Aubrie Dionne - An American Girl in Italy - HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance

Aubrie Dionne

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

HarperImpulse an imprint of

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

77–85 Fulham Palace Road

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2014

Copyright © Aubrie Dionne 2014

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Aubrie Dionne asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International

and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted

the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access

and read the text of this e-book on screen.

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,

downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or

stored in or introduced into any information storage and

retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

whether electronic or mechanical, now known or

hereinafter invented, without the express

written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © May 2014

ISBN: 9780007594443

Version 2014-07-31

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Copyright HarperImpulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 77–85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith, London W6 8JB www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2014 Copyright © Aubrie Dionne 2014 Cover images © Shutterstock.com Aubrie Dionne asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Ebook Edition © May 2014 ISBN: 9780007594443 Version 2014-07-31 Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Aubrie Dionne Aubrie Dionne I started writing because my flute students urged me to publish the stories I made up in their lessons. My books are influenced by my undying love of Star Wars and Star Trek, and by my own musical life. When I’m not writing, I teach flute and play in orchestras. You can follow me on Twitter @AuthorAubrie.

Dedication For the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras for taking me on an unforgettable tour of Italy in high school and inspiring the setting for this book.

Chapter One: Paying the Price Chapter One

Chapter Two: Diva’s Choice Chapter Two

Chapter Three: Never-ending Songs

Chapter Four: Wandering Eyes

Chapter Five: A Chance in the World

Chapter Six: Vision in Red

Chapter Seven: Favor

Chapter Eight: Details

Chapter Nine: The Best of the Best

Chapter Ten: Life Away

Chapter Eleven: Panic Attack

Chapter Twelve: Anytime

Chapter Thirteen: Experiments

Chapter Fourteen: Baroness

Chapter Fifteen: Big Plans

Chapter Sixteen: Locked Heart

Chapter Seventeen: Accent

Chapter Eighteen: One More

Chapter Nineteen: A Favor to Ask

Chapter Twenty: Duets

Chapter Twenty-One: One Night

Chapter Twenty-Two: New Meaning

Chapter Twenty-Three: Final Count

Chapter Twenty-Four: Take Off

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

I started writing because my flute students urged me to publish the stories I made up in their lessons. My books are influenced by my undying love of Star Wars and Star Trek, and by my own musical life. When I’m not writing, I teach flute and play in orchestras.

You can follow me on Twitter @AuthorAubrie.

For the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras for taking me on an unforgettable tour of Italy in high school and inspiring the setting for this book.

Chapter One

You may now turn on all electronic devices echoed through the intercom of the Boeing 747 as music to Carly’s ears. After nine and a half hours of practicing her oboe fingerings on her pencil to the beat of Bertha Payne’s snoring, she was ready to tear through the metal hull of the plane with her fingernails.

Carly turned on her phone and waited for her e-mails to load. As much as she loved her bff, Melody Mires, their friendship had taken a back seat to Melody’s grand love affair with the conductor. Four seats up, Melody had glued her head to Wolf’s shoulder. Carly and Melody had practically owned two seats at the bar of the Neighborhood Grill, which they’d frequented every night after rehearsal. Then Wolf showed up and bam! Girls’ nights out ended for life. That left Carly with sweet, little old Bertha.

Her inbox flashed before her eyes in a horror show. Two hundred and seven e-mails. She couldn’t remember the last time her phone had been shut off for so long.

Scrolling down, she hoped she hadn’t missed anything too important. A few gig requests for last-minute summer weddings, three oboe students wishing her good luck on her Italian tour, and a whole ton of e-mails about her contemporary music group, Women Reeds . Although nothing was pressing, she’d had to pass on two concerts with other orchestras, three days of teaching, and a few wedding gigs.

Her best bet was to get through this tour and get back to the States as soon as possible so no one thought of her missing in action and started hiring her rivals.

Her finger stopped on a message from Dino Daywood, the DJ contractor who got her the swankiest gigs. Last-minute performance request at the Hyatt Harborside. Tomorrow at noon. Show up and play Pachelbel’s Canon. Twice union wages.

Dammit! Hadn’t she told him she’d be stranded in the Italian countryside for two weeks?

Wolf stood up from his seat beside Melody and cleared his throat. ‘Attention all Easthampton Civic Symphony members. Welcome to Italy.’ His thick German accent commanded their attention.

He smiled and straightened his broad shoulders, looking like a Roman gladiator. As much as Carly missed her friend, Melody really had scored big time. ‘Our tour guide will be meeting us right outside the gate. His name is Michelangelo Ricci, a native from Tuscany and—get this—his family owns a vineyard. He’s the best tour guide around and has been conducting tours since he was a young boy.’