Page 25 of Far from Home
Amy smiled back at him as she shook his hand. ‘Do call me Amy, please. Everything’s fine, and the builders are starting work for me tomorrow. There’s an awful lot to be done.’ She hesitated, glancing around to see if they were being overheard, but was pleased to see there was nobody within earshot. ‘I wanted to see you to tell you there’s been a pretty monumental development.’
She watched his face as he registered what she went on to tell him about her discovery. His expression gradually changed from amazement to delight and then to uncertainty. There was real sympathy in his voice when he responded.
‘Signora… Amy, how amazing, but how sad that you never had the chance to meet him. He was a charming and generous man and he was well-loved.’
Amy could hear the emotion in her voice as she replied. ‘Thank you. That’s so reassuring to hear, but I do so wish I could have known him. All my life I’ve believed that another man was my father but, tragically, I never knew him either. He was killed just before I was born. Now I find myself with two fathers and I never knew either of them.’ There was a catch in her voice and she had to stop and collect herself before continuing. ‘But knowing he was well-loved here means a lot to me.’
He reached over and placed a comforting hand on her arm. ‘I know this must have all come as a massive shock to you but I can tell you this. I’m sure Martin would have been delighted to have such a charming, talented daughter. You can take comfort in the knowledge that he would have been very proud of you.’
It took Amy a full minute to pull herself together. Finally, she mustered a little smile. ‘Well, at least I now know that there’s a real link between me and Sant’Antonio. Ever since I arrived here I’ve felt it, and it’s reassuring to know that it wasn’t just an illusion.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Do you think I should make this news public?’
‘It’s completely up to you, but I can guarantee you an even warmer welcome in Sant’Antonio when you do. Like I say, people here thought very highly of him.’
Just then, Vincenzo appeared carrying a tray of drinks. Amy hadn’t started on her fizz yet so she just thanked him while the notary reached for a glass of mineral water. Vincenzo nodded towards Amy and addressed himself to the lawyer.
‘Alfredo, I’m glad you’ve met our new arrival. It’s about time we had some new blood in the town. I’m sure Martin would have been pleased to know that such a lovely young woman had taken over l’Ospedaletto.’
Alfredo Lucchese caught Amy’s eye for a second before replying. ‘Yes, indeed. I’m sure she’ll be a great asset to the town.’
Amy hesitated and then decided she had nothing to lose – and maybe even much to gain – by revealing what she had just discovered. She took a big mouthful of the very good wine and owned up.
‘Thanks, Vincenzo. In fact only yesterday I found out that my links with Sant’Antonio are stronger than I’d thought.’ And she told him about the letter in the safe.
He looked delighted for her and, to her surprise and considerable embarrassment, he set the tray down on the grass, reached out and hugged her to him, bestowing a couple of smacking kisses to her cheeks before catching her by the hand and dragging her back into the lounge. When they got there he immediately pulled out a chair and proceeded to climb up onto it remarkably nimbly, brandishing an empty glass in the air as he did so. Amy stood behind him, worried he might fall off, but he turned out to be steadier than she had thought.
He produced a coin from his pocket and proceeded to bash it against the glass hard enough to turn all the heads and even bring his wife running out of the kitchen. Fortunately, the glass didn’t break.
‘Dear friends, I have some absolutely wonderful news. This lovely young lady, for those of you who don’t know her, is Amy. And she’s just discovered she’s the daughter of our very own sadly missed Martin.’ There was a flutter among the audience and murmurs of surprise. Amy suddenly found herself the centre of attention and the colour rushed to her cheeks again. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have a Slater in the town once more. Isn’t that amazing?’
As Alfredo helped Vincenzo down from his chair, Amy was immediately surrounded by friendly locals, shaking her by the hand, kissing her on the cheeks and enquiring about how she had only now discovered she had a father. It was eminently clear that Martin had been a popular and well-loved member of Sant’Antonio society and she felt pleased and proud for him.
By the time they filed through into the dining room and Amy had told and retold her story time and time again, she felt quite drained. She found the card with her name on it and took her place at table. She was at the top end, with Vincenzo on her right and a good-looking woman on her left who might have been in her mid- or late fifties. Her name card indicated that she was called Domenica, but Amy hadn’t met her before. Rosa’s empty seat was directly opposite and when her head emerged from the kitchen Amy could see she was perspiring. There were eleven mouths to feed around the table so she had her work cut out. She gave a wave of the hand to the assembled guests. ‘Do sit down, everybody. So glad you could come.’
Seeing Rosa hurry back into the kitchen, Amy excused herself and slipped out to join her.
‘Can I make myself useful?’ It was a lovely big room, with modern kitchen equipment. The enormous table was covered with plates as Rosa served up her own mix of antipasti. There was wonderful aromaticfinocchionasalami scented with fennel, cured ham and slices of juicy, orange-fleshed melon and a selection of bruschetta slices. Coco, the Labrador, was lying in her basket in the corner and Amy was very impressed. She felt sure Max would have been far too excited to stay out of the way. The previous day he had provided welcome canine support to her as she came to terms with her father’s letter, and when Signora Grande had returned with the news that her sister was recovering, Amy had felt really sorry to say goodbye to him.
Rosa put up a few token protests and then let Amy take over the task of adding fat green olives and slices of avocado to the plates. For her part, Rosa hauled a series of roasting dishes out of the ovens and checked the progress of the meat and vegetables. By the time she had finished doing the basting, Amy had prepared the starters.
Rosa and Amy loaded the plates onto a couple of trays and took the starters into the dining room. Amy set her tray down on a side table and returned to her seat so that Rosa could serve everybody personally. As she sat back down again, she felt a hand tap her wrist. It was Vincenzo.
‘That was very kind of you, Amy. Thank you.’
‘My pleasure.’
She chatted to him for a while and then to the woman on the other side of her and learnt that she, too, had known Martin Slater well.
‘So you’re Martin’s daughter. I saw quite a bit of him. I’m Domenica.’
‘And are you a resident of Sant’Antonio? Born and bred?’
‘I’ve been living here now for quite a few years, but I’m originally from Pisa. And you, what have you been doing up to now?’
She and Amy chatted throughout the meal and by the end Amy felt sure she had made another friend.
The antipasti were followed by broad flatpappardelle al cinghialeand although Amy deliberately only took a small portion of the pasta, the taste of the rich wild boar sauce was wonderful. After this came roast pork accompanied by little roast potatoes flavoured with rosemary, and then panna cotta to finish. It was an excellent meal and by the end Amy felt as though she was truly settling into the town that was fast becoming her new home.
That evening, sitting outside the restaurant with an iced coffee, Amy was trying to work out if she actually needed any more food, when she got a call back from Lucy. Amy had called her the previous night as soon as she had digested the contents of the letter in the safe, but had just got her friend’s voicemail. She had tried a couple more times but it had been clear Lucy was tied up.
