One Summer in Italy Read online

  For several seconds he didn’t reply. His gaze searched the landscape as if somewhere on a distant grey-green hillside there might be a tree with answers growing on it. Finally, he turned back, brows coming together in a straight line. ‘I wonder what it is about you that encourages people to ask you to make promises?’

  It wasn’t what she’d expected. She’d anticipated a persuasive argument that would allow him to climb on his bike and roar off home to England with a quiet mind. Dismayed at how hollow that mental image made her feel, she sighed. ‘Wish I knew.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I had no right to ask. My mind’s running in circles, hunting for a way to face the prospect of leaving her here. Frightened of the truth because if I tell her … well, everything changes. I can’t unsay it. There’s no reset button.’ His knuckles whitened as his fists tightened. ‘I’ve painted myself into a corner and I don’t know how to jump out. I was reeling at the news I had a daughter when Freya asked me to come out here to check she was safe, and what could I do but try to help? I thought Freya would automatically know the best thing to do. Now I know Amy and her somewhat black-and-white view of the world I see that in some ways I’ve made things worse. No way can I see her reacting well if I let on I’ve been deceiving her for weeks. And the thought of her refusing to see me again …’ He shook his head as his words dried up.

  Sofia found it hard to offer a positive slant. Amy saw her world as having been rocked by deceit. To learn that one of her newly formed alliances was based on more deceit wasn’t going to help her learn to trust again. ‘If you could have the time over, how would you handle it?’ she asked, trying to come at the problem from another direction.

  ‘I’m not sure how I’d handle Freya’s plea for help,’ he said tersely, ripping up a handful of wiry grass. ‘But, that aside, I suppose I’d write to Amy and introduce myself. Explain things from my perspective and ask if she wanted to meet me. Give her control of the situation instead of rushing in.’

  He looked so dejected that Sofia’s heart ached. ‘But you rushed in to help her. Not to take over.’

  ‘Is that how she’ll see it? I’m coming round to the realisation that my first steps have been ill advised and now I’m frightened any next step will be wrong.’

  Sofia took his hand – not the one that was ripping up more and more grass as if creating a bald patch was relieving his feelings, but the other one. ‘Are you leaving straightaway?’

  His hand, hot and dry, tightened around hers. ‘I have my room until this time next week – Friday the twenty-second of June – so if nothing else happens at home I’ll be here till then. But I can’t stay for ever.’

  He sounded so bleak that Sofia leaned her cheek against the point of his shoulder, gazing at the hazy pinky beige head of the next peak. ‘I’ll try and stay with her for a while. And I’ll keep your secret because I think telling her the truth right now will only underscore that she can’t rely on anybody.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he murmured. ‘You know—’ he paused to swallow ‘—it’s possible that my daughter will never know I’m her father. And if we lose touch this summer and she doesn’t return home then I might never see her again.’

  The dismay in his voice made Sofia wrap her arms around him and hug him tight. But that was about the only comfort she could offer. Because he was right.

  Chapter Fifteen

  For Sofia, the next week crawled by. She thought she caught a glimpse of Gianni Bianchi in town and felt irritated when it wasn’t him. She would have liked to stick her nose in the air and stalk past.

  She began training with Aurora, glad it was her because she was as honest and open as her brother was sly, and as even-tempered as her mother was mercurial. The best thing about her new role was not working with Davide, who now accorded her only the briefest of nods if their paths crossed. Sofia was trying to like him more because Aurora had explained how much her brother had been hurt by their father’s departure when Davide had been only ten. Having ‘daddy issues’ explained a lot about his bad attitude.

  The worst thing about her new job proved to be Sofia discovering she had an Achilles heel. She’d comfortably speak Italian in person or on the phone, but when she turned to the wheezy old computer and its booking system she felt as if she barely knew the language at all.

  It would have been much easier to read and understand a paragraph of text with whole sentences and context to aid her but the computer so often proffered single words, short phrases or even abbreviations, and never having used an Italian computer she had no idea of the basic IT terms. Then there was new vocabulary specific to the hotel industry. Check-out sheets with ticks next to headings expressed as initials could be frankly bewildering.

  And all the time she was stuck in a suit and heels at a desk instead of outdoors in the sun. Her hair was up in a tight little ball instead of a comfy ponytail. Her nails were painted – though they looked amateur next to Aurora’s.

  She didn’t see much of Levi. Very much aware of Benedetta’s beady eye, she didn’t seek him out and, as she was no longer waiting on tables, their paths rarely crossed. When they did they smiled and carried on, because Sofia was a member of staff and Levi was a guest. An increasingly solemn guest but still a guest.

  Sofia worked a mixture of early and late shifts. Check-in and check-out duties quickly bored her. Guests posed questions that she had to find answers to on the internet, making her feel that they could as easily have done it for themselves on their phones.

  The only good thing about taking the job was that Amy seemed reassured by Sofia’s continued presence. They managed to arrange a certain amount of time together, to share a meal or a drink or just to sit in the tunnel of greenery outside the staff accommodation. They were spending Thursday evening on the bench outside their rooms when Amy insisted the vine still scraped on the fly screen at her window at night.

  ‘I don’t see how it can!’ protested Sofia. ‘Look! It’s tied up like a bondage victim and can’t possibly reach your window.’

  Though Amy giggled, she insisted she’d heard it just the evening before. ‘It always seems to be between one and two in the morning. Maybe that’s when I rouse between cycles of sleep. We learned about that last year in school.’

  Sofia paused, gazing at Amy’s window. ‘Really? Every night?’

  ‘Not every. I think I’ve heard it about three times this week.’

  On her next shift Sofia pulled up the staff rotas, to which she now had access. Thoughtfully, she identified three nights recently when Davide had worked the evening shift in Il Giardino, finishing around 1 a.m., while Amy had worked the earlier shift and could have been in bed by then.

  Taking up her phone on her next break she texted Levi and explained the situation, receiving an instant reply.

  Levi: When is the little shit next on late shift when Amy’s not?

  Sofia: Tonight.

  Levi: You and Amy make sure you’re safely indoors and don’t come out if you hear a noise.

  Gleefully, Sofia shared the news with Amy, who was indignant to learn it might be Davide disturbing her sleep and inclined to mutter promises of foul retribution. She readily agreed to leave it to Levi though and huddled up with Sofia at the window with the light out at quarter to one in the morning. Scarcely had they settled when they saw the dark shadow of a man step over the little picket gate and hide behind a handy shrub.

  ‘Levi!’ Amy whispered, gripping Sofia’s arm so tightly that the circulation almost halted.

  Then came twenty-five long and boring minutes before another shadowy figure stepped carefully over the gate and crept towards Amy’s window. The scraping noise barely reached Sofia and Amy but it was enough for Levi to shoot out from behind his shrub like a yeti bellowing ‘RAAHHHHHH!’

  Davide squealed like a frightened pig, nearly falling to the ground in terror, cursing and swearing in Italian as he slipped and slid his way back to the gate, almost unmanning himself in his haste to scramble over it.

  Amy scre
amed with laughter, snatching open the door to throw herself on Levi with a huge hug. ‘That was awesome! Did you see him run? What a wuss.’

  Sofia watched from her doorway as Levi returned the hug. ‘Confronting him was also an option but this was more fun. You two better get into your own rooms while I disappear,’ he whispered, ‘just in case Davide tries to get you in trouble by sneaking to his mother that there’s a man hanging out near your rooms.’

  ‘But how would he explain having been here to know?’ demanded Amy, nevertheless taking a step towards her room.

  ‘He might think of something.’ Levi looked at Sofia for a moment, raised a hand in farewell and turned and stepped back over the gate. Sofia waved back before she closed her door, though she couldn’t resist peeping out through the window again just in case he reappeared.

  He didn’t, but a text popped up on her phone.

  Levi: Hopefully that will keep the little bastard out of Amy’s hair for a bit. x

  She sent a reply echoing the sentiment just so she could send a kiss back.

  The next day, Friday, Sofia was working the afternoon shift when Levi came to the desk. Aurora stepped forward to greet him and they spent several minutes in deep discussion while Sofia was distracted by what seemed like an ever-ringing phone. After he left, sending Sofia the ghost of a wink, Aurora observed, ‘Our English artist must like Casa Felice. He has booked for another week.’

  Sofia couldn’t help a small hop of her heart but kept her smile no more than politely interested. ‘He’s lucky you could accommodate him.’

  Aurora nodded. ‘Today is the twenty-second of June. Once we move into July it will not be possible unless we receive cancellations. All fifty rooms are booked from July the first to September the second.’

  ‘That’s good for Casa Felice.’ Sofia bent her attention to the check-out sheets spewing from the printer while her heart settled back into what had become its usual state – slow and slightly heavy.

  Another week dragged by. Sofia began to feel as if she’d been sewn into her suit and glued behind the reception desk. Once off duty she couldn’t wait to get into more comfortable clothes and into the fresh air and sunshine. One afternoon, she strode through town and took the road that wound up between stone houses to the cemetery to leave fresh flowers for her grandparents – more to annoy Gianni if he noticed than because she felt the urge to make it a regular thing. While she was there she gazed down on Hotel Alba and thought sadly of the contrast between her gentle father and his horrible brother. Would her unknown aunt and cousin react in the same way if Sofia dropped in at their hotel and introduced herself?

  On her next off-duty day she joined a trip to a local vineyard and learned a little about the fermenting of the richest red wine she’d ever tasted. Aldo would have loved it.

  When Sofia and Amy went out for pizza together on Tuesday evening the younger girl reported that Davide was actively avoiding her. No doubt a madman jumping out from behind a bush and roaring at him had struck home as a heavy hint that his behaviour towards the eighteen-year-old was not going unnoticed. Without Davide’s unwelcome attentions and with Noemi, Matteo and friends in the town with whom to socialise, Amy looked cheerful and settled.

  Sofia asked her casually what her plans were at the end of the summer – whether she’d go to university.

  Amy sighed and pulled a variety of faces, a triangle of pizza poised in her hand. ‘I didn’t finish my baccalaureate exams so uni’s out for now.’

  ‘Do you regret binning your exams?’ Sofia took a bite of the deliciously crisp pizza crust.

  Amy didn’t reply directly. ‘What about Spain? Aren’t we going on together?’

  Sofia collected up a string of cheese at the corner of her mouth. ‘Still want to?’

  Amy replied quickly. ‘Don’t you?’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ she said easily, concluding that Amy still viewed Sofia as her comfort blanket.

  She’d come to other conclusions in the past days. One was that she wasn’t cut out to be caught in quandaries. Knowing Levi was Amy’s biological father and keeping her in the dark about it felt wrong, but the prospect of sharing the secret that was not hers to share felt ‘wronger’ and Levi had yet to show signs of wanting to confess his identity to Amy.

  Chance sightings of him around Casa Felice taught her that the other thing she wasn’t cut out for was one-night stands. She definitely did not possess the gene that would allow her to spend hours in a man’s bed and walk away thinking, ‘That was nice but let’s not be greedy’ or ‘Can’t wait to do that with someone else!’

  Instead she found herself missing Levi’s conversation and wondering why he was frowning so often and remembering the intensity in his eyes as he’d surrounded her with his heat. Every time he’d entered her she’d felt as if he was stroking her inside. Sex with Levi had not been a wham-bam experience.

  Friday had come around again before he reappeared at the reception desk. His had been one of the check-out sheets she’d printed when she came on shift this morning and as she sorted the sheaf into alphabetical order she’d pictured him clearing his room and packing the big black and red bike that had waited silently in the car park all month.

  ‘Hiya,’ Sofia said unprofessionally, because she’d been left in sole charge while Aurora attended a meeting in her mother’s office and it felt unnatural to say ‘Buon giorno’ to him.

  Levi leaned his tanned forearms on the counter. His T-shirt was a dark green that brought out the blue of his eyes and it pulled tightly around his biceps. He looked tired, but then he smiled and the fatigue lines vanished. ‘What are the chances of me staying for another few days?’

  Sofia felt that absurd little hop of the heart again to know he still didn’t want to leave. It made no sense to feel that way because his staying made him a guest and being a guest made him untouchable almost as much as his going home to England would. ‘I’ll look, but I know Aurora said we’d be full from July the first.’ She understood the Italian computer now and it didn’t take long to bring up the page where each floor had its own plan with crosses through the rooms already reserved. Only one room wasn’t booked.

  ‘There’s a superior room free tonight.’ She began to click forward through the week. ‘In fact it’s free until Thursday – six nights – so we must have had a cancellation. I could see if there’s a less expensive room for part of the period but I don’t hold out much hope.’

  Levi grunted, propping his chin on his fist. ‘What’s the rate for the superior?’

  ‘A hundred and seventy-nine euros per night, including breakfast and free wifi.’

  ‘I particularly enjoy breakfast in my room,’ he said softly and Sofia felt herself blush hotly to remember them sharing chocolate croissants and hot coffee, the tumbled bed only waiting for them to finish. Judging by the sudden smile in his eyes, that was exactly the memory he’d meant to evoke.

  Aware of other guests waiting behind him she returned her gaze to the computer screen, clicking efficiently through floor plans and dates. ‘I can’t see anything else. I’m afraid the superior room is the only option.’

  When she looked back him, his smile had fled. ‘I’d better take it. I’m approaching the last chance saloon.’

  Ultra-aware that the waiting guests might be following the coded conversation, Sofia sent him a sympathetic look and filled in the dates to reserve room 412. ‘Have you decided what to do at the end of your stay?’ She tried to make it sound like polite customer-relations chatter as the printer began to whirr out the necessary paperwork.

  Silently, he shook his head.

  ‘Here’s your check-out for the room you’re leaving.’

  He reached in his back pocket to draw out his wallet. ‘I know the drill. I pay for that now and then you check me into the new room.’

  ‘Exactly.’ She watched as he slipped his credit card into the machine and tapped out his PIN. The computer updated, and he signed the check-in for the new room. ‘You can move you
r things over. Room 412 has already been serviced.’ Then, because the frown had taken charge of his forehead again, asked, ‘How’s everything going on at home without you?’

  He did manage a faint grin at that. ‘OK, on the face of it. A couple of things that were worrying me don’t seem to have come to anything.’

  ‘Good.’ She handed him his paperwork with a bright professional smile. ‘I hope you continue to enjoy your visit to Casa Felice.’ And because it was what Aurora had told her to say at the end of interaction with a guest, as she handed over his new keycard she added, ‘Do let me know if there’s anything I can do to improve your stay.’

  Laughter flashed through his eyes and he murmured, ‘If only it were that easy,’ before thanking her at a more usual volume and leaving her to the next guest.

  Sofia turned her attention to the elderly English couple waiting patiently for their turn at the counter but all through processing their report that their air conditioning unit was making a noise her head was filled with vivid images of Levi … if only things were easy.

  It didn’t take long for Levi to pack up and change rooms. Being restricted to what would fit in his bike’s panniers tended to keep baggage to a minimum, though it had meant making use of the hotel laundry service every few days of this protracted trip.

  Room 412 was glorious, tucked under the eaves at the back of the hotel and unrolling the whole panorama of the valley at his feet. He leaned on the balcony rail and stared, enjoying the contrast between the hotel’s lavender garden and the wild and natural tree-clad slopes and rocky peaks beyond. He fetched his watercolour pad and compared what he could see now to the view he’d painted from the garden and terrace. The rocks looked golden today. The late-morning sun wasn’t subtle but it minimised shadows and made the green of the tightly packed woodland unbelievably bright.