Veronica
I decided I’d be irritated about Eric instead. I could drive a car. But he didn’t want Eric there as a driver. He wanted security. I thought back to the night before, to those men who’d come late, the ones he’d met with in his study. I shivered at the memory of how the one had looked at me.
“What is it?” Robyn asked.
“Nothing. Just that we have a driver,” I said with resigned smile.
Robyn studied me for a minute. She knew I was hiding something but thankfully, she didn’t comment.
“You’re not going to wear those sandals, are you?” I said, looking at her feet. “It’s a lot of walking.” She had on a pair of beautiful, brand-new sandals with a two-inch heel. I’d slipped on a pair of well-worn Toms.
“They’re cute. I have to break them in somewhere.”
“Siena’s probably not the place to break them in.”
“Beauty doesn’t come free,” she said, shrugging a shoulder.
“Nerd.”
She stuck her tongue out at me.
After breakfast, we left Charlie behind. Eric drove us to Siena, where my grandfather was staying. Robyn had arranged for us to meet him at his hotel for lunch, which gave us a few hours to shop and sightsee. It felt great to be with her again. Alone in a beautiful place, I could almost forget the reasons we were here.
My grandfather was staying in the nicest hotel in the ancient city. As we walked toward his table at the back of the restaurant, I couldn’t help wondering if Robyn’s or my inheritance was paying for it. I watched him as we approached, sitting behind the elegantly laid table with its white cloth, a smile on his face, his white hair perfectly styled, his suit impeccable as he rose to greet us.
“Robyn and Veronica,” he said, smiling, holding out his hands to us.
Robyn smiled back and took it. “Hi, Granddad.” She kissed his cheek, and his smile widened.
I felt that usual pang of envy at her relationship with him. I didn’t want to feel it, but I did. Even if he’d never be like other grandparents, his affection for Robyn was obvious, as obvious as the fact that he’d never felt quite the same way about me.
“Exactly your mother’s eyes. It’s remarkable,” he said once they’d broken away.
Although we looked very much alike, Robyn had inherited mom’s eye color as well as her olive skin and darker hair, whereas I had my father’s coloring and eyes. I wondered if that’s what it was. If that was why he loved me a little less.
“Veronica,” he hesitated. “You look well.”
I couldn’t answer, my thoughts too confused with all I’d learned. With all he had to answer.
“Sit down, ladies.”
He raised a hand to call the waitress. We ordered drinks, water for Robyn and me, and a glass of white wine for my grandfather, then sat studying our menus in silence for longer than was comfortable. While I hid behind the menu, I thought about how I’d do this, how I’d ask him my question, how to do it without screaming. My heart pounded, and I was sweating. And I hated myself for it.
Remarkably, we ate lunch without a mention of Stefan, of what had happened to lead us here. Robyn did most of the talking, obviously nervous to leave even one awkward moment. Even though she didn’t know all the details, she knew the agreement of my marriage had been made between Grandfather and Stefan.
At the end of the hour, she stood to go to the ladies’ room.
“Should we go together?” she asked.
It would have been easier to say yes. To bury my head in the sand. But I couldn’t do that. “No, go ahead.”
Robyn smiled and squeezed my shoulder. No matter what, she didn’t like conflict. Maybe she thought he and I would make up in these next few minutes.
I watched him as he watched her go. He then turned to me.
“How are you, Veronica?” he asked.
“Well, considering.”
“I want you to know that I acknowledge I chose poorly.”
He surprised me.
“I should have found another way.”
“Wow. You chose poorly.” I shook my head. “Yes, you should have found another way.”
“I’m trying to fix this.”
“Fix it how? Isn’t it too late for that?”
He didn’t answer. “I’m extending my trip, so you can spend time with your sister.”
“How generous of you.” I couldn’t say that I knew why. Like a fool, I felt too ashamed.
“Veronica-”
“Is what he said true? Are you stealing from us?”
There was a flash of something close to annoyance in his eyes, but he masked it quickly.
“Stealing from you?”
“And Robyn.”
“You know the money is in your names, always will be. I married into the family. You two were born into it.”
“Are you stealing from us, then? Just tell me the truth.”
“I’m using funds required to bring you up the way you should be brought up,” he answered sharply.
“And you? You’re not setting any aside for yourself?”
“Don’t be ungrateful, Veronica. It’s not becoming.”
“Becoming?” I shook my head.
He picked up his glass of wine and took a sip. He’d hardly touched it throughout our lunch.
“Why do you hate me, Grandfather? What did I ever do to you?”
He shook his head. “I don’t hate you, Veronica.”
“You don’t love me either. Not like Robyn.”
“Your jealousy is unfounded.”
“Is it because I’m the reason mom ran away to marry dad?” I blurted out. It was a question I’d had for a long time, one I never had the courage to ask. I’d done the math after finding letters from my mom to my grandmother. She and dad weren’t married when she got pregnant.
My grandfather’s face hardened. He tilted his head to the side. “I’m trying to amend my actions, Veronica. Trying to fix what I’ve done. Believe it or not, I don’t want to lose my granddaughter the way I lost my daughter.”
I faltered, not sure what I’d expected. It certainly wasn’t that.
“Are you looking for forgiveness, then? Do you expect mine?” I asked, this whole thing ridiculous.
He smiled and shook his head. I heard Robyn’s sandals clicking on the marble floor.
“Don’t you think I know I don’t deserve that?” he asked. A moment later, he pasted a smile on his face, hiding any emotion he felt, and stood to help Robyn into her seat.
We left twenty minutes later. I hadn’t spoken more than a few words once Robyn had returned to the table, my mind too full with what grandfather had said. He’d seemed remorseful, which was strange for him. All this time, did he regret what had happened with my mother? Did he regret losing her because he couldn’t accept her choice of husband?
It was two hours later when we were on our way out of town that Robyn realized she didn’t have her cell phone.
“I wonder if I left it in the ladies’ room at the hotel when I washed my hands.”
“We can go back. It’s just a few blocks that way.”
“My feet are killing me in these sandals,” she said.
I took her arm, and we turned toward the hotel. “Next time, wear smart shoes. Not pretty ones.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
We walked into the lobby of the hotel, and Robyn went to check the bathroom. She emerged with a smile on her face a minute later.
“Got it.”
“You’re lucky. Let’s go.” Grandfather had said he had meetings the rest of the day, so I didn’t expect to see him and was grateful I didn’t. But then, just on our way out of the hotel, I heard his voice. We both did and stopped. He was speaking with someone, and the other man laughed. Something told me to hide. I dragged Robyn into an alcove and signaled for her to be quiet. From our hiding place, we watched my grandfather and the strange man who’d come to the wedding the night before walk into the lobby. They both looked serious and not quite friendly, but when the man held out his hand and my grandfather shook it, I felt a chill run down my spine.
“We have to go,” I said once the men had gone.
“What is it? Who was that? He was at the house last night too.”
I shook my head, confused myself, questioning my loyalties. My grandfather had just shaken hands with my husband’s enemy.