AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s what you want?”
No, dammit. Not even a little bit.
“Yes. I do.”
Jax looked as if he’d argue with me, but instead, he grabbed the bag of wet clothes—his this time—and left without another word. I stared at the door as if waiting to see it open back up. But it didn’t. And wouldn’t. I knew Jax well enough to predict that with some certainty.
What wasn’t certain?
Everything else. The whole situation was confusing as hell, and I didn’t know what was up or down anymore. Thank goodness for the Sicily trip. I needed a distraction, something to clear my head a bit. I’d spend the rest of the week packing, forgetting about Jax, and then sunny Sicily would fix everything.
Thankfully, Jax was only going for a few days. How much trouble could we get in over a long weekend?
SEVENTEEN
jax
I followed my phone’s directions through the cobblestone streets, passing shop after shop. Having landed in Palermo, I caught the train to Cefalù two days after most of the other guests had already arrived in Sicily, so I was on my own finding the beach lido.
As I passed restaurants and a gelateria, I wondered, not for the millionth time, what Natalie thought of Sicily so far. I wondered if she was having a good time. If she thought of me at all. For my part, I hadn’t thought of anything but her.
The sale? Sure, it was moving forward. But instead of being happy about the fact, I dreaded every second. If I couldn’t convince Natalie to negotiate with the purchaser, I was screwed. Seducing her away from the property seemed like a good idea, but as I got to know her, victory by those means would only make me feel like shit.
Could I do it?
Potentially. But that wasn’t my goal anymore. Sure, I wanted to be with her. But not like that. I needed to make her talk to me, something I’d been unsuccessful at since the night in her apartment. Aside from two very impersonal emails and one even less personal text, all land related, Natalie refused to communicate with me.
“Buongiorno,” I said to a man standing just outside a shoe shop at the edge of town.
“Buongiorno,” he responded kindly. I’d always found Italians, Sicilians especially, extremely gracious, and this man was no exception.
“Dove il Lido Pura Vita?” I asked.
“Di qua,” he said, pointing to the right in the fork I’d come to that my phone didn’t think existed. “Alla spiaggia.”
Though my Italian was rusty, I at least knew in which direction to head.
“Grazie,” I said, moving along.
“Prego.”
A block later, it became clear where to go. So this was why people loved Cefalù. Leaving the quaint town with its Duomo and winding side streets, just a short walk away it became an entirely different experience. With a street of sidewalks lined with restaurants on one side and the beach on the other, suddenly Cefalù had turned into a beach town. I passed lido after lido filled with people grabbing a bite to eat or an aperitivo as they took a break from sitting under the umbrellas packed together like sardines. Mine was still a half mile away, and every step I took toward it, I wondered what she’d say. No doubt Natalie knew I was arriving today, but did she care?
Why she wouldn’t work with the property owner, I couldn’t say. Did she not believe the reports and worry about the environmental impact on the land? Or did she just not want to relinquish it under any circumstances?
Again, my gut told me the answer, and it was the latter. Seemed like I may have actually met someone as stubborn as me.
“Whoa, look who it is.”
The groom himself spotted me as I made my way from street level down the ramp toward the lido. Like the others, this one included a building and deck right on the beach filled with people eating and drinking. But unlike the others, there weren’t many locals here. It seemed as if Gian and Mazzie must have rented the whole thing out for their pre-wedding party. Tomorrow was the rehearsal dinner, and the day after, the wedding. But today was for the party people, and from the look of it, they were already in full swing.
The mid-afternoon heat had most of the guests either under their umbrellas on the beach or on the deck with just a few brave souls sitting in full sun.
I was most interested in one guest in particular, but I didn’t see Natalie anywhere.
“Glad you found us,” Gian said as I approached him and Nate. “Welcome to Sicily.”
I shook hands with both men, still looking, but finding no sign of her.
