The first of the Spanish contingent arrived in one car just after five in the afternoon and the others an hour later. To muddy the waters, the two couples in the first car were both composed of a Fernando and an Alejandra. Tall Fernando was married to diminutive Alejandra, while bearded Fernando was engaged to normal-sized Alejandra with the red hair. In the second car came Lola and her brother, Juan, along with his two best friends, Sebastián and Pablo.
Lola – instantly renamed Lolita in Sophie’s head – was stunning in a very ostentatious way and it rapidly became clear that both of her brother’s friends fancied her. They were all very friendly towards Sophie and her dog and very appreciative of being invited to stay, and she was relieved to find that communication turned out not to be a problem. They all spoke some English – Lolita’s brother Juan in particular was fluent – and Sophie soon discovered that if she spoke Italian to them and they answered in Spanish they could converse fairly easily and freely. As for Rachel, she just flicked an internal switch and poured out a stream of fast, fluent-sounding Spanish.
On Rita’s advice and with her help, they had prepared a cold spread for dinner, but Sophie had forgotten that Spaniards tended to eat late. They all opted to go for a swim in the pool in the early evening and it was there that Sophie discovered that Juan was built like the Incredible Hulk. His unbelievably muscular body was obviously the result of countless hours spent in the gym, and when she mentioned to him that there was a small gym here in the castle, his eyes lit up. For her part, as far as muscles were concerned, she could take them or leave them. She had never been a great fan of bodybuilders, finding many of them somehow grotesque, but Juan was friendly and remarkably gentle in spite of his bulk. She wondered what he would make of Uncle George’s gym. Neither she nor her sister had ventured in there since arriving in Paradiso. It had just been too hot. Besides, she kept telling herself, walking Jeeves and swimming was all the exercise she needed.
When they emerged from the pool at close to eight o’clock, the Spaniards insisted on taking Rachel and Sophie to the bar across the road for an aperitivo which soon turned into several aperitivi and Sophie had to struggle to stop them plying her with drink. Luckily she remembered one of her favourites – a non-alcoholic aperitif that looked and tasted like Campari – and switched to this. The drinks came with complimentary crisps and Sophie saw a number of these disappear under the table as her mooching Labrador did his rounds wearing his ‘I’m starving’ expression.
They ended up sitting down to dinner at half past nine – which Rachel assured her was early by Spanish standards – and the meal was a great success. As the evening progressed, Sophie relaxed more and more, confident that the new arrivals weren’t going to tear the place apart or prove to be a pain in the neck. They were a charming bunch and she could see why her sister had become close friends with them. She resolved to have a word with her later, to apologise for her original outburst when Rachel had told her she had invited them.
More by accident than design – at least on her part – Sophie ended up alongside muscleman Juan and chatted to him most of the time. She discovered that he was in fact an English teacher in a big high school in the suburbs of Madrid, which explained his fluency in the language. He told her he was teaching some tough teenagers in a deprived area and she realised that this maybe also explained the muscles. He filled in the gaps as far as the others were concerned. Tall Fernando was a lawyer, as was his minute wife. The other Fernando was a doctor and his fiancée worked as a civil servant of some description. Lolita was between jobs – Sophie wondered if she might be into acting or modelling, judging by her appearance – and the two suitors for Lola’s hand sold cars and pork products respectively.
In the course of the evening, Sophie began to realise that she could use these people as characters in her book and she soon had the car salesman and the ham and sausage purveyor down as knights competing for the hand of one or both of the princesses in her book. Fernando the lawyer soon morphed into the court chamberlain in her head, while bearded doctor Fernando became the apothecary. Juan would of course be the king’s champion, feared all over the land for his feats of strength and skill in combat. She got into the swing of it and tried to decide whether she should model one of the princesses on Lolita and turn her into a man-eater. By the time she got up from the table and slipped out with Jeeves for his nightly walk, she had not only got to know them all but could genuinely say she was enjoying having them there.
The following day was ferragosto, the fifteenth of August, and Sophie remembered what Romeo, the hairstylist, had told her: there was going to be a big party on the beach. She checked out the local Santa Rita website and saw that although there were events all day as varied as face painting for kids and sailing and windsurfing races, the evening looked like the best time to join in. After a lazy day, mostly spent by the pool, they set off at six o’clock. At the last minute, Sophie decided not to leave Jeeves on his own for the whole evening so she opted to take her own car. That way she could bring Jeeves and leave before the others if the event proved unsuitable for dogs.
Parking was a major problem and she ended up having to leave the car on the outskirts of town and walk for fifteen minutes or so to get to the seafront. The closer she got to the beach, the more the noise level increased and she muttered another little thank you to her uncle for choosing to buy a house way up above it all. It was clear that nobody living in the first three or four rows of properties by the beach was going to get much sleep tonight.
It turned out to be a lot of fun and, as there was a barbecue serving hotdogs and burgers and lots of little kids dropping things, Jeeves ended up eating far more than he should have done – much of it covered in sand. Sophie gave up worrying after a while, hoping that his digestive system would prove up to the challenge. They drank cold beer from cardboard cups and danced on the sand like Romeo the hairdresser had said, taking it in turns to keep an eye on Jeeves who wasn’t really supposed to be on the beach. Dancing on the beach was an entirely different sensation and quite hard work, shuffling about in loose sand in her bare feet. She was feeling quite tired by the time she had danced with all the Spaniards, followed by Romeo himself, who appeared dressed in a gold lame suit and black shirt, unbuttoned to display the sort of chunky medallion she thought had gone out of fashion in the Eighties. He must have been boiling, but the demands of fashion clearly obliged him to wear this ensemble and Sophie was impressed at his dedication, even if his sartorial taste wasn’t one she shared.
Finally pleading exhaustion, she took refuge on a bench up on the promenade and watched the proceedings with her equally tired-looking dog sprawled at her feet. The band was fairly good – and certainly loud enough – although the selection of numbers they played probably wouldn’t have made it onto many UK playlists. Still, everybody from kids to pensioners appeared to be enjoying themselves.
She was sitting on the bench, sipping from a bottle of water, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Dan standing there and smiled up at him.
‘I’m far too tired to get up. If you want a kiss you’ll have to come down to my level.’
He leant down and kissed her on the cheeks before taking a seat alongside her, the Labrador now sitting with his head resting on Dan’s bare knees. He stroked the dog and glanced over at Sophie.
‘So, are you tired because you’ve been dancing?’
‘I feel like I’ve been dancing with the whole beach. A continuous cycle of them. I’ll have to introduce you to Rachel’s Spanish friends who’re staying with us. They appear to have boundless energy.’
‘How’s that going?’
‘It’s going fine and, in spite of my initial fears, they’re a nice bunch. What about you? Have you been dancing with anybody special?’
‘I haven’t been dancing with anybody yet, but I’d love to dance with you if you feel up to it.’
‘Give me another five minutes, would you? And then we’ll need to find somebody to look after Jeeves. Otherwise he joins in and the results aren’t pretty.’ She caught his eye. ‘So, did you call Jennifer and tell her how you feel?’ He shook his head and she couldn’t restrain a grin. ‘I knew you’d chicken out.’
‘I did call her, I promise, but it just felt so weird trying to say something as important as that over the phone. But I did ask her to come over to Italy and hopefully she’s going to come in late September. Maybe it’s best if I leave it until then…’ His voice tailed off uncertainly and then he turned the question back on her. ‘How about Chris? Have you heard from him since he arrived in France?’
‘No, but I wouldn’t expect to, really. We’re close friends but we don’t speak to each other every day. I suppose I could call him, though.’
‘Why don’t you?’
She mulled over the thought for a moment. While she did so, Lolita appeared, looking equally hot and tired. Her very short shorts showed off her legs – and bottom – to advantage and she had no doubt spent her time fighting off the attentions of her two Spanish suitors, quite probably plus a number of local men. She gave Sophie a little smile and pointed to the bench alongside Dan.
‘I sit? Very hot.’
She sat down and Sophie introduced her to Dan, who impressed her by switching into fluent-sounding Spanish. While the two of them chatted, Sophie pulled out her phone and made a decision. She would call Chris. She would use the subterfuge of wanting his opinion on what price to put on an old copper bed warmer for the antiques fair. In fact, she reassured herself, this was a valid reason for the call. She and Rachel had been debating this earlier. She pressed call and waited. It took a while before he replied.
‘Hi, Sophie, all well?’
She assured him all was well and hurriedly explained their query about the price to be on the label. As expected, he quickly provided a solution. After that, she did her best to keep the conversation going as naturally as possible.
‘So how’s life in the mountains? I’m at the beach festival at Santa Rita this evening and it’s baking here.’
‘I thought I could hear music. Well, if it makes you feel any better, we’re submerged under a thick cloud here, you can’t see your hand in front of your face, and it’s pouring with very cold rain.’
‘How are you filling your time if you can’t go out?’
Sophie wasn’t sure she really wanted to hear the answer to this. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dan get up, with Lola at his elbow, and point towards the dancers. He mouthed the words ‘going for a dance’ before the two of them disappeared into the crowd.
‘I’m actually sitting in the bar at the moment. Don’t worry, I haven’t been in here all afternoon. The hotel’s got a gym and a pool so I’ve been for a workout and a swim. I met up with Paola and she said to say hi if I was talking to you.’
‘Oh, right, thanks. Did you meet her in the pool?’ Somehow Sophie had a feeling this meeting might have been orchestrated in advance by the elegant Italian.
‘In the gym, actually. She really keeps herself in shape.’ I bet she does, Sophie thought to herself. ‘We ended up spotting each other, you know, helping each other with the weights. She can push a surprising amount.’
‘Oh, good.’ What else could she say? ‘Anyway, as long as you aren’t drinking yourself into an early grave.’
‘No fear of that. And what about you? Is there dancing at the beach?’
‘I’ve just sat down after what felt like hours of dancing. And in sand, it’s exhausting.’
‘Dance with anyone special? Your American friend for instance?’
‘My American friend has just gone off to dance with Lolita. You’d like her. She’s wearing spray-on shorts and a top that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. As for me, I’ve danced with three different Spanish men – one of them the size and shape of a barn door. I’m just glad he didn’t tread on me.’
‘Well, just as long as you’re enjoying yourself.’ There was a pause. ‘And I wish I were there with you.’
This sounded promising. ‘You do?’
‘Yes, a bit of warm sunshine would be great.’
Once again he appeared to have fired and missed. Nevertheless, she decided to give him her message anyway – after all it was the reason for her call. ‘Like I told you before, I miss you, Chris, and I wish I was there with you, rain or no rain.’
‘And I miss you, too. A lot.’
And that was that. They said their goodbyes and hung up.
She sat and watched the dancers, easily identifying Dan’s head rising up from the crowd. The band had chosen that moment to play a slow tune and she distinctly caught sight of Lolita’s mop of lustrous dark hair against his chest. She hoped for his sake that he would be able to iron things out with the girl in America. As for herself and Chris, she had a horrible feeling matters were being taken out of her hands. She had had her chances to tell him how she felt – or rather, how she thought she felt – but she had blown it. If he ended up with Paola she couldn’t really blame him. But, anyway, hadn’t she arrived here convinced that she was happy with her canine companion and didn’t feel the need to seek out another man? Was it the sultry Mediterranean air that was threatening to upset the applecart?
‘Get a grip!’
She must have said it out loud.
‘Sounds serious. How’re you doing, sis? Here, I brought you a beer.’
Sophie looked up to see Rachel behind her. Unexpectedly she was alone. Somehow Sophie had expected to see at least one of the Spaniards at her side.
‘Thanks for the thought, but I’ll just take a sip. Apart from the fact that I’m driving, I feel knackered.’
Rachel took a seat beside her. ‘So why are you sitting here snorting about getting a grip?’
‘Men, Rach… or maybe me… probably me. I’ve just phoned Chris because I’m worried he’s going to be seduced by the lovely Paola and yet I’m the girl who said she was happy on her own. What’s wrong with me?’
‘Nothing’s wrong with you. He’s just a really good guy. It’s natural you should feel attracted to him. I do.’
‘You do?’ For a moment, Sophie had a sinking feeling. Surely her sister wasn’t going to step in and take another boy from her…
‘Yes. What’s not to like?’
‘So why didn’t you make a move on him while he was here?’ Sophie wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer to this either. She saw her sister hesitate.
‘Because you’ve called dibs on him of course and apart from anything else, to be completely honest, there’s still Gabriel over in Orlando. I can’t get him out of my head.’
Sophie caught hold of her hand. ‘He was The One, wasn’t he?’ Her sister just nodded, her eyes on Jeeves at her feet. ‘Well, Rach, like I told you before, you should do something about it. Honestly.’
Once again, Rachel just shook her head. ‘It wouldn’t do any good. I’ve just got to accept that it’s all over and move on.’ She looked up. ‘Just like you’re going to have to do if things don’t work out between you and Chris.’
They sat in silence for some minutes before Rachel suddenly reached over and gave Sophie a warm hug and a kiss. ‘It’s not all bad, Soph. At least I’ve got you back now.’