Diana noted the friendliness of the interaction. Here, too, Toby was more than accepted; he was valued and, apparently, viewed as a member of the community despite his visits, as she understood it, being brief and infrequent.
He continued to hold her hand in a firm yet comfortable and somehow reassuring grasp. Again, she tipped her face to the sun. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d simply walked about somewhere, but she was enjoying herself. Enjoying the moment. This moment spent with him.
The children were still running ahead, noticing things and calling to each other, engaged and happy.
She darted a glance at Toby’s face and concluded from his relaxed expression that he was happy, too.
Happy simply being there, walking with her and the children.
The path inclined gently upward to the island’s northernmost point, then swung south and, still bordered by high walls, wended along the island’s eastern side.
A well-dressed older gentleman appeared ahead. He stopped and smiled at the children, then came on. Toby smiled and greeted the man, and the gentleman doffed his hat to Diana, then with a twinkle in his eye, he engaged Toby in a rapid-fire exchange that ended with them both laughing.
They parted with good wishes, and Diana and Toby continued on. While she hadn’t been able to decipher many words, the warmth of the exchange had reached her clearly.
She thought of Toby’s relationship with the Giordanos and of his interaction with the children—and herself—and concluded that the reason so many people looked upon him with such ready welcome was because, beneath the glib and sophisticated exterior, he was a genuinely caring man with a strong propensity for helping others as and when he could.
Only that explained what she knew of him, what she’d seen of him.
It also fitted with her insight of the previous evening. He was the sort of man who needed a purpose, and in his case, the satisfying life purpose for which it seemed he was still searching would surely revolve about helping others.
That was simply the sort of man he was.
The path passed beneath several walkways joining the upper stories of houses by the lake with public gardens on the higher, central side. When they reached a set of steep steps leading up to the gardens, the children insisted on climbing up and investigating the area before continuing on.
On returning to the path, laughing and calling to one another, the children ran ahead, and Diana’s thoughts slid to how relieved Adrian would be to see them so happy…
Sadness must have shadowed her features. Toby glanced at her, a hint of concern in his hazel eyes. Gently, he squeezed her hand. “What is it?”
She blinked, then looked at him. “I… was just thinking of Adrian, and I realized we don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
He squeezed her hand, this time in clear comfort, then seeing the children some way ahead, drew her on. “I gathered there was nothing anyone could do to alter Fellows’s fate.” He met her gaze. “He’d accepted that.” He looked ahead and, after a moment, added, “As I see it, the only way we can honor him and his life is to ensure that his last major decision is properly implemented, which means taking all care of his children until we can deliver them to his aunt and, along the way, doing all we can to help them adjust to a new, unwelcome, and unsettling reality.”
That was so exactly what she would have expected him to say that despite the sadness that had gripped her, she almost smiled. Instead, she nodded. “I agree, and apropos of that, Roland seems to be gradually returning to his usual self.”
“Good. I’m hoping a fishing lesson off the dock this afternoon will help him along.”
“Hmm. I know Evelyn’s going to want to watch, but she’s sure to lose interest quickly. I’ll come with her to the dock with you and the boys, but I expect that, within minutes, she’ll want to return to her new favorite place—Giulia’s kitchen.”
Toby chuckled and met her eyes. “You have to admit Giulia’s lemon tarts are works of gustatory art.”
She laughed.
From the next curve in the path, Evelyn called, “Look, there’s the tower!” Excitedly, she pointed ahead.
Toby grinned. “Indeed. And”—he halted before the Giordanos’ gate, which, in their excitement, the children had run past—“we’re back where we started.”
The walk hadn’t taken all that long, but being out in the open air, with the children’s piping voices echoing off the stone walls, had made it a pleasant as well as a worthwhile excursion.
Toby opened the gate and ushered his little family into the garden. “And now that you’ve seen all of the island, you won’t get lost.”
* * *
Naturally,the boys didn’t forget the promise of a fishing lesson.
After lunch, Giovanni unearthed fishing lines and rods and provided a jar of the bait that the locals used. Toby stuffed bits and bobs into a basket, then picked out a rod for himself and led the boys out of the gate and down toward the dock.
Diana followed with Evelyn, who, as usual, was clutching Rupert the Bear.
