Page 41 of In Italy for Love

‘I’m going to drive us. Berengario won’t be at the farm next week, by the way. But we’ll think of a way to get you there.’

She opened her mouth to insist she didn’t need help, but she paused as a ripple of self-consciousness made its way through her with the sudden suspicion that Berengario had talked at length about her in the same way she’d heard nothing but Alex from the old man.

‘I understand you can walk, but you never know what the weather will do at the end of October.’

Alex’s car was parked in a lot that backed onto the crumbling city wall. They reached it under another archway off the courtyard, passing the small allotments with plants wilting and turning brown after the cold snap. The ancient Fiat 500 looked as though he might have inherited it along with the building.Arco found plenty to sniff after he leaped into the footwell in the back.

After a few attempts, the engine coughed and caught and Alex manoeuvred the little car out of its space, craning his neck and draping one long arm over the back of the passenger seat because he didn’t seem to quite fit in the driver’s seat. Jules sat frozen, leaning forward slightly in case his thumb grazed the back of her neck, which she unfortunately pictured in enough detail that she thought he’d actually done it once or twice.

As usual, she pressed her nose to the window as they took the main road over the river. The vivid yellow of the leaves – now with deep reds and oranges as the season progressed – contrasted wildly with the bright turquoise water rushing over the rocks. The Friulian plain extended out in front of them and she always felt as though she could see so far that she might even find the future somewhere in the distance among the little hills. The looming mountains to the east made her think of Alex’s words about Friuli being the crossroads of Europe. Sometimes it seemed as though this pocket of Italy could contain the whole world.

She felt Alex’s gaze on her and thought she might have given a contented sigh as she stared out at one of her favourite views, but when she returned the glance, he looked away quickly. She imagined the day ahead, picking olives together, with some trepidation, but a bigger dose of anticipation. One day in each other’s company wouldn’t get them into too much trouble.

They arrived at Due Pini to find a collection of cars parked on the hard standing in front of the farmhouse and a group of at least thirty people, including Berengario and his girlfriend Elena, Alex’s lively, grey-haired neighbour. She also spotted the barman who’d witnessed their not-date and the older man with wild hair and ripped jeans whom she occasionally saw emerging from the tattoo parlour around the corner.

‘Arooo!’ Arco bounced even before Jules let him out and his excited howl was echoed by yips and barks from an array of other dogs. To her dismay, Jules noticed the big black one from her chaotic arrival at Due Pini two and a half weeks ago.

But Arco made a beeline for another dog first – the downy white poodle belonging to Marisa, the owner of the pet salon. While the poodle made a vain attempt to maintain its dignity, Arco sniffed enthusiastically, no idea how badly he was embarrassing his mistress. But Marisa greeted her with an airy kiss to her cheek and a laugh.

‘He really likes Chanel,’ Jules said ruefully.

Marisa glanced over Jules’s shoulder and her expression brightened. ‘Alex!’ The stab of discomfort at her tone caught Jules by surprise and she gave herself a stern talking-to as she pointedly ignored the kisses on the cheek they gave each other in greeting. Alex gave Marisa a smile and that only unsettled Jules further. So much for Maddalena’s insistence that he never did that.

She couldn’t understand much of the conversation between them, only that the owner of the pet salon had her hand curled around his forearm and was standing close and Jules was dismayed that their interaction bothered her. She was supposed to be keeping out of Alex’s way and that included leaving him to be fawned over by local women he could perhaps have a real relationship with.

Except, she hated the idea. And she had to admit that Marisa wasn’t fawning. Jules was being oversensitive.

Berengario appeared next to her and she greeted him with a quick kiss on the cheek and a smile. ‘Come and meet Davide properly,’ he said. ‘My grandson.’

‘Eh, Berengario!’ Alex hurried to catch up with them. ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea after what happened with Fritz?’

‘You two really have been talking about me,’ she accused.

‘He doesn’tstoptalking about you,’ Berengario said gruffly, which stuffed any further words she might have said back down her throat. Hewhat?

Alex’s ears were pink, but it might have been from the chill.

She was about to ask him if Davide was his cousin, but Alex abruptly offered to take Arco and then stalked away, rubbing a hand over the back of his head, leaving Jules mystified – and a little miffed.

Davide seemed a lot more straightforward than her grumpy host, with a wide smile to go with his shiny, dark hair. He wore a turtleneck that, while obviously worn, still gave him a dapper appearance. ‘I’m so sorry about what happened on your first day. I wanted to meet you properly then, but I hadn’t taken Fritz for a walk yet and he was unsettled. I’ve just moved back here from Rome and allora, it’s nice to finally meet you.’

Jules smiled in return, but struggled to think of anything to say – especially because Fritz seemed determined to make paw prints all over her jeans, desperately snuffling after Arco’s scent on her.

Davide scolded him and tugged him off with an apologetic glance. ‘Should have kept up with puppy school.’

‘I know what you mean,’ she said wryly.

‘Are you going to show Julia how we harvest?’ asked Berengario, slapping Davide on the back. ‘We need teams of three. At least she’s nice and tall.’

‘She’s standing right there, Berengario! Talktoher, not about her,’ Alex called from several metres away, where Arco was sniffing at a potted palm.

She was a second away from calling back an indignant response, but Berengario continued. ‘The three of you, then. Good, that’s one team.’

Jules looked from one of the three men to the next with a faint suspicion of some subtext she didn’t understand, but the group moved off before she could bug Alex for answers.

At the edge of the grove, they gathered around a rusty pickup truck to collect equipment while Jules put Arco on a long lead. She tugged on her gloves and took the little rake Davide held out to her, along with a couple of collapsible baskets, while the two men lugged a roll of plastic netting.

Jules took a moment to study her first specimen. While the olive trees were squat and wizened compared to the towering stone pines, they were still twice as tall as a person – or perhaps a little over one-and-a-half times taller than someone of Alex’s proportions. The trunk was wide and knotted and the whole thing leaned far enough for her to wonder if it would one day just teeter to the ground.

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