Page 26 of A Chance in a Million
Together they went over to the villa and Jane was glad to have been rescued from a potentially tricky Q&A session with the little girl. They found Veronica and her mother-in-law sitting in front of a low table set with cups of tea and one of Maria’s cakes.
‘Ciao, Jane. Tea? Cake?’
‘Cake! Yes, please, Nonna.’
From the expression on the Labrador’s face, he felt the same way about the offer of cake.
Jane accepted willingly and helped herself to a cup from the tray and a small slice of chocolate cake. A cold wet nose prodded her thigh and she looked down to see the dog standing beside her, tail wagging, his eyes trained on the cake.
‘Sorry, but I’m afraid you aren’t allowed chocolate cake.’ She took her cup and sat down opposite her employer while Beatrice and Linda settled down between Veronica and Flora. After a vain attempt to scrounge more food, the dog stretched out on his back at Jane’s feet, tail wagging lazily. Flora looked down at him and smiled.
‘Looks like you’ve got a friend for life there.’
‘He’s a lovely dog and he’s great company. As it’s so hot today I think I might see if he wants to come for a swim with me later on. It’s just a pity the water’s so cold in the lake – not that it seems to bother Dino in the slightest.’
Flora nodded. ‘That’s one disadvantage of the villa being here. If it had been built only a bit further down valley, we might have had our own hot spring. The Romans discovered the hot water bubbling up from beneath their feet and built thermal baths just a short way from here in Montegrotto Terme. This whole area has over a hundred spas and yet we end up with the one cold pool for miles around. Not that I swim any more these days. The doctor says I have to take it easy.’ There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye. ‘Doctors? What do they know?’
‘What about going to one of the spas? Aren’t they supposed to be relaxing?’
Flora shook her head. ‘Not for me. When you get to my age the last thing you want is to start parading around in a swimming costume. It’s all very well for young girls like you but I prefer to stay covered up.’
Veronica, on the other hand, picked up on the suggestion. ‘I know, why don’t the rest of us go to a spa one of these days? My treat. It’s supposed to be good for aches and pains and the older I get, the more of those I seem to accumulate.’
Jane smiled – yet another sign of her employer beginning to break out of her self-imposed isolation.
Her daughter obviously felt the same way. ‘That sounds like a great day out, Mum. Sure you won’t come with us, Nonna?’ Seeing Flora shudder at the thought, she returned her attention to her mother. ‘And you never know, Mamma, you might find inspiration for a new book there.’
Jane joined in. ‘That would be amazing. You just need that one spark to get you going again.’
‘Well, if the truth be told, I’ve never included a spa visit in any of my books. Who knows? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if something clicked and it meant I could sit down at my typewriter again? It’s amazing how just one single place or object can very quickly become the stimulus for a whole book.’ Veronica settled back in her chair and Jane could see a faraway look on her face. She exchanged glances with Beatrice who gave her a little wink. This was sounding good. ‘The plot of my Paris book all came from a tattered cloakroom ticket I found in the pocket of an old dress I bought at auction – and that book sold over two million copies worldwide.’ Veronica glanced across at them. ‘What I wouldn’t give for another of those cloakroom tickets to come along now.’
They were still chatting when Diana appeared. Along with her were two of her girlfriends that Jane had met the other day in Padua. These two were Silvia and Grazia, and Jane knew that they were both teachers in Vicenza. Beatrice clearly knew them as well and they all embraced.
‘Ciao, everybody. We’ve come for a swim.’ Diana was speaking Italian but by now Jane had got used to the way the members of this family managed to switch seamlessly into whichever language suited them at the time. Diana headed back inside and emerged a minute later with cans of Coke from the fridge, which she distributed to Silvia and Grazia before swallowing half of hers in one go. ‘God, it’s hot today. It’s almost like being back down in Venice.’ She glanced at Linda. ‘Feel like a swim?’
‘Oh yes, please. Mamma, can we go swimming, please?’ Linda was hopping up and down at the thought.
‘That sounds like a very good idea, but we need to get you changed first and we need your armbands. You know the water down there’s deep as well as cold, don’t you? Jane and Dino will probably come swimming as well. She was just saying the same thing. What about you, Mum?’
Diana added her own weight to the suggestion. ‘Yes, do come, Mamma.’
Veronica held up her hand before her daughters could say any more. ‘I’m with your grandmother on this one. It’s no good you bullying me, I have no intention of splashing about in that freezing pond. But I will come and watch you swim.’
A few minutes later, Jane went back home, changed into her costume, pulled her shorts and T-shirt back on over the top and made her way down to the lake. From the sound of splashing, she felt sure Dino had got there first and as she emerged from the bushes, she saw that not only was he already in the water, but so was his master. With his wet hair plastered down across his scalp David looked a bit less like a woolly mammoth than before, but from behind it could still have been an old English sheepdog in there alongside Dino. Screams and giggles indicated that the three girls were in the process of inching their way into the chilly waters, and Jane spotted an expression of what could have been annoyance on his face as he looked towards them.
Taking advantage of the distraction created by the three girls, Jane slipped out of her clothes and waded into the lake, reminding herself to keep breathing as the cold water climbed up her body. Finally she pushed herself forward and, as she became acclimatised to the chill, she started swimming about in a lazy breaststroke. In the meantime the three girls were engaged in a splashing contest in the shallows and their squeals had attracted the attention of Dino who doggy-paddled enthusiastically across to join in the fun. Jane left them to it and swam over to the far side of the raft, where she suddenly found herself face to face with David. He came powering across the lake in a stylish front crawl and surfaced abruptly right in front of her, looking surprised.
She looked into his deep blue eyes and a shiver which had nothing to do with the temperature of the water ran through her. His eyes seemed to reach deep inside her and she felt her cheeks colour as she realised that the shiver had been one of attraction. Struggling to collect herself she took a deep breath.
‘Hi, David. Great minds think alike. You looking for a bit of peace and quiet too?’ She was relieved to hear her voice sounding almost normal.
In spite of all the hair she distinctly saw him smile. ‘Dead right. What a racket!’ They floated there in silence for a few moments before he came up with a comment. ‘Hot today, isn’t it?’
The tension inside her dissolved in an instant and Jane almost burst out laughing. He might look like a caveman but he certainly knew how to make polite English conversation: the weather, as ever, a safe topic. She smiled back. ‘You aren’t joking. I shudder to think how hot and sticky it must be down in Venice.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘By the way, how deep is this lake? If I were brave enough to climb onto the raft and dive back in again, would there be enough water?’
He nodded. ‘Ample. Alvise reckons it’s five or six metres deep in the middle. I was about to do just that, so I’ll show you.’
He swam over to the stainless-steel ladder and climbed up onto the raft. Watching his athletic form emerge from the pool there was no doubting the feeling this inspired in her. The muscles of his back formed a perfect V-shape and her eyes followed the rivulets of water as they ran down his body, plastering his swimming shorts tightly against him. She was still dealing with the wave of attraction – or at least lust – that swept over her when he turned and executed a very tidy dive into the water. He surfaced a few metres away and immediately gave her a wave of the hand.
