Page 51 of In Italy for Love

To her surprise, Alex laughed again. ‘Jota,’ he supplied. ‘The original meaning of the term is a bit lost, but it probably means the food that the pigs eat? You know what I mean?’

She peered at her bowl. ‘And this pig slop is a local delicacy? Maybe I should have foraged for chestnuts instead.’

Alex drizzled olive oil over his swill and tucked in, ignoring her, so she did the same, grasping her spoon and scooping up a mouthful of the beige stew. The pork, potato and garlic in the warm, lightly salty broth gave her the comfort of an imminent full stomach, but there was a tang to it as well, a hint of Eastern Europe, she guessed.

‘Is that cabbage? This really is peasant food.’

‘Peasant food is a compliment in Friûl,’ he quipped, pointing his spoon at her. ‘It’s crauti – sauerkraut. This is a dish from the Trieste region and Trieste has half a foot in Slovenia and is a bit stuck in its days of Hapsburg greatness, hence the sauerkraut.’

‘I thought you only liked to insult people from Trieste, but here you are enjoying their food.’

His lips formed that little pout she remembered from their first date. ‘As we say, the bell-tower of your home town is always the tallest.’

‘And you wonder why the region is so scarred when you offer to beat people up and have fights with your neighbours.’

‘It’s not all our fault. It’s the earthquakes as well.’

‘Earthquakes! What woes have not befallen Friûl in its history?’ she teased.

He didn’t respond and Jules wondered whether he was thinking about his own woes, rather than those of his home. If he didn’t want to talk about his wife, she respected that, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say, her mind was so full of questions.

Alex sighed, hanging his head. ‘Ask me,’ he muttered. ‘I can see you want to.’

‘Ask you what?’

‘Something. About her. I should have told you. I don’t need pity, and sympathy is even worse. So ask me what you want to know and anything you don’t ask me at least won’t upset you.’

Her skin prickled at the thought that he was worried about upsettingher. Taking a deep breath, she dived straight in. ‘How did she die?’

Her throat clogged, realising too late how the question reduced this unknown woman’s life to her last moments. How much must Alex hate that! She wished they didn’t have this hurdle to overcome before their relationship –friendship–could return to even ground. She considered rescinding the question, but with a flick of his brow he drew a breath to answer.

‘A car accident.’ His mouth was thin, pulled tight. ‘That was the cause anyway.’

‘How old was she?’

‘Twenty-eight.’

She didn’t have to say it to know he was thinking the same thing: her own twenty-eighth birthday was two weeks away. The unwanted sympathy rushed at her again.

‘I know I’m wearing her jacket. Is it her house too? Did you inherit it from her?’

‘Yes, it belonged to her grandmother, Gigi. It was closed up for a long time before I came home and… needed it again.’

‘She didn’t die here?’

He shook his head. ‘In London. Guy’s Hospital.’

‘Did you move to London with her?’

‘Mmhmm. She was a corporate lawyer – something to do with mergers and acquisitions.’

‘Wow,’ Jules said, hoping he didn’t catch the tickle of her own inadequacy in her tone. How sad was it to compare herself to a dead woman? Glancing warily at Alex, she found him staring blankly at the stove. It struck her, how different that first date would have been, if he’d told her he’d lost his wife. She understood why he hadn’t wanted to be that person, just for one evening.

But there was no solution to the death of a loved one. He couldn’t just leave, the way she’d left Luca. She almost wished she didn’t understand how complicated it was for him to be attracted to someone else.

He sighed and stifled a yawn and Jules felt the same lethargy creep into her skin, now her stomach was full of pork and potatoes and sauerkraut, and the warmth from the stove hadgrown fuggy and thick. Alex stood to wash the bowls, but she took them from him and ushered him to the bench seat.

‘You rest,’ she instructed him firmly.

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