Page 29 of Change of Heart
She decided she needed to talk to somebody she knew well and it occurred to her that she hadn’t spoken to Fenella since a brief call a couple of days after arriving in Varaldo, during which she had repeated her thanks to them for finding her this job. Fenella knew all about the accident even if she didn’t know about Maurizio, and she had a sensible head on her shoulders. So at six o’clock Alice made herself a cup of tea and sat down with the phone. It rang a few times before it was answered by Fenella, accompanied by a chorus of yapping from Gladys the poodle in the background.
‘Alice, hello, how lovely to hear from you. Gladys, do be quiet! How’re things?’
‘Things are really good, thanks.’ Alice went on to tell her friend in some detail how everything was progressing on the work front and how she appeared to have been accepted by the family as one of their own. Fenella expressed considerable satisfaction and then asked a question of a more personal nature.
‘Have you met any hunky Italian men yet?’ There might even have been a note of longing in Lady Fitzgerald-Chagleigh’s voice. ‘You know, one of those tall, dark and handsome ones with a spaghetti farm and a gondola?’
Alice giggled. ‘There wouldn’t be much use for a gondola up here in the hills, but seeing as you’re asking, yes, Ihavemet a man, but he’s got fair hair and he’s an architect. I’m sure he eats spaghetti but I doubt if he grows it. Will he do?’
‘Ooh, how exciting. Go on, tell me all about him.’
Alice produced a description of Luca and explained how they had met. She then went on to describe his toxic family relationship and how he and his father hadn’t spoken for ten years. Fenella sounded as amazed as Alice that a father could have mistreated his children in that way.
‘I wonder if he’s always been like that. Hasn’t he got a wife to keep him in order?’
‘She left him some years ago when she couldn’t stand the abusive behaviour any longer. According to Luca, he’s been getting more and more extreme as the years go by. As he’s the mayor I’m going to have to go and meet him one of these days and I’m not looking forward to it.’
‘Well, remember what my father told me before I was sent off to boarding school at the age of eleven. There’s only one way to deal with bullies and that’s to stand up to them. By the sound of it, Luca has already worked that out for himself.’
Alice went on to tell Fenella about her visit to the Blue Lake with Luca and she heard cooing noises from the other end of the line.
‘Your Luca sounds like the perfect man for you: bright, handsome, romantic and he even likes horses. You hang onto him.’
Alice felt she should sound a note of caution. ‘He’s not my Luca yet.’
‘But I’ve a feeling he soon will be.’
‘I wish I shared your confidence.’ Alice took a deep breath. ‘The thing is, I haven’t told him about the accident… about my leg.’ She went on to tell her friend how worried she was about his possible reaction when he found out that she was disabled, and how she had been delaying telling him, even after he had inadvertently stepped on her foot.
Fenella answered firmly. ‘Don’t be silly.’ She knew all about Alice’s fears and had been offering encouragement for years now. ‘Now, don’t you go getting all hung up about that all over again. It sounds to me as if he really likes you, and if he does, he’ll accept you just the way you are, warts and all.’
They chatted for a while longer, and as much as Alice felt buoyed by Fenella’s positivity, it wasn’t enough to completely allay her concerns or fears. Would Luca really be accepting of her disability?
Chapter 19
On Sunday morning, Alice got a call from her mum. They had a good catch up in which Alice recounted pretty much what she had told Fenella last night and received the same sort of response, particularly when Alice talked about Luca.
‘That’s wonderful news. It’s about time you found yourself a man. And a nice one. Not a slimy rat like Maurizio was.’
Alice felt duty bound to protest. ‘I’ve been very happy up till now without a man, and I probably would have been quite happy without one for the rest of my life, but now you come to mention it, it does feel rather good.’
‘Do you think it’s going to get serious?’
‘It’s still early days, Mum. I’m taking it one step at a time.’
‘But you’d like it to become more serious?’
Alice couldn’t help giving an honest reply. ‘Yes, I would, but like I say…’
‘Yes, I heard you, you’re taking it one step at a time. Well, I think it’s marvellous. Hang on, your father wants a word.’ There was a rustling noise and then Alice heard her father’s voice.
‘Hello, sweetheart. I’ll get all the news from your mum but I just wanted to pass on a bit of information I picked up at the livestock market the other day. I’ve been meaning to call you. You know your alpacas? Well, I was talking to Reg Bolton who farms up in North Devon, and he was telling me he’s got a herd of thirty alpacas and he’s doing good business renting them out for walks or as guards.’
Alice struggled to wrap her head around what her dad had just told her. ‘Renting them out for walks? Alpacas as guards? What on earth do you mean, Dad?’
She heard him chuckle. ‘Apparently they’re excellent guards against foxes, really plucky. He says he rents out a couple of pairs to neighbouring sheep farmers and they really earn their keep at lambing time. They just graze happily with the flock but if foxes come along the alpacas see them off. But he says the real money’s in the walking.’
‘Not following you, Dad. You’ll have to explain.’
