The Tuscan Tycoon's Wife

‘You mean you’re an orphan?’

‘Probably not. Nobody knew who my father was. Not sure even my mom knew that. All I really knew about her was that she was just a kid herself when she had me, couldn’t cope, put me in a home. I expect she meant to come back for me, but things got too much for her.’ Selena took another swig.

‘And what then?’ Leo asked, in the grip of an appalled fascination.

‘Foster homes.’

‘Homes? Plural?’

‘The first one was OK. That’s where I found out about horses. After that I knew whatever I did it had to be with horses. But the old man died and the stock got sold off and I was sent somewhere else. That was bad. The food was rotten and I was cheap labour, kept off from school because they were too mean to pay an extra hand. I told them where they could stick it and they sent me packing. Said I was “out of control”. Which was true. In a pig’s ear I was going to let them control me.’

‘But aren’t there laws to protect kids in this situation?’

She looked at him as if he was crazy.

‘Of course there are laws,’ she said patiently. ‘And inspectors to see that the laws are followed.’

‘So?’

‘So bad things happen anyway. Some of the inspectors are decent people, but they get swamped. There’s just too much to do. And some of them just see what they want to see because that way they finish work early.’

She spoke lightly, without bitterness, like someone describing life on another planet. Leo was aghast. His own existence in Italy, a country where family ties were still stronger than almost anywhere else, seemed like paradise in comparison.

‘What happened after that?’ he asked, in a daze.

She shrugged again and he realised how eloquent her shrugs were, each one seeming to contain a whole speech.

‘A new foster home, no different. I ran away, got caught and sent back to the institution, and after a while there was another foster home. That lasted three weeks.’

‘What then?’ he asked, for she’d fallen silent again.

‘This time I made sure they didn’t catch me. I was fourteen and could pass for sixteen. I don’t suppose they looked for me long. You know, this steak is really good.’

He accepted her change of subject without protest. Why should she want to discuss her life if it had been like that?

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