‘I am so sorry,’ Sophia said to the woman. ‘Mi dispiace molto. How much was it? I’ll pay for it, of course.’ She tried to open her handbag with one hand.
‘No!’ Joe stood up, immediately making Sophia feel small. Her eyes wandered up from his large hands, now cupping the broken dish, to his face and his hypnotic green gaze. How had she missed that yesterday? His eyes were as clear and bright as emeralds; positively dazzling. Disarming. Gorgeous. ‘I’ll pay. It was my fault.’
‘I agree, but I was holding it.’
Sophia rummaged in her handbag and pulled out her purse.
‘I know but I startled you and I am to blame. Please let me do this.’ Joe pulled out his wallet and asked the stallholder, ‘How much?’
As Sophia tried to open her purse, she realized that her nonna was watching her and colour rose in her cheeks.
‘Is this the uomo the man, who knocked you over yesterday?’ she asked, her expression now unreadable.
‘Yes… but it was an accident,’ Joe replied whilst simultaneously handing the stallholder money. ‘Do you have another of those dishes?’
‘Si.’
‘Could I see it, please?’
The stallholder turned around and started looking through a pile of boxes.
Joe turned back to Sophia. ‘Your mouth looks a bit better today but your head is…’ He grimaced. ‘That’s quite an egg.’
‘Yes and thanks for that. It was a great start to my holiday.’ Sophia wanted to be angry at Joe for causing her pain and embarrassment, twice, but his apologies seemed so earnest and he had tried to rectify his mistake by paying for the broken dish. In fact, instead of feeling annoyed, she found herself admiring how good he looked in a light grey polo shirt and faded jeans. His hair had that just got out of bed look and she wondered if he had.
Nonna cleared her throat.
‘Oh, sorry. This is Joe Lancaster. And yes… he is responsible for my head and my lip.’
‘Very pleased to meet you.’ Joe held out his hand but Sophia’s nonna just stared at it. ‘I am so sorry, Mrs… ’
‘Spinoli.’
‘Mrs Spinoli. It was an accident – both times.’
Nonna seemed to believe him as she then held out her hand and allowed Joe to take it.
‘So where have you travelled from today? Are you staying locally?’
‘I live here. I always live here. And you look… familiare. I have seen you around, yes?’ Nonna asked Joe and he nodded.
‘My uncle owns a hotel on the lake. I’ve been helping out for a few weeks.’
‘Who is your uncle?’
‘Niccolo Sidoli.’
‘Ah yes, I know Niccolo. I used to know most people in Malcesine but in the last decade things change so much, with new people coming in and others moving away. Time changes everything.’ She sighed.
‘My uncle said the same.’
‘You like this one?’ The stallholder interrupted them.
‘Sophia, what do you think?’
Sophia looked at the dish but didn’t try to take it. ‘It’s very pretty.’
‘Could you wrap it up for the lady, please?’ Joe asked, then handed the woman more euros.
‘You don’t have to do that…’ Sophia shook her head. ‘You’ve just paid for one.’
Joe waved a hand at her. ‘It’s no trouble. I owed you twice anyway.’
When the dish was wrapped in thick white paper, Joe carefully handed it to Sophia and she tucked it into one of the tote bags.
‘Could I help you ladies with your shopping?’ He ran a hand through his hair and Sophia watched as it rippled beneath his hand, falling back into what seemed to be its naturally messy style. She hoped he wasn’t the type to post hair selfies on Instagram, but something told her he wasn’t.
‘No, we’ll be fine, thank you.’ Sophia replied, swallowing the urge to say yes. ‘We’ve taken up enough of your time already.’
‘It wouldn’t be any trouble but… if you don’t want any help then… perhaps I’ll see you around?’
Sophia nodded. At least she knew that he was staying locally and there was a chance that she might bump into him again. The thought made her smile inwardly. Bumping into him was the last thing she needed.
‘Say hello to your uncle,’ Nonna said, then she took Sophia’s arm and guided her away.
As they headed back through the market, Sophia had a strange urge to turn and run after Joe. She was sure she’d seen disappointment on his face when she’d declined his help but surely that would be ridiculous. Why would he want to see them home with their shopping? He probably had much better things to be doing with his time than chasing around after accident-prone women with big fat eggs on their foreheads that made them resemble Cyclops. She must have imagined it.
‘I think there was una scintilla there, Sophia.’ Nonna broke into her thoughts.
‘What?’ Sophia glanced at her nonna but she was straight-faced. ‘A spark?’
‘You and the Englishman. He likes you and I think you like him.’
‘Nonsense!’ Sophia snapped. ‘I mean… sorry. It’s just… I barely know him. Yes, he’s attractive and, yes, he seems nice but on the two occasions I’ve been around him, he’s caused me to fall over or to break something.’
‘What is it they say? Third time lucky?’
Sophia shook her head. ‘I’m not looking for love, or another relationship, or anything remotely romantic. Not even a date. After what happened with Lee, I’m not inclined to want to be with anyone ever again.’
Her nonna stopped walking and turned to face her. She fixed her brown eyes on Sophia’s. ‘I understand, bella, I do. But sometimes, even when you’re not looking for amore, it finds you. And you can try to fight it, but…’ She shrugged. ‘Now, when we get home and have coffee and cakes in front of us, I will tell you the story of how I met your nonno.’
‘I’d love that.’
They walked the rest of the way home in silence, taking in the sweet summery air and the happy bustle of the pretty lakeside town. And, as they walked, Sophia allowed her thoughts to stray back to Joe’s handsome face. He couldn’t really have any genuine interest in her now, could he? It would be foolish to even hope so. Anyway, she wasn’t hoping, because she was sworn off men. Even extremely handsome ones with big green eyes and hair she just wanted to run her fingers through.
Chapter 7
‘Okay, Mum. Well try to stay calm and that’ll help him to stay calm too.’ Joe ran a hand through his hair and sighed. ‘I really think you should take him to see the GP though. Yes. Yes, okay. I’ll speak to you tomorrow. Bye.’
He ended the call on his mobile, then tucked it into the pocket of his jeans. His mother had been distressed when he’d called her and hadn’t wanted to tell him what was wrong but he could hear his father in the background. Over the past year, his father had become forgetful and sometimes confused and today he had woken up asking where James was. And James had been gone for quite some time, so the fact that his father had forgotten that fact was certainly something to worry about. But his mother was stubborn and proud and had so far refused to take his father to see the doctor because she didn’t want her husband being labelled with a medical term.
He felt irritated that he couldn’t help his mother right now, but even if he’d been back in England, she would have made excuses to stop him visiting. It was as if she couldn’t bear for anyone to see her husband at anything other than his best. But she was sixty-six now and his father was sixty-eight, so at some point she was going to have to accept some help.
He wondered if she’d have accepted help from James, then shrugged the thought away. Because of course she would. James would have had all the answers.
Joe’s back and shoulders ached; a sign that the stress of worrying was getting to him. Perhaps a run would help ease the tension. Yes, he needed a run.
Ten minutes later, he’d changed into his gear and warmed up. One of the best things about Lake Garda was the running routes
with their picturesque scenery. Today he would take the cycle path that started in Navene and terminated in Castelletto di Brenzone, then double back on himself to return to his uncle’s hotel. It meant he could run along the shore to make the most of the breeze from the lake and enjoy the spectacular views.
He started in a slow jog then soon gained speed. He focused on his breathing, on the rush of sensation careering through his limbs, on the sun’s warmth and on the contrasting breeze that soothed his heated skin. Throughout his thirty-six years, he’d found relief in running, in pushing his body to keep going; to moving through the wall that could hit all of a sudden if he wasn’t feeling one hundred per cent. And today, that wall found him within fifteen minutes.
His legs became heavy, as if he was running through concrete, and his breathing became laboured. Thoughts of his parents and letting them down flooded his mind and self-doubt tingled at his edges, making him question whether he could be the man he wanted to be.
He slowed down and jogged again for a bit, allowing his legs to recover and his breathing to regulate. It wasn’t just his parents he worried about. There was Charlotte too. She had liked Malcesine but it had also been blatantly obvious that she was keen to get home, to live the life she’d chosen for herself. It was tough for him; he missed her so much that sometimes it was like a physical pain. He knew it was natural, that they’d grow apart as the years passed, that the closeness they’d once shared would change and evolve into something else, but it still felt too soon for that. If only he could turn the clock back and recapture some of the days gone by…
But that wasn’t going to happen.
He was fast approaching forty and his life had changed considerably over the past year. He’d seen Charlotte move on with her life, take on new challenges and thrive. It was only right that he moved on too. That he found a new way forward that would make her proud, but also, importantly, a way that gave him back some of the self-esteem that had seeped away with his redundancy. He doubted he’d ever make his parents proud and his redundancy had left his mother with pursed lips and his father shaking his head. Joe knew they were both desperate to say I told you so about his apparent failure at his chosen career. Because if he’d been that good a photographer, surely they’d have kept him on and sacked someone else? Joe knew it didn’t work like that, but his mum and dad didn’t seem to. He was convinced that they wanted to believe he was a failure. That way, they could hold onto the idea that he was the complete opposite to James, the high-flying corporate lawyer.
He realized that he’d reached Castelletto di Brenzone, so he turned around and headed back the way he’d come, this time picking up speed again and enjoying filling his lungs with the clear, fresh air. He was in a beautiful place and he had a whole new path ahead of him. It was time for him to seize the day, to make the most of his life.
And now was as good a time to start as any.
So as he ran, he bounced some ideas around in his mind, things he’d been considering for years but never found the time to develop. The combination of the endorphins rushing through his system, the surface of the lake shimmering in the sunlight, the clear blue sky above and the dramatic Monte Baldo mountain range, all made him begin to believe that anything was possible if he was prepared to put in the work.
*
‘Come on then, Nonna. We have coffee and pastries, so now it’s time for you to tell me all about how you met Nonno.’ Sophia stretched out her legs and kicked off her sandals. The unused back bedroom of her grandmother’s house had a sun verandah and they were sat out there now, a pot of coffee and a plate of the pastries they’d bought at the market in front of them. The late afternoon sun had long since moved around to the other side of the house but it was still pleasantly warm.
‘It is time, yes, bella.’ Nonna nodded then took a sip of her coffee. ‘I was young, much younger than you are now. My parents were quite protective of my sister and me, and we were very close. She was only a year older than me, and such a lovely girl. She saw the good in everyone and in that way was a lot like your mother. And you.’
‘I don’t know that I see good in everyone. Some people perhaps. But not everyone.’
‘You have a pure heart, Sophia, and it makes you vulnerable. That’s why you moved in with that porco schifoso. You probably thought you would be good for him, that you could make him happy. I bet he had some issues before you got together, didn’t he?’
Sophia picked up a cannoli and took a bite to avoid answering. Was that what had happened? Lee had been a bit lost when they’d met; he’d had some trouble in his teenage years and relied a lot on his sister to bail him out. So when Sophia had come along, had she been just another sister figure for him, someone to clean up after him and to support him? No wonder they’d lacked a spark if she’d been more like a sibling to him than a girlfriend. And, of course, she had become his provider too as he’d lived off her money and in her apartment.
‘Anyway, when I turned twenty, my sister Maria became withdrawn. She started disappearing for hours and when I asked where she’d been, she’d claim she was with friends or helping out an elderly neighbour. I don’t know what my parents thought she was doing but they were otherwise occupied by then as Papa was ill. He’d always had trouble with his chest and back but that summer he deteriorated and my mother was distraught. I did what I could to help out but Maria…’ She shrugged and stared out at the back wall of the property behind, where the breeze was blowing a net curtain in a window, resembling someone taking deep breaths in and out. ‘She just disappeared.’
‘She disappeared?’
‘She left a note, telling us not to worry and that she’d gone to pursue her dreams. She told us not to look for her and besides, Papa was too weak to go searching for her. I was afflito, very upset, but I did my best to stop my parents worrying. I’m sure it made my father’s condition worse. One day, I went to see a friend of mine and her older brother was there. He’d been in Verona working for few years and the last time I’d seen him, he’d been a spotty teenager. But now…’ She widened her eyes and grinned at Sophia. ‘He was a man.’
‘How old was he?’
‘Only twenty-one but he seemed older to me. He was so handsome with his shiny black hair and deep, dark eyes and I fell instantly in love with him. After dinner, he asked me if I’d like to take a walk along the lake.’
‘And did you?’
‘What do you think? He told me then that he’d seen Maria in Verona and that she’d been keeping company with an older man. He wasn’t sure where she was living but he’d seen them at a bar. This was all the type of thing that was still so frowned upon back then. My parents would have been horrified, so I asked him to keep the bit about the man quiet.’
‘Did you go looking for her?’
‘I was going to – against my parents’ wishes – even though her note asked us not to, but she suddenly returned home.’
‘What, just like that?’
Nonna inclined her head and grimaced, and Sophia saw a faint blush rise into her cheeks.
‘Are you okay, Grandma?’
‘Yes, yes, bella, just remembering. It was such an emotional time. Anyway, within weeks, my papa’s heart gave out and our lives became chaotic with taking care of our mother, running the house and trying to find work cleaning and taking in washing to keep some money coming in. That’s why, when your grandfather came to me and asked me to marry him, I was stunned. I knew him, obviously, but we hadn’t even been romantico. Yet… he just knew.’
‘Knew what?’
‘That I needed him. I had so much responsibility, especially when my mother’s grief made her so ill she became bedridden. You know, she stayed there until she passed away just three months later. It was such a tragic waste. But through it all, your grandfather was there for me. He moved back to Malcesine and found work locally. After we married, he moved in here with us and that was that.’
‘And then you had Mum nine months later?’ Sophia was trying to work out
the numbers but found that another pastry was calling her from the plate, so she gave up.
‘That’s right.’ Nonna pressed her lips together.
‘And Maria? What did she do?’
‘She lived with us for a few years before returning to Verona. She lived there until she passed on.’
Sophia rubbed her grandmother’s arm. ‘I’m sorry. She was young when she died, wasn’t she?’
‘Just forty-five.’
‘So she didn’t have any children?’
‘She never married. Apparently, the older man she’d been seeing broke her heart. She admitted as much to me once when she rang me… after she’d been drinking. It was years later, of course. But she swore she’d never love again. Isn’t it sad what having your heart broken can do?’
‘Very sad.’ Sophia swallowed hard. ‘Was it… was it drinking that killed her?’
‘That and medication. She just didn’t want to feel any more.’
‘Oh, Nonna, I’m so sorry.’ Sophia got up, then leaned over and hugged her. The older woman was stiff at first, as if trying to stay calm, but then she relaxed in Sophia’s arms and returned the embrace.
‘It’s all a long time ago, bella. And such things happen. I was lucky that I had your grandfather. He was a rock for me and he loved me and Stella deeply. And you and your brothers when you came along.’
‘I wish we could have visited more often.’
Nonna got up suddenly. ‘I think I’ll make some more coffee.’
‘I’ll get it!’
‘No, you stay here and enjoy the last of the evening. It does me good to keep moving. At my age, my joints stiffen. I won’t be long. Oh… if you want to see some photographs, I have a box of them in the dresser in the hallway. Get it out if you want.’
She gently placed a hand on Sophia’s head as she passed, then Sophia was left alone. She hadn’t known much about her mother’s aunt, other than that she’d been an alcoholic and that she’d left Malcesine years ago. Her mother had never said much about her but then she’d never really said a lot about her own mother. Sophia knew that her mother’s relationship with her nonna hadn’t been wonderful, but with them living in England and Nonna living in Malcesine, it hadn’t really been an issue she’d considered on a daily basis. It wasn’t as if Nonna lived a few doors down and was there all the time. Sophia had just grown up knowing that she’d speak to Nonna on birthdays and at Christmas and see her once every few years. But now, being here with her and learning more about her, she felt quite sad that she hadn’t known this woman better.
Love at the Italian Lake Page 5