by Daisy James
Chapter Twenty Five
The Wishing Well, Villa Limoncello
Colour: Sunshine Yellow
‘Luca?’
‘Come on.’
He reached for her hand and instead of leading her towards the courtyard that was filled with increasingly loud merriment and chatter, clinking glasses and the scraping of chairs, Luca led her towards the garden, coming to a standstill next to the wishing well. To her surprise, he delved into his pocket, produced a silver coin and handed it to her.
‘Want to make a wish?’
‘Erm, yes, sure.’
Confusion swirled, but she gave him a smile, took the coin and without a moment of hesitation she tossed it down the well into oblivion.
‘Did your wish have anything to do with Villa dei Limoni?’
‘I can’t tell you that – there’s a superstition in the UK that if you tell someone what you wish for, the wish won’t come true.’
Not that it mattered, thought Izzie. It was unlikely she would get the chance to come back to the villa again, even for a holiday. She laughed, hoping to lighten the mood, but Luca had started to shuffle from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable, his thoughts far away from the villa’s gardens.
‘Luca, if there’s something you want to say, then just say it.’
‘I’m sorry, Izzie. I haven’t been entirely honest with you.’
Her stomach gave a good impression of following the coin down the well before bouncing back to lodge somewhere in her chest like a poker-hot ember.
‘What do you mean?’
But whatever it was she wished he would just get it over with. All the tension that had been mounting since they pulled onto the driveway was making her feel nauseous.
‘It’s about Villa Limoncello.’
Again, Luca paused, struggling to formulate his words.
‘What about it?’
‘Oh, and the Vespa.’
‘The pink Vespa?’
‘Yes.’
‘The one I was riding when you ran me off the road?’ Izzie grinned, hoping to lighten the mood.
‘I’m sorry, Izzie. I do actually have a very good explanation for that.’
‘Apart from your pretensions of becoming a Formula One driver?’
‘Yes. And I wasn’t driving too fast. I’d had a huge shock.’
‘What kind of shock?’
‘I had just seen someone riding a pink Vespa. My pink Vespa. I know I ran you off the road, but I also very nearly wrote off the Spider.’
‘Your pink Vespa?’
What was going on? Since when did the Italian driver of a scarlet Alfa Romeo cabriolet invest in a pink Vespa? For those weekends when he visited his pet unicorn? And she’d stumbled on the Vespa in the outhouse at Villa Limoncello – that veritable menagerie of random objects. If it belonged to Luca, what was it doing there?
‘Yes. I’d bought it for Sabrina. I was going to present it to her before she dropped the bombshell and ran off with Claudio. I nearly had a coronary when I saw you riding it towards San Vivaldo that morning. For a moment I thought it was Sabrina, or maybe a ghost, or perhaps I’d just been working too many hours in the restaurant and was hallucinating! I had to have a couple of stiff brandies when I arrived at the trattoria and I fully intended to go back out to look for you, but, as you’ll recall, you came to me.’
‘Ah, so that explains the Vespa, but it doesn’t explain what Brad was talking about.’
Izzie braced herself for another twist in the saga. What next? She didn’t think she could take any more revelations. It was all beginning to feel a little surreal. Could this all be a dream? She surreptitiously gave herself a pinch, relieved to see that she didn’t wake up in her bed at home in London but was still standing next to the wishing well in front of the most handsome man she had ever met, even though his eyes were clouded with guilt.
‘Ah, yes, about that…’
‘What did Brad mean when he said you might be thinking of offering me something at the villa?’
‘Villa dei Limoni – it’s mine. I own it.’
‘You own it?’
‘Yes.’
Her brain disconnected from its modem and all cogent thought froze in an instant. It was a few seconds before she thought of something to say about this final confession.
‘You own Villa Limoncello? But… why? Why didn’t you say anything?’
‘I bought it eighteen months ago. I told you I wanted to leave the city, that I’d bought a rundown place in the Tuscan countryside that Sabrina refused to even consider living in. When she ended our relationship, I couldn’t bear to live here alone, so I moved into the flat above Antonio’s, and, like the villa’s previous American owner, I left the house to fade into its current shabby glory. In fact, until Monday when I came to see you to apologise for running you off the road, I’d never been back. It was the hardest thing I have ever done.’
‘You stayed away for eighteen months? But why didn’t Carlotta or Vincenzo tell me?’
‘Very few people know I own it. It was my decision to keep it quiet, otherwise I would have been bombarded with questions, or offers to take it off my hands. Look at Riccardo – so desperate to buy the land that he was prepared to resort to sabotage to persuade the elusive owner to cut their losses and run! Anyway, I just couldn’t face dealing with any of it to be honest. The only person who knew the villa was mine, apart from my parents and Sabrina, was Gianni who agreed to take on the role of guardian of the vineyard and the olive groves until I decided what to do with the place. He’s done an amazing job and he’s going to absolutely freak out when we tell him about what Riccardo has done to his beloved vines.’
‘And who can blame him!’
‘I’m furious too, but I hope I can persuade him that this outcome is better than what he had feared – that the vines had succumbed to some untreatable disease which would have put paid to his ambitions to produce the best wine Tuscany has ever seen. That’s if he doesn’t get snapped up for a stint at La Scala before then.’
Luca laughed, but he still hadn’t met Izzie’s eyes and her heart blossomed for this man who had kept such a heart-breaking story to himself for so long. She understood how much loosing Sabrina to one of his friends must have affected him, and how, like her, he’d been struggling to come to terms with his past and to move on.
‘So how did you get involved with Brad?’
‘It was Stefano who made the first contact. Apparently, Brad wanted him to take the lead role in his next movie, but Stefano had to turn him down because of his wedding plans. So, Brad offered to host, and pay for, the whole wedding if they agreed to bring the date forward by six months to accommodate the filming schedule. Stefano was reluctant, but Louisa didn’t have a problem with that as long as they could find somewhere amazing to hold it. As Sabrina’s best friend, Louisa knew about the villa and urged Stefano to ask if it was available.’
‘Well, it is the perfect setting for a wedding…’
‘The gardens are, but, as you know, the interior won’t be winning any awards! I wasn’t keen at first, I just wanted to brush the whole embarrassing saga of ‘buying a quaint house in the countryside’ under the carpet, but Stefano, and Gianni, persuaded me to go for it and to use the hire fee to start renovating the place. I took some convincing, but they won out in the end – with the proviso that I wouldn’t have to have anything to do with it.’
‘So you never met Brad?’
‘No, everything was dealt with via Lucy who was adamant that the whole thing had to be wrapped up in secrecy, which was easy really as no one had shown any interest in the old place for years. Stefano and Louisa engaged Carlotta, Francesca and Oriana, and liaised with them through Lucy who requested everyone to sign a non-disclosure agreement. I didn’t have a problem with that because I had every intention of keeping as far away from all the festivities as possible – until Stefano asked me to be one of his ushers!’
Luca ran his palm over the stubble on his jaw, h
is eyes focused on a point in the far distance where the rolling hills met the darkening sky.
‘If I could have found a way of refusing, then I would have. It was one thing agreeing to the use of the villa for a friend’s wedding, quite another to be part of the bridal party when your ex-fiancée is the chief bridesmaid and the wedding venue was the place where you’d hoped to live together! Of course, I couldn’t let them down, so I agreed, but I warned Stefano that I didn’t want any part of the organisation, especially when Brad dumped the whole thing on Lucy, which I realise is not an unusual occurrence.’
‘No, it’s not,’ smiled Izzie, thinking of all the hard work Lucy had put into preparing for the wedding and not even getting to see the end result. She would most certainly be making sure that she sent a whole swathe of photographs to her when she got back to London.
‘You know, I thought I’d got away with it until you burst on the scene.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If I hadn’t nearly killed you that morning, I would never have rustled up the courage to come over to the villa to apologise. When I brought the furniture across on Monday afternoon, it was the first time I’d set foot in the place since I found out about Sabrina, and it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated – I don’t suppose anything is. We build these things up to be huge, terrible challenges requiring every ounce of our willpower simply to take the first step, when actually the obstacles are all in our minds. Once we realise that, we can relegate the trauma to its rightful place – just a moment in our past – and face the future with fresh eyes. Thank you for helping me to realise this, Izzie.’
Izzie stared at Luca, happiness flooding her heart, delighted that she had been able to return the favour. After all, she knew that it was because of him that she intended to pursue her dreams with renewed vigour, not only for Anna, but also for herself.
‘I think we should call it evens, don’t you?’
‘Sounds like a great idea.’
Luca’s gaze held hers with such intensity she felt her insides turn to jelly. There was no mistaking the emotions churning through her veins and when he took a step closer, his breath caressing her cheek, she almost lost her train of thought as she meandered through the labyrinth of sexual attraction. Could she really leave Villa Limoncello the next day, never to set eyes on this man again, the man who had dispersed the grey raincloud that had hovered over her head like a comic book character and replaced it with an endless sun-filled landscape?
‘So, are you going back to your old job?’ Luca whispered softly, gently moving her hair from her forehead, his lips inches from hers as he waited for her to reply.
‘No, that much I do know.’
She had come such a long way in the last week that she was not going to risk that progress by returning to her previous sombre existence where she inhabited a dull, drab, magnolia world and lived on an uninspiring diet of coffee and toast. She wanted her world to be filled with every colour of the spectrum, vibrant oranges, vivid blues, zinging yellows, luscious green, but most of all the chocolate brown of the eyes that were holding hers, searching for an answer to the question of what she intended to do now.
‘I’m thinking of starting my interior design business up again, but I don’t want to rush into anything. I need to spend some time doing some research, to continue to replenish the coffers of creativity after they’ve been empty for so long. I want to investigate new fabrics, fresh paint effects, stencilling, sculpting techniques, visit a few more art galleries, museums, gardens…’
‘And there’s no better place to do that than here in Tuscany!’ declared Luca, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close, so close that she could see the desire reflected in the depth of his eyes.
‘Will you teach me some more of your recipes?’ she asked, laughing.
‘I’ll do more than that.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, if you really are planning to stay on here at Villa Limoncello, then I have a proposal for you.’
‘A proposal?’
Izzie gulped, enjoying the electricity sparkling between them as they planned to spend more time together. A week ago, she would have been shocked if Meghan or Jonti had told her that she would be contemplating a fresh start in a new country with a dark-haired Adonis with a sharp line in Italian pastries, but she had never been more certain of anything in her life. She wanted to stay a little longer at Villa Limoncello, wanted to experience more of its calming aura, but more than anything else she wanted to spend time with Luca, a man who had shown her how to discard the mantle of sadness and confront the world with her face turned towards the sun.
‘Well, Brad got there first, but I’ve been thinking about running courses here – painting courses, yoga courses, creative writing courses, Italian cookery courses – and I need someone with amazing organisational skills to host them and make sure they run smoothly. I don’t know anyone more qualified than you, Izzie. What do you say?’
Izzie didn’t have to think about it. It was perfect!
‘I say yes! Yes, please! I’d love to do that!’
‘Fantastic! And I think there’s only one way to seal the deal, don’t you?’
Izzie grinned but before she could utter another word, Luca’s lips were on hers, gently at first, his fingers curling round her neck to guide her closer. Ripples of desire spread from deep within her abdomen, sending sparkles to her fingertips as she responded to his kiss, relishing the way his muscular arms held her, inhaling the fragrance of his cologne, and finally enjoying the whoosh of vibrant emotions she had once thought she would never experience again.
Tuscany had been even more amazing than she and Anna could have hoped and, as she pulled away from Luca to catch her breath, she glanced upwards, fixed her gaze on a particularly fluffy white cloud, and sent up a missive of gratitude to her sister, whom she knew was watching the epilogue unfold from her celestial perch and nodding her approval.
Villa Limoncello’s Limoncello
Limoncello can easily be made at home and is delicious served as an after-dinner digestivo, drizzled over ice cream, or added to a home-made panna cotta.
Ingredients
9 unwaxed lemons (organic if possible)
1 litre of grain alcohol (or you can use vodka)
1.5 litres of water
700g of white sugar
Directions
Wash, then peel the lemons, making sure you only take the zest and not the white pith underneath which will make your limoncello taste bitter. Put the peel into a large, sterilised jar, pour in the alcohol and seal it. Leave the mixture in a cool, dark place to marinate for 20 days.
Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan, add the sugar and simmer until syrupy. Allow to cool completely, then add to the lemony liquid, stirring well. Leave for a further 10 days.
Strain into decorative bottles, placing one in the freezer for a couple of hours before use, and storing the others in a cool place for later.
Enjoy responsibly.
Acknowledgements
A huge thank you to my wonderful editor, Laura McCallen, for all her support and guidance.
And a Grazie Mille to Trevor and Mariangela Williams for checking the authenticity of my Italian phrases. I owe you both a frothy cappuccino and a generous serving of Luca’s lemon & pistachio cannoli!
First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Canelo
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
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Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2DU
United Kingdom
Copyright © Daisy James, 2019
The moral right of Daisy James to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing f
rom the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788633437
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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