Page 38 of Change of Heart
‘See you on Friday.’
Chapter 23
The referendum took place on Friday morning and the results were posted on the town website at three o’clock. Alice was at home, trying to make up her mind what to wear for dinner – or more – at Luca’s house that night, and all the while she had been keeping an eye on her computer, waiting for the result to be announced. She was delighted to see that almost eighty percent of the voters had disagreed with the mayor and had supported the Varaldo family’s efforts to go ahead with opening the castle to the public. The first person she called was Simonetta to check that she and the family had seen the result. Needless to say, they were all pleased and relieved. The next call was going to be to Luca to give him the good news but no sooner had she finished speaking to Simonetta than her phone started ringing. It was none other than Luca and she was quick to pass on the result of the vote. When he replied he sounded pleased but distracted.
‘Look, I’m really, really sorry, but I’m going to have to cancel our dinner tonight. Something unexpected has come up and I have to go away for a few days.’
Doing her best to suppress a wave of disappointment, Alice pressed him for a bit more information and discovered that he was on his way to a place on the coast over a hundred kilometres below Rome, and that was a long way from Parma.
‘I’ll need the car when I’m down there so I’m going to have to drive. It’s a horrible journey and it’ll take me five or six hours – if I’m lucky. I can’t take Frank with me this time so as soon as I’ve dropped him off with Carlo at the studio, I’ll carry straight on. I’m really sorry about tonight but I have to go. I have no choice.’ She heard him hesitate. ‘It’s… somebody I know down there. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. She’s in hospital and I need to see her. I’m really, really sorry about tonight.’
Alice’s mind was racing. He had told her that he had lived and worked south of Rome for some years after qualifying. It didn’t take much to put two and two together. Maybe the woman in question was an old girlfriend – or not such an old one. Who was this mystery woman? Alice didn’t have a chance to ask him any more as it was clear from his tone that he was in a mad hurry. A sudden thought occurred to her.
‘What about Frank? You can’t just leave him in the studio for days. Who’s going to look after him?’
‘Carlo says he’ll take him. It’s very good of him, considering he only lives in a very small flat, but hopefully I’ll only be away for a couple of days.’
Alice made a quick decision. ‘I can take Frank. I’ve got bags of room at my place, and if you aren’t back by Monday I can take him into work with me. Besides, if I’m not going to see you, I can at least enjoy his company. I’m not working this afternoon so why don’t you tell Carlo that I’ll come and collect him from the studio in an hour or so? Would that help?’
Luca sounded only too happy to accept her offer and he thanked her profusely before ringing off, leaving her seriously puzzled. It was an uncomfortable feeling to find that she was being abandoned – at least temporarily – in favour of another woman, and the fact that he had never spoken about this woman made her feel even more uncomfortable. Who was she? This had to be more than a casual acquaintance as he was dropping everything and heading off on a long drive to see her. Maybe she was just a very close friend or might he have feelings for this woman? And, if so, where did this leave her?
She was still mulling it over as she drove down to Parma, squeezed the car into a tight parking space and took the lift up to Luca’s studio. Here she found Carlo with Frank, and the Labrador gave her an enthusiastic welcome. As she collected his bed and a big bag of dry dog food she asked Carlo what he knew about the sudden departure of his boss, but he shook his head.
‘I’ve no idea. He just called me and asked if I could take Frank.’
Alice did her best to sound blasé. ‘Maybe he has a girlfriend down there.’
Carlo shrugged. ‘If he has, it’s the first I’ve heard of it. He goes to Rome and beyond on a pretty regular basis but he told me that’s because he used to work down there. I’ve been working for him for three years and he’s never mentioned another woman.’
Alice looked up from the dog in surprise. ‘Anotherwoman?’
He grinned at her. ‘Apart from you, of course. You’re all he’s been talking about for weeks – except for work.’
Alice had no idea how to reply to this, but it felt good.
When she got back home, she unloaded Frank’s food and his bed in her flat and went up the stairs to check with Luisella that they didn’t mind her having a canine guest for a few days. There was a brief standoff as Geronimo the terrier impressed on Frank that it was he who ruled this particular roost, and Frank, in spite of being three times his size, meekly acquiesced. Luisella assured Alice that Frank could stay as long as necessary and Alice decided to take him for a long walk, partly for his sake and partly to take her mind off her disappointment.
It was an overcast evening with rain in the air, which rather matched her mood. A few hours ago she had been happily looking forward to an evening and maybe a night with Luca, and now she was all on her own – apart from a big black dog. She walked up past the castle onto the track across Varaldo land that led upwards through the trees. Frank trotted along at her side and made occasional forays into the woods to bark at squirrels or to bring her sticks that she threw back into the trees for him to retrieve. He seemed quite unbothered by the absence of his master. The same couldn’t be said for Alice.
When she emerged from the trees onto the open pastures, she sat down for a rest on a small rocky outcrop. She looked back down over the castle towards the mayor’s farm on the other side of the valley where a red tractor was driving across the field where she had first set eyes on Tommaso that time with Simonetta. She was struck, as always, by how steep the slopes were and how unbelievable it appeared that a tractor could actually get up and down to plough the earth. She spared a thought for how tough life must have been for farm workers before the days of tractors and mechanical ploughs. Things had certainly been hard way back then and she was glad times had moved on.
As she sat there, she did her best to dismiss any further conjecture about Luca and this other woman and tried to concentrate instead on how well she had fitted in here in the Apennines and how happy she was – or had been up until a few hours ago. She felt completely comfortable with the Varaldo family now and had little doubt that she intended to stay here and make a permanent life for herself in Italy. Hopefully now that the referendum had proved overwhelmingly that there was support in the town for the development, things would be able to move ahead quickly. Her fear that the baron would be refused permission to open the castle to the public and thus do her out of a job looked less likely, and as Luca had said, by next Easter it should be up and running and she would be even busier.
Hopefully she and Luca would get together long before then, but if not, she told herself sternly, she was still going to make sure she kept on enjoying herself. This place and this job added up to a meaningful and satisfying life with or without the presence of this appealing, but enigmatic, man – or, indeed, any man. She talked it over with the dog who listened intently but didn’t look convinced that she could do without his master. But then, neither was she.
She was just thinking about getting up to continue her walk when she heard a shout. Looking down the slope, she saw two figures emerge from the trees and she felt a smile spread across her face at the realisation that these were Achille and Silvia out for a walk together, hand in hand. They came up to where she was sitting and sat down alongside her, both with dreamy expressions on their faces in spite of the drizzly conditions. While Achille made a fuss of Frank, he explained that today he had followed Alice’s advice and finally bitten the bullet and told Silvia how he felt about her. Alice didn’t need to be told that Silvia’s reaction had been ecstatic. Alice beamed at them, delighted at their obvious happiness, while doing her best to stifle any feeling of envy.
‘I’m so glad you finally told each other how you feel. What about the next step? When are you going to tell the baron?’
Silvia and Achille exchanged glances and he nodded. ‘Now… or at least when we get back from this walk. It’s time we told him, told everybody.’
‘Good for you. I’m sure he’ll be only too happy for you. After all, he’s accepted Tommaso and Simonetta as a couple and Luca as a member of the team. He’s proved that he’s a thoroughly modern man, not stuck in the past. He’ll be delighted.’
The happy couple cuddled up against each other, their happiness only too visible. Then Silvia came up with an observation that proved she didn’t miss much.
‘What’s the matter, Alice? You don’t look your usual cheerful self.’
For a moment, Alice almost blurted out her fears that Luca might have another woman, but she decided to keep this to herself until she knew more. Instead, she just smiled back and shook her head ruefully. ‘I was supposed to be going out for dinner tonight with Luca but he’s been called away.’ Doing her best to sound positive, she pointed down to where the Labrador was rolling happily about in the damp grass at their feet. ‘Still, he’s left me the next best thing.’ As the first drops of serious rain began to fall, she stood up. ‘Come on, Frank, let’s try and get home before we get completely soaked. Besides, knowing you, I imagine you’re ready for something to eat.’
