by T A Williams
‘I think it’s terrible advice.’ Karen had no doubt. ‘I know what I’d do.’
It was only when she was on the plane home, flying over the snow-covered Alps, that she allowed herself to descend into more introspection. So what if Alex had another girl? Annie had got the impression that he liked her a lot and yet, by the look of it, she was wrong. Of course, after only a couple of dates, she could hardly expect unswerving devotion. So, did the fact that she had reacted so strongly to seeing him with another girl mean that her feelings for him were stronger than she was prepared to admit; certainly stronger than his for her? Was she, in spite of her protestations to the contrary, desperate for a man, and had this desperation led her to misread his feelings for her? As the aircraft circled to the south of Turin, losing height before making its final approach, Annie did her best to take a long, hard look at herself.
He was a handsome man and a very rich man. It was obvious there would be any number of women ready to throw themselves at him. Was that what she had been doing? Had she blown this thing out of all proportion? He had never made any commitment to her, so why shouldn’t he go on holiday with another girl? Did she really mean all those things she had been saying at Christmas about not wanting a man in her life? Maybe she had just been deluding herself. She took a deep breath as she heard the landing gear come down.
As they touched down and the engines roared to slow the aircraft down, Annie realised the other major complication caused by his behaviour. If she broke off further contact with him, then she couldn’t really keep visiting his father and she enjoyed the old man’s company. So, if she stopped seeing both of them, his father might well feel miffed, side with his son, and not want anything to do with her. And that might even extend as far as to tell Signor Dumoulin to rethink his offer of the guest chalet at Le Pont. So, potentially, she might have to face the twin disappointments of losing a man she had liked and also losing the gorgeous little chalet with a view to die for. As the plane came up to its stand by the terminal building she felt very confused.
The journey back up the valley by train through fields covered in fresh snow took until almost six o’clock and it was quite dark when she got back to the school. Inside, it was pleasantly warm and everything looked clean and tidy. Paolina and Matt had been busy, arranging the new tables and desks in the classrooms. The plumber and the decorators had finished and the place had been transformed from a building site to a school. In spite of her unhappiness, she found herself smiling as she collected a pile of mail off the mat and set it on the counter.
Her phone whistled and she saw that she had a text from Janet. Happy New Year. Come up and see us when you get back. xxx Jan. Annie realised that the idea of seeing Janet again really appealed, particularly as it would give her the opportunity to talk through what she had seen at Turin airport. She checked her watch and texted Janet. What are you doing in the next half hour? The answer came right back. Kettle’s on. J.
It took ten minutes to clear the snow off the Panda. From the depth of it, it was clear that there had been heavy snowfall while she had been in the UK. This was really good news for the ski resorts and Annie found herself wondering if she could afford the time to go skiing the next day. The little car started without too much trouble and gradually the ice inside the screen melted. As she drove out to Janet’s house, she looked up to her left, as far as the lights of Montalto. When, she wondered, would Alex be back, or was he already home? In spite of everything, part of her was looking forward to hearing from him.
Annie sat and drank tea with Janet for over an hour. Janet did her best to cheer her up by suggesting that the girl at the airport might have been just a casual friend or a relative, but Annie felt certain that this was not the case. The expression on the girl’s face as she stared up at Alex had been very different from that of a family member, and the kiss had been anything but casual. In the end, all Janet could do was to offer support, advise Annie that she needed to talk to Alex, and promise to spread the word, yet again, that Annie might be on the lookout for a place to live.
Chapter 15
Next morning dawned bright and clear and Annie knew what she wanted to do. First, she really wanted to go skiing, and second, she knew she had to go round and see old Signor Lago, to tell him what she had seen at the airport and to see how he would react if she broke off relations with Alex. There was no sign of Matt, and Paolina wouldn’t be back to work until Wednesday, so Annie decided she could also take the day off. She set off in her car just after ten-thirty and was sitting on the ski lift by eleven. Although it was a Monday, lots of people were still on holiday, so the pistes were fairly crowded. Piles of snow alongside the road and in the corners of the car park testified to the amount of snow that had fallen over the festive period. In spite of the crowds, the snow conditions were excellent and she managed to ski happily for four hours, getting back to her car at about half past three.
She changed out of her ski boots and walked down the private road to Signor Lago’s house. She was still a hundred yards from the gate when she heard an excited bark and a familiar black shape came hurtling through the snow towards her. She dropped down on one knee as Leo the Labrador gave her a boisterous welcome.
‘Hello, Leo. And a very Happy New Year to you, too.’ She scratched his ears and rubbed his back and then, as he collapsed into the snow, paws outstretched, she rubbed his tummy while he made all sorts of happy canine whining noises. After a few minutes, she wiped the doggy smell off her hands in the snow and continued along to Signor Lago’s pedestrian gate, accompanied by a bouncy Leo. She pressed the bell and waited. Around her, the silence in the woods was total and it made a welcome change after the noise and bustle of England.
‘Yes, who is it?’ She recognised the old man’s voice.
‘Signor Lago, it’s Annie. I’d like to see you, but if this isn’t a good time, I can come back…’ There was a buzzing sound and the gate sprang open as she heard his voice coming from the speaker.
‘Annie, what a pleasure. Do come in, come in.’ He sounded really happy to see her and Annie’s heart fell at the thought that she was going to be the bearer of bad news. Taking a deep breath, she followed the dog into the garden, closing the gate behind her. Signor Lago was waiting for her at the front door. ‘Come in, my dear, come in.’ He held out his hands and took both of hers in his. ‘What a lovely surprise.’
He led her into the lounge and insisted that she join him for tea. While Romeo was preparing it, they sat down on the sofa, the dog sprawled across Annie’s feet as usual, and Signor Lago asked her what sort of Christmas she had had. She told him about her mother’s house and their family get-together. He sounded quite envious.
‘That sounds wonderful, my dear. As for me, I’ve just been here on my own most of the time.’ He looked over and caught her eye, giving her a smile. ‘From choice, I would hasten to tell you. I’ve grown too old for the whole Christmas celebration thing. Alex wanted me to come away with them, but I really didn’t feel like getting on a plane and flying halfway round the world. So Alex and his sister went off to the Caribbean and I stayed here. I don’t have any other close family nearby these days, but I’ve been quite happy on my own with Leo and Romeo. I’m sure your family Christmas must have been lovely.’
By this time, Annie was only listening with one ear. His sister? Alex had a sister and he had gone on holiday with her? She waited impatiently as Romeo brought the tea and arranged the cups and the plate of biscuits on the table in front of them. No sooner had he left the room than she pounced. ‘Does your daughter live here in Italy as well?’
‘She used to, but she moved to London a few years ago. Teresa’s a research chemist at Imperial College and she’s doing really well. She came over here to see me for a few days before Christmas and then Alex and she flew out to Anguilla. They’ve always been very close. And I’m sure you and she would get on very well together.’ He poured the tea and picked up his cup. ‘But she’s gone back to London already. They came
back yesterday, but Alex had to fly straight down to Rome as we’ve got a problem with one of our hotels down there.’
‘I see.’ Now she did. The blonde girl at Turin airport was his sister. His sister! Annie almost shouted it out loud.
‘Now, was there anything special you wanted to see me about or am I just lucky to have a visit from a beautiful woman?’ The brown eyes flashed and, for a moment, she saw the son reflected in the old man’s face.
‘Well, after four hours getting sweaty on the ski slopes, I don’t feel very beautiful, but thank you anyway.’ She was thinking quickly. ‘I just thought I’d call in and see if you were all right and tell you what sort of Christmas I’ve had.’
‘Then I really am lucky. You know, Annie? I look forward to these little visits. Do please drop in any time.’
Just at that moment, Annie’s phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket to turn it off but saw, with a surge of excitement from the caller ID, that it was Alex. She glanced up at Signor Lago. ‘It’s Alex. Would you mind if I take it?’ He waved indulgently and she swiped the green button. ‘Hi, Alex, Happy New Year.’
‘And a very Happy New Year to you, Annie. Where are you? Still in the UK or are you back in the valley?’
‘I’m actually sitting with your father in his lovely house drinking tea at this very moment. What about you?’
‘I’m in Rome, sitting in a café in the Via Sistina, waiting for the rain to ease off enough for me to make a run to my next appointment. Sorry I haven’t been in touch before, but there was no internet or phone connection over on the island. As a result, you can probably imagine the backlog of emails and messages I’ve come home to. Anyway, tell me about your Christmas.’
They chatted for several minutes while Signor Lago sipped his tea and stared out of the window, a contented expression on his face. Finally, Alex told her he hoped to be home before long. ‘I’ll definitely have to be home at the weekend. That only gives us two weeks before the start of our big tour operator promotion, so I need to be back in good time before that, to see that everything’s set up. Daniela’s on the case and she’s very organised, but I’m not taking any chances with something so important to us.’
Annie realised she was really looking forward to seeing him again. She made a decision. ‘I’m going down to see Signor Dumoulin next, to see when I can move into his guest chalet. If all goes well, I’ll try to make it this week. If I manage it, how about letting me cook you dinner on Saturday night?’
‘That sounds absolutely marvellous. I tell you what: make it Sunday night in case I get held up here in Rome.’
‘Great, Sunday it is. It’s a date. See you soon.’
‘I’ll look forward to it. Bye.’
Annie dropped the phone back in her pocket and looked across at Signor Lago, her mind now made up. ‘I’ll go over and see Signor Dumoulin now and ask if it’s possible to move in on Thursday or Friday.’
‘Good, good. But first, you must drink your tea and talk to me. Alessandro took you out for dinner before Christmas, didn’t he? How did that go?’
Annie gave him an edited version of their evening out at the casino and the little café in the square. ‘The only problem was that he took me in the Ferrari. Apart from me making a spectacle of myself in a short skirt trying to get in and out of it gracefully, he drove so fast I felt quite car sick.’
Signor Lago smiled and shrugged his shoulders. ‘He loves that car and I know he drives it too fast. Mind you, I’ve got to admit that he’s a very good driver and he hasn’t had an accident so far. Still, he needs somebody to keep an eye on him and stop him behaving like an adolescent.’ He winked at her.
‘Well, unless he wants me to throw up all over his beautiful car, he’s going to have to slow down if I’m with him. In fact, he was very good. When I asked him to slow down he did so straight away. I’ll keep an eye on him for you, don’t worry.’
He laid his hand on hers. ‘You’re a very good and a very sensible girl, Annie. I’m sure you’re going to be just what Alex needs.’
Annie left Signor Lago just before dark and walked back towards her car. In the shadows beside her she saw that she had a companion. Leo was only too pleased to come for a walk with her and it was rather nice to have company as she went through the shadows beneath the trees. She thought back to her reaction to the news that the girl at the airport had been Alex’s sister. From the wave of relief that had surged over her she now knew, if she hadn’t known before, that she had been fooling herself when she had told her mother that her relationship with him was ‘no big deal’. Clearly, it had been a much bigger deal than she had been prepared to admit. For the first time since going home for Christmas, she found she was humming to herself again.
As she approached the Hotel Montalto, she saw the lights on in Massimo’s office and went in to wish him a Happy New Year. The dog followed her into the lobby and then vanished, most probably in search of food. The interior was now finished, and stylish new steel and leather furniture dotted the floor. There was even somebody at the front desk. As she walked across, she saw that it was Massimo’s PA, Daniela. Annie walked over to her with a smile.
‘Hi, Daniela. A very Happy New Year to you.’ To her surprise, she saw an expression of annoyance cross the other girl’s face.
‘Oh, yes, and the same to you.’ Her expression wasn’t welcoming. Annie found herself wondering what had happened to put Daniela in a bad mood. She pointed towards the lift.
‘Is Massimo in? All right if I go up and say hello?’
‘You’ll have to ask him that. Anyway, the last time I was up there, he was in.’ Daniela’s tone was decidedly cool. Annie decided there was nothing to be gained by hanging around, so she thanked her and headed for the lift. She was still wondering what was going on when the lift arrived at the sixth floor and the doors slid open. Annie went across to the door marked Direzione and walked through it to the glass door now proudly bearing the words Massimo Lagrange, General Manager. She tapped on the door and a voice from inside shouted to her to come in.
‘Ciao, Annie, a Happy New Year to you.’ Massimo jumped up from his desk when he saw her and came round to greet her. He, at least, looked pleased to see her. Annie gave him a warm hug.
‘And to you, Massimo. I hope you had a good Christmas.’ He nodded and pointed to the sofa.
‘Come and sit down. Can I get you something?’
Annie shook her head. ‘No, thanks, this is just a flying visit. I’m on my way to see one of Signor Lago’s friends who’s renting me a house down at Le Pont. I just wanted to say hello and to check when you want the lessons for your staff to start.’
Massimo glanced across at a whiteboard on the wall. ‘As soon as you can. Next week all right?’
Annie nodded. ‘Absolutely fine. Tuesdays and Thursdays from two till six. I’ll be teaching these classes myself. Is that still all right?’
‘Perfect.’ He consulted the whiteboard. ‘You can use conference room B on the ground floor.’ He hesitated. ‘You’d better just check with Daniela if that’s still okay. She’s dealing with this, really. I think she’s downstairs somewhere. Do you want me to page her?’
Annie shook her head. ‘No, thanks, she’s down in reception. I saw her on my way up.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Tell me, Massimo, have I done something wrong? She was very frosty towards me.’
Massimo registered the question, walked across to the door, peered out to check that Daniela’s office was still empty and then closed the door. He came back over to Annie and lowered his voice. ‘It would appear that the word has spread that you and Alex have been going out together.’ Comprehension began to dawn in Annie’s head.
‘And that’s a problem for her because…?’
Massimo caught her eye. ‘Because she and Alessandro had a thing together a few months back.’
‘Ah.’ Annie suddenly understood. No doubt Daniela was furious with her for trespassing on what she deemed to be her territory. She mustered a smile for Ma
ssimo. ‘Right, well that explains things. I’ll treat her with kid gloves for a while.’
Chapter 16
Paolina arrived at work with a broad smile on Wednesday morning. She was wearing skin-tight jeans and a jacket covered in gold and silver sequins that could well have come from Elton John’s wardrobe. Annie was delighted to see her again and gave her a big hug.
‘Ciao, Paolina. A Happy New Year to you. Here, I brought you a little something from London.’
Paolina’s eyes lit up as she recognised the Harrods bag and they widened still more as she took out the jumper and held it in her hands. ‘Annie, you shouldn’t have. This is wonderful.’ She slipped off her jacket and tried it on. Fortunately, it was a perfect fit and she dashed off to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. When she got back, she thanked Annie profusely.
‘You’re very welcome, Paolina. That’s for not just being a great receptionist, but a really good friend.’ Seeing Paolina blush, she changed the subject. ‘So, how was your Christmas?’ Then, before Paolina could speak, Annie remembered she had to ask a more important question. ‘Or rather, before you go into that, how did your date with Paul go? Have you seen him since? Are the two of you together?’
Paolina was still smiling, maybe even more broadly now. ‘It went well, very well. And we’ve seen a lot of each other since then.’ She caught Annie’s eye. ‘And I mean a lot.’
‘Like his muscular thighs, for example?’
If she had been expecting Paolina to blush, she would have been mistaken. Paolina’s beaming smile didn’t waver. ‘Yes, and he’s got the most incredible stomach muscles, too. And a few other amazing bits as well. So, it’s been a great Christmas, thank you. And what about you?’
Annie told her all about her trip to the UK. She didn’t mention seeing Alex at Turin airport and she was just finishing telling Paolina all about her days in Devon when the door opened and Matt came in. He gave them both a big smile and a hug. From the expression on Paolina’s face, she was more than happy to get a hug from a hunky man, in spite of having already acquired one of those in the shape of Paul. Matt took a look at Annie’s face.
