Capítulo 12 – Alice
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“And this is Cobalt. He is a thoroughbred Arabian and has enough trophies to fill this entire lawn.” Josh introduced a new horse to Millicent, his voice full of pride as he stroked the mane of the huge, imposing russet horse “We can take look at the room dedicated to his feats, later. He was one of the stars in the eyes of Tommaso, the boss’s father.”
“Did he win many contests?” Alice watched her daughter ask, very concentrated “Like… Spelling? I’ve seen older girls get candy for this when I’m at daycare.”
“No, Millie. Competitions between horses are a little different than those between humans.” Josh laughed “1 can explain a little more about this to you or even show you some videos of Cobalt in action. Who knows, one day the boss might let me take you to cheer on one of our horses at the hippodrome or at events at one of the Bianchi family’s stud farms. They have many.”
“Hippo…?” Millie furrowed her eyebrows, trying to repeat the word.
“Hippodrome is a place where people take their horses to ride, participate in competitions and other things.” Alice explained, reaching out to pet the nose of Angel, the beautiful, spotted- bodied Mustang mare who had acted like an affectionate dog from the moment Alice and Millie set foot in the stable “And studs are often the home of horses and where their babies are born. Once, when I was a little older than you, your great–grandfather took me to one of the Bianchi’s stud farms. I remember it being a very beautiful place.”
“Can we go there today?” her baby asked, delighted.
“Why, we still have to finish getting to know the horses, don’t we?” Alice tried to distract her and it didn’t take her more than a few words to manage “We haven’t even seen the ponies yet…
“Josh, Josh! Me and Hoppy want to see the ponies!” Millie rushed towards the boy, practically jumping in place with so much anxiety “Please, please! And, later, can I try giving carrots to Angel or Cobalt? I promise I’ll be nice to them…
“Oh, but isn’t she really charming?” An emotional sigh came from the door of the huge barn, causing Alice to turn around to find Thea standing there, with a smartphone in her hands, staring at Millie fondly “It’s a blessing to have a child in this house again. Seeing her reminds me of what Massimo was like, as a child. Oh, God, why did time have to pass?” the old lady Continued to lament with each step, until finally stopping in front of Alice “I’m sorry to
interrupt your fun, my dear, but it’s been a few days since someone has been calling Massimo’s office and today his secretary told me that it was someone wanting to talk to you, so I decided to come and ask you about it.”
“Is someone calling Massimo wanting to talk to me?” Alice asked in disbelief “Who?”
“I don’t know her, but it seems the woman asked me to let you know her name is Lucy. She
said you would know who it was.”
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Capitulo 12–Abee
“Lucy! Oh, gosh, I was wondering how I could talk to her now that I was living here…” Alice gasped, a huge smile forming on her face as she reached for the cell phone Thea was carrying Thank you for coming to talk to me. Lucinda Hale… I mean, Peterson, has been my best friend since we were both children. She must be worried after so many days without any news from me and Millicent, other than this sudden wedding.” she glanced over her shoulder to where Josh was helping Millie feed the horses “You can keep an eye on Millicent just for a few minutes? I need to explain to Lucy what happened these last few days.
“Wait, I figured maybe I was misunderstanding, since not everyone your age does this, but…” Thea raised her eyebrows almost to her hairline “You really don’t have a cell phone? Joshua is older than you, he grew up on this farm, and yet sometimes he pays more attention to that thing than to the really important matters, like finding a wife and giving me some grandchildren.” She grumbled, making Alice laugh, even though she was feeling a little embarrassed about having to admit it.
“Well, I once had one, but it was an old model and I couldn’t find the parts needed to fix it when it broke. There’s never enough money when you’re raising a child, so I ended up putting off buying a new one…”
“Is there no money left?” Thea only looked more confused “But, you’re a Dawsey. Your last name is on almost every medicine box my family takes. Furthermore, I have worked for the Bianchis since the time when Tomasso, Massimo’s father, was a baby. I always heard him say that Mr. Dawsey was very attached to his eldest granddaughter…”
“My grandfather had to be hospitalized 3 years ago and… Things haven’t been very stable for me since then.” Alice stammered, trying to be as non–evasive as possible “But the important thing is that I managed to deal with it and my daughter never lacked for anything. I know most single moms can’t say that, unfortunately. I guess I can say I’ve been… Lucky, so far.” She forced herself to smile, although Thea remained not only shocked, but worried.
“I… I didn’t know things were like this, at the Dawsey house…” Massimo’s housekeeper turned her eyes to where Millie was, and Alice wondered if she was paying attention to her small, colorful and simple clothes, nor a bit like the designer clothes you’d expect a kid from a multimillionaire family to wear.
“Everything is fine. Don’t worry. No matter what the future may hold, I will always find a way to give my daughter the best life possible.” Alice repeated the same promise she had made to herself when she discovered Millie was growing inside her, but Thea just stared at her as if she should have said something else “Anyway, could you let me talk to Lucy for a moment? I’ll keep it a secret from Massimo if it’s something he disapproves of.” She huffed, annoyed” Which reminds me… Do you think there would be any chance I could get out of the house for a few hours this week? It’s been a while since I visited my grandfather and I would like to see him.” She added, when she realized Thea was about to deny it.
“Well… He seemed very determined when he gave the order that you couldn’t leave freely, but…” Thea looked around for a moment, before muttering “If everything goes well and he finally convinces himself that he needs to attend to your medical appointment with your
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Capitulo 17–AN
traumatologist, so you will have a few hours free his Friday. But use this time wisely, okay?”
Thanks, Thea. I promise I won’t cause any trouble for you,” Alice smiled, accepting the smartphone that the housekeeper had held out “just need to say a few things to my friend. I promise I will be quick.”
“Take your time. I don’t think that little girl is going to be distracted any time soon.” Thea laughed, before turning to where her son was still letting Millie climb onto a bench to pet the horses, finally allowing Alice to take her cell phone, bringing it to her car.
“Hey, Lucy.”
“Oh, thank God you’re okay.” Her best friend whined on the other end of the line “Are you okay, Alice? I was so worried when I heard that you had married Massimo, out of the blue. Kendra did it, didn’t she? I called your house and she answered me just to say that she had done you a favor by getting you a husband. I can’t understand how someone could be like that.” Lucy sighed, regretfully “Are you safe? And Millie? Do you need help?”
“We are… Trying to adapt to this new situation. But, we are fine.” Alice smiled sadly “I bet everyone in High Society is talking about it now, aren’t they?”
“I would like to say no. I’d like to say that they’re gossiping about something that’s really absurd, like the fact that Amber is parading around with her boyfriend, but…”
“It’s the opposite, isn’t it?” she laughed, humorlessly “Don’t worry, I knew this would happen. It’s what mother always manages to do, when it comes to me and Amber. She knew that her exchange of boyfriends would generate comments, so she stole my savings, to make me marry the man who was supposed to be my brother–in–law and thus cause an even bigger scandal, which could drown out anything that Amber and Casey could do.”
“She stole…?” Lucy panted “Oh, Allie… I’m so sorry…”
“It’s fine. I wanted that money to get Millicent out of that house and, one way or another, that’s what happened. Now, I just need to try to get my head together and organize myself to get out of this situation straight into a house of our own, as was my plan since the day she was born.” Alice tried to remain optimistic, although it wasn’t easy “But how did you find me? I thought I would have to escape from here to go to your house and explain how all this madness happened….”
“Christopher left his unlocked cell phone next to me yesterday during dinner and I managed to find Massimo’s office number in his contact list…” the regret in Lucy’s voice made Alice think that maybe she had found more than just a contact “But, what do you mean by running away? Massimo isn’t being cruel to you and Millie, is he? There are so many rumors about how he has been acting since the accident…”
“He… He is certainly not the same man I knew.” She did what she could to keep her voice from shaking “But that’s not important now. He can be rude as much as he wants. As long as my daughter is safe, I don’t care.”
“Are you sure? I mean… If it were anyone else’s house I would agree with you, but…” Lucy
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Capitulo 12–Alice
hesitated, as she always did when she was chewing on her nails out of nervousness Massimo. Are you really going to be okay? I’m worried.”
“well, it’s
“I… I know.” Alice swallowed hard “But, I’m no longer that little girl who sighed with passion for him. He’s a different man and I’m a different woman now. If we come out of this marriage hating each other or being indifferent, I don’t care.” She looked in the direction where her little angel looked happier than ever, enchanted by the foals Thea had released from the pen It’s not like he’s really my husband, anyway.”
