Dreaming of Tuscany

by T A Williams

  Mimi nodded slowly. ‘I get what you’re saying, but I hope you know what you’re doing. True love doesn’t come round that often.’

  Bee shook her head sadly and agreed, but her mind was made up. It was better this way – even though it was very, very frustrating.

  She searched high and low for the long-lost painting or any residual treasure, but the only Martini she found was a dust-covered bottle of vermouth in a corner of the cellar, almost glued to the floor by a thick cloak of dusty cobwebs. The current owner of the cobwebs turned out to be a scary-looking, large, hairy spider who clearly took a dim view of being turned out of his home. Bee retreated in the face of his aggressive attitude and left it to Umberto to retrieve the old bottle. Alas, the contents turned out to have the consistency of swamp mud, with a smell to match. Otherwise, as far as treasure was concerned, she drew a blank.

  As the end of their stay was fast approaching, Bee decided the time had come to risk going down to visit the farm shop in search of a few souvenirs. The shop had been one of Luke’s innovations and it apparently sold all sorts, not just food and drink. Although she had been tempted to visit it earlier, natural prudence had stopped her, even though Umberto told her he had made sure nobody down there would give her away. Apparently he had told Loredana, the woman who ran it, that the guests at the villa were spies, or something equally sinister. Now, with just a few days to go, Bee reckoned she could take her chances.

  The shop turned out to be a good bit bigger than she had expected and they had all manner of goods there, from whole legs of ham hanging from the ceiling to strawberries straight from the garden, still warm from the sun. There were two other customers in there when she arrived, but they had left by the time she had had a good look around and picked up a couple of lovely linen tea towels for her mum, and she was able to introduce herself to the matronly lady behind the cash desk. A badge on her ample bosom announced that this was Loredana.

  ‘Hello, Loredana, my name’s Beatrice. I’m staying up at the villa.’ She wondered, with a little smile, if she had really believed Umberto’s story about Mimi and herself being spies.

  From Loredana’s reaction, it appeared she had. No sooner had she heard where Bee was staying than she leapt out, remarkably nimbly, from behind the counter, caught Bee by the arm and almost dragged her through a multi-coloured plastic fly curtain out of the shop and into the storeroom. Once away from the non-existent prying eyes, Loredana greeted Bee in a hoarse whisper, her eyes darting apprehensively from side to side.

  ‘Good morning, Signorina. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us.’

  ‘Us?’

  ‘Me and my daughter.’ Loredana looked up and then almost deafened Bee as she hollered a few inches from her ear. ‘Daniela, come in here. Quick.’

  Bee was still trying to get the ringing out of her ear as a door at the end of the storeroom opened and a very pretty girl appeared.

  ‘Sì, mamma?’

  ‘Daniela, come and meet this young lady. Her name’s Beatrice and…’ Her voice dropped to a whisper once more. ‘…she’s staying up at the villa.’ She tapped the side of her nose in conspiratorial fashion.

  Bee saw immediate comprehension in the girl’s eyes.

  ‘Signorina, buongiorno.’

  ‘Buongiorno, Daniela. I’m pleased to meet you. Thank you both for keeping our presence here a secret.’

  ‘That’s quite all right.’ Loredana answered for both of them, her tones still hushed. ‘Now, is there anything we can do for you? Anything you need?’

  ‘Not really. I just came down to pick up a couple of presents to take home with me.’

  Loredana looked almost disappointed. Clearly, after what Umberto had told her, she had been expecting to be asked if she could procure some weapons-grade plutonium or a night sight for a sniper rifle. However, swallowing her disappointment, she smiled back.

  ‘We look forward to seeing you any time, Signorina.’

  Mimi and Bee both walked with the dog most days and swam regularly in the pool and they continued their historical excursions. Mimi’s face was almost fully back to normal by now, but they both quite enjoyed the cloak and dagger element of these trips, Mimi evidently relishing being anonymous in the midst of the crowds of tourists when the two of them slipped incognito into wonderful old places like Pienza and Montepulciano. Hiding in plain sight was what she called it and she went out of her way to look as drab and uninteresting as possible. Even so, Bee soon lost count of the number of admiring looks they both received from Italian men of all ages. Clearly, the men around here had x-ray eyes. Still, nobody appeared to recognise Mimi for who she was and that was the object of the exercise.

  One day, as they were sitting under a large parasol outside a little trattoria just up the hill from the beautiful abbey of Sant’Antimo, Bee’s phone rang. It was Gayle, ringing from America with stimulating news.

  ‘Hi, Bee. How’s it going?’

  Bee gave her an upbeat account of their progress and Gayle sounded genuinely pleased for both of them.

  ‘That’s terrific news. Is Mimi there? Have you ladies an idea how long you want to stay at the villa? It’s booked until the end of August, but if you need it longer, just say the word.’

  Bee and Mimi had been talking about this very subject that morning in the car and Mimi had indicated she would probably have to head back to LA towards the end of the month, and that was barely a couple of weeks away now. Bee relayed this to Gayle, after which Gayle came to the really interesting part of the conversation.

  ‘The other reason I’m calling, Bee, is to let you know I might have found you a job.’

  Bee sat up so abruptly, her knee hit the underside of the metal table and she spilled her mineral water. As it dripped through the mesh table top onto her thigh, she sat back and listened with rapt enthusiasm.

  ‘Have you heard of History of the World TV? It’s a new channel being set up as we speak. It goes live in October, I believe. The clue’s in the name. You can guess what it’s going to be all about. I was talking to one of the senior Vice Presidents last night at a thing here in Hollywood. When I mentioned your name and how great you’d been for us in Siena, he almost bit my hand off. He said they’re actively looking for somebody with your background and qualifications to work alongside the commissioning editor, vetting programmes and pitches that are proposed to them. Might you be interested?’

  Bee could hardly contain her excitement. ‘It’s lucky this is a phone call or I might just bite your hand off, Gayle. It sounds amazing.’

  ‘Well, listen. The guy’ll be in Rome at the end of this week and he’s asked me to fix up an interview with him there if you’re interested.’

  ‘If I’m interested…?’

  ‘That’s what I thought. I’ll get on it and email you the details. No promises, but like I said he sounded very keen.’

  Bee’s mind was racing. ‘Thank you so very much, Gayle. Have you any idea where the job would be? Where’s their centre of operations?’

  ‘Just a few blocks away from our building in LA, but he was making noises about a European base as well. Get all your questions ready and see what he says.’

  ‘That’s amazing, Gayle. Thank you oh so very much.’

  After ringing off, Bee passed the good news on to Mimi, who looked and sounded delighted for her.

  ‘That’s terrific, Bee. Being selfish, I hope the job’s in LA. That way you and I could carry on hanging out together.’

  Bee grinned at her. ‘That would be really great, although part of me rather wishes it might be a bit closer.’

  ‘Closer to where?’ Mimi knew her too well by now. ‘Closer to your mum and dad, closer to London or, maybe, just maybe, closer to a certain hunky farmer?’

  Bee blushed. She saw Luke on average every other day and he always stopped and chatted. There was no doubt that the two of them got on very well together and her attraction to him was increasing, rather than decreasing, but she stuck by her resolve not to
leap into a relationship, however tempted she might be, because she knew she was going to have to go off and leave him. She felt sure this would break his heart. And what was ever more certain was that it would break hers at the same time. It was quite clear he could never move away from Montegrifone. It had been in his family for so many generations and he belonged to it just as much as it belonged to him. Sadly, it was equally clear that there weren’t any jobs for lecturers in Medieval History in the middle of the Tuscan countryside. It had been tough for her and maybe for him as well, although so far he’d kept his feelings well hidden. He was no fool, and if she could work out that there was no future for the two of them together, no doubt he had done exactly the same.

  ‘I’m not going to count my chickens as far as this job’s concerned. I’ll go and talk to the man in Rome and see what he says.’

  * * *

  The email from Gayle arrived the next day, giving the details of the interview time and location. It would take place in a hotel bang in the centre of Rome, in Via Nazionale, at two o’clock on Friday. As a PS, Gayle had added, Don’t take less than a hundred grand, and if you’re coming over here to work in LA, make sure you tell him you need dental and medical as well.

  Once Bee had got over the shock of realising that a hundred thousand dollars would be twice what she was currently earning as a lecturer, she hurried off to tell Mimi, who was very supportive and helped her a lot in her preparations over the next few days. As the new channel would presumably be dealing with all eras of world history, Mimi became question master. With her laptop open in front of her, she quizzed Bee on everything from the cave paintings of Lascaux to the D-Day landings. She also gave her some fascinating tips on body language and put Bee through her paces on how to walk into the room, stand and sit. A lot of this was completely new to Bee who, up to then, had just assumed that walking was walking and sitting, sitting. Clearly she was wrong.

  By the time Friday morning came and Bee drove up to Siena to catch the train to Rome, she was as well-prepared as she could be. The train was comfortable and not too packed and she got to Rome with a couple of hours to spare. Keen to see as much of the Eternal City as possible, she took the bus down to the Colosseum and then walked slowly back from there. She had only been to Rome once before, very briefly for a conference, and she was soon in a sort of historical haze as she came across magnificent buildings, statues and landmarks dating back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. By the time she got to the very posh hotel where the interview would take place, she was still in a state of suspended animation.

  When she spoke to Mimi about it afterwards, she found it hard to recall exactly what the Vice President, ‘Call me Leonard’, had said to her, or what questions he had asked. The upshot had been a promise to get back to her in a few days. He hadn’t committed himself, but she definitely got the impression she had done all right in the interview. The one thing she did remember to ask was where this job might be situated. His reply, however, had been opaque. As Gayle had said, the new channel’s centre of operations was indeed in LA, but they were ‘evaluating the advisability’ of setting up a European base. All would, apparently, come clear in the promised email.

  As they sat out in the garden that evening watching the sun drop towards the horizon and sipping ice cold rosé, Mimi raised a potential problem.

  ‘Say they offer you the job, Bee, what about your lecturing position? Can you get out of that at the last minute? It’s probably only a month or so now before the new term starts, isn’t it?’

  ‘I’ve already thought of that. I contacted the HR department the other day as soon as I heard from Gayle, and they’ve basically said they’ll leave it up to me.’ She glanced across at her friend. ‘They have definitely got a very guilty conscience about the way I’ve been treated, so they won’t make a fuss. She also said they’d give me a glowing reference.’

  ‘I should think so too. So you’re good to go, then?’

  ‘Well, let’s see if he sends me the promised email first.’

  After dinner that night, Mimi felt her appearance had improved sufficiently for her to have her first conference call with Hollywood, so Bee left her to it and went for a walk. The sky was clear and the sun had set by now. Instead of blue, the sky above her was now purple, and the swallows wheeling overhead had been replaced by bats. Although she was on her own, Bee felt quite safe and secure here at Montegrifone. By now she had learnt the names of all the different hills, copses and fields. She knew which vines were Merlot, which Cabernet Sauvignon and which were Malvasia. She even knew the names of some of Berlusconi’s companions, and she could recognise Hercules, the big black and white bull who lived down by the river. They say familiarity breeds contempt, but that wasn’t the way she saw it.

  For a change, she walked down the track in the direction of Luke’s house, the white surface of the strada bianca reflecting the moonlight and showing her the way. As she passed the olive groves, she suddenly spotted a dark shadow on the road ahead. She stopped and smiled in the darkness.

  ‘Ciao, Romeo, how are you tonight?’

  Strangely, the figure didn’t move, so she raised her voice as she walked towards it.

  ‘Romeo, is that you?’

  She was within twenty or thirty paces when she realised this wasn’t a familiar figure after all. At that same moment, so did the animal ahead of her. There was a rapid movement as it leapt to its feet, gave a guttural snort, and she clearly made out the unmistakable shape of a very large pig-like animal outlined against the white of the strada bianca. The beast stood there, motionless, for what was probably only a matter of a few seconds, but that to Bee felt like an eternity. Memories of what she had been told about how dangerous wild boar could be came flooding back and she was petrified. Then, mercifully, just as the tension was becoming unbearable, it turned and charged off into the olive grove.

  She could feel cold sweat running down the back of her neck as she listened to the heavy animal’s noisy progress across the field away from her. She was still standing stock still, waiting for her racing heart to slow down when she suddenly heard more noise and saw another dark shape in the road ahead. Two shapes. Her heart gave another somersault and she was about to turn and run when she heard his voice.

  ‘Bee, is that you?’

  Just in case she might be in any doubt, seconds later, a very bouncy Labrador arrived ahead of his master. Bee was so relieved to see them, she ran up to Luke and took refuge in his arms, burying her head in his chest. She felt him catch her protectively round the shoulders and heard his voice at her ear. He sounded very concerned.

  ‘What’s wrong, Bee? What’s happened? Are you all right?’

  She hung onto him for a few more seconds before pulling herself together again. At her side, she could feel the reassuring presence of the dog. Reluctantly, she relinquished her hold on Luke and stepped back, reaching down to stroke Romeo’s head as she did so. She felt Luke’s hands on her shoulders, steadying her, and she saw the moonlight reflect in his eyes right in front of her. Clearing her throat, she explained what she had just seen. He listened intently before answering.

  ‘I’ve been afraid of that. The grapes are getting quite big now and this is when the wild boar start coming in. We did a tour of the perimeter fences a few days ago and we’ve identified a number of breaks. They should all be fixed in the next few days but, in the meantime, it might be better if you stay around the villa at night, or give me a call. I’d be happy to come for a walk with you. Romeo and I would make sure nothing happened to you.’

  ‘I’m sure you would. Thanks for the help, Luke. Sorry for the maiden in distress act. It was just such a shock. I hadn’t realised they were so big.’

  ‘They’re big all right, and they can be dangerous. You’ll be fine during the day, but, like I say, give it a few days before you come out alone at night again.’ Sensing that she was all right again, he released his grip on her shoulders and stepped back, leaving her with a sensation of regret. ‘An
yway, Romeo and I are here now. If you’d like a bit of company, it’s a beautiful night for a walk.’

  ‘I’d love that, Luke. And here I was thinking how comfortable and safe I feel here.’

  ‘And you are. It’s a damn sight safer than some parts of London at this time of night, I’m sure. So, how was your trip to Rome?’

  Bee recounted her experiences as they walked slowly back in the direction of the villa and he sounded pleased for her. Up to a point.

  ‘So you might find yourself moving to the US? That’s a long way away.’

  The same thought had occurred to her.

  ‘That’s not definite. He did say they were thinking about setting up a European base somewhere.’

  ‘It would be good if you were close by.’

  She could hear something in his voice. Emotion, maybe?

  ‘I’d like to stay close by, too, but it’s out of my hands.’

  ‘Romeo’s going to miss you when you’ve gone, Bee.’ She sensed a moment’s hesitation. ‘I’m going to miss you.’

  Bee stopped and turned towards him. ‘I’m going to miss you, too, Luke. A lot.’

  There was silence between them, broken only by the croaking of frogs in the dried-up stream bed. They stood like that for some time, close enough to touch, but not touching. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but if he were to sweep her into his arms and kiss her, she knew she wouldn’t object – far from it. For a moment, she thought about making the first move, but the memory of his pained expression reminded her that it wouldn’t be fair on either of them.

  Finally, he found his voice.

  ‘Having you here has been wonderful, Bee. You’ve brought me happiness and, from what you’ve told me, you’ve maybe done the same for my father. Thank you so much. I’ll never forget you.’

  Those final four words said it all. The message was clear. He was saying goodbye. Somehow, hearing him say it brought home to her just how much she was going to miss him and this magical place, and she felt a rush of emotion. She hastily dropped down on one knee and hugged the Labrador with both arms for quite some time. When she stood back up again, the moment had passed and she was in control once again. She reached up and kissed him briefly on the cheeks.