had passed and Claudio was living here
in Light cliff Cove with me. It was summertime;
the
weather was very hot and clammy.

Tammy and Roy
decided to live in America. Claudio also wanted us to move there, but I didn
’
t feel I was ready to leave my roots behind, along with the memories
of my mother and father.

Summer time soon
passed. Lizzie opened a new beauty parlour and I decided to go and work there.
I felt like I needed a change.

   Claudio was
always away with his work, so Tammy invited us all to go to New York for
Christmas. It was September and autumn was fast approaching. The leaves had
changed colour and started falling from the trees, I loved this time of year.

Just as I was
getting ready for work one morning, and the children were having their
breakfast; there was a knock at
my door. I didn
’
t normally get visitors that early in the morning. Rushing to answer
the door, I certainly wasn
’
t expecting to see Victoria on my door step. I put another pot of
coffee on and we sat down at the kitchen table.

  
“
I won
’
t beat about the bush.
”
Victoria said.
Somehow I realised she wasn't here for a nice chat.

   
“
It
’
s about you and Simon. I
’
ve known something
for a while and I think it
’
s about time you knew.
”
She said. 

  
“
I don
’
t want to know.
”
I replied.

 
“
I think you will Bella.
”

 
“
You
’
ve got the letter haven
’
t you? Where did you
get it from? Have you been snooping around? I was furious.

 
“
It doesn
’
t matter where I found it.
”
She snapped.
Victoria looked at me, her eyes narrow and her face full of anger and
resentment.

 
“
You love Simon don`t you?  And I know he loves you.
”
She blurted out.

 
“
Look I haven
’
t got the time to chat now; I have to go to work.
”
I answered, avoiding her questions.

I knew whatever she had to tell me was important, but I
just didn't want to hear what she had to tell me.

  
“
Will you ever want to listen, don't you want to know?
”
She asked.
“
Maybe I
’
m happy the way my life is, with losing mother and father and then
having a bigamist husband, I have finally found peace and happiness.
”
  Victoria handed me the letter. I thought back on the amount of
times I had held that letter in my hands, but never had the nerve to read it.
Maybe I never will, I thought. Just before Victoria left, she
said.

  
“
Bella you really have to read the letter, you will understand why I
was so angry, everything will fit into place, when you read it.
”

 I hurried to work.
I didn
’
t give another thought to the letter, and left it on the kitchen
table.
’
Maybe I will read it tonight, I know I have to.
’
I thought to myself.

Rushing home after
work, the rain was really heavy and I was soaked. I picked the Children up from
nursery and as I was turning in to my street I could smell smoke, then I could
see thick grey clouds heading up to the sky. I never for one minute thought it
was my home that was on fire. It was so severe we lost everything we owned in
the fire.

   Over the next few weeks, everything was a blur, my whole
life had gone up in smoke. The police said it was arson. But who would want to
do that to us, and why? Lizzie told us we could stay with her until we got
ourselves sorted out.

   I thought that it would be better to have a new start
with Claudio and the Children. Tammy and Roy asked us to consider moving to New
York and I did have an apartment there.
 
December had arrived and we couldn't stay with
Lizzie forever so I made my decision.

   Before we left
England, I decided to go and take one last look at the house that was once our
home. Now it was just an empty shell, every memory I had in that place had gone
up in flames, including the letter from my parents. Maybe I wasn't meant to know
what was in it after all.

   We landed in New
York and I was feeling very nervous. We had our health and each other and that
was what really mattered. Maybe a new start was what we needed. We soon
settled in to our new
life. Tammy and Roy made Christmas as normal as possible. Simon didn
’
t join us and Lizzie stayed back in England Claudio found work in
New York and our lives started to fall into place.

   The first sign
of spring arrived and it was nice to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and
the smell of the flowers, especially Lavender. We decided to move to the
suburbs of New York, so Roy told us the apartment was to do with as we saw fit.
We found a lovely little house in the Hamptons, not far from New York and a
private School for Violet. Sometimes I miss England and our house. Thankfully
the insurance covered the damage that was done on the house and it was going to
be done up. It was easy to replace furniture and other material things but I
couldn
’
t help wondering about the letter and its contents. I missed Lizzie
and Simon very much, although Simon was returning to New York very soon.
Claudio and I found a lovely venue for our wedding and decided to have the
ceremony on the beach. Tammy was as excited as I was. Lizzie called to let me
know she arrive soon in time for the wedding. I only wished that mother and
father were still alive to see me get married although I had already been
married before. For some reason I wasn
’
t to bothered that
they weren
’
t there for that one, as it was done very quickly and wasn
’
t particularly very special.

    When my sister
arrived, I found out she was expecting another baby even though the doctors had
already told her that it was unlikely she would be able to carry full term. She
brought along her new partner who she had been seeing for only a short time.

  
“
This time I am staying with this one.
”
She laughed.  His
name was Anthony, a very charming man who seemed very good for
Lizzie. I only hoped for her that this one would work out.

We all decided to
go for a meal, we took Lizzie and Anthony to a lovely seafood restaurant called
Tierra Mar on West Hampton Beach and had lobster  After we walked along the
beach and watched the sunset, then we took the children home, Tammy and Roy
offered to babysit, so we went to a cabaret club called Le Flirt. Antony,
Lizzie
’
s new boyfriend was really charming and Claudio got on well with
him.

  
“
Maybe Lizzie will finally settle down, Antony is really nice.
”
I told Claudio.

    A week passed
by and our wedding was only a day away and I was soon to be Claudio
’
s wife.

The morning of our
wedding was very sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Our ceremony was to take place
on the beach, and then on to our Venue at the Gras mere Inn, a charming hotel,
which was located on West Hampton beach. Violet was my flower Girl and Robert
my Page boy. Tammy and Lizzie were fussing around me helping me to get ready.
Lizzie did my hair and Make-up and Roy offered to give me away.

    When Simon
arrived he looked charming dressed in his top hat and tails, and he was to be
Claudio's best man.

Claudio's parents
said they would arrive just before the ceremony. I had only met them once, but
they were lovely people and I was really looking forward to meeting them again.
Roy had arranged for a horse drawn carriage to take the children and I to the
ceremony.

   Walking towards
Claudio, seeing him standing there, he looked so proud, and very handsome. We
smiled at each other, as the ceremony took place and I became Mrs Ferrari.

Roy and Tammy gave
us tickets to travel Europe for our honeymoon. We said our goodbyes to the
Children and flew off to Europe.  Our first destination was Paris. We were
booked into Le Metropolitan Hotel it was very stylish hotel.

    The Caf
é’
s and bars were fantastic, and the food was plentiful. On our first
day we went to the Eiffel Tower, then we visited the Cathedral Notre-Dame,
Paris was very romantic. Those few days flew by too quickly. Our next
destination was Luxembourg a small country bordered by Germany, France and
Belgium .We stayed at the Hilton Hotel  which was situated in Luxembourg City.
We visited Vianden, which is well known for its beautiful fairytale castle set
on a rocky promontory. Esch-sur-Sur another one of it
’
s
magical sights. Luxembourg City Centre was very beautiful, with its quaint
streets, and caf
é’
s. After our trip we flew to Rome.

    Our first visit
was the Trevi Fountain, Fontana Di Trevi, is one of Rome's most famous touring
sights.The water from the Fontana Di Trevi comes from an ancient underground
Roman aqueduct built by Agrippa, the Aqua Vergine. It also supplies water to
the fountains in Piazza Novena, the Piazza di Sphagna and Piazza Farnese.
Claudio told me that the legend says, if you throw a coin into it, your wish
will be fulfilled and you will be destined to return to Rome in the Future. We
stayed at the Hotel St George. It was right in the heart of the historic
centre. The Hotel had a spa, fitness
centre and a pretty terrace.  It was modern but had a
historical feel to it. We went to a lovely restaurant on our final night. At
Zio Ciro, the food was lovely and we had a bottle of their house wine. Our
honeymoon was lovely, however, we were both looking forward to getting back
home and seeing the children.

Tammy and Roy
picked us up from the airport in New York. We settled in to married life and I
felt happy and secure. Simon was no longer in my head. The only thing I was
missing was England, I loved it in New York but there was no place like home.

  As the next few
years passed my children grew up. Violet was eleven and Robert was nine. Lizzie
and Anthony finally got married. Unfortunately she lost her baby when she was
eight weeks pregnant and was told that she would probably never be able to
carry a baby full term.

Tammy and Roy are
currently travelling the World and luckily Marco never contacted me again.
Claudio and I were planning on moving back to England. We stayed in New York
for a few years, but I missed my home town too much. 

   I couldn't
believe the feeling I had when we landed back in London. We bought a house in
the same street as our old house and put the children in private school to give
them a good education. I began thinking back to the fire and the letter that I
never got to read.  I wondered what mother and father had to say to us. The
only person who knew was Victoria. But I was happy with my life the way it was
and nothing could change that. Simon called to inform me that he was getting
back with Victoria after all those years; I didn
’
t
feel any jealousy and
was very happy for them both. After numerous attempts at getting pregnant, it
finally happened

   Walking along
the beach hand in hand with Claudio, we watched the sun go down. Looking back
to my childhood I had so many happy memories. Remembering the times I used to
walk on the beach when I needed to think and Simon would always follow me.. In
fact, we were inseparable.
Maybe the feelings that we shared are no longer
there or we have managed to finally put them at the back of our mind
. I
thought to myself.

   They say you can
love someone for a life time, but never be with that person and of course our
reason was that we were brother and sister. I knew I would always have a part
of
Simon
in Robert and he is becoming more like his father every day.

My pregnancy was
going well, and my baby was due at the New Year. Christmas Eve arrived and I
started having contractions. Claudio had just gone to buy a real Christmas
tree.

‘
My contractions are getting much stronger maybe I will have the baby
today
.
’
I thought to
myself.