By the time Saturday afternoon arrived, the temperature had climbed into the high twenties. Alice met Luca and Frank at the stables as arranged and the first thing she did, after petting the dog, was to ask Luca if he’d seen the article in the paper. He nodded soberly.
‘Tommi called me this morning. He said our father’s been ranting and raving, and he stormed off into the municipio to call an emergency meeting of some kind. I must admit I wasn’t expecting the Gazzetta to pick up this side of the story, and I feel sorry for Tommi as he’s the one who’s going to have to put up with my father and his tantrums.’
‘What do you think your father will do?’
‘What can he do? The article may make unpleasant reading to him, but it’s only the truth. Everybody in the town knows it. Maybe getting it out in the open like this will be cathartic for him. Maybe it needs a jolt like this to make him realise just how crazily he’s been behaving.’ He shook his head regretfully. ‘But I honestly don’t know. I almost feel sorry for the man now after hating him for so long. I left home as soon as I finished school and I took a series of jobs to see me through university. There’s no excuse for his treatment of the two of us, particularly Tommi who could never stand up to him. And it was just as bad, if not worse, for my mother.’
‘What made you decide to leave home, if you don’t mind me asking? That’s a major step.’
His expression hardened. ‘There’s a limit to the number of times you can stand being shouted at and threatened. As boys we had to work harder than the farmhands and for no pay. He was just permanently in a foul mood.’
‘He treated you that badly?’ Luca just nodded silently and Alice didn’t know how to respond. ‘I’m so sorry to hear that, Luca. No child should have to go through that.’ Seeing the pain in his eyes, she tried for a more positive note. ‘Well, like you say, maybe airing the whole subject will make him see reason. Now, it’s a beautiful day and the sun’s shining, so where are we going for our ride?’
He suggested they go in a different direction this time and she agreed willingly. To be honest, she didn’t mind where they went as long as she was with him. The good news was that he appeared to be happy in her company so maybe he really had been very busy and hadn’t been avoiding her. He led her out of the stables and onto a narrow track between two fields, heading back down the valley for a change. When the track widened enough for them to be able to ride side by side with the happy dog trotting ahead of them, Luca explained what he had in mind. Alice was pleased to see him smiling again. Hopefully the dark cloud cast by talking about his father had passed, at least for today.
‘I thought you might like to see the Blue Lake. That’s what we call it because of its intense colour. As kids, Tommi and I used to come down here very often in the summer to go swimming, but I haven’t been back for a few years now. I hope it’s still as beautiful as it used to be.’
It was.
After twenty minutes or so, a fast-running stream emerged from a steep sided gorge and joined the river they had been following down the valley. Luca led the way and turned onto a narrower path, heading up the gorge. They climbed steadily for about five or ten minutes, and the horses had to pick their way up what was little more than a goat track in single file, but they took the rocky terrain in their stride – literally. Just as it looked as though the gorge was about to close in on them, Alice heard the sound of rushing water and they emerged from the trees into a clearing. The Blue Lake was right in front of them and Alice reined in and stared at it in awe.
It wasn’t very big – barely half the size of a tennis court – and almost completely circular. Hemmed in by steep rocky walls, it was fed by a narrow ribbon of water that emerged from the rockface ten metres or more above them and plunged down into the pool, sending countless tiny droplets of water into the air to sparkle in the sunlight, creating a multi-coloured mist of tiny rainbows. The water was crystal clear and she could see right to the bottom of the surprisingly deep pool, maybe three or four metres below the surface. A tiny gravel beach, just wide enough for the two horses to stand side by side while they leant forward to drink, was the only access, short of diving off the surrounding cliffs.
Following Luca’s example, Alice dismounted, looped the reins around a low hanging branch and walked to the edge of the pool where she crouched down and scooped up a double handful of water. It was so cold, she almost squealed. At the same moment there was a thunderous splash and she looked over to see the dog’s head emerge from the water with a big smile on his hairy face as he paddled happily about, looking more like a seal than a dog, and clearly in his element. Alice glanced up to where Luca was standing behind her with a relaxed smile on his face and she held her hands up towards him.
‘The water’s so cold I can feel it freezing my fingers. It’s all right for Frank, he’s got a fur coat, but are you telling me you really used to swim in this? You must be crazy.’
He grinned. ‘I didn’t say I still do. As kids, you don’t feel the cold so much. Nowadays I come up here from time to time, but I wouldn’t dream of going in the water again.’ He pointed upwards. ‘The water pouring down that waterfall comes straight out of the mountainside and it’s the same low temperature all year round, two or three degrees above freezing. Even in the depths of winter, the flow never stops. Still, it’s a lovely place, isn’t it?’
Alice straightened up and looked around. He was right. This really was a beautiful spot and she couldn’t help thinking that it was also a very romantic one. As the realisation dawned on her that she was here completely alone, apart from two horses and a dog, with a handsome man for whom she could easily develop feelings – maybe already had – her throat suddenly dried. Apparently unaware of her state of heightened tension, Luca slipped off his backpack and set it down on a boulder smoothed by millennia of rushing water. From the bag he produced a bottle of the same local Lambrusco she had tasted at the restaurant, two plastic wine glasses, and a little cardboard package that he opened to reveal a selection of delicious looking pastries. He held the bottle in the air.
‘Feel like a drink?’
She nodded and grinned at him. ‘Definitely. Tell me, is this the sort of picnic you always take with you on your rides, or is this a special occasion?’ A sudden thought occurred to her. ‘It’s not your birthday, is it?’
‘No, it’s not my birthday, and I don’t normally ride around with a bottle of Lambrusco on my back but, yes, this is a special occasion.’
She walked over and stood beside him. ‘How special?’
‘Very special. Mind out, after being shaken about on the way here, the wine’s going to be pretty fizzy.’ Sure enough, in spite of his best efforts to contain it, the cork came out with a loud explosion that startled the horses, and a fine mist of wine sprayed across Alice’s face. As she wiped the drops from her cheeks, Luca shot her an apologetic look ‘Sorry about that. Maybe fizz wasn’t such a good idea after all.’
Alice licked the foam from her fingers and accepted a glass of remarkably cool wine from him. Once he had set the bottle down in the water by their feet, she tried again. ‘You were going to tell me what we’re celebrating.’
He held out his glass towards her. ‘I’m not sure if it’s something you want to celebrate, but for me, it certain— LOOK OUT!’
The next thing she knew, he had thrown himself across her and was holding her tightly to his chest, both of them struggling to avoid dropping their wine glasses. There was the sound of splashing followed by the unmistakable noise of a large dog shaking himself dry. Moments later, Luca released his hold on her and jumped back, pointing down at her in dismay.
‘I’m so sorry, I stepped on your foot. I haven’t hurt you, have I?’
Alice glanced down and saw the outline of his boot still distinguishable on the top of hers. He must have landed on her with some force while trying to shield her from Frank’s unwelcome shower, but she hadn’t felt a thing. The reason for this was that there was no foot inside this boot. She stood there for a second or two, wondering if this might be the moment to tell him about the accident and its consequences, but things had been going so well between them this afternoon that she decided to wait, rather than risk spoiling the mood.
‘Didn’t hurt a bit. Don’t worry about it. Thank you for keeping the water off me.’ She gave him a smile and sat down on the boulder. ‘And they say the age of chivalry’s dead. Look at you, you’re soaked!’ She came close to suggesting he take off his shirt and hang it up to dry in the sunshine, but she stopped herself in time. There was a limit to the amount of self control a girl could muster, after all.
He smiled back at her. ‘I’m sorry about that. I should have seen it coming. Anyway, hopefully I managed to keep most of the water off you.’ He sat down alongside her but not touching her. She was feeling distinctly rumpled, but not unhappy – very much the opposite. At their feet the unrepentant dog sat down in front of them and subjected the box of pastries to a covetous stare, while his master did his best to wipe a tsunami of Labrador-scented water off his shirt.
She waited until he had relaxed once more before returning to her original question. ‘So, what’s the cause for celebration?’
For a grown man he suddenly looked remarkably sheepish. She had to wait several seconds for his reply and when it came it surprised her. ‘I’m celebrating the fact that this is the first time I’ve ever brought a woman here, and a very beautiful one as well.’
Now she was the one to look embarrassed. She could feel the colour rush to her cheeks and did her best to reply in a reasonably normal tone. ‘Thank you for the kind words, but I’m surprised you haven’t brought any of your lady friends here before.’ They were getting into much more personal territory now, and she felt a return of the nervous tension.
He shook his head. ‘No, you’re the only one.’
There then ensued a long silence that he filled by replenishing their glasses which had both lost half their contents when Frank the dog had emerged from the water and shaken himself. Finally, Luca took a big mouthful and turned towards her again, still with that same uncomfortable expression on his face.
‘This has always been a very special place for me. My mother used to bring Tommi and me here to get away from my father when he was in one of his moods. Some of my happiest memories are of splashing around in the water.’ He drained the last of the wine in his glass before continuing, his eyes now staring out over the water towards the waterfall. ‘I’m pleased to be able to share it with you.’
Alice reached over and laid her hand on his forearm for a moment. ‘I’m very touched that you’ve brought me somewhere that means so much to you. Thank you so much.’
The intimacy of the moment was interrupted by a yelp from the ground in front of them as Frank made clear that he didn’t feel he should be made to wait much longer for a pastry. His intervention broke the spell, but Alice didn’t mind. The thought going round and round in her head was that Luca liked her enough to bring her here to his special place and that he had described her as beautiful. That had to mean something, didn’t it? Whether he would still think she was beautiful when he knew all about her remained to be seen.
With a shrug of the shoulders and a resigned sigh in the direction of his dog, Luca picked up the box of little pastries and held it out towards her. Frank’s eyes followed it all the way. There were a dozen or so assorted little profiteroles, fruit tarts, tiny chocolate cakes and a handful of biscuits in there, and Alice couldn’t help smiling.
‘Say what you like about Frank, but he knows a good thing when he smells one. These look absolutely gorgeous.’
She helped herself to a white chocolate profiterole and looked on as Luca selected one of the plain biscuits from the box and passed it down to his dog. It disappeared in a flash. Alice, on the other hand, took her time and nibbled the delightful, sweet pastry while she collected herself and reflected on how pleased she was that it looked as though Luca really liked her. It now remained to be discovered whether this was as much as she liked him.
And whether he still would, once he knew her secret.
They chatted easily about generalities and even about work, rather than anything more personal, but Alice did her best to relax in his company and in these beautiful surroundings. If it hadn’t been for what she still had to tell him, it would have been perfect. By tacit agreement neither of them made any further mention of the newspaper article or his father, and the mood was comfortable and familiar. She felt as if she’d known him for years. Another glass of fizz and a couple more of the gorgeous little pastries completed the magical atmosphere as she readied herself to tell all. He really couldn’t have arranged it better and she compared it to some of her other first dates – if this was indeed a date. These had included a sci-fi movie followed by a curry, a fifteen-mile hike across Dartmoor into the teeth of a winter gale, and dinner with Maurizio in his father’s restaurant with his evil twin sisters scrutinising her every move. Yes, this was far more relaxing and satisfying.
Her reminiscing was interrupted by the sound of his voice.
‘I don’t suppose you’d like to come out for dinner with me tomorrow night? There’s a super restaurant I know just a little way down the valley from here. Although we’re in Emilia-Romagna, it has a Tuscan chef and the food there’s really great.’
‘I’d love that, thanks. I’ve never been to Tuscany but I’ve heard that Tuscan food’s really good.’ Her heart soared. This dinner invitation was unmistakably a date. She took a deep breath and braced herself. Now that it looked pretty clear that he was interested in her, she knew that the time had come to reveal her secret and risk the consequences. She was about to open her mouth when his phone started ringing. He gave her an apologetic glance and reached for it.
It was a short conversation but from what she could hear from his part it was clear that work had intervened, and when the call ended, she saw him glance at his watch regretfully. ‘I’m sorry, I was hoping these people would cancel as it’s the weekend but I’ve got to go and see them after all. They have a rather fine old stone house just to the east of Parma that they want to extend, so I’m afraid we’d better head back to the stables.’ He reached for the remains of their picnic and started pushing them into his backpack. ‘I’m really sorry. This was lovely, but I can pick you up at seven-thirty tomorrow night if that suits. Hopefully we won’t have any more interruptions.’
Alice realised that the moment had passed and she just smiled back at him. ‘That sounds great.’ Her story would have to wait until tomorrow.
When she got back home, she stayed in, did some ironing, and spent most of the time with a silly smile on her face. It had been a perfect afternoon – well, the only thing that could have made it more perfect would have been a declaration of undying love from him. Somehow she felt more at home with him and here in Italy. Her only lingering regret was that she hadn’t been able to summon up the courage to tell him about her leg.
She decided she needed to talk to somebody she knew well and it occurred to her that she hadn’t spoken to Fenella since a brief call a couple of days after arriving in Varaldo, during which she had repeated her thanks to them for finding her this job. Fenella knew all about the accident even if she didn’t know about Maurizio, and she had a sensible head on her shoulders. So at six o’clock Alice made herself a cup of tea and sat down with the phone. It rang a few times before it was answered by Fenella, accompanied by a chorus of yapping from Gladys the poodle in the background.
‘Alice, hello, how lovely to hear from you. Gladys, do be quiet! How’re things?’
‘Things are really good, thanks.’ Alice went on to tell her friend in some detail how everything was progressing on the work front and how she appeared to have been accepted by the family as one of their own. Fenella expressed considerable satisfaction and then asked a question of a more personal nature.
‘Have you met any hunky Italian men yet?’ There might even have been a note of longing in Lady Fitzgerald-Chagleigh’s voice. ‘You know, one of those tall, dark and handsome ones with a spaghetti farm and a gondola?’
Alice giggled. ‘There wouldn’t be much use for a gondola up here in the hills, but seeing as you’re asking, yes, I have met a man, but he’s got fair hair and he’s an architect. I’m sure he eats spaghetti but I doubt if he grows it. Will he do?’
‘Ooh, how exciting. Go on, tell me all about him.’
Alice produced a description of Luca and explained how they had met. She then went on to describe his toxic family relationship and how he and his father hadn’t spoken for ten years. Fenella sounded as amazed as Alice that a father could have mistreated his children in that way.
‘I wonder if he’s always been like that. Hasn’t he got a wife to keep him in order?’
‘She left him some years ago when she couldn’t stand the abusive behaviour any longer. According to Luca, he’s been getting more and more extreme as the years go by. As he’s the mayor I’m going to have to go and meet him one of these days and I’m not looking forward to it.’
‘Well, remember what my father told me before I was sent off to boarding school at the age of eleven. There’s only one way to deal with bullies and that’s to stand up to them. By the sound of it, Luca has already worked that out for himself.’
Alice went on to tell Fenella about her visit to the Blue Lake with Luca and she heard cooing noises from the other end of the line.
‘Your Luca sounds like the perfect man for you: bright, handsome, romantic and he even likes horses. You hang onto him.’
Alice felt she should sound a note of caution. ‘He’s not my Luca yet.’
‘But I’ve a feeling he soon will be.’
‘I wish I shared your confidence.’ Alice took a deep breath. ‘The thing is, I haven’t told him about the accident… about my leg.’ She went on to tell her friend how worried she was about his possible reaction when he found out that she was disabled, and how she had been delaying telling him, even after he had inadvertently stepped on her foot.
Fenella answered firmly. ‘Don’t be silly.’ She knew all about Alice’s fears and had been offering encouragement for years now. ‘Now, don’t you go getting all hung up about that all over again. It sounds to me as if he really likes you, and if he does, he’ll accept you just the way you are, warts and all.’
They chatted for a while longer, and as much as Alice felt buoyed by Fenella’s positivity, it wasn’t enough to completely allay her concerns or fears. Would Luca really be accepting of her disability?