Dreaming of Verona: An enchanting, feel-good holiday romance

by T A Williams

  Alex grinned. ‘I know when I’m beaten. Anybody could see you’re the one for Michael.’

  Suzie’s cheeks were still burning an hour later when she let herself out through the main gate and went along to the house next door. There was a bronze panel on the gatepost with a bell push marked ‘Macgregor-Brown’. She pressed this and a minute later heard footsteps. The gate opened and she saw the friendly grey-haired lady she had spotted at the window the previous day. No doubt this was Paolina, his housekeeper and cook.

  ‘Signorina, buongiorno.’ She gave Suzie a welcoming smile and beckoned her inside. As Suzie stepped through the gate, she was greeted a second time, this time much more effusively, almost floored by a familiar, friendly black Labrador. She knelt down to pet him.

  ‘Ciao, Dogberry. How are you today?’ She looked up at Paolina and smiled, addressing her in Italian. ‘I believe he speaks English.’

  Paolina smiled back. ‘He’s a Labrador. He’s only interested in his stomach. If you offered him food in Chinese, I’m sure he’d understand.’

  With the happy dog bouncing along at her side, Suzie followed Paolina up the gravel drive to the front door. The garden was indeed fairly overgrown, filled with flowers, bushes and trees of all descriptions, and a gorgeous mixture of scents wafted past her nose as they walked up to the front door. Inside the house itself, on the other hand, everything looked neat and tidy. It was charming and spotlessly clean, with ornate floor tiles, high ceilings and some excellent and unexpectedly modern paintings on the walls. A wonderful aroma of food filled the air and Suzie had a feeling she was going to eat well today.

  ‘Suzie, welcome to my humble home.’ Professor Macgregor-Brown appeared and ushered her into a fine, long living room overlooking the lake. The trees and bushes in the garden were being whipped about by the steadily increasing wind and the grey clouds almost obscured the sun. It was patently clear that the lady in the shop had been right – a storm was now imminent. She turned back with a smile to the elderly man and held out the bottle of Scotch.

  ‘It’s really good to see you again, Professor Macgregor-Brown. Here, a little drop from the land of your fathers.’

  ‘How very kind of you, my dear. You shouldn’t have. And please stop calling me Professor Macgregor-Brown. It’s such a mouthful. My friends call me Mack and I’d be delighted if you would do the same.’

  ‘Of course… Mack. Thank you.’

  ‘Now, what can I get you to drink? A glass of Prosecco? This is the good stuff from Valdobbiadene.’

  The professor opened the bottle with a practised hand and poured two glasses of Prosecco. They sat by the windows, gazing at the increasingly threatening weather outside, and chatted. At their feet, the dog sprawled on the fine old rug and snored. As they talked, Suzie discovered, among other things, that the professor was eighty-four years old. When she told him her own age, she saw him give a weary smile.

  ‘Ah, to be twenty-eight again. Your whole life before you. I envy you that. And I’m sure you’ll make a success of whatever you choose to do.’

  ‘Like you’ve made of yours.’

  ‘Thank you, my dear, but I’d willingly exchange my academic career for the chance to be twenty-eight again. Now, do, please, tell me about you.’

  The conversation flowed easily and when Paolina arrived to tell them that lunch was served, Suzie was amazed to see that an hour had already passed.

  As they sat down in the dining room next door, Paolina appeared from the kitchen with a steaming bowl of pasta. This consisted of really thick spaghetti, the diameter of straws, apparently known locally as bigoli, and the taste was excellent. The professor informed Suzie that this was his favourite pasta and that Paolina had made the sauce with speck, the wonderful smoked ham from the mountains, and fresh porcini mushrooms.

  ‘It’s high season for mushrooms at the moment and this year has been really good for porcini. I’m a lucky man because Paolina’s husband, Giovanni, is an expert mushroom hunter and he keeps me well provided.’

  ‘It’s all superb… Mack.’ Suzie was still finding it odd to address such an eminent academic in such an informal manner, but he appeared to relish it. ‘I love pasta and I love porcini. This is delightful.’

  A black nose appeared as if by magic from beneath the table and landed on her thigh, nostrils flared. Clearly, Dogberry shared her opinion, but she obeyed the professor’s instructions not to feed him at table.

  The main course was equally good. Paolina had chosen to do boiled beef with a thick, green parsley sauce. As they ate, the professor offered her some of the local red wine, but Suzie drank sparingly. Having the opportunity to exchange ideas with such a colossus in the world of English literature was too valuable to spoil by getting tipsy.

  They returned to the lounge for coffee after the meal and no sooner had they sat down than the heavens opened. By now it was so dark outside it felt almost like dusk, instead of early afternoon, and when the rain started, it came in almost horizontally, smashing against the windows with such ferocity that Dogberry jumped to his feet and started barking. As the professor stroked him and tried to calm him down, Suzie went over to the glass and looked on in awe as the rainfall reached biblical proportions. Puddles the size of ponds formed on the ragged lawn, trees were bent double and she saw one sizeable branch break off and crash to the ground. It was an apocalyptic scene and the noise was almost deafening. She even found herself eyeing the panes of glass in the windows apprehensively, wondering how solid they really were.

  When she looked back round again, Dogberry was lying on the floor at the professor’s feet. His eyes were wide open and his head cocked to one side, but the barking had stopped and he even wagged his tail as Suzie went over, crouched down and made a fuss of him. Then, barely a minute or two later, the rain suddenly stopped as abruptly as it had started and the ensuing silence was almost unnerving. Finally reassured, the dog relaxed, stretched out and gave a huge sigh. As Dogberry closed his eyes, Suzie glanced up at the professor.

  ‘When it rains here, it really rains, doesn’t it? I can see why the dog was worried.’

  ‘This whole area gets quite a bit of rain compared to the rest of Italy, but luckily these violent storms are relatively rare.’ He smiled at her as she took a seat opposite him. ‘Still, after a long, hot summer, the garden needs a good drink.’ He pulled himself laboriously to his feet, gripped his cane and headed towards the door. ‘Now if you’ll just excuse me a moment, there’s something I need to do.’

  As he left the room, Paolina arrived with a tray. On it was an old Moka coffee pot and two small cups, along with a plate of delicious-looking pastries. She set it down and came over to Suzie.

  ‘I’m going off back to my husband now and I wanted to say goodbye to you first. It was so nice of you to come to see the professor.’ She glanced round and lowered her voice. ‘It’s so good to see him smiling and happy. He rarely goes out nowadays and he hardly talks to anybody apart from me or my husband and I’m sure your visit has done him good. Thank you.’

  Suzie gave her a big smile. ‘I feel immensely honoured to be a guest of such an illustrious academic. And such a kind, friendly man. And thank you for a delicious meal. You’re such a good cook. I wish I could stay here and take lessons from you.’

  Paolina blushed at the compliment and they shook hands. ‘Arrivederci, signorina. I do hope you’ll come back and see him again.’

  ‘I’d love to, and please call me Suzie.’

  A minute or two later, the professor returned with a present. It was a hardback copy of his book, The Foreign Travels of Shakespeare, and it was in mint condition. He sat down heavily and rested his stick against the arm of the chair.

  ‘You said your copy was getting dog-eared, my dear. Do, please, let me replace it for you.’

  He produced a fountain pen and laboriously scrawled a dedication on the first page. Over lunch she had already noted how unsteady his hands were. Finally completing his task, he pushed the book across the coff
ee table to her and she picked it up reverently. Although his handwriting was erratic, she could easily read what he had written.

  To Suzie. From one Shakespeare scholar to another. Wishing you every happiness and success. Dennis Macgregor-Brown.

  As she read the dedication she felt incredibly touched so she stood up and went across to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, her eyes stinging with emotion. As she returned to her seat, she wiped her eyes and thanked him profusely.

  ‘I don’t know what to say… Mack. I will cherish this for the rest of my life, just like I’ll cherish the memory of today. I’m so amazingly lucky to have met you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.’ She hugged the book to her chest. ‘If there’s ever anything I can do for you, just say the word.’

  ‘Just stay in touch, my dear.’ He produced a visiting card and handed it to her. ‘I look forward to hearing about your future career. By the way, have you ever considered university lecturing? I’m sure you’d be good at it.’

  ‘Lecturing positions in the Humanities are few and far between these days, I’m afraid. They say there are a hundred applicants for every post on offer at UK universities – and they only come around very rarely.’

  ‘I’m sure a bright girl like you will soon fall on your feet.’ He gave her a little smile. ‘Thinking about it, there is something you might like to do for me, though. I wonder if you’d be willing to let me read your thesis. It is my chosen field, after all.’

  Suzie was stunned. This was a rare honour indeed. ‘Of course, but only if you have time…’

  ‘Time, my dear? Dogberry and I have got all the time in the world.’

  Chapter 9

  Over the course of the afternoon the storm pushed through and the clouds disappeared along with it, leaving increasingly large patches of clear blue sky once more. The lake took longer to settle and a strong wind was still producing sizeable waves as Suzie returned to the villa. She was just sitting down to read in the sitting room when she was interrupted by the arrival of James with an unexpected suggestion.

  ‘Hi, Suzie. Fancy a windsurf? I’ve been out in these conditions a few times and they can be awesome. I saw you yesterday and I know you’re up to it. I wouldn’t ask you otherwise.’

  Tommy appeared at his shoulder to add support. ‘I’m going to give it a go as well, and you’re a lot better than me. Come and watch me make a fool of myself.’

  Suzie folded the corner of the page and looked up, a smile forming on her face. ‘You know something? I’d love to. Just give me five minutes to get changed.’

  ‘Great.’ James sounded as if he meant it. ‘I’ll go and start getting the boards out. I think a 4-metre sail or so should be all you want today. It’s blowing a hoolie out there.’

  ‘You’re the expert.’ Suzie normally used a 6- or 7-metre sail, but the stronger the wind, the smaller the sail, and extreme conditions demanded specialist kit, so she was happy to agree.

  As James disappeared through the door, Tommy paused and glanced back at her. ‘I was sorry you didn’t come to the club with us last night. I missed you.’

  She gave him a little smile, but didn’t reply. Hurrying up to her room, she stowed her precious book in her bag and changed into a bikini along with a vest to protect her inside the wetsuit. After taking off her glasses, she wrapped a towel around herself and ran back down the stairs again. As she reached the bottom, she almost bumped into Alex.

  ‘Hi, Suzie. Going for a swim?’

  ‘A windsurf. Your boyfriend’s just asked me to go out with him… on the water.’

  ‘Boyfriend? Whoever can you mean?’ Alex gave her a wink. ‘You be careful. It looks like it’s blowing a gale out there.’

  By the time Suzie had squeezed into her wetsuit and harness, James had rigged his sail and hers and Tommy had brought out her board. She noticed that James had chosen a very specialised and very expensive race board for himself. This was definitely not a toy for a beginner and she looked at him with newfound respect as they set off. The first few hundred metres were fairly easy going, apart from the choppy, chaotic waves, but once they reached the headland, all hell broke loose. The wind, as predicted by Alex, was definitely close to gale force and Suzie needed all her skill and all her strength to stay upright as the board powered away like a rocket, taking sudden evasive action as Tommy was flattened by a gust right in front of her. Somehow she managed not to follow suit and as she did so, she saw James come flying past, lying back almost level with the water and, as he cut in front of her, she heard him bellow with delight and drop his head back into the waves for a second, emerging to shake himself like a dog.

  In all, they were probably only out for less than an hour, but Suzie was close to exhaustion by the end. She had ended up in the water half a dozen times – mainly as a result of jumps that didn’t quite come off – and, although she had been able to waterstart again quite quickly, it had been really hard work fighting the force of the wind and the sizeable waves. When she finally got back to the jetty, James and Tommy were already waiting for her and gave her a hand getting her board, her sail and herself out of the water. As Tommy obligingly carried her rig into the boathouse, she slumped down wearily on the warm planks and James came and crouched beside her.

  ‘You were bloody brilliant, Suzie.’ He sounded really impressed. ‘I’m sure I saw you jump at least your own height out of the water a few times.’

  She gave him a happy smile. ‘I’m not in your league, James.’ She meant it. He was even better on a board than Rob used to be, and that was saying something. His gybes and jumps had been something else entirely and on one occasion she had seen him do a full forward loop, landing upright and intact. ‘That was a real masterclass. Thanks for inviting me along and letting me use your gear.’

  They sat there for a good few minutes, chatting, exchanging experiences and slowly regaining their breath before he turned the subject away from windsurfing and onto more personal matters.

  ‘Suzie, could I ask you something? You know Alex pretty well now, don’t you? Tell me, what do you think my chances are? I’m crazy about her, but I really can’t make her out.’

  Suzie had to stop and think. It wasn’t her place to discuss her companion’s personal life, but she felt a bond with James now that hadn’t been there before, and after all his hospitality she owed him a favour, at the very least. She had been thinking quite a bit about what Alex had said about him, how she liked him, but was deliberately not letting things develop as she resented her father’s interference. The more Suzie was getting to know James, the more she was coming round to thinking that he would make a pretty good boyfriend for Alex. Even without this declaration of his now, she had already realised that he was potty about her, so, after a long pause, she threw him a bone.

  ‘I don’t know her that well, James, but, if you want my opinion, I think the two of you would make a nice couple.’ She saw his eyes sparkle. ‘She likes you a lot, I’m sure of that. To be totally honest, I don’t think you’re the problem. I think it’s her father.’

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tommy emerge from the boathouse, register that she and James were in a close conversation and diplomatically opt to leave them to it. He picked up Suzie’s board and carried it off for her. Catching his eye, she gave him a little smile of thanks and he smiled back. There was no doubt about it: without all that drink in him he was a really nice guy. Returning her attention to James, she continued.

  ‘If you want my advice, I’d say take it slow and give her time to sort her head out. She hasn’t had an easy time of it since her mum died, you know.’

  He nodded. ‘She’s probably told you we’ve known each other pretty much since we were both toddlers. She was very close to her mother and I know how tough it was for Alex when she died. Her father’s a good man – although he can hide it well on occasions – but he isn’t a mother. She lost out big time with her mum’s death, and her father’s attempts to replace her have just resulted in his interfering too
much.’ He reached across and caught hold of Suzie’s arm for a few seconds. ‘I know all that and I understand. I just wish she’d give me a chance to talk it through with her, but she always clams up as soon as I try.’

  Suzie gave him a big smile. ‘If at first you don’t succeed… Like I say, James, give her time.’

  He smiled back. ‘Thanks for the advice, Suzie. I owe you.’

  ‘You owe me nothing, James. It’s the other way round. Now, if I can find the energy to get to my feet, I’m going for a hot shower.’

  He jumped up remarkably nimbly and leant down to catch her by the hands and haul her to her feet. ‘We’ve got hot showers at the pool. That’s only just over there. Come on.’

  Together they crossed the narrow strip of lawn to the bushes that masked the pool and formed a natural windbreak and found most of the other guests either in the water or lying around it on sunbeds. As Alex saw the two of them, she sat upright and raised her sunglasses onto the top of her head. She was wearing her tiny bikini once more and Suzie didn’t need James’s earlier comment to sense the upsurge of attraction from him.

  ‘So, slinking back in together after spending the afternoon all on your own, eh? And looking hot, sweaty and distinctly rumpled. You must have had a good time.’ Alex was clearly joking, but Suzie saw James go red in the face all the same. Before he could make a fool of himself, she jumped in. Seeing James’s embarrassment made her feel unexpectedly relaxed so, instead of her usual attack of the blushes, she managed to smile back at Alex and latch onto her joke.

  ‘What a ride! I’m exhausted, Alex. He’s worn me out.’ She saw a few of the others look up with interest. ‘He’s got amazing stamina and some really good moves.’ Giggling, she collapsed theatrically onto a sunbed alongside Alex and set about removing her wetsuit.