Page 8 of Never Too Late
Steph had been concerned at how much work Cesare and his wife had to do to look after a dozen people but since the trade-off was two thirds of the year with this idyllic place to themselves, it seemed like a more than fair deal on both sides. No doubt there would still be jobs to be done in winter in the house and grounds but even so… Nice work if you can find it.
The antipasti arrived and Faye talked her through the selection of dishes on offer. ‘As we’re by the sea we eat a lot of fish but if that’s a problem for you or Ethan, just say so. Donatella’s got loads of other stuff.’
‘I love fish and any kind of seafood.’ Steph had never seen Ethan eat any fish apart from battered cod and chips but a glance across the table showed him already on his second glass of the excellent chilled white wine so she decided if he didn’t like the food, he could lump it. He hadn’t uttered a single word to her since coming up to the villa and she had already decided that for tonight at least she intended to sleep in one of the other bedrooms.
The antipasti consisted of cold seafood salad: a mixture of octopus, squid, prawns, mussels and other shellfish. In another big bowl was a mixed salad with quails’ eggs, artichoke hearts and olives and yet another dish arrived containing filleted fish, freshly grilled and sprinkled with garlic and parsley. While Steph was still making up her mind, Faye reached over and spooned a couple of the little fish onto Steph’s plate. ‘I suggest you try these first while they’re still warm.’
They were delicious. Accompanied by warm focaccia bread, the antipasti were a great success. In particular the seafood salad was exquisite and the pieces of octopus, once Steph had summoned up the courage to try the tentacles with their little suckers, were a real delicacy. She would dearly have liked to take a photo to send to her mum, but she restrained herself until she knew her hosts better. She washed it all down with a big mouthful of ice-cold sparkling mineral water and a smaller mouthful of equally cold white wine. This also tasted excellent, and she got the impression that Ethan shared her view as he continued to drain glass after glass.
Apart from him, however, the only other people around the table hitting the booze heavily appeared to be Denver and his girlfriend who were already on a second bottle of Bollinger. Sky’s fiancé, Tom, chose a can of beer while Keith and Johnny drank wine but certainly not to excess. Ben and his wife drank no alcohol at all and Steph wondered if this was just tonight or whether they were teetotal. Certainly abstinence didn’t tally with the stories of crazy drunken escapades she remembered reading about in years gone by.
The antipasti were followed byfusilli ai frutti di mare; curly pasta covered in a succulent seafood sauce containing clams and mussels. Steph cleared her plate with enjoyment, forgetting that according to Italian tradition, there was yet another course to come. Seeing the apprehension on Steph’s face when Cesare gave her the news that there was more on the way, Sky gave her a grin.
‘Don’t worry. You don’t have to eat it all. I think Donatella said she was going to do her signature stuffed squid so just have a taste if you’re feeling full. I guarantee it’s worth making a bit of space for.’
Sky was right. The stuffed squid arrived in a steaming dish straight from the oven and they looked like little white parcels no bigger than apples. Steph helped herself to the smallest one on the plate and inside she found chopped-up squid meat, breadcrumbs, parsley and garlic. The taste was exquisite, and as she ate she reflected that it was just as well she had no intention of kissing anybody tonight. Certainly, any self-respecting vampire would be keeping its distance after all the lovely garlic. And as far as she was concerned Ethan, who was still knocking back the wine like there was no tomorrow, could join the vampires well away from her room.
Chapter 4
When the morning came, Steph opened her eyes and lay in bed reflecting that she was glad she wasn’t in Ethan’s shoes. With everything he had drunk last night, she had a feeling all would not be too well inside his head when he eventually surfaced. After dinner, she had steered him back to the guest apartment, mildly surprised that he managed it without falling down the stone steps. Leaving him swaying by the bed in the first bedroom, she had removed herself and her bag to the room next door and she had a feeling he probably hadn’t even noticed.
She reached for her watch and, seeing that it was still early, decided to go down to the beach for a paddle or even a swim. The dress the dog had soaked was on a hanger by the open window and a quick check revealed that it was now bone dry and no longer smelt of Labrador, but it was decidedly crumpled. She resolved to check in the cupboards to see if she could find an iron. If not, she could always ask Cesare.
She pulled on shorts and a T-shirt over her bikini, picked up a towel in case she did decide to go into the water and went down the stairs and out into the fresh air. It was cooler at this time of the morning but certainly not cold by a long chalk. The scent of rosemary, lavender and pine needles was in the air, and she breathed deeply as she made her way down the path to the beach, feeling it clean her lungs. The sand was still cool underfoot at this hour and she wandered along the waterline, scanning for shells just like she used to do on holiday with her parents when her dad was still alive. The thought of her dad reminded her that she might get the results of her scan later this week and she offered up a silent prayer that it would be good news. She did her best to concentrate on some beautiful little blue butterfly-wing-shaped shells and when she came to a stunning piece of glossy mother of pearl, she picked it up and slipped it into her shorts pocket as a souvenir of this lovely place.
She took two steps into the water and stood there with it lapping at her calves as she reflected on last night. Doing her best to ignore the fact that her boyfriend had yet again ended up drinking far too much – even if, to be fair, she hadn’t seen him do anything to disgrace himself – she really couldn’t have asked for a better welcome. Considering that she and Ethan were just the hired hands, she had been welcomed into the family as if she were a long-lost friend. Faye and Sky had been kind and hospitable and apart from Denver’s ogling and his girlfriend’s jealous stares, everybody had been most pleasant. In particular, Keith, despite his reputation for being hot tempered, had been relaxed and friendly.
The big unknown was just what the situation was as far as the new album was concerned. Nobody had yet mentioned it, at least not to her, and Ben had pointedly refused to join the other two in their improvised jam session. Could it be that he didn’t yet know what Keith had in mind? Or had he already decided not to participate in reforming the band after a decade of silence? But, if so, what was he doing here? Not only had they not played together for ten years but, from what Faye had said, they hadn’t even sat down together in all this time. Had they had a major falling-out? If so, what about? Alternatively, was there some other reason why Ben was keeping out of it while Keith was patently walking on eggshells around him? No doubt all would be revealed before too long.
Shrugging her shoulders, she turned and went back up the beach to a convenient rock and removed her T-shirt and shorts, setting them down on the flat top of the rock along with her towel and sandals. Making her way back across the sand she waded slowly out into the refreshingly cool, but far from cold, sea until she could sink down so that the water came up to her shoulders, before pushing herself forward and setting off in a slow breaststroke. She was a good swimmer and she carried on out to the mouth of the bay from where she had a fine view across to Lerici and La Spezia to the right, although a bigger headland prevented her from seeing far in the opposite direction. When she had time, she decided she would walk around the coast a bit to see what lay to the south of them.
A few minutes after returning to the beach, she was standing by her clothes, bending over as she finished drying her legs, when something cold and wet gave her an intimate prod in the posterior. She turned to see her friend the Labrador, tail wagging, evidently delighted to see her.
‘Ciao, bello. And how are you today?’
In reply to this multilingual greeting, he just wagged his tail harder before turning and trotting off, to return almost immediately with a lump of driftwood in his mouth. He dropped it at her feet and turned so his nose was pointing at the sea. He couldn’t have made himself any plainer if he had just asked her to pick it up and throw it. She did as requested, and he splashed joyfully into the water and swam out to retrieve it, immediately swimming back to the beach and dropping it at her feet again. She repeated the process several times until that same whistle she had heard the previous day echoed across the cove and the dog abandoned the game and started swimming to the shore. Back on dry land, he charged off up the little track and just for a moment or two Steph once again glimpsed a tall figure standing up there on the headland before he and the dog disappeared over the crest of the rise.
Breakfast was served on the terrace, and it came as no surprise to Steph to see Ethan’s bedroom door still closed as she went out. She left him to it and went up to the villa at eight thirty. Sitting at the table were Faye and Keith along with Johnny’s wife, Tara. Faye waved Steph into a seat opposite them just as Cesare emerged from the house with a basket of warm croissants.
‘What can I get you, signora: bacon and egg, cereal or something else to eat? And what about to drink – a nice cappuccino maybe?’ He addressed her in Italian, and she answered in the same language.
‘Just a cappuccino please, and I’ll try one of these croissants – and please call me Steph or Stefania.’ She remembered what she wanted to ask. ‘By the way, my dress got soaked when a big dog shook himself all over me down at the beach yesterday. I’ve rinsed it out and it’s perfectly dry, but I was wondering if I could borrow an iron?’
‘Just let me have it and Donatella will iron it for you.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it. She’s got more than enough to do. Seriously, just lend me an iron and I’ll do it.’
He had another try but she remained adamant, so he went off to get her the iron. As he disappeared into the house, Faye smiled across the table at her. ‘Wow, you speak fantastic Italian. I just about got that you don’t want bacon and eggs but what was the rest about?Ferro, wasn’t it?’
Steph thanked her for the compliment and then went on to explain about the wet dog and her request for an iron.
When Keith heard about the Labrador, he gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Rob’s got to do something about Waldorf. I know he’s still a youngster, but he can’t go round soaking our guests.’
Steph wondered who Rob was but didn’t want to sound nosey, so she started with the dog. ‘You know the Labrador then? Waldorf – cool name. But there’s no trouble; he’s a super dog. In fact, he and I had a game of fetch this morning. Who does he belong to?’
Faye provided the answer. ‘To our son, Robert. He lives out on the headland and has done for some years now. He speaks great Italian now, but Keith and I are still very much at an elementary level. We keep saying we’ll take lessons, but with Rob and Cesare to do all the translating for us we’ve been too lazy. But you sound as if you really are Italian. How come?’
Steph relegated the question of why this son hadn’t joined them last night until another time and told Faye about her family background. As she spoke, she found herself wondering about this family. She had already got the feeling that things weren’t completely peachy between the two siblings she had already met, so maybe this other son’s absence was because he was at daggers drawn with another member of the family. From what she had seen so far, the most likely candidate for this honour was Denver, but of course it could be Keith if the stories about him being quick-tempered were true. Whoever it was, Steph knew that it was no business of hers, so she stayed off the subject and just asked Faye about Robert’s place of residence.
