What Happens in Tuscany... (11 page)

‘I see we've got a guard dog.' Katie could feel him rubbing against her legs from time to time. She wasn't used to dogs, but it wasn't an unpleasant sensation. They came out of the trees and followed the drive up to the right, in the opposite direction from the way they had come. It curved upwards until it reached what had obviously been designed as an observation platform. A pair of umbrella pines spread their shady branches over a stone bench, facing east. They stood beside it and savoured the view. The ground fell away in front of them as far as a distant field of vines. Beyond them was more hillside and beyond that in the lengthening shadows, was Florence. The setting sun picked out the roofs of the city, turning them blood red.

‘That is truly spectacular.' Katie had never seen the great city from this angle, at this time of day. It really was breathtaking.

‘This deserves a photo.' Victoria had her phone in her hand. After she had taken a couple of shots, Katie offered a suggestion.

‘This deserves a very special selfie.'

‘Selfie?' Victoria looked back towards her.

Katie pulled her down onto the bench and showed her how to take a self-portrait. They turned, so the city was behind them, and Victoria extended her arm and took a couple more photos. ‘I'll email these to you. You can send them to your friends.'

Katie couldn't help hearing the note of sadness in her voice. After her long years of segregation from the rest of society, the fact was that Victoria just didn't have many friends.

They stared out over the Tuscan hillside. The roofs of Florence had all but disappeared as the sun sank below the horizon behind their backs. Only the Duomo, Giotto's Campanile and the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio were still discernible in the last rays. In a very few minutes, darkness would have fallen completely. From the shadows at their feet there was a movement and Katie felt something against her leg. She jumped, but then remembered the dog. She reached down and scratched his ears. He grunted with contentment. She stroked him for a few moments and then looked across at Victoria.

‘I've been thinking, Victoria, you know, about you and being shut up in the house for all these years.' She saw that she had Victoria's full attention now. ‘You realise that you've got what nobody else ever has, don't you? You've got the chance to make a fresh start. You mention my friends and, yes, I've got a number of friends, specially Jenny, who you've met. Some of them are great, but there are an awful lot of people from my past who are anything but friends. People like the headmistress of the school where I worked, miserable old cow, not to mention some of the parents of the girls I was teaching and, of course, my ex, Dean.'

Victoria heard her tone. ‘Don't talk about it if it upsets you, Katie.'

‘No, sometimes it's good to talk.' Slowly and hesitantly, she told Victoria pretty much the whole story, from the first time she had met Dean, just after leaving university, to their acrimonious split. She told her about the way things had just got worse and worse until the stripper episode which hardly mattered. Things had been going sour for so long, the end had been inevitable. She realised this now, but it had taken her months, maybe years for it to sink in fully. By the time she had finished, she really did feel better. It really was good to talk. She ended with a few words for Victoria. ‘So you see, Victoria, your period of seclusion and your relative lack of friends isn't necessarily such a bad thing. At least you've avoided all that sort of heartache.'

There was a long silence before Victoria answered. ‘I tell you this, Katie, there were times when I would have given my right arm for some of that heartache. And just because I didn't have those sorts of problems doesn't mean I didn't have problems. When you're on your own like I was, it isn't easy.' There was a pause while she did her best to collect herself. ‘You know, I really envy you your experiences, your relationships, even your failed relationships. We need the highs and the lows in our lives. Without the misery, you don't know what true happiness is. Without loss, how can you know what love is?' There was a pause while she caught her breath. ‘I really do, Katie, I envy you so, so much.'

Katie couldn't see her face, but she could tell she was crying. She reached out her hand and caught Victoria's, determined to comfort her. ‘And you will have them, Vicky, you will. You've come to it all a bit later than the rest of us, but you've got here now. You're beautiful, you're clever, you've got enough money to do whatever you want. And, above all, you're in the amazing position of being able to pick your friends. You don't have the heaps of unwanted memories the rest of us have to cart around. You just wait and see what the next twelve months bring you. You won't recognise your life by this time next year. Honest.' As she spoke, she felt the dog move across to Victoria's side. Sensing her grief, he laid his big head in her lap. Victoria ruffled his ears with one hand and rubbed her eyes with the other.

‘We never had a dog at home. I always wanted one, but my father was against the idea. Maybe he thought it might harm me. I really don't know.' She addressed herself to the dog. ‘So do you feel sorry for me, too? Poor little rich girl, who's had such a hard time in the lap of luxury?' She turned her face towards Katie, her voice strengthening. ‘From now on I no longer want, or deserve, sympathy. Like you said, I've got here now and, by Jove, I'm going to make up for lost time. And if…when I find myself with these sorts of problems, I want you to remind me of this moment here tonight. I want you to remind me that I am looking forward to heartache, looking forward to problems, looking forward, sooner or later, to love and loss.' She pulled out a tissue and blew her nose. Katie decided to lighten the mood. She released her grip on Victoria's hand and gave her a word of advice.

‘Just one thing: “by Jove”; not really used these days. I think the last person to use that expression was Mr Darcy himself. Try using something a bit more modern. Try, “by God” instead of good old Jove or, if you really want to get colloquial, something like “I'm bloody well going to make up for lost time”. Got it?'

‘Got it. In fact, I've bloody well got it. How does that sound.'

‘Excellent. Just don't tell the queen next time she invites you for dinner that you're bloody well looking forward to it.
Capito
?'

‘
Capito
.' There was a happier note in her voice. ‘And another thing; back there you just called me Vicky. I really like that. Would you mind calling me Vicky from now on?'

‘With the greatest of pleasure, Vicky.'

Chapter Ten

‘Victoria, Katie, how great to see you.' Tom came running out of the house at the sound of their car coming up the drive.

It was another cloudless day, already stiflingly hot although it wasn't yet noon. Katie slid the car in alongside a red Fiat and switched off the engine. A cloud of dust from the rough track up which they had driven wafted over them and began to settle on the leather upholstery. They climbed out of the car and shook his hand. He looked and sounded extremely pleased to see them.

‘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?'