by T A Williams
‘Thanks for coming. It’s so good to see you. Great car, Katie; I bet you enjoy driving that around. There must be a sorry trail of Italian men feeling uncertain about their masculinity after you go steaming past them.’ Before they had time to reflect on that observation, he relieved them of their bag of towels, creams and sunhats and led them round the side of the house. It was an old stone farmhouse that had clearly been modernised quite recently. All around them were rolling hills, mostly covered in sun-baked scrub. A few olive groves and a handful of sturdy trees studded the landscape, but it was noticeably much more barren than the valley of the Arno. And it was very, very hot.
He led them to the shade of an open pergola of vines. The little girl Emma jumped to her feet and ran towards them. ‘Emma, you remember my friends from Devon, Victoria and Katie.’ Behind her, Tom’s sister emerged from the house and gave them a warm smile.
‘Hi, Victoria, Katie. Welcome to Montespertoli.’
As they shook hands, Katie surreptitiously checked them out. Tom was as strong and fit as she remembered, his legs and arms tanned. Seeing him out of uniform, she realised he was a bit younger than she had first thought. He was probably only in his mid or late twenties and Katie could clearly see that he didn’t seem able to tear his eyes off Victoria. Emma was a pretty little girl, the spitting image of her mother, and Katie wondered idly where the father was. Looking across, she noticed the expression of awkwardness on Victoria’s face and did her best to get the conversation going.
‘How old are you, Emma?’ The girl smiled shyly and dropped her eyes, burrowing behind her mother. Her uncle answered for her.
‘Tell them, Emma. It’s your big day today, isn’t it?’ He looked across at Victoria and Katie. ‘It’s her seventh birthday today.’
They both congratulated her and Katie was pleased to see Victoria smiling again, her initial embarrassment banished. Katie passed the basket across to her and Victoria pulled out a bottle of her father’s vintage port for Tom, a tin of biscuits for Beatrice and a rather fine watercolour painting set they had found in the old general store at Monte a Signa for Emma. They all saw the little girl’s eyes light up.
‘Thanks very much for the presents.’ Tom was on his best behaviour. ‘Now, can I get you girls something to drink? Some champagne maybe or a beer?’
Victoria answered for both of them. This was something they had been discussing in the car on the way over. It probably wasn’t a good idea to mix alcohol with bright sunshine and swimming. ‘If you’ve got something non-alcoholic, that would be great.’
‘We’ve got lemonade, cola and then there’s water, of course.’
Victoria pricked up her ears. ‘Cola? Did you say cola? Does that come in a can?’
‘It certainly does.’
She half-turned towards Katie before replying to Tom. ‘I’ve never had a drink in a can before. I see people drinking out of cans all the time on TV, so I really think it’s time I had a go. Could I try some, please?’
Katie saw the exchange of glances between Tom and his sister. Evidently they hadn’t realised the full extent of Victoria’s seclusion from modernity. She hastened to confirm that she, too, would have the same, although in truth, she rarely drank the stuff. Tom disappeared into the house and Beatrice made space for them to sit down around the big old table.
‘So, how long are you guys staying over here?’ Katie looked across at Beatrice.
‘Two weeks, if all goes well. My husband’s on a yacht, sailing across the Atlantic, so Emma and I get to do a bit of catching up with Uncle Tommie.’ She smiled; a friendly smile that had Katie smiling back at her. ‘What about you girls?’
Katie and Victoria exchanged glances. They hadn’t even thought about this yet. Katie let Victoria answer. ‘To be honest, Beatrice, we have no idea. We came by car so we can set off whenever we feel like it. Certainly not for a good few weeks. Maybe if the weather turns bad…’
‘Fat chance of that happening. It just seems to be getting hotter and hotter.’ Tom reappeared with drinks on a tray and Beatrice helped him unload it. There were some pistachio nuts on a plate, olives in a dish and some crisps. They laid everything out on the table and Tom explained the plan for the day.
‘We thought we could do a barbecue for lunch, maybe with some salad? The idea was to eat a bit later so we could get a swim in before then. And, although you wouldn’t know it at the moment, the hottest time of day seems to be around three or four o’clock in the afternoon and we’d be better off in the shade under here then. How does that sound?’
‘That sounds great.’ Katie was watching, enthralled, as Victoria struggled to open the drinks can. Finally successful, she raised it to her lips. By this time all of them were looking on. She took a mouthful, spluttered, screwed up her face and swilled it round her mouth before swallowing and looking up. As she saw that all eyes were on her she blushed, but managed to deliver her judgement.
‘By Jo… Wow, that’s sweet! I can feel my teeth being eaten away as I speak.’
‘That’s why I stick to beer.’ Tom raised the bottle to his lips and took a mouthful. ‘Cheers.’
They chatted amicably and Katie was pleased to see Victoria relax. Before long, little Emma also got over her initial shyness and perched on Victoria’s lap, going through the contents of the painting box with a look of fascination on her face.
After a while, Tom set down his empty beer bottle. ‘So, what about a swim then?’ He pointed to his right. ‘The pool’s just round the back of the house. I’ve no idea what temperature the water is, but it certainly isn’t cold. So, what do you think? Are we going swimming?’
Emma shouted loudest, but they all agreed in chorus. Beatrice led the girls into the house to change.
‘There’s a bathroom on the ground floor just beyond the kitchen.’
It was dark and cool inside the house and something in the kitchen smelt very good.
‘Is that cake I can smell?’ Katie liked what she smelt.
‘Erm, hopefully.’ Beatrice crossed her fingers. ‘I found a recipe for polenta cake with apple. Anyway, if it turns out to be inedible, there’s a huge tub of ice cream in the freezer.’
‘Wow, impressive.’
Katie and Victoria went into the bathroom and closed the door. As they removed their outer layers, Katie lowered her voice. ‘I think it’s safe to say that Tom definitely fancies you, Vicky. He can’t seem to take his eyes off you.’ At that moment Victoria slipped off her T-shirt and shorts and Katie saw the new bikini in all its glory. It was a reddish floral print, small enough to be revealing, but still discreet and very, very classy. Victoria looked very, very good in it. Katie gave her a big smile of encouragement and adopted her Mr Darcy accent. ‘By Jove, young lady, you look most eye-catching and appealing, don’t you know?’
‘I should bloody well hope so!’ Victoria smiled back. By this time Katie had stripped to her bikini as well. ‘Well, you look terrific!’
Katie caught her eye and pointed to the door. ‘Ready to go? And remember; he’s more frightened of you than you are of him.’
As she swam lazily up and down the surprisingly large pool, Katie grinned to herself as she thought back to the look on Tom’s face when Victoria emerged in her bikini. She had a wonderful figure and there was no doubt about it; whatever it had cost, that bikini was worth every single Swiss Franc. For her part, Katie was well pleased with her own appearance. One of the few benefits of all the worry of the last few months had been to burn off a few kilos, and she knew she looked good in her bikini.
The water was perfect and they swam around happily. After a while, Katie sat on one of the steps leading into the pool and Beatrice settled alongside her, keeping a maternal eye on Emma, who was splashing around in the shallow end. Across on the other side of the pool, Victoria and Tom were deep in conversation. Katie was delighted that she appeared to be fitting in so well.
‘They’re getting on well.’ Beatrice had her eyes on Victoria and Tom as well as her daug
hter. She lowered her voice. ‘I’m so pleased. It can’t be easy to suddenly emerge from what was, in effect, a sort of prison.’
Katie nodded. ‘She’s doing really well.’
Beatrice’s expression became more serious. ‘She seems remarkably grounded, considering her weird background. So, you’re her personal tutor, are you?’
Katie remembered the cover story they had used at Tom’s party. ‘Sort of, but I think of her more as a friend now, really.’ The sun was scorching hot and she slid down a few steps until her shoulders were under water. Beatrice followed her and took up position beside her again.
Katie shot her a glance. ‘She and Tom seem to be hitting it off.’
Beatrice nodded. ‘Between you and me, I think my brother’s fallen for her, hook, line and sinker.’
Katie smiled. ‘Well, I know she likes him a lot. Who knows? Of course, for her, this is all new. You know, men…’
Beatrice smiled back. ‘To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve seen Tommie so struck by a girl. He’s had a number of girlfriends, but never anything serious. Like you say, who knows?’
By the time lunch arrived, Vicky appeared quite relaxed. She was sitting across the table from Katie, playing with the little girl. Tom, who had been in the back garden cooking on the barbecue, reappeared with a huge plate of meat. He was still stripped to the waist and Katie saw Victoria’s eyes run over his body. If she were totally honest, she would have to admit that she had been checking him out herself. She grinned and remembered her decision to steer clear of men for a while. Victoria, on the other hand, had to make up for a lot of lost time.
‘God, Tom, we’ll never get through all that!’ Victoria sounded appalled. There were sausages, spare ribs and two huge steaks, which he speared with a fork and chopped expertly into vertical slices. It all smelt wonderful, but Victoria and Katie knew their limitations. Tom was unconcerned.
‘Don’t you worry, girls. After months of army rations, I tend to enjoy real food when I can get it.’ He pushed a bowl of mixed salad in her direction. ‘Here, Katie, take some and pass it round. Bee, I know she’s driving, but a drop of red wine won’t do Katie any harm. Victoria, pass your plate. Some of everything?’
The food was excellent. Partway through, Tom disappeared off to the barbecue again, to appear a few minutes later with slices of toasted bread that he proceeded to rub with garlic and smear with olive oil. ‘You’ve got to try the local oil. It’s brilliant. And don’t worry about the garlic. It’s not as if you’ve got to kiss anybody after all.’ Katie studiously avoided catching Victoria’s eye.
Later on, after they could eat no more, Victoria decided she wanted a group photo, so they all huddled together while she demonstrated that she had learnt how to take a selfie. Tom then pulled out a camera and took a selfie with his arm around Vicky, and Katie giggled to herself as she saw the expression on Vicky’s face. It was a mixture of awe and delight.
Chapter Eleven
When they got back from Tom’s house the two of them spent the next few hours talking through the events of the day. Victoria was positively bubbling with excitement, chattering like a teenager. For her, the experience of being with a man her own age had been unusual, being with a man just wearing shorts, while she was just wearing a bikini, a novelty, and being on the receiving end of increasingly open flirtation very stimulating. She was still flushed and prattling on when the grandfather clock in the lounge chimed eleven and Katie felt she had to go off to bed.
‘So, Vicky, I think we can safely say that you’re well on the way to the sort of exciting social life you’ve been missing.’
‘I had a really great time.’ Her eyes were still shining.
‘And did you enjoy being the centre of Tom’s attention? It’s amazing how a sexy little bikini can do that.’ She was smiling.
‘It was amazing.’ A look of concern crossed Victoria’s face. ‘Was my bikini obscene? You said sexy?’
‘Sexy is sexy, obscene is obscene. Sometimes sexy can be obscene, but the best is when sexy is just sexy. Take it from me, that bikini is sexy, not obscene, and I’ve seen a good few obscene bikinis in my time. No, you looked like a film star.’
Victoria appeared relieved. ‘That’s good. But you’re right, it was an amazing feeling.’ She looked up at Katie who was standing by this time. ‘You could sense the attraction. It was like the bull when he gets wind of a field of cows.’
Katie giggled. ‘Yes, I think our Tom has got the hots for you all right. Even his sister thinks so.’
‘Got the hots for me? What an excellent expression! Another one to add to my list.’ She looked up sharply as a thought crossed her mind. ‘What about Tom? You don’t think he’s already got a girlfriend, do you?’ She looked worried.
‘No way. I reckon Tom’s all yours, if you want him.’ Katie decided to inject a note of caution into the conversation. ‘But don’t forget, Vicky, Tom’s just about the first eligible man you’ve met. There are millions more of them out there.’ As she said it, she found herself wondering just how true that was. Certainly, in her experience so far, she hadn’t found the world overflowing with Mr Rights. So Tom was the first man Vicky had come across. That didn’t mean he couldn’t turn out to be The One. She decided to be a bit more positive. Just because she had struck out with Dean, didn’t automatically mean that Vicky would be equally unfortunate. ‘But Tom’s pretty damn good for starters.’
Victoria was nodding. ‘I do think he’s really rather appealing.’
Although she was tired, Katie couldn’t let that go uncorrected. ‘Vicky, we don’t describe men as appealing any more. You could try saying you find him dreamy or, if it’s more than that, you could always say you fancy the pants off him.’
Victoria gawped and then dissolved into a fit of giggles. ‘Katie! I couldn’t possibly say anything like that.’
‘Just you wait, young lady. You’ll be thinking it and saying it before long.’ Katie glanced at her watch again and yawned. ‘Now, I really must go to bed. I’m exhausted.’
Katie looked at the clock as she came out of the shower next morning. It was only a quarter to seven, but she felt wide awake. She dressed and went downstairs, taking care not to let her bedroom door slam and wake Victoria, who was presumably still fast asleep. She went through to the kitchen, which was deserted at that time. The back door was locked, but Rosina had shown them where the spare key was kept. She located it, unlocked the door and went outside. After relocking the door behind her – after all, Vicky was all alone in the house – she set off up the drive towards the vantage point. As if by magic, a black shadow appeared and fell in alongside her.
‘Ciao, Dante. How are you today?’ Katie smiled as she realised she was talking to the dog in Italian. He appeared not to notice anything strange in that and wagged his tail in reply. She gave him a pat on the head and they walked up through the trees together. At this time of day it was still cool under the trees and it felt so very refreshing after the heat of the previous days. A glance at the cloudless sky told her that this cool temperature wouldn’t last more than a few hours.
The view from the stone bench was less hazy, but this time she was looking directly into the rising sun, so could see little of Florence. She and the dog continued up the hill until the gravelled drive veered off to the right, towards the farmhouse where Rosina and Nando lived. A track continued straight ahead through the olive trees, so she set out to follow it and see where it led. It soon deteriorated into a narrow path until it reached the end of the olive grove. Here it joined a more major dirt road coming up the hill from the direction of the river. Ruts and potholes testified to it being used by cars and agricultural machinery. She turned left and followed the road uphill, towards distant gates set in a high wall that no doubt hid another lovely villa within its tree-filled park.
After about ten minutes’ energetic walking she found she was warming up. Sweat was already forming on her forehead and she decided some shade was in order. Ahead of her, by t
he huge wrought iron gates, there was a massive tree trunk. The wall behind it had recently been repaired, so presumably the damage had been caused by the tree as it fell. More importantly, the tree trunk had been sawn up and a particularly hefty chunk was resting against the wall, just out of the direct rays of the sun. She crossed the road and sat down on it in the shade. The dog joined her, flopping onto the grass at her feet.
They had only been there for a couple of minutes when the hum of an electric motor told her the gates were opening. A few seconds later she heard the noise of a powerful engine and a battered Land Rover appeared through the gates from the park within. Dante the dog suddenly jumped to his feet and headed for the vehicle, tail wagging. Katie reached out for his collar, but it was too late. The dog trotted straight over to the driver’s window and stood up on his hind legs, front paws against the door, his nose sticking into the cab. Katie jumped up and ran after him, ready to apologise to the driver.
‘Hi there, Dante, it’s very good to see you this morning.’ Katie stopped in surprise. The man was speaking English. The man noticed her and greeted her in turn, this time in fluent Italian.
‘Buongiorno, Signorina. É davvero una bella mattinata per una passeggiata.’ All she could see of him was his face and hands as he stroked the dog. He was maybe a few years older than her, tanned, with a closely cropped head of blond hair. She gave him a smile and replied.
‘Bellissima davvero. But, if I heard you right, you’re English. Or are you and Dante just practising your foreign languages?’
His face split into a grin. ‘Like all Labradors, the only language he really understands is food.’ He glanced down at the dog. ‘Let’s see what I’ve got in here for you, Dante. Yes, this’ll do.’ He produced a banana from somewhere beside him and peeled it open. He broke off half and held it out to the dog. Dante sniffed it with interest and then, very delicately, took it in his teeth and dropped back onto all fours to eat it. The man held out the remains of the banana. ‘Would you like the other half?’