Summer in Sorrento by Melissa Hill

her dreams slip away through her fingers. Her voice could barely be heard over the demands of her parents and future in-laws, both of whom seemed determined to steer the wedding as much to their tastes as was possible. Nate seemed nonplussed by the whole thing .“ Why don't we just elope, if it's all so stressful ?” he asked one night, while the young couple tried to enjoy a quiet dinner out to get away from all the wedding drama.
    In retrospect Sarah supposed he meant the offer in kindness, and as an out from the burden of all the planning, but at the time she took it as a complaint and lashed out, berating him for not understanding what a fairy-tale wedding would mean to her. The night ended poorly, as so many of their nights seemed to end since he'd first got down on one knee.
    In the end, miraculously, Nate and Sarah married on a warm June day in front of nearly four hundred guests; the ceremony took place outdoors at the private estate of a friend of her fathe r’ s.
    She wore a custom-made strapless silk Vera Wang gown and hand-dyed Christian Louboutin heels, and a pearl seed-studded veil that had arrived packed in layer upon layer of tissue paper. There were thousands of dollars worth of lilies at the ceremon y— her mother's favorite flowe r— and she was surprised and delighted when a flock of doves was set loose immediately following their vows, fluttering gently over the guests to th e“ oo h” s an d“ aa h” s of the crowd. For a short moment, she thought that all of the stress of the past months was behind them, and they were ready for the bliss of married life.
    Oh, was she wron g… .
    Sarah's reverie was interrupted as Nate came up to her, empty-handed.
    “ It's no good ,” he said wearily, sitting down next to her .“ The airline says our luggage was mistakenly rerouted on another flight. We won't get it for another couple of days, at least. I've left them the name of our hotel in Verona . ”
    Sarah's heart sank. Why did everything seem to be going wrong with this trip?
    “ Well, I guess that's that, then . ”
    “ Yeah. It's a good thing we packed carry-on bags after all . ”
    Sarah bit her tongue at this remark. They'd had a last-minute argument while packing for the trip when she announced that she planned to skip the carry-on; after all, she planned on taking one suitcase anyway, so why the extra hassle of an additional bag?
    Nate, a more seasoned traveller, patiently explained that in the event something happened to their bags, she would be glad to have a change of clothes and her toothbrush at hand. She'd told him he was worrying needlessly, and he'd implied that she never worried enough.
    Sarah thought that now he just couldn't resist the chance to rub in the fact that he'd been proved right after all. She closed her book and stood, pretending to ignore his remark. This was supposed to be a honeymoon, after all; she didn't want to start their stay in Italy with an airport spat. Instead she said only ,“ Shall we find a taxi ? ”
    “ Of course .” Nate followed her lead .“ What are you reading? Oh. Lily Forbes. Should have known . ”
    This time Sarah really was tempted to say something cutting, but she satisfied herself with shooting him a withering look instead. He raised his eyebrows innocently and brushed past her to move through the terminal. He's never made a secret of his disdain for her choice of reading material and often teased her about the romanti c“ nonsens e” she liked to read.
    “ So what ?” she would say .“ I enjoy it and that's all that matters .” Today, though, she wasn't in a mood to tease or to be teased, and she jammed the book into her bag and followed Nate sullenly to the taxi stand.
    The couple had a bit of a wait for a taxi, but at last they were inside and en route to the train station that would take them from Rome to Verona, where they had planned to spend a long, romantic weekend.
    An uneasy silence reigned in the backseat of the car, with