Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany Book 1)

by T A Williams

  ‘It’s all right, Lucy. They’ll keep an eye on your car. Would you like to come with me?’

  Lucy nodded. No doubt, without these unofficial guards, she would have returned to find her Fiat also minus its wheels.

  He led her up three flights of concrete stairs and into an open plan area that had probably started life as an office or factory space. Now, from the plaster falling off the ceiling and walls, and graffiti all over what was left, it was clearly earmarked for demolition. It was warm and sticky in there and it smelt of drains – or, rather, the lack of them. There were probably five or six little clusters of people up there, huddled together with their meagre possessions. Rahel was in the far corner along with a couple of older people and she was curled up in a ball, wrapped in a thick blanket in spite of the heat.

  Ahmed knelt down beside her and whispered softly in her ear. Lucy saw her stir and look up, her bloodshot eyes full of gratitude.

  ‘Thank you, doctor.’ Her voice was very weak, but she even managed to summon a little smile.

  Lucy gave her a thorough examination and very quickly diagnosed appendicitis. Rahel needed to have the offending organ removed as soon as possible to avoid the risk of peritonitis, which would be a far more serious matter. She reached for her phone but then remembered that Bruno and Virginia were away. Gritting her teeth, she called the clinic and asked to be put through to the director, Professor Gualtieri Della Torre, Virginia’s father.

  ‘Good morning, Professor Gualtieri. It’s Lucy Young.’

  ‘Good morning, Doctor Young. How can I help?’

  Rapidly, she outlined the situation, explaining that in her opinion an urgent operation was needed. ‘I could take her to the main hospital where I’m sure they’d treat her, but Ahmed’s terrified that the authorities might subsequently have her arrested and maybe even deported. I honestly don’t know if that would be the case, but they’re both dead scared. Might there be a free hour of theatre time today and a bed for two or three nights at the clinic? I’d be happy to do the operation and I’ll also pay for her stay there. I’m sure I could persuade an anaesthetist and a nurse to help out.’ He didn’t respond immediately, so she hurried on. ‘The thing is, she’s the girlfriend of one of our staff members. I don’t suppose…’

  There was the briefest of pauses before he replied. ‘After what you did for Mr Lorenzo, we owe you, and Ahmed’s always been a dedicated member of staff. Fine. Bring her here.’ She exhaled in relief.

  ‘Thank you so much, Professore.’

  ‘That’s okay and, Doctor Young, there’s no need for you to pay.’ There was a gentle note to his voice. ‘Tell Ahmed we’re glad to help.’

  ‘Thank you so very much.’ Lucy reflected that he really was a good man.

  Together with Ahmed, she helped Rahel down the stairs and they laid her in a foetal position on the back seat of the little car which, fortunately, still had its wheels. Back at the clinic she found that Professor Gualtieri had already put things in motion and they were able to wheel Rahel straight down to the operating theatre. The operation was very straightforward and a complete success and at the end Lucy went out to give the waiting Ahmed the good news. He was grateful, but she made it clear where thanks were due.

  ‘All I did was a routine operation. It was Professor Gualtieri who authorised everything and who’s paying for it.’ She gave him a hug as she saw tears of joy running down his cheeks. ‘You and I have a good boss, Ahmed. We’re lucky to work here.’ She realised she meant it.

  It was midday by the time she got home and she went straight to bed, setting the alarm for seven o’clock so she would be able to take a shower and eat something before hurrying back to work. In spite of feeling tired after so long on her feet, she also felt elated. After months here in Siena looking after the privileged few, it had felt good to do something for the less fortunate. Importantly, it underlined what a fine man Professor Gualtieri was. Whatever reservations she might have been having about private medicine, she knew she was proud to work for a man like him.

  She was woken just after six o’clock that evening by her phone. As she reached lazily for it, she was delighted to see it was a call from David in the States. Her tiredness disappeared in a flash and she sat upright.

  ‘David, hi. It’s so good to hear from you.’ And it was. ‘How was your journey and how’s everything?’

  ‘It’s great to hear your voice too, Lucy.’ He went on to tell her that he had had his first meeting with his ‘legal people’ and he hoped everything was going to be concluded by the end of the week. Apparently most of the groundwork had already been done by his wife’s lawyers in the hope of a speedy conclusion. As the end of the week was little more than two days’ away, Lucy crossed her fingers that he was right.

  ‘And are you going to be meeting up with your wife?’

  ‘Friday afternoon, I believe. We both need to sign some papers.’

  Lucy found herself yet again wondering what reaction his wife might have when she saw him. Might she find she still loved him and want to get back together with him? If so, Lucy wondered where that would leave her. Still, she told herself, there was nothing she could do about it, so she just had to hope for the best, although it was an uncomfortable feeling.

  They chatted for almost half an hour before, reluctantly, she told him she had to get ready for work. Before ringing off, he came up with an invitation.

  ‘My sponsors – who, I’m pleased to say, are sticking with me – have invited me to a Palio party next Wednesday. I wonder if you’d like to come. We can watch the race from above the crowds.’

  ‘That sounds great, but it’s not the party organised by the local newspaper, is it? I’ve already turned down an invitation to that as I really don’t want to bump into Tommy… you know, the guy who ratted you out.’

  He assured her it was a totally different party and she said yes, willingly. In fact, she didn’t really mind where she was going to be as long as wherever that was she would be by David’s side.

  Back at the clinic later that evening, she found Rahel sitting up in bed and looking much better. Lucy sat and chatted to her for some time, listening with rapt attention to her first-hand account of the arduous journey she had had to undertake to get away from the war zone with her elderly parents. They came from the ten percent of Syrians who were Christians and things had been getting increasingly tough for them in their home town of Aleppo by the time they left. Lucy was also fascinated to learn that Rahel had been a trainee nurse.

  Rahel told Lucy her plan was to try to enrol in a course here in Italy so she could finish her nursing studies and make enough to look after her parents. The problem was that almost all the precious money she and her family had, had been used to pay the extortionate fee the people-smugglers had charged to cram them onto a frighteningly overloaded inflatable for the crossing to Europe. In consequence, she had had to take any job she could find until she could save enough money to let her carry on with her plan. Lucy knew it was going to be an uphill battle and urged her to waste no time in applying for asylum. She also offered to act as a referee if necessary. In the meantime Ahmed had managed to find modest accommodation for her and her parents which was much better than the squat.

  Lucy thought about the Syrian woman a lot during the final days of the week and when it was time for Rahel to be discharged on Friday morning, she pressed several hundred euros into her hands. Brushing away her protests, she told her to consider it a loan that she could repay once she was a qualified nurse with a full-time job.

  Chapter 25

  David was due to return on Sunday lunchtime and Lucy spent the morning in the garden, anxiously waiting for the call telling her he was home. She had food and wine in the fridge in the hope that she would see him. She hadn’t heard from him since the day he was scheduled to have his meeting with his wife and she was desperate to know how it had gone.

  She soon found that she had company in the shape of Barolo the Labrador from next door, who stood u
p on his hind legs, snuffling at her over the wall, tail wagging. As she was petting him, his master appeared.

  ‘Ciao, Lucy. All well?’

  ‘Ciao, Guido. Yes, all good. And you?’

  They chatted over the wall for a bit and then he gave her a fascinating piece of news.

  ‘We think we may have a candidate for the “Englishman” who used to own the Castelnuovo.’

  ‘You have?’

  ‘In Hawkwood’s mercenary army, the White Company, the next most important man was the treasurer. It turns out he was another Englishman: William Thornton. Very little is known of Thornton or of the fortunes of the White Company after the death of Hawkwood, but it’s clear they continued to operate for some years, no doubt amassing a considerable amount of wealth in the process. As treasurer, Mr Thornton would have had access to this. For all we know, he might have taken Hawkwood’s place as leader.’

  ‘So you think the castle might have belonged to him?’

  ‘That’s the theory we’re investigating. As this is Siena territory, there may be mention of it in the Siena archives and my student is diligently sifting through the records in the hope of finding confirmation.’

  Lucy thanked Guido and asked him to pass her thanks to his postgraduate student and then had to rush indoors as she heard her phone start ringing. It was David.

  ‘Hi, Lucy, I’m in the car and on my way home. I should be back in an hour or so.’

  Lucy resisted the temptation to query how it had gone on Friday afternoon and instead asked if he would like to come for lunch. He accepted readily and she felt a sensation of relief. Hopefully, if he was about to announce a rapprochement with his estranged wife, he would hardly have agreed to have lunch with her. Nevertheless, she awaited his return with apprehension.

  Any doubts she may still have harboured were swept away when he arrived, jumped out of his car and immediately picked her up and hugged her tightly to him.

  ‘God, Lucy, it’s so good to see you again. I’ve really missed you.’ He kissed her until she was ready to subside into a heap in his arms. Finally, gasping for breath, she beamed at him.

  ‘I’ve missed you, too. Lots and lots.’

  Managing to restrain her natural instincts to take him upstairs and ravish him, she sat him down at the table and produced the cold spread she had prepared. As they ate, he told her all about his week in the US and, finally, got to the bit she had been waiting for.

  ‘I saw Rosy on Friday afternoon.’

  ‘And how did it go?’ Lucy did her best to keep her tone neutral.

  ‘It was okay. I think she was so relieved I was finally giving her the divorce – and a whole heap of money – that she managed to be extra sweet. We didn’t argue – the legal people had already done that. We both just signed on the dotted line in front of our respective lawyers and that was that. All that’s left now are a few odds and ends to tie up.’

  ‘So you just met up with her in the lawyer’s office?’

  He nodded. ‘To my considerable relief, she said she had to dash off, and it was all over in less than half an hour. But she did tell me one thing; she’s seeing another guy.’

  ‘No longer the man with the yacht?’

  ‘No, apparently that didn’t last. No, this is somebody else: an American.’

  ‘So if she’s seeing somebody else, she can hardly complain if you’re doing the same.’

  He grinned. ‘Exactly. Takes the pressure off a bit, doesn’t it?’

  It certainly did. Lucy was so relieved, she decided to leave the ice cream in the fridge and immediately hauled him upstairs to bed.

  Considerably later that afternoon he went off to the villa to see Armando and Fioretta and, of course, his beloved Boris. As he had just spent hours in an aircraft and was feeling jet-lagged, they agreed that he should get some sleep and so she wouldn’t see him again until the next day, but she didn’t really mind. The important thing was that he appeared as pleased to see her as she had been to see him.

  As it turned out, it was just as well he wasn’t there that evening as she had an unexpected visitor. She had just emerged from the shower and was tidying away the last remnants of lunch when she heard a car outside, followed by a knock on the door. It was Bruno.

  She gave him a big smile and invited him in. As he walked in past her, she couldn’t miss the expression on his face. Bruno definitely wasn’t a happy man. She put the kettle on and waited for him to tell her what was troubling him. It didn’t take long.

  ‘Listen, Lucy, I hope you don’t mind, but I need your advice.’

  ‘Of course. What’s the problem? A surgical matter?’

  He shook his head. ‘I wish it were. No, it’s Virginia.’

  ‘What about Virginia?’

  She saw him hesitate before unburdening himself. ‘She’s been having an affair with another man.’

  Lucy was genuinely amazed. Virginia had always struck her as being devoted to Bruno and certainly the first few times they had met socially, there had even been a certain amount of tension in the air as Virginia had made clear to Lucy that she was staking her claim to him. What could have gone wrong?

  ‘Are you sure, Bruno? What makes you think that?’

  He sighed, looking quite deflated. ‘She told me.’

  ‘She told you she’s been unfaithful?’

  ‘That’s why she wanted us to get away together. We’ve just had four great days on the Island of Elba and everything was going so well, I mean, really well. I’d even finally decided I was going to ask her to marry me. It’s about time, after five years together. But then last night, before I had a chance to pop the question, she opened up to me about her affair.’

  Lucy was puzzled. ‘But why would she insist on a romantic getaway with you, only to tell you she’s found somebody else? It makes no sense.’

  Bruno looked up and Lucy could see that his eyes were bloodshot. ‘She wants me to forgive her.’ To give him time, Lucy went across to the worktop and turned off the kettle. This was a subject that deserved something a hell of a lot stronger than tea. She dug in the cupboard and located the still unopened bottle of grappa Guido had brought with him the previous Saturday night. Pouring Bruno a shot of the fiery liquor, she slid the glass across the table into his unresisting hand.

  ‘Tell me what she said.’

  He took a mouthful of grappa, grimaced, and picked up the story once again. ‘It was an aberration, a moment of madness. She went to a conference in Rome a couple of months back and that’s where it happened. She was tired, they’d all had a bit too much to drink, and she’d got this crazy idea into her head that I was going to dump her.’ He caught Lucy’s eye. ‘And for you, of all people. Apparently she thought there was some kind of chemistry between us and she was very upset. Anyway, whatever the reason, she ended up in bed with one of the other delegates.’

  Lucy was appalled. ‘She was jealous of me? But there’s nothing between the two of us… apart from friendship of course.’

  ‘That’s what I told her and she said she knows that now but, at the time, she was convinced there was something going on. I’ve a feeling some of our friends must have told her how madly in love with you I used to be way back when we were teenagers.’

  Lucy could now see why Virginia had been a bit standoffish back in the early days. ‘So it only happened the once?’

  He nodded. ‘So she says. When she woke up in the morning, the first thing she did was to put a stop to it. She told the man she regretted what had happened and she didn’t want anything more to do with him. And she says the reason for this was me. She realised she loved me, not him, and she wanted to be with me…’ His voice tailed off and he took another little sip of grappa while cogs were beginning to turn inside Lucy’s head. Surely not…

  ‘Who is this other delegate?’

  ‘I didn’t ask. It doesn’t matter, does it? What counts is that she did it.’

  ‘When did she tell him it was all over?’ A little bell had just started ringi
ng inside her head. It couldn’t really be, could it?

  ‘That morning, but then again more recently as he was still pestering her. They finally had it out a couple of weeks ago and she laid it on the line to him. She says she’s been feeling terribly guilty ever since it happened and she knew she had to come clean and tell me all about it.’

  Lucy breathed deeply. A couple of weeks earlier had been around the time Charles had come to her for advice, telling her he had fallen for a woman who had spurned him. She also now remembered Charles telling her some time ago that he had been at a conference. He had described the woman with whom he was now besotted as being ‘not exactly married’ and the situation as ‘complicated’. Joining the dots was looking all too easy and inevitable. She reached for another glass and splashed a little grappa into it for herself. She rarely touched the stuff, but these were exceptional circumstances.

  As the grappa scorched its way down her throat, she debated what to do. If she told Bruno of her suspicions, it might scupper any chances of a reconciliation between Bruno and Virginia. As long as Bruno believed it had been some random, unknown man, hopefully it would be easier for him to come to terms with it and forgive her, if that was really what she wanted.

  ‘And you’re sure she wants you to forgive her?’

  ‘That’s what she said, or rather, pleaded. A moment of madness, never to be repeated, she called it, and she sounded sincere.’ He looked up from his glass. ‘I’m so confused, Lucy. That’s why I came to you. You know both of us and you’re the most sensible person I know. Tell me what I should do. What would you do?’

  That, of course, was the question. Lucy knew what she would do because she had already done it, and with the same man – assuming she was right in her suspicions. After what Charles had done to her, she had had no hesitation in telling him that was the end of things between them. Should she tell Bruno to do the same? Was Virginia being honest when she said she chose Bruno over Charles? To give herself time to think, she went over to the fridge and started pulling out the remains of the lunch she had prepared for David. By the time she had set the table and put a big helping of mixed salad and some slices of porchetta onto Bruno’s plate, she had reached a decision. She filled her glass with ice-cold mineral water, took a big mouthful, and made a start.