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CHAPTER TWELVE
AUBREY HENDERSON LIFTED her face to the lagoon breeze and smiled, soaking in the incredible history, vivid colors, and sheer amazement that was Venice, Italy. How lucky was she to have snagged a temporary job here? She might have spent only two days in Venice before leaving for her two-month nursing job in Rome, but every detail of those hours felt etched in her brain.
Which included every detail of her illicit, probably ill-advised, and beyond wonderful fling with Enzo Affini. That one night felt burned into her mind—and body, as well—and just the thought of him made her silly heart both skip a beat and burn with annoyance.
Maybe they’d left it a little vague, but hadn’t he implied he’d be in touch? What exactly they’d said to one another when they’d parted in the wee hours of the morning didn’t seem too clear anymore, but still. She’d expected he’d at least call her while she was in Rome, since he knew she was coming back to Venice around now.
Knowing she might run into him in the flesh had her feeling nervous and excited and ticked off all over again for making her wonder if she’d ever hear from him. Then ticked off at herself for wondering at all.
Then annoyed even more when she realized that when the phrase in the flesh had come to mind, an instant all-too-sexy vision of the man’s glorious body made her feel a little breathless.
Ridiculous. Time to concentrate on why she’d come to Venice, which had nothing to do with a handsome Italian prince who was obviously the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. Which was okay. She didn’t care if she saw him or not. In fact, she had no desire at all to see the guy, since he clearly didn’t want to see her.
No, she’d come here before to support her friend Shay, who’d recently married Enzo’s brother, Dante. Now she was here to work in the clinic, enjoy that adventure, and meet with the art and architecture preservation society she’d donated more money to in her mother’s memory.
Her mom had always been fascinated with Venice and its incredible history, and it had only been her fear of travel and crowds that had kept her from coming to explore it. Seeing the fresco she and her mom had “adopted,” paying for its restoration before her mother had died, would be sad but wonderful, too. Her mother’s legacy as a preservationist in New England had now been expanded across the ocean, and that thought brought her smile back and her thoughts completely away from Enzo Affini.
Really. She wasn’t going to think about him again. Period.
A renewed pep in her step took her down narrow stone passageways in front of colorful homes, over numerous charming footbridges, then across the piazza toward the well-marked clinic she’d be working in for the next four months. When she opened the wide glass door, a bell chimed. Inside, a friendly-looking, middle-aged woman sat at a rather spartan desk. Aubrey had been told most of the people here could speak English, but wouldn’t they appreciate it if she tried a few of the Italian phrases she’d learned?
“Buongiorno. Mio nome e Aubrey Henderson. Um...sono qui...per lavorare.”
She struggled to remember more, then abandoned the effort when she saw the quizzical and amused expression on the poor woman’s face. Doubtless she was completely butchering the pronunciation.
“I’m a nurse with the UWWHA, assigned to the clinic here starting today.”
“Welcome. We’ve been expecting you. And let’s speak English, shall we?” said the woman, her smile widening.
“That sounds good.” Aubrey smiled back. “I’m working on the language, but I’m not too good at it yet, obviously! I’m hoping by the end of the time I’m here, I’ll be practically fluent.”
“Learning a language takes time, but working with patients will teach you much. I am Nora, and you can ask me for anything as you need it, sì? Come with me.” She stood and gestured to the door behind her. “I’ll show you where you can put your things. We have a small staff here—you may already know we have just one doctor and nurse working each day, which sometimes gets very hectic. The doctor who is director of the clinic is here today, and he will be the one to show you around. A patient is here right now, though, so the doctor may not be available for me to introduce you at the moment. When you see him, can you introduce yourself? I must greet patients as they arrive, you see.”
“Of course. And I confess I don’t really know much about how the clinic runs,” Aubrey said as she followed Nora down a brightly lit hallway. “I saw the opening in Venice and jumped at the chance to work and explore here.” Had jumped at the chance to explore a certain unbelievably sexy prince, too. Except she wasn’t thinking about him ever again.
The place was very modern and scrupulously clean. Aubrey glanced into a few rooms to see each had a blue and white examination table, along with the usual medical necessities that you’d see in the United States. Not exactly plush and comfy-looking, but they’d do the job.
Nora opened a tall cupboard door made of the same white material as the rest of the built-in furniture in the space. “Here is a locker for your things, with your uniform inside. I don’t see the doctor, so make yourself comfortable and he will be with you soon. Okay?”
“Okay.” Nora left her alone and Aubrey was about to put her purse inside the locker until she wondered if maybe she was supposed to change into her uniform right then. Probably yes, since she assumed she would be working with patients right away? Why hadn’t she asked Nora those things while she was still here?
Aubrey nearly went back out to the reception area but decided that was silly. If she got into uniform and it turned out to be just an introductory day, it was no big deal. At least she’d be ready, right?
Finding a bathroom, she changed into the crisp white dress, smiling at how it was oddly old-fashioned compared with what nurses wore in the US today, and yet the whole place felt ultramodern. She dropped her clothes and purse into the locker, then hovered around, not sure what to do next. The various drawers and cupboards tempted her to open them up and poke around on her own, but she figured it would be more polite to wait until she was invited to do that.
She stood there for a good ten minutes, and each minute that dragged on felt more awkward. And didn’t it make sense to acquaint herself with where things were, in case she needed to take care of a patient sooner rather than later? But luck being the way it was, just as she opened one of the cupboards above the long countertop a deep voice spoke from behind her.
“Buongiorno. You must be the new nurse from the US.”
Jumping guiltily,
