One Night in Italy

by Lucy Diamond

  As for George, well, he had never made it back to the class, sadly. She guessed his head was all over the place. But even though nothing had quite happened between them, becoming his friend had been a wonderful, rewarding thing in its own right, she realized. She carried a packet of wildflower seeds with her at all times now, sprinkling them between her fingers whenever she walked along a grotty street or neglected patch of wasteland, just in case one seed was to find its way into a crevice and bloom there. Like George and his guerrilla friends, she couldn’t help seeing the city as one big garden, just waiting to be filled with flowers and fruit. It was astonishing how quickly an unloved place – or even a person – could be transformed.

  A voice interrupted her just then. Two voices. ‘Hey, Mum!’

  ‘Ciao!’

  They were back, Matthew and Emily, sliding into seats opposite her at the table, both in sunglasses and Tshirts, their arms already turning brown from the sun.

  ‘Hi,’ she said, happily. Look at them both, so gorgeous and confident. What more could a mother wish for? ‘Find anything nice while you were shopping?’

  ‘I bought this sick carnival mask,’ Emily said, pulling it out of a carrier bag and holding it up against her face. The mask was ghostly white with gold and peacock blue swirls around the eyes and cheeks. ‘Awesome, isn’t it? I’m totally going to wear it to the uni masked ball in June.’

  ‘Lovely,’ said Catherine, smiling. Emily had a new boyfriend these days, who was a marked improvement on Macca, she was pleased to say.

  ‘And we both chipped in to buy you this, Mum,’ said Matthew, passing her a small bag. ‘To say thanks. It’s so cool being here.’

  Catherine couldn’t help remembering the non-presents at Christmas, and felt as if her heart was expanding as she pulled out a small, pink tissue-wrapped parcel. ‘Oh, guys, thank you,’ she said, opening it to find a blue Murano glass heart on a delicate silver chain. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said, fastening it around her neck. ‘Really beautiful. Thank you.’

  ‘Well, thank you for bringing us,’ Emily said affectionately, squeezing her arm. ‘I love Venice. It’s, like, the coolest place ever!’

  ‘I agree,’ Catherine said. ‘And it seems only right that you two should come here. After all, it’s where you both started off your lives.’

  ‘Where we both … ? Oh.’ Matthew looked grossed out. ‘Right.’

  ‘You mean, you and Dad … ? Here?’ asked Emily.

  ‘Just a few miles away,’ Catherine replied. ‘And we were only a bit older than you two are now. That’s a weird thought, isn’t it?’

  ‘It’s a bloody terrifying thought,’ Emily said with a shudder. ‘Contraception all the way for me, thank you very much.’

  Matthew was still looking pained. ‘I think I need a drink,’ he mumbled, gazing around in vain for any waiting staff. ‘What do you want, Em?’

  ‘Diet Coke, please. Unless anyone’s starting on the booze yet, in which case I’ll have a Peroni.’

  ‘Good one,’ Matthew said. ‘We’re on holiday, aren’t we?’

  Catherine pulled a twenty-euro note from her purse and handed it over. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘Make that three Peronis.’

  As Matthew loped away in search of sustenance, Emily flipped her sunglasses onto her head. ‘Are things all right with you and Dad these days?’ she asked. ‘I saw him last week and he said he was moving in with this woman, whatever her name is. I still haven’t met her but he wants me and Matthew to go round to their place. Is that okay with you?’

  ‘That’s fine,’ Catherine said, because it truthfully was. She and Mike were so different, she had realized; she couldn’t imagine them ever being a pair again. She had seen him a few weeks ago, on Penny’s hen night of all occasions, and he’d been in the same club, dad-dancing badly on the dancefloor. People were nudging each other and smirking, and Catherine had felt sorry for him at first … right up until the moment she saw him man-handling a girl who was definitely not Rebecca. No, she was well rid of him. He and Rebecca deserved each other in Catherine’s opinion.

  ‘Do you think you’ll ever fall in love again, Mum?’ Emily asked, looking concerned. ‘What happened to that guy, the one you were meant to be meeting for a drink that night?’

  ‘Beers are on their way,’ Matthew said just then, rejoining them at the table. He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, and grinned contentedly. ‘Please tell me you’ve stopped talking about our immaculate conception now.’

  ‘Yeah, Mum’s just about to tell us about this guy she likes,’ Emily told him, and his face fell.

  ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘I’m not sure I want to hear this.’

  ‘Ignore him,’ Emily urged. ‘Go on, Mum. What happened? Is he still on the scene?’ She fiddled with her sunglasses, looking less sure of herself all of a sudden. ‘I’m sorry about that night, you know. I felt bad about it afterwards. Making you stay in with me instead of going out with him – especially when you’d been so cool and brave about Macca.’

  Catherine gazed at her fondly across the table. Emily had grown up so much since she’d left home. ‘It’s fine,’ she said. ‘Thanks, though.’

  ‘Tre Peroni?’ the waitress said just then, producing three bottled beers on a tray. She set them down with a glass each.

  ‘Grazie,’ Catherine said.

  ‘Prego.’

  ‘Mum?’ Emily prompted. ‘What happened?’

  Catherine poured the beer into her glass, not wanting to reply immediately. ‘Well … nothing,’ she admitted. ‘He’s had a hard time lately. His wife just … Well, she died actually. Sounded awful.’

  ‘His wife?’ Emily sounded scandalized. ‘You didn’t say he was married!’

  ‘They split up a few years ago,’ Catherine replied. ‘She was with someone else. But still – you don’t stop caring about someone just because you’re not together any more.’

  She sipped her beer, wondering for the millionth time how he was doing. They’d texted a few times when he was at a low ebb, and as far as she knew he was back in Sheffield now, but he seemed to have gone to ground. She missed his cheerful nature, she missed talking to him, and she missed the prickling nervous excitement that had coursed through her when he’d asked her for a drink. But she knew that such a shocking, sudden bereavement would have hit him hard. She hoped he was okay.

  ‘So … what? That’s it?’ Emily asked, sounding disappointed.

  ‘Well …’ Catherine took another mouthful of cold Peroni, which was slipping down very easily. ‘Actually I’m not sure. Ages ago I mentioned to him how much I love tulips. Months ago, this is. And I said how cross I’d been with myself because I was in such a flap all autumn with your dad going that I left it too late to plant up any tulip bulbs.’

  ‘Riiiight.’ Emily was frowning, as if she couldn’t see where this was going.

  ‘And then I came out of the house the other morning and two pots of tulips had appeared in the front garden. Gorgeous red and yellow ones, really beautiful.’

  ‘What, and you think he put them there?’

  ‘I don’t know. But then I got to work and there were more tulips in pots outside the front gate. Purple and white ones this time. My boss, Maggie, said she hadn’t a clue where they’d come from.’

  ‘Aww, that’s lovely!’ Emily cried.

  ‘Bit creepy if you ask me,’ Matthew muttered.

  ‘So I can only assume it’s a message to me. A friendly, thank you sort of message. From him.’

  ‘It’s totally a message,’ Emily said enthusiastically. ‘A lovely, beautiful, romantic message. God, I wish someone would do that for me.’

  ‘They will,’ Catherine assured her. Then she paused. ‘The question is, what do I do now?’

  ‘You phone him, you dingbat,’ Emily told her.

  ‘And you wouldn’t mind? If anything happened between us?’ The million-dollar question. The reason she’d hesitated to respond immediately to him.

  ‘Of course we wouldn’t! Woul
d we, Matt?’

  Matthew shrugged. ‘I suppose not. As long as he’s a decent bloke.’

  ‘He is. He’s really lovely.’ An excited, heady feeling rushed through her. ‘Are you sure this is okay? Because I want you to know, you two come first and always will. You know that, don’t you?’

  ‘For heaven’s sake! Of course we know it. You don’t have to say all this.’ Emily grabbed her hand and squeezed it. ‘Go for it, Mum. We’re happy for you. Aren’t we, Matt?’

  ‘Yeah. It’s cool, Mum. As long as he knows he’ll have me to deal with if he ever mucks you around.’

  She laughed. ‘Penny said the same thing. She also told me she’s already put him in her seating plans for the wedding breakfast at the end of the month, and won’t take no for an answer.’

  ‘There you go then,’ Emily told her. ‘There’s no escape for the poor bloke. God help him.’ She grinned. ‘Seriously, though, I’m pleased for you. Really pleased. So do you think you’ll ring him when we get back?’

  A bubbly feeling of anticipation spiralled up through Catherine. She was happy, she realized. Happy to be here with her children in such glorious surroundings; happy with life itself and how wonderfully everything had turned around. She was ready to try again, and her children’s blessing was the missing piece of the puzzle, the last bit of confidence she’d been seeking.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, her voice catching. ‘I think I will.’

  There must be something about Venice and her lovelife, she decided, as the conversation moved on to Matthew’s forthcoming exams, and then Emily’s plans for summer. Thank you, Venice, she thought to herself with a smile. Grazie. I don’t know what’s around the corner for me this time … but I’m very much looking forward to finding out.

  Italian Words and Phrases

  If reading One Summer in Italy has inspired you to take an Italian holiday yourself, you’re in for a treat! Here are a few essential words and phrases that you may find useful. Happy travels!

  Hello/Good morning

  Buongiorno

  Goodbye

  Arrivederci

  Hi/Bye

  Ciao

  My name is …

  Mi chiamo …

  What is your name?

  Come si chiama?

  Excuse me

  Scusi

  Thank you

  Grazie

  Please

  Per favore

  I don’t understand Italian

  Non capisco l’italiano

  Where is … ?

  Dov’è … ?

  The nearest beach

  La spiaggia più vicina

  The castle

  Il castello

  The pool

  La piscina

  A nice bar

  Un locale simpatico

  How much does … cost?

  Quanto costa … ?

  I’d like …

  Vorrei …

  A coffee

  Un caffè

  A beer

  Una birra

  A glass of white wine

  Un bicchiere di vino bianco

  Some paracetamol

  Del paracetamolo

  Anna’s Recipes

  If you can’t make it to Italy this summer, then you can at least eat like an Italian with the following recipes, inspired by Anna’s cookery column. Buon appetito!

  Focaccia

  This basic recipe can be adapted to taste – try brushing with garlic and rosemary-infused olive oil or adding cooked red onion and olives before baking.

  Makes one loaf

  250g strong white bread flour

  1 tsp salt

  one 7g sachet dried yeast

  1 tbsp olive oil

  200ml cold water

  olive oil and sea salt for the finishing touches

  1 Place the dried ingredients in a bowl, then add the olive oil and 150ml of the water. Stir to form a dough, then knead for ten minutes while you gradually add the remaining water. You can also do this in a food mixer using the dough hook if you prefer.

  2 Lightly oil a work surface then tip out the dough and knead for a further five minutes. Now oil the inside of a clean (large!) bowl and put the dough inside. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.

  3 Once the dough has risen, you need to ‘knock it back’ which basically means punching it a few times – extremely satisfying. Then tip the dough onto a large baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper, flatten it and pull it into the corners so that it’s the right shape. Leave to prove for about an hour.

  4 During that time, preheat the oven to 220˚C/425˚F/gas mark 7. Before baking, press your fingers into the dough to create dimples, then drizzle the loaf with olive oil and sprinkle over the sea salt. (If you’re adding cooked red onions etc., now is the time to do that.)

  5 Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. (Your kitchen will smell amazing!)

  6 Best served hot, with an extra drizzle of olive oil.

  Tiramisu

  Love coffee? Love chocolate? Then you’ll love this easy Italian classic …

  Serves 6

  568ml double cream (i.e. a large pot)

  250g mascarpone

  60ml marsala

  5 tbsp caster sugar

  300ml strong coffee (made with 2 tbsp instant coffee and 300ml boiling water)

  170g sponge fingers

  30g dark chocolate

  cocoa powder for dusting

  1 Whisk the cream, mascarpone, marsala and sugar together in a large bowl until combined.

  2 Divide the sponge fingers into two piles, then dip one pile in the coffee (use a shallow bowl or dish to make life easier), turning them so that they are soaked through, then arrange in the bottom of your serving dish.

  3 Spread half of the cream mixture over the coffee-soaked fingers, then grate the chocolate and add most of it to the top. (Save approximately 5g for later.) Soak the remaining sponge fingers in coffee then place on top of the cream layer, then add the rest of the cream mixture to cover.

  4 Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight). To serve, add the remaining grated chocolate and dust with cocoa powder. The tiramisu will keep for up to two days – but will probably vanish much sooner!

  Sweet Temptation

  A story of love, friendship, calories and cake …

  Maddie’s getting it from all sides. Her bitchy new boss at the radio station humiliates her live on air about her figure, her glamour-puss mum keeps dropping not-so-subtle hints that Maddie should lose weight, and her kids are embarrassed to be seen with her after the disastrous Mums’ race at their school sports day. Something’s got to change …

  Maddie joins the local weight-watching group expecting more humiliation but instead finds two unlikely allies – bitter divorcee Lauren who, despite running a dating agency, has signed off romance for ever and shy Jess, the beautician, who’s desperate to fit into a size 10 wedding dress for her Big Day.

  Praise for Sweet Temptation

  ‘A healthy helping of friendship and love’

  Press Association

  ‘Dealing with a lack of calories, fat days and man trouble is a lot easier when you have good friends by your side. Fab!’

  Closer

  The Beach Café

  A recipe for disaster? Or a recipe for love?

  Evie Flynn has always been the black sheep of her family – a dreamer and a drifter, unlike her over-achieving elder sisters. She’s tried making a name for herself as an actress, a photographer and a singer, but nothing has ever worked out. Now she’s stuck in temp hell, with a sensible, pension-planning boyfriend. Somehow life seems to be passing her by.

  Then her beloved aunt Jo dies suddenly in a car crash, leaving Evie an unusual legacy – her precious beach café in Cornwall. Determined to make a success of something for the first time in her life, Evie heads off to Cornwall to get the café and her life back on track – and gets more than she bargained for, both in
work and in love …

  Praise for The Beach Café

  ‘Romantic, dreamy and fun, this is perfect poolside reading’

  Closer

  ‘From witty to full of wisdom, sassy to sentimental … not to be missed’

  Woman

  Summer with My Sister

  New beginnings and an old flame. Summer just got hotter …

  Polly has always been the high-flier of the family, with the glamorous city lifestyle to match.

  Clare is a single mum with two children, struggling to make ends meet in a ramshackle cottage. The two sisters are poles apart and barely on speaking terms.

  But then Polly’s fortunes change unexpectedly and her world comes crashing down. Left penniless and with nowhere else to go, she’s forced back to the village where she and Clare grew up, and the sisters find themselves living together for the first time in years. With an old flame reappearing for Polly, a blossoming new career for Clare and a long-buried family secret in the mix, sparks are sure to fly. Unless the two women have more in common than they first thought?

  Praise for Summer with My Sister

  ‘Seamless, engaging, believable, fun and heartfelt … A skilfully executed and charming tale that you’ll want to pass on to all your friends’

  Heat

  Me and Mr Jones

  Three charming brothers – which would you choose?

  Meet the women in love with three very different brothers …

  Izzy’s determined to escape her troubled past with a new start by the sea – but flirtatious Charlie Jones is causing complications.

  Alicia’s been happily married to loyal Hugh for years but secretly craves excitement. Maybe it’s time to spice things up?

  Emma’s relationship with David was once fun and romantic but trying for a baby has taken its toll. Then temptation comes along …

  As the future of the family’s B&B becomes uncertain, Izzy, Alicia and Emma are thrown together unexpectedly. It seems that keeping up with the Joneses is harder than anyone thought …