Page 46 of Far from Home
‘They’ve done so well.You’vedone so well. It’s a lovely house now – I mean, it always has been a lovely house, but it badly needed modernising.’ She took a seat at the kitchen table and caught Amy’s eye. ‘Does this mean you’re going to come here to live permanently? I do hope so.’
For now, all Amy could answer was, ‘I’m still trying to make up my mind.’
After lunch she called Adam and agreed to drop in at four after taking Max for another walk in the woods. She had told Signora Grande she was happy to hang onto the dog until the weekend and she had distinctly got the impression that the old lady was only too pleased to leave him with her.
This time she remembered to take a basket with her when they went walking in the woods and she was delighted to find no fewer than half a dozen decent porcini mushrooms. She was so proud of these that she took them into Adam’s studio to show off when she went to see him and he looked impressed.
‘You’re really slipping into Tuscan life, aren’t you? Next thing I hear you’ll be down at the bar playing cards with the old men of the village or out in the piazza playingbocce.’ He gave her a smile. ‘So does this mean you’re going to move over here permanently?’
That question again. She took a deep breath. ‘Do you think I should?’
She saw him hesitate. ‘I suppose that depends on you, your job and so on. It’s a big decision.’
She couldn’t miss the fact that he hadn’t asked her to stay. ‘I’m still trying to make up my mind but I haven’t got much time. Today’s Thursday and I need to be back in the office on Monday so that gives me two more days at the most. To be honest, I’ve left it so late I don’t really have much choice. I can’t just give them a call and say, “Sorry I won’t be in next week, I’m quitting,” even if I wanted to.’
‘And do you want to?’
She answered honestly. ‘Part of me wants to. I’ve grown to love Sant’Antonio and I’ve made some good friends here – like you and your brother, for example.’ He showed no reaction so she carried on. ‘I love l’Ospedaletto and I love the relaxed atmosphere here in comparison to the hustle and bustle of London, but…’
‘But…?’
‘But I love my job.Youmust understand that. You love your job as well, don’t you? Can you imagine giving that up?’
He shook his head decisively. ‘Danny’s been telling me for ages to give it up, or at least to cut right back but, like you, I love what I do.’ He gave her a little smile. ‘Maybe if we finally win an Oscar I’ll think about it.’
That sounded pretty conclusive. He had no intention of giving up what was, without doubt, a dangerous job, and she was scared stiff of hooking up with somebody who could disappear from her life in an instant – just like her first father had done. Well, she told herself, at least that removed Adam as a reason to stay here. When she got home tonight she would book her return flight.
Was she disappointed? Of course she was.
She came and sat next to him at his desk while they scrolled down through the various questions to be answered for the award entry and she enjoyed feeling him near her. It was a struggle to resist the urge to cosy up against him but she managed it. It was now looking as though she was on her way back to London and it made a lot of sense to keep him at arm’s length. Besides, like the previous night, it wasn’t as if he was demonstrating any particular desire for rapprochement.
It took less than an hour to go through everything with him and insert the appropriate answers on the intricate forms. When they had finally finished, she stood up and decided the best thing to do would be to go back to l’Ospedaletto, book her return flight to London, and try not to think about him. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy but he had made his position pretty clear and there was no point flogging a dead horse.
He stood up as well. ‘Thank you so much, Amy. That saved me an awful lot of time and effort. When did you say you’re leaving?’
‘It depends when I can find a seat on an aircraft, but Sunday at the latest.’
‘That only gives us two days, then.’
To do what?She almost felt like screaming it at him but, again, she kept a lid on it and just nodded.
He glanced at his watch. ‘I need to do something to say thank you for all the help. How about dinner tonight or tomorrow?’ He stopped and gave a grunt of annoyance. ‘Dammit, not tonight, I’m tied up with a conference call with the US, but let’s do something tomorrow.’
‘You already bought me that lovely dinner last night. There’s no need to keep rewarding me; I’m not a Labrador who needs treats.’ This came out sounding a bit bitter so she was quick to deflect his attention to where Max was still stretched out on the tiles, half-asleep. ‘Not that I give this one any treats. He just seems quite naturally affectionate.’ She resisted the urge to add, ‘Unlike you’.
‘It’s not just to say thank you. I really enjoy your company.’
She caught his eye. ‘And I enjoy your company as well, but it’s probably best if we don’t get too used to it as we’ll be going our separate ways very soon.’
This time it was his turn to make no reply, just to nod. She reached up and kissed him on one cheek. ‘Time for me to go home and think about how I’m going to cook these mushrooms.’
‘Surely we could meet up tomorrow night? I’d really like that.’ He looked and sounded unusually disheartened and her hard-won resolve crumbled.
‘I tell you what, why don’t you come to my place tomorrow night and I’ll give you a porcini salad followed by fried porcini. You do like mushrooms, don’t you?’
A broad smile appeared on his face. ‘As it happens, I love mushrooms, but even if I hated them I would still say yes, as it’ll give me a chance to spend a few more hours with you. Are you sure you feel like cooking?’
‘I don’t think I’ll be frying too many more porcini mushrooms when I get back to London so, yes, come round to my place.’ A sudden thought occurred to her. ‘And while you’re there you could go down into the cellar and take a look at my father’s wine collection.’
