Page 26 of In Italy for Love

‘It’s wet. Let me put it by the fire.’ Then he raised his voice and shouted something indecipherable – to Jules anyway – after which Maddalena poked her head around the archway to the kitchen and nodded in acknowledgement.

The day’s special was giant slices of spiced sausage called muset and lightly fermented cooked vegetables that spoke directly to her comfort-seeking soul and even made her forgetabout her icy feet. After Maddalena had hauled a few more buckets of water for the cook, she appeared with a bundled-up brown canvas jacket.

‘Put this on, dear. It might be a bit small, but wearing your wet coat is no good. You can borrow this.’

When Jules stuffed her arms into the thick jacket, lined with wool, some of her stress faded instantly. The sleeves were too short and it was a bit tight in the shoulders, but she could get it closed. ‘Thank you. This feels so much better.’

Maddalena smiled – a tight smile that showed up the fine lines of age around her mouth – and squeezed Jules’s arm before hurrying off again.

Bolstered by the cosy new jacket, Jules set to work with determination that afternoon, raking furiously to tidy up the grass they’d cut in the morning. By the time the sun was low in the sky, she was sweaty and sticky and smelled of grass clippings and hard work, and her toes were squishy and clammy and probably covered in wrinkles.

Although the sun had burnt off the fog in the late morning, damp hovered over the plain. Berengario showed no signs of leaving and she didn’t want to presume he’d give her a lift, so she waved goodbye to Maddalena and headed to the wonky gate by the two pines, Arco frolicking in front of her as though he hadn’t spent the whole day on a long leash sniffing around the olive trees.

Light rain fell as she trudged back along the road to town. She was so tired she understood that thing she’d read about people in mediaeval times going to bed early and then waking up in the middle of the night to socialise instead. As she glimpsed the Ponte del Diavolo ahead and the cluster of houses on the rocks, she could almost picture the people here in those times.

She needed a shower too much to live in mediaeval times though, a thought that kept her lifting her exhausted feet, onein front of the other, until she’d reached the archway into the courtyard with the broad tree laden with orange fruit – and Alex’s door.

Alex was about to call Maddalena to ask what had happened to their guest when he heard the rap of the old brass knocker. He opened the door to a gust of damp wind – and a bedraggled woman and her dog. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d keeled over right on the doorstep.

Arco leaped up in excitement, scratching at Alex’s thighs and barking a joyful greeting – and leaving dark smears of mud on his jeans. That was when Alex noticed Julia was shivering – violently – and she was wearing a jacket that made his stomach drop to his toes when he recognised it.

For a moment, all he could do was stand in the doorway, paralysed.

‘Can I come in?’ she asked in a withering tone that finally snapped him out of his confusion. It wasn’t her fault an item of clothing made him see a ghost. ‘I’m a bit cold.’

‘Sorry, yes. Come inside.’

His gaze kept snapping back to the jacket, noting the way the sleeves cinched an inch above the bone of her wrist. Julia had longer arms. She was taller, so it made sense. The comparisons prickled over him and he didn’t want them, any of them, but he also felt terrible for Julia.

The shadows around her eyes were pronounced and her lips were cracked and wobbly, even though she kept her head high. The wary look she gave him made him suspect some of his dismay showed on his face and he swallowed the discomfort to help her out of the jacket – notherjacket. Hanging it on a hooknext to his, the image struck him and he had to pull himself together before she started asking questions.

‘I just need a shower,’ she insisted after she’d slipped off her shoes. ‘I’m staying out of your way. I’ll just borrow your bathroom and go to bed.’ Her eyes glazed over at the last part. Shaking herself, she lifted one finger and added, ‘After I change my address and look at my passport application.’

She looked so tired and defeated, and he didn’t like that she’d misinterpreted his wariness. But he also couldn’t discuss his numerous triggers in casual conversation, especially since he’d managed to convince her so far that he was mostly normal. Settling his hands gently on her shoulders, he turned her towards the stairs. ‘Go get warm. I’ll feed Arco.’

With an exaggerated nod and mumbled thanks, she hauled herself up the stairs, leaving wet prints from her drenched socks on the scuffed wood. Alex frowned at the prints, which turned into a grimace when he retrieved one of her trainers from the shoe rack and found it soaking wet.

After noting the size and sending Berengario a quick message, he set Julia’s shoes by the stove in the kitchen and stoked the fire. Arco inhaled his food and then scraped the bowl along the floor as he tried to lick every last morsel from the bottom. Then he settled on his blanket, peering up at Alex, his brown eyes glazed with adoration.

‘He’s just an animal,’ Alex muttered to himself, but he smiled down at the contented dog. ‘You’ve discovered the best place in the house. Attila isn’t going to be happy.’

He considered lighting a fire in the grate on top, but that seemed excessive. Setting the frying pan back on the cooker, he quickly mixed another omelette, arranging a side plate of Caprese salad and a glass of water at the end of the table by the fire. So much for her insistence that he didn’t have to feed her. When she arrived home in that state, he couldn’tnot.

When the door of the kitchen opened suddenly, he arranged a guilty expression on his face and clasped his hands, turning to face her.

‘I—’

‘Sorry to bother you but?—’

‘—wasn’t supposed to but I?—’

They both stopped talking.

She glanced at the table and seemed to pull herself together. She clicked her fingers to call Arco to her and the dog dragged his feet and hung his head as he left the warmth of the stove.

‘I just wanted to ask if there was a way to turn up the radiator. It doesn’t seem to be working very well. But… I don’t want to interrupt your dinner. I’m fine after my hot shower and I’ll probably just go straight to…’ Her gaze snagged on her shoes, sitting neatly to dry. ‘Thank you for that. You didn’t have to. I’ll just?—’

‘Wait!’ He stifled a grimace. Maybe what she’d meant when she’d instructed him not to feed her was that she wanted her privacy. That was fair enough. They werehousemates. She could do whatever she wanted. She didn’t have to sit by his hearth and eat his food and she was capable of looking after herself.

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