Page 87 of Good Sisters

‘Not at all. I have it under control, thank you,’ Dad said.

‘For goodness’ sake, Dad, you can’t carry four cases on your own. Let the guy help. I don’t need you having a bloody heart attack in Italy, thank you. That would not be helpful in any way.’ The last thing I needed was my father collapsing on this trip.

‘No need to bite my head off,’ Dad said.

‘Let him help, Dad. It’s his job,’ Sophie said.

‘Grazie mille.’ Julie was determined to use her few words of Italian.

‘Grazie,’ I said, tipping the young man.

‘Steady now, Louise.’ Julie winked at me. ‘He’s a bit young for you.’

‘We know how much you like one-night stands in Italy,’ Sophie giggled.

‘One half-Italian child is probably enough.’ Dad chuckled.

‘Sod off.’ I threw a cushion at them as they all cracked up.

‘What time is dinner?’ Julie asked.

‘Seven sharp. I want to be in the bar by nine. Benedict said Marco goes to the bar in the main square every Friday at about eight thirty and stays until ten thirty, eleven.’

‘What’s your plan?’ Dad asked. ‘How are you going to approach him?’

I’d thought about this a lot and decided that I first needed to figure out who Marco was before I even mentioned who I was, let alone Clara. I might leave Pico without ever telling Marco about his daughter.

‘The plan is to engage him casually in conversation and just see what he’s like. Hopefully he speaks some English.’

‘Send Julie over. Sure she’s almost bilingual.’

‘Can you be serious for a minute?’ I asked.

‘I think Dad should try to initiate a conversation with him and you two can join in. I want to stay in the background and see what sort of vibe I get from him.’

‘Good idea, Louise. I’ll approach him first, man to man,’ Dad said.

‘Yes, but not man to man in a threatening way,’ Julie said.

‘In a friendly how’s-it-going way,’ Sophie told Dad.

‘I know how to chat casually to a man in a bar.’ Dad shook his head.

‘We’d better be careful, though. We know, even though he looks like an Italian Danny DeVito, Marco is so charming that he charmed Louise’s knickers off.’ Julie giggled.

‘We promise to do our best not to fall into bed with him.’ Sophie snorted.

‘Stop that now. Louise is uptight enough,’ Dad said.

‘I’m not uptight. I’m just focused.’

‘Right, yes, whatever you say.’ Dad raised an eyebrow.

‘We know, Dad, we’re just trying to distract her,’ Julie explained.

Dad rolled his suitcase towards the door of his bedroom. ‘It’s not working. She looks even more uptight, sorry, focused than she was earlier.’

My sisters were trying to distract me, but I was too on edge to join in their banter. I was completely addled and sick with nerves. I headed off to have a shower and try to calm down before going out and doing something that might change my life for ever.

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