ENRICO HELPED DONETTA into the Land Rover. Surrounded by heavy security, he drove them toward the mountains in the distance. They still had two hours of daylight left. Time for her to take in the scenery while he set up camp for them.
It wasn’t long before she exclaimed, “The landscape is so green and fertile! Do you get a lot more rain here than I had supposed?”
He chuckled. “I’m glad you’ve noticed. It means my work since returning from England hasn’t been in vain.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not rain but irrigation. Let me explain. Since agriculture forms the basis of Vallefiore’s economy, Giovanni and I have studied the agricultural challenges of our country. Between us we developed a system of piping and pumps to cover the huge island with fresh water converted from sea water.
“This innovation has brought whole new possibilities for more jobs for our young people, more money for infrastructure, increased production of our pipe manufacturing plants as well as a profusion of farm implements.
“Our farmers are growing three times as much produce, which means enriching the economy and exports. We’re building timber assets now in demand internationally and contributing to the country’s prosperity.”
“I’m so impressed I don’t know where to start.”
Enrico chuckled. “Even though there’s much work to be done yet, we’re satisfied about the progress made so far. But the agricultural problems are only part of my responsibilities and worries. My other important work stretches further to oversee national security in order to establish law and order. We have a lot of problems right now.”
“What kind?”
“Well, I’ve stopped the construction of most new renewable energy projects. I’m trying to ensure that the corruptive elements of society are rooted out of the industry before allowing fresh projects to go forward.
“Though my father has worked on the problem, he hadn’t been aggressive enough. I’ve seen that their influence in the country has to be wiped out by vetting those businesses affected and jailing the heads, no matter the consequences. Between that and our water needs, I’ve been busy.”
Her eyes widened. “You’ve managed to put in pipelines all over this huge island to pump in the sea water and make it potable?”
Enrico nodded. “We’ve a long way to go to cover the whole island, but in the last three years we’ve seen some success and are encouraged by what is happening.”
Her smile lit up a spot inside him he didn’t know was there. “It’s a miracle what you’ve done so far. I can’t tell you how in awe I am.”
“Enough to forgive me for ending the letter writing? I didn’t mean for it to be permanent, but when I reached home, between the concerns of the government and the needs of my mother, I barely had time to put one foot in front of the other.”
“Of course I forgive you.”
“Then you’re a saint.”
“Hardly. Look what you’ve done for your country so far! To think what could be done for some of the countries of East Africa suffering from drought.”
“I think about it all the time.”
Talking to Donetta had always stimulated him, but never more than now. While they were talking, he’d driven them into the mountains. “Before dark there’s a sight I want you to see. It’s around this next curve.” A minute later he pulled his Land Rover to the side of the road.
When a cry escaped her lips, it was the most satisfying sound he’d heard in a long time. With the sun getting ready to set, its last reflection was captured by the spectacular waterfall, the longest one on the island.
“The locals call it Percorso al Cielo.”
“The pathway to heaven,” she murmured. “How absolutely beautiful.”
He glanced at her. “When I first saw you perform on your horse, the hair cascading a silvery gold almost to your waist beneath your helmet reminded me of this waterfall. When I saw you last month, I was surprised to see you looked a lot different from my boyhood memory of you.”
She turned to him. “Do you know your hair was one of the first things I noticed about you when you were just ten?”
He smiled. “I hope to keep it for a while.”
“I can’t imagine you losing it.”
“That day will come.”
“Maybe when you’re eighty.”
“I like your vote of confidence.” They laughed as he drove back on the road.
“Where are we going?”
“To our campsite to eat and get ready for bed. It’s about ten minutes from here, on a bluff that overlooks part of the plain.”
“I can’t wait to see the wild horses.”
“When you’ve had your fill tomorrow, we’ll come back and swim in the pool beneath the waterfall.”
Her eyes met his. “That sounds like heaven, but I didn’t bring a swimming suit.”
“No problem. We keep spares at the palace for visitors. I brought one for you in my knapsack.”
Before long they reached the bluff. He found a spot beyond the trees to park the car next to the pit he’d dug years ago and always used when he cooked out. “Do you want me to set up a tent tonight?”
“Oh, no. It’s a warm evening and I love sleeping out in the open.” Donetta was a woman after his own heart, which was pounding unhealthily fast. “Let me help you.”
She opened the door of the Land Rover and walked around to the rear to get the sleeping bags. They worked in harmony. Enrico set up a small camping table and chairs, aware the bodyguards were somewhere around. Then he got out a cooler along with his flashlight and a liter of water.
While she made coffee and cut the bread to make fried bruschetta with the ingredients he’d brought, Enrico got a fire going and put down the grill to cook their steaks, potatoes and the bread for the bruschetta. Soon they sat on the chairs to eat their food with the greatest enjoyment. Enrico hadn’t had this much fun in his whole life.
He slanted her a glance. “How did you learn to be such an excellent cook?”
“The palace chef took my sisters and me under her wing. She once said, ‘Princess or pauper, you need to learn how to prepare food. You never know when it will come in handy.’ When I get back to the palace I’m going to thank her for all those lessons.”
“I’ll send her my own letter,” he declared. “I’ve never eaten fried bruschetta. It’s ambrosia and I don’t ever want to eat it any other way.”
She smiled at him in the firelight, which brought out her classic features and the high cheekbones that emphasized her beauty. “I think it tastes so good because we’re out of doors. I’m sure I’ve told you before that my sisters and I loved to play in the woods outside the palace. Occasionally we’d rescue a creature like a wounded bird. My sister Fausta was good at giving first aid and nursed several rabbits back to health.
“Do you know when my sister Lanza was on her honeymoon, they found a little red fox in the snow? They took care of it and she wanted to keep it, but in the end they put it in a wildlife shelter.”
Enrico ate the last of the bruschetta. “Sounds like you and your sisters had a lot of fun growing up. My sisters and I did, too.”
“I remember some of the antics you told me about in your letters.”
“Giovanni often joined us. We hiked a lot and played in the lake in front of the palace. Some nights we slept out on the sand so we could fish from our sleeping bags.”
She chuckled. “What fun! Luckily for your sisters, you were there to protect them, so your parents probably weren’t alarmed. But Papà worried about us and wouldn’t let us stay outside at night. If I could have, I would have built my own secret hideout deep in the forest by the lake and slept in it every night. I should have been born a boy.”
Laughter burst out of Enrico. Everything she said enamored him. “I can’t picture it.”
“Boys have a lot more fun and can do everything.”
“So can girls.”
“Not when you’re royal and born in my country.”
Their conversation had taken a sudden turn that brought veracity to Giovanni’s inside information about her ambition to rule on her own. Translating what she’d said, he understood that Donetta couldn’t grow up to be queen.
Enrico got to his feet to start the cleanup. He’d let the fire die down until it was time to go to sleep. “Your father let you become one of the finest equestrians in your country. As I recall, he bought you your first horse that came from a champion.”
She nodded. “You’re right about that and I love him for it.”
“Just think. Without him, we would never have met.”
They stared at each other for an overly long moment. “I’m sure that’s true.” In the next breath Donetta did her part to help him. After he suggested she go behind one of the trees for privacy, he laid out their sleeping bags with pillows side by side, adding an extra blanket for her if she wanted it.
Once he’d locked up the food and cooler in the car, he doused the embers and waited in his bag for her return. He would sleep in his clothes and put on a fresh outfit in the morning.
It looked like she’d decided to do the same thing as she walked toward him. The three-quarter moon had just come up over the mountain and the light illuminated her hair.
“Your bed is waiting for you.”
Donetta laughed gently and climbed inside. “This has been a magical day, Enrico.”
“It should have happened after I got back from England. A lot of life has gone on in the meantime.” He turned toward her, rising up on one elbow. “Donetta—what’s happened to your understanding with Arnaud? I’m asking because if it is still on and I were he, I’d be ripped apart with jealousy.”
She lay on her back, staring up into the heavens. “We were together recently. He’s asked me to marry him, but I haven’t given him an answer yet.”
“Does he know about our past?”
“No.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“I’ll have to if I decide to accept his proposal.”
Such stark honesty caused Enrico to suck in his breath. “Why did you agree to come camping with me?”
She turned on her side toward him. “Why do you think? Though your invitation here has come years too late for my liking, I couldn’t resist accepting, if only to find out if I’d been harboring a false memory.”
“In what way false?”
He heard a troubled sigh escape. “Had I been foolish to think you’d cared for me all those years?”
The high-pitched sound of a jackdaw rent the air. “You know I cared.”
“But we didn’t go away on that vacation. I understand why, but it has been a long time. Too long,” she whispered.
Her mournful response resonated in his heart. Suddenly she rolled on her side away from him before he could reach out to kiss her. She needed convincing.
“Tomorrow I’ll waken you early to see a sight you’ll never forget. Buona notte, Donetta.”
“Dormi bene, Enrico.”
Sleep well? Between his desire for her and the need to protect her even with the security hidden beyond the trees, he doubted he’d sleep at all. But to his surprise he did succumb at last and didn’t stir until his watch alarm went off at six thirty.
He looked over at Donetta, who was still sound asleep. Taking care to be quiet, he got out of his bag and freshened up before preparing coffee for them. In the cooler were ham-filled rolls and plums to serve for breakfast. For snacks he’d brought his favorite sugared almonds.
With everything ready, he walked over to her sleeping bag and hunkered down. The sun was just coming up over the mountains. “Donetta?” He gave her a little nudge and she rolled over. When she opened those fabulous green eyes of hers, he got lost in them. “Good morning. It’s time to get up.”
“Buon giorno. I can’t believe I slept so well. I hope you did.”
He nodded. “It has to be this air.”
“I agree. It’s heavenly here. Excuse me for a minute while I freshen up.”
She got out of her bag and slid on her sandals, then hurried behind the trees for privacy. When she reappeared, she looked good enough to eat with that glorious hair slightly disheveled and no makeup, which she didn’t need anyway. He motioned her over to the camp table, where he handed her a mug of coffee.
“Umm. You’ve even fixed breakfast for us. You’ll make someone a marvelous wife one day,” she teased before sitting down to eat.
Amused, Enrico walked over to the car and brought back a pair of binoculars that he put on the table. “These are extra powerful and will come in handy for you.”
“Thanks. You’ve thought of everything. I’ll never be able to repay you for all you’ve done.”
He was pleased to see she was hungry and ate everything. “I’ve been waiting for this a long time. Your being here is payment enough. When the invitation for the competition went out, I’d hoped your country would accept, but I wasn’t at all sure that you would come as well.”
“I told the queen it was an honor for us. I wouldn’t have missed it.”
As he bit into another roll, they felt vibrations beneath their feet. “The horses are coming. Quick, Donetta. Follow me to the blanket I spread out. We’ll lie on it to watch.”
In another half minute they lay side by side on their stomachs. He handed her the binoculars. The thundering grew louder, and suddenly, the plain below was filled with black, brown and bay horses galloping for what Enrico believed was the sheer joy of being alive.
“Oh—” Donetta cried out in awe. “Look how gorgeous they are! It’s unbelievable.”
He knew exactly how she felt to see such majesty loose and free in the wilds. “I marvel every time.”
The herd followed their leader, a magnificent black stallion. “Look how he changes directions and they all keep up with him. They’re having their own kind of fun, aren’t they?”
“They do it for hours.”
“Who says horses don’t enjoy themselves.”
“I think they probably have more fun than some people do,” he concurred. Donetta had his same kind of love for horses and saw what he saw, bonding them in a unique way.
She studied them through the binoculars for a long time. “The leader looks like Rajah!”
“They’re all from the same bloodline.”
Another hour passed while they shared the binoculars and she let out sigh after sigh. “They’re all so beautiful.”
“Have you decided you have a favorite color?”
“Yes. The ones with satin coats that look like melted dark chocolate in the sun. They’re sleek and breathtaking, don’t you think?” She suddenly turned to look at him. Their faces were only inches apart.
“Almost as breathtaking as you.” Without worrying about the bodyguards, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. Her mouth was even more luscious than he’d remembered. He wanted her more than any woman he’d ever been with in his life.
“Enrico—”
The way she said his name and kissed him back told him she’d been hungering for this, too. Unable to stop, he crushed her to him and began to devour her in earnest.
No longer aware of their surroundings, they were on fire for each other. They lost track of time, trying to assuage their needs. He was on the verge of telling her he was in love with her when the ringing of her phone penetrated the silence.
“Oh, no—”
Donetta groaned and pulled out of his arms. “I forgot to phone Arnaud and let him know when I’d be back.” She struggled to her feet and hurried over to her sleeping bag to get it.
Enrico stayed put to give her privacy while he looked out over the plain. By now the horses had disappeared for the day, along with a moment he would treasure forever. But that moment wouldn’t be the last because more than ever Enrico was determined to marry her and intended to carry out his original plan before she left Vallefiore.
* * *
Donetta grabbed her phone. Seeing Arnaud’s name on the caller ID filled her with fresh guilt. She was shaking so much she sank down on her sleeping bag so she wouldn’t fall. She’d promised to phone him but had forgotten.
Watching the wild horses running in the early morning had been a breathtaking moment with Enrico that she would never forget. Right now, she was so confused that she couldn’t face talking to Arnaud. She would have to call him later.
The second she made that decision, she phoned the pilot and the plan was made for her and her group to fly home at four thirty. With that done, she clicked off and noticed Enrico had packed everything in the Land Rover but her sleeping bag.
She got to her feet and carried it and the pillow to the car. He put it in the back while she climbed in the front seat. Her watch said twelve thirty—too late to make other plans for the day.
“Are you ready for a swim in the pool beneath the waterfall?”
Donetta shook her head. “I’d love to, but after talking to the pilot, I don’t think we have the time.” She didn’t dare be alone with Enrico or she’d never want to go home. “When we get back to the palace, I need to contact my staff and make certain everyone is on the other plane by four thirty.”
“I’ll admit I’m disappointed, but I understand.” He started the car and they left for the city. “Because of time constraints, we’ll stop at the village we passed at the base of the mountains and eat lunch. There’s a café with the best crocchè and involtini di pesca spada you’ve ever tasted. But if you don’t care for swordfish, they serve stuffed sardines with pine nuts that are delicious.”
“It all sounds wonderful. This whole outing has been out of this world.”
Before coming to Vallefiore, Donetta had planned on buying a horse from Enrico’s country. That was impossible now. To get any more involved with Enrico would be a grave mistake on every level. He hadn’t told her he loved her, let alone asked her to marry him. She’d hoped, prayed it would happen. But since those words had never passed his lips, this had to be the last time she would ever see him.
“Donetta? Why did you honestly come to Vallefiore?”
“Because you were my teenage crush I never got over. Our relationship has been like reading a book I never finished and never knew how it ended until this morning when you kissed me and I kissed you back.
“I’m not sorry for sleeping out with you and kissing you. I wanted it. But we both know that book is now closed, never to be opened again.”
She now knew why he’d gotten her to fly here. He’d wanted to explain why their relationship hadn’t been able to work out. Now it was her turn to explain something to him. “I plan to be Arnaud’s wife soon and he has to know I will always be faithful to him.”
“You’ll marry him even though you’re not in love with him?”
His honesty took her aback. “I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Enrico didn’t mince words. He’d apologized for what had gone wrong years ago, but he wasn’t in love with her.
Donetta cleared her throat. “I’m hoping love will come and hopefully children.”
“What about pleasing yourself?” Donetta didn’t expect that question and started to feel uncomfortable. “If you could have your heart’s desire, what would it be?”
She stifled a moan. “I’ve given up on that dream.”
“You had a dream?”
“Don’t ask. It no longer matters.”
Donetta had made two fatal mistakes. Both were the result of losing sight of her goal to be queen in her own right and never taking a husband. But that logic had been fatally flawed from the beginning since it had ruled out children. Just now, when she’d mentioned them in the context of having a family, she knew she wanted children more than anything.
Looking back, she saw that her reason for coming to Vallefiore had been wrong because she’d been hurt by her perception of Enrico’s rejection and had wanted answers as to why he didn’t love her. Though he’d told her he’d been busy taking on the burdens of his father, if he’d truly loved her, she was convinced he would have found a way to see her long before now.
He’d always taken first place in every international competition from ten to eighteen. After lying in his arms this morning as his kisses brought her rapture, she realized he still held that place in her heart. But he couldn’t tell her he was in love with her. It just wasn’t meant to be.
If she didn’t marry Arnaud, she knew she’d stay single for the rest of her life. That meant she’d never have children. One thing she did know was this: if nothing else, children would bring both her and Arnaud happiness.
The time would come when Arnaud would be king of Haute Vienne, with Donetta at his side. By tomorrow night, both sets of parents would be overjoyed to find out she and Arnaud had made official plans to marry, particularly when her father was ill. He wanted to see her settled.
You’re going to get your wish, Papà.