What Happens in Tuscany... (10 page)

Katie smiled. People in Tuscany have the most wonderful array of expressions to register all possible emotions from surprise, anger, joy to disgust, as well as some of the most colourful insults on the planet.
Maremma
cane
, referring to the land to the west of Florence, was one of the milder ones.

When Nando's wife returned, they managed to persuade her to sit down with them. The dog was allowed to stay with them and Katie was impressed to see him obey the command to sit without hesitation. Rosina and Nando started talking and gradually gave them all the news about the estate. Last year the olive crop had been phenomenal and the oil was excellent. They would be able to try it that evening at dinner. The grape harvest this year wouldn't be as good as last year, as it had been such a dry spring and summer so far, but last year's was exceptional. They would be able to try it that evening at dinner. The ham from their own pigs was particularly good. They would be able to try it that evening at dinner. The figs, the broad beans…the list was endless. Somehow, Katie thought to herself, she didn't see them returning from this holiday thinner than they had started.

Rosina disappeared off to the kitchen and left the three of them there, talking and drinking tea. It felt good to cool down after the long, hot drive. Nando was a mine of information about the locality.

‘My father came here quite regularly, didn't he?' Victoria caught his eye. ‘Was that for business reasons? Did he have business down here in Tuscany?' For a moment, Katie saw Nando hesitate, but he recovered quickly.

‘Just the usual things a landowner has to deal with. You know, audits, taxes, the never-ending bureaucracy we have to put up with here in Italy.' He paused for thought. ‘And he just liked it here. He always said it was his favourite house.' He smiled at Victoria. ‘And we've seen pictures of the house back in England. It looks superb. Ah, but I am forgetting.' He leapt to his feet, slapping his forehead with one hand. ‘There is a message for you. I will get it.' He disappeared off at a run.

The dog took advantage of his absence to wander over and nuzzle Victoria and Katie with his cold wet nose, receiving pats on the head in return. He only returned to his seated position when he heard his master coming back. Nando appeared with a white envelope and handed it to Victoria. She slit it open with her fingernail and pulled out a letter. She glanced down at the signature and Katie couldn't help noticing the expression of pleasure on her face as she registered the name.

‘It's from Tommie…Tom.' She glanced quickly across at Katie and then looked down and read it through, before passing it over. ‘Here, it's to both of us. He's inviting us to lunch or dinner some time.'

Katie took the note from her and read it. She saw that the address was Montespertoli. She wondered where that was. ‘Signor Nando, can you tell me where Montespertoli is, please?'

Nando knew straight away. As Tom had told her at the garden party, it was a short drive away, over the hills to the south. ‘In my van, maybe half an hour. In that sporty German car, you'll do it in half that time, I'm sure.'

‘He's put his phone number down, Victoria. Why don't you call him?'

‘Rosina, is there a telephone here in the villa?'

Rosina shook her head. ‘When your father informed us he wouldn't be coming over for a while, he told us to have it disconnected. We have a line at our house you are very welcome to use. Or, of course, you can use your mobile.' Victoria nodded. Here on the hillside there should be no trouble with a signal, and they could access their email via their phones. She finished her tea and looked across at Katie. ‘I don't know about you, but I could do with a shower.'

Katie nodded in agreement. After the long drive, that was exactly what she wanted as well. She caught Rosina's eye. ‘Could we go to our rooms now? It would be nice to freshen up.'

Rosina jumped to her feet and led them up the broad curving staircase. Katie smiled as she saw the expression of resignation on the face of the Labrador, abandoned on the ground floor. Their rooms were on the first floor and they were magnificent. They were side by side, overlooking the terrace along the front of the house, directly above the main steps leading up to the door. Victoria disappeared into her room, uttering little squeals of delight. Katie had to work hard to avoid doing the same as she opened the door to her own room.

It was enormous. A massive wooden bed, a wardrobe the size of a bathroom and a huge chest of drawers lined the walls. Through a half open door she spotted a bathroom big enough for a rugby team. Thought of rugby teams reminded her of Martin. She had spoken to him on the phone a couple of times before leaving the UK and had enjoyed hearing from him again. She definitely got the impression that he was very keen on her, as Jenny had said. For her part, she found him very appealing. Her eyes flicked across to the huge double bed, but she shook her head impatiently. He was in England. She was in Tuscany, and that was that, at least until she returned to England.

She walked over to the open window and pushed the louvered shutters which had been closed against the heat. Warm air and bright light flooded into the room. She leant out of the window and took a good look round. To the west, the brown ribbon of the river Arno meandered off in the direction of Pisa and the sea. To the right, just visible through the branches of the trees, was Florence. By standing on a chair, leaning perilously outwards and squinting hard, Katie was just about able to make out the familiar rounded shape of the Duomo, shimmering in the haze created by a mixture of heat and pollution. This was another awesome house in an awesome position. Victoria's father certainly had an eye for the right property in the right place. What was it they said; location, location, location? Katie closed the shutters once more and set about her luggage.

Their bags had been brought up to the rooms while they were having their tea, and she spent some time unpacking her clothes and hanging them in the enormous wardrobe. When the bags were finally empty, she stripped and headed for the shower. As she was walking into the bathroom, she heard her phone. She turned back, picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was Jenny.

‘Hi, Jen, how's things?'

‘Hi, Katie, have you got there yet?'

‘Yes, we just hit Tuscany a few hours ago. It's an absolutely magnificent villa, and I've just been looking out over the river Arno towards Florence. Not too shabby at all. How are you?'

‘Cold and wet. The weather's absolutely bloody awful' They chatted for a few minutes before Jenny came to the point. ‘So who did I see in the Crown last night?'

‘Just don't tell me it was Dean.'

‘No, no fear on that score. My spies tell me he does his drinking at the Dog and Duck nowadays.'

‘So, if it wasn't him, who was it? Martin?'

‘Bingo! And he didn't stop talking about you the whole time.' There was a pause. ‘You've definitely made a conquest there, Katie.'

‘Well, he's going to have to wait a month or so. Let's see how I feel when I get back to Bournemouth.'

‘He told me he's starting a new job in London this summer.'

Katie had forgotten that. ‘Of course. Well, we'll see when I get back to the UK.'

‘Anything you say, but you could do a lot worse. Tall, handsome, brainy; don't leave it too long, I might have a go at him myself. You don't want to lose this one.'

‘Like I say, we'll see.'

‘You said that before.' Then Jenny decided to let her off the hook. ‘Now, you enjoy yourself and get a bit of sunshine for me too. I'm off to put on a jumper.'

‘I'm sitting here stark naked and I'm still hot. Thanks for the call, Jen. Bye.'

Katie dropped the phone back on the bed and stood up. She thought long and hard about what Jenny had said. She was still thinking about it as she dried herself after a wonderful cool shower. There was a tap at the door. She wrapped the towel around herself and opened it. It was Rosina.

‘Excuse me, Signorina Caterina. Would it be convenient if we serve dinner in half an hour?'

‘Of course, Rosina, as long as that suits Victoria.'

‘Yes, I've already spoken to her and she said to ask you.'

‘I'll be down in five minutes. And, Rosina, please just call me Katie. No need for the Signorina.'

‘Katie…Katie…' She experimented with the sound. ‘Of course. From now on, you are Katie.'

‘That's great and please, Rosina, tell your husband too. OK?'

Ten minutes later Katie went downstairs to find Victoria out in the courtyard, sipping a glass of white wine. ‘Here, Katie, you have to try this, if you haven't before. It's vin santo.'

During her year in Florence, Katie had already tried and enjoyed this naturally strong wine, more like a sherry than a table wine. She accepted a small glass and sat back, still mulling over what Jenny had told her. On the one hand it was nice to be wanted. On the other was the doubt about whether she was ready for launching into another relationship.

Victoria had also been thinking about a man. ‘I phoned Tom. He's asked us over for lunch tomorrow. He said to bring our swimming things as they've got a pool.'

‘They?'

‘He's there with his sister Beatrice and her daughter. You remember them, don't you?'

Katie had to admit that the prospect of a good lunch and a swim sounded very good. ‘Sounds great. This'll give you a chance to show off one of your new bikinis.' Victoria had bought two in Geneva, along with a sleek one-piece costume. Katie had deliberately averted her eyes when the total was rung up. In an exclusive boutique inside a five star plus hotel, she knew they wouldn't come cheap.

She caught Victoria's eye and sensed insecurity. ‘Bit of a daunting prospect?' Victoria gave her a little smile.

‘You know me so well, don't you?' She took another sip of wine. ‘It's a pretty scary proposition, really, when you think about it. For me, any social event is a bit intimidating after my years of seclusion. Add to that the fact that I've never worn a bikini before and never spent time half naked in male company. Then there's the male company itself. I'm not used to that at all, especially attractive male company.' She was blushing by this time. Katie was about to do her best to bolster her spirits when Rosina arrived to lead them in to dinner.

‘I've set up in the small dining room, seeing as there are just the two of you. I hope that's all right.' They both nodded their agreement and followed her into an enormous room. The table could happily have seated twenty people. As Rosina went off to the kitchen, Katie whispered to Victoria.

‘Thank God she's put us in the small dining room. We'd have needed megaphones to talk to each other in the big one!' Victoria giggled.

‘I wonder where my father used to eat. At least there are two of us, but he would have been all alone down here. Surely not in here. Maybe in his study.'

Rosina reappeared immediately with a large plate loaded with slices of toasted bread, some covered with pieces of tomato, some with pâté, some just rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil. They were amazing. She told them the unlabelled bottle on the table contained last year's red wine that her husband had been raving about. Lunch for the girls had been an ice cream at a motorway service area somewhere in Piedmont, so both of them were hungry. It all looked and smelt delightful. Nevertheless, Katie issued a few words of warning.

‘If we eat like this every day, we're going to double in size!' The expression of fear returned to Victoria's face, not helped by the arrival of Rosina with a huge plate of sliced ham and different types of salami. Katie set about cheering her up. ‘Victoria, you've got nothing to worry about. You're slim, you're young, you can eat and drink whatever you want and you'll still look great. It's old women like me who have to be careful.'

‘Thirty is old?'

‘Well it's five years older than you.' Katie picked up the bottle and poured the wine. Predictably, it tasted every bit as good as Nando had said.

Victoria reached across and clinked her glass against hers. ‘Cheers, Katie, and thanks for all the driving, and all the other stuff.' Katie gave her a big smile.

‘As for tomorrow, Victoria, you've nothing to fear. Umm, this ham is really, really good. You are going to enjoy yourself immensely tomorrow. I promise you it'll be a great day. What's not to like? Food, sun and an adoring man.' Catching Victoria's eye, she elaborated. ‘And he will be adoring. You look great, you have that air of mystery and, although brains don't always rank too high on male radar, you are very intelligent.' She deliberately omitted the fact that she was also a multi-millionaire. ‘It'll be a great day.'

Victoria didn't look convinced, but the food and wine helped, as well as Katie's words. By the time Rosina appeared to remove the remains of the antipasti, she was feeling a good deal happier at the prospect of the next day's lunch. The arrival of a steaming bowl of pasta reduced them to stunned silence until Rosina returned with a pair of huge raw T-bone steaks and asked how they would like them cooked. They both managed to beg her not to give them meat, after everything else they had already eaten, for fear of dire consequences. Rosina tut-tutted about them needing to keep their energy levels up and went back to the kitchen to return the steaks to the fridge.

The meal ended with bowls of Rosina's home-made crème caramel and scalding cups of espresso coffee. Both girls were full to bursting by the end and decided that an evening stroll might be a good idea.

Outside, the sun was just reaching the horizon, spreading a red glow across the land. As they stood on the terrace, admiring the view and savouring the relative cool of the evening, the dog appeared as if by magic. They set off down the steps and along the gravel drive through the trees, the temperature now more bearable. The big dog accompanied them all the way, apparently pleased to have company.