Page 19 of Change of Heart
‘Thank you for coming.’ He sounded equally awkward and for a moment or two she intercepted a curious glance from his receptionist who must have picked up on his tone. ‘Call me Luca, please.’
Chapter 14
Next morning Alice had arranged to meet Simonetta at the stables and she was keen to tell her all about her meeting with the three architects, particularly with Luca and his canine companion. To her surprise and considerable relief, when she mentioned his name, this actually produced a smile on Simonetta’s face.
‘When you were asking about architects, I didn’t want to mention Luca in front of Papà and Nonna and I wondered if you might contact him. Tommaso’s often told me his brother’s a very good architect. I’ve heard that from other people as well and I’m sure he’d be great for us. I was going to tell you about him on a couple of occasions during the week but each time the thought of the family complications it might cause stopped me. In the end I told myself that if you were to choose him, it had to be some sort of sign and we would just have to do our best to make it work.’
Simonetta waited until the horses had negotiated a narrow gateway and were once again walking side by side before she continued.
‘So, what do you think? Is Luca the best of the architects you’ve seen? We both know it’s going to be difficult if he is.’
Alice answered honestly. ‘I have absolutely no doubt that heisthe best candidate, but I’m sure you’re right that it could provoke all sorts of problems. Most important of all, do you think your father could accept having a Montorso working for him?’
Simonetta took her time before replying. ‘I think he’ll take a lot of persuading but, ultimately, the deciding factor will be my grandmother. If we can get her on our side then I’m sure Papà will say yes, probably reluctantly, but I think he would agree. Are you doing anything tomorrow afternoon? Maybe you and I should sit down together with Nonna and have a quiet chat in advance of Monday’s meeting.’
‘That’s fine by me. Good idea. What about Luca and Tommaso’s father? How do you think he’s likely to react? Don’t let’s forget that, as mayor, he’s probably able to create a lot of bureaucratic complications. And what about his relationship with Luca? If it’s bad now, presumably seeing him working for you would only make it worse.’
‘From what Tommi’s told me, there’s absolutely no love lost between Luca and his father as it is. They haven’t seen or spoken to each other for years, so it can hardly make their relationship any worse. And, to be honest, the same could be said about relations between our two families. Cesare Montorso has always hated us and I can’t see that changing. There’s no way he was ever going to make things easy for us with this project so, again, I don’t think we’ll necessarily be any worse off if we go with Luca.’
‘Okay, if you’re sure, I’ll send him a text and tell him I’m going to put his name forward at our meeting on Monday.’
‘Do that, but I still think it’ll be a good idea if you and I sit down with Nonna before the meeting to see if we can convince her to be on our side. Leave Achille to me; I know how to handle him.’
They crossed back to the castle side of the valley and were soon riding on Varaldo family land. Alice followed the directions given to her by Alfonso so that she could show Simonetta the fields where the alpacas were to be kept. From there they rode on into the woods and she pointed out the trees which Rocco felt should be harvested first. Simonetta took photos to show her father and told Alice that now that he had accepted the inevitable, he was beginning to sound a bit more enthusiastic. Apparently he had even been seen reading a book on animal husbandry taken from the extensive castle library, but because many of the volumes were over a century old, he had been unable to find anything definitive dealing with alpacas over here in Europe. Alice promised to lend him the new book she had ordered once she had had a chance to look at it.
It was just starting to rain when they returned to the stables and Alice went home to dry out and do her laundry which she had been putting off all week. Before making a start, she sent a text to Luca Montorso telling him she had spoken to Simonetta and that they were both convinced he was the right man for the job. She reminded him that this would be subject to approval at the Varaldo family meeting on Monday morning and asked if he could let her know his answer one way or the other before then. As she pressed Send she couldn’t help hoping that he would agree, and that the family would endorse her recommendation. This, she told herself, was purely based on his suitability as an architect, but she knew, deep down, that there was more to it than that.
She had just put her delicates into the sink to soak when she heard her phone bleep. It was a reply from Luca.
Thank you both very much for the vote of confidence. I promise I’ll get back to you by tomorrow night. Thanks again.
A few minutes later she received another text, this time from Simonetta.
Tea with Nonna all fixed up for tomorrow afternoon. She normally has a rest after lunch, so would four o’clock be okay?
The following day Alice walked up to the castle at four o’clock and was met by Simonetta at the front door with a conspiratorial grin on her face. ‘Achille’s gone out for the afternoon and Papà’s down in the cellars poking about, looking for historic bits and pieces for his museum. That was a brilliant idea of yours; he’s really excited at the thought of creating a lasting exhibition of family history. This means we should have Nonna to ourselves.’
Tea with Simonetta’s grandmother was taken in the baroness’s own private drawing room. Alice had never been in here before and she cast an appreciative eye around as she followed Simonetta over to a beautiful old brocade-covered couch. Though smaller than the family lounge where they had their meetings, this was still a large room, and it needed to be, because a third of it was taken up by a massive grand piano. The baroness was sitting in an armchair by the empty fireplace and she waved the two of them towards her.
‘Come and sit down, girls. Would you like tea or coffee? Alice, maybe you’d prefer tea.’
Alice sat down alongside Simonetta on the couch. ‘I’m happy with either, thank you. I’ll have what you’re having.’
They chatted idly for a few minutes until Silvia had brought in a teapot, cups and saucers, and even a jug of cold milk which Alice had not been expecting, seeing as here in Italy tea was normally drunk black, maybe with a slice of lemon. Along with the tea was a magnificent-looking chocolate cake. After seeing that everybody had been served, Silvia left the room, and the baroness looked across at her granddaughter with a suspicious smile on her face.
‘It’s very nice to see both of you but I know you well, Simonetta. There’s something on your mind, isn’t there?’
Alice couldn’t help smiling. Although she might be getting on in years, there really was nothing wrong with this lady’s antennae. Alice sipped her tea while Simonetta explained the problem that now faced them, finishing with the words, ‘So you see, Nonna, we both feel that he’s the best architect for the job, but we’re afraid that Papà won’t approve. What do you think?
The baroness had been listening closely without comment to everything her granddaughter had said, and the three of them sat in silence for almost a minute before the old lady spoke. ‘Do you trust this man?’
Simonetta and Alice nodded in tandem and Simonetta replied straightaway. ‘Yes, I do.’
‘But surely, you haven’t spoken to him. Didn’t you say only Alice went to see him? Haveyouever met him?’ She really didn’t miss a trick.
Alice now knew from what Simonetta had told her during their ride the previous day that she and Tommaso had met up with his brother in Parma on many occasions in the past, but, of course, revealing that to her grandmother would mean revealing her hidden love affair, and that would risk opening a whole fresh can of worms. Thinking quickly, Alice leapt in to help out.
‘I certainly got the feeling that he was trustworthy. There was just something about him.’ She searched desperately for something else to say in his support, but the baroness was not going to be put off the scent so easily.
