Page 100 of Last Letter Home
‘The Villa Teresa! Still there!’
‘Hope so. Shall we go and see it? We’ve got time before we’re due at Mariella’s.’
Luke leaned in and kissed her. ‘Your call, my love.’
The road out of the town was one they hadn’t taken before, winding up the hillside, at times so narrow that Briony, who was driving, held her breath that something wouldn’t be heading down the other way. Occasionally there were turnings off, sometimes signposted, sometimes not, but she followed her instincts and carried on. Eventually, just as they were cresting a hill, dark trees on either side of the road, she paused at where a gravelly lane led off downhill. On an ancient broken sign she made out the word ‘Teresa’.
‘Go for it,’ Luke said beside her and she turned the wheel. The trees thinned out and she tried to avert her eyes from the spectacular view of the valley in order to negotiate the sharp bends in the road. Eventually, they arrived at the point where a year before she’d reached after climbing the hillside in search of the villa. She and Luke exchanged glances, anticipation mounting. She drove on slowly, noticing every detail of the way. There was where Aruna sank down in pain at the side of the track and Luke stuck a plaster on her foot. There was the brief glimpse of Tuana before the bulk of the escarpment swallowed it again. Here was the corner beyond which she’d see the locked wrought-iron gates of the villa. She rounded it and stopped the car abruptly.
‘Luke! What’s going on?’ Before them the old gates stood wide. The turning circle was ploughed by deep wheel marks. Further marks scored the drive.
‘No idea.’ Luke lowered a window to admit a blast of hot air. ‘I can’t hear anything. Shall we go and look?’
They walked furtively up the drive towards the villa through a garden as rampant as ever, to be astonished by the sight of metal poles reaching up above the greenery. The sound of tinny music reached them, and male laughter. ‘What on earth?’ she hissed to Luke. But then they passed the barrier of trees and stopped in astonishment at the scene before them.
Three burly workmen were sitting on boxes around a makeshift table playing cards. The scene was so much like the old war footage of the soldiers nicknamed the Three Stooges that for a moment Briony was confused. But a very modern sports car was parked to one side, and the house beyond could hardly be seen for scaffolding and sheets of plastic, but here and there she could glimpse the signs of repair: new rafters, part of a metal joist.
‘Who’s doing this?’ she gasped.
‘And are they supposed to?’ Luke growled.
The men hadn’t seen them, they were so intent on their game, and so they left them to it and tiptoed back to where they’d left the car.
‘Well,’ Luke said, glancing behind him. ‘That was a surprise. What should we do now?’
‘Go to Mariella’s,’ Briony said grimly, opening the car door.
They returned to the winding road, which they continued along until they came to a fork and took the left-hand option down the hillside. Though they looked for a turning that might lead them to Mariella’s house, they must have gone past it, because they found themselves at the café by the graceful bridge over the river.
‘I’d forgotten how pretty it is. Shall we walk up to Mariella’s from here?’ Briony suggested, stopping the car outside the café.
‘If we can get something to drink first? I’m not ready for a climb.’
‘Good idea. I’ll text Mariella to say.’
In the welcome shade of the café there was no sign of Signor Marco, the balding proprietor. Instead a generous-sized woman with a roll of greying hair served them, his wife, perhaps. She spoke little English but beamed at them a great deal as though to make up for it. They sat outside under a bright umbrella and she brought them ice-cold lemonade. They sat quietly, hardly feeling the need to talk, they were so at ease together. Briony’s thoughts drifted back to the year before, the unease of their holiday here. She would never have guessed that things would have changed in this way. Here she was, her book finished, ready to be published in October. She knew she’d have to find the courage to step out into the world to give talks about it, maybe even on TV, the radio. Although she was nervous, she was determined to try. Her promotion had come through, too. Luke had already started proudly introducing her as a professor, even though she wasn’t strictly one until the new academic year. And the biggest thing of all that had happened was Luke. It was he who filled her with a happiness that she’d never known before. They were still taking things step by step, learning to trust one another, but the bonds between them were strengthening. His parents had been tactful, but warmly welcoming, and Martin and Lavender, too.
A young Italian couple had come in and came to sit at the table beside them. Signora Marco came across with bottles of Coke and greeted them with kisses and endearments. The young man was assured, elegant in a crisp shirt and jeans. Briony glimpsed an expensive-looking watch on his wrist, noticed the sleek phone on the table. The girl was lovely, blooming with youth and graceful, shoulder-length dark hair in a middle parting, a pretty sundress riding her thighs. She appeared faintly familiar, probably like one of her students, that must be it.
‘Who did you think that pretty girl was like?’ she remarked as they left the café.
‘What pretty girl?’ Luke replied, quite seriously.
‘The couple sitting next to us.’
‘Oh them. I hardly noticed.’
Briony laughed.
The path up to Mariella’s house was as onerous to climb as Briony remembered, and the dog barked as fiercely as before, but this time Mariella met them at the gate, embraced them both and ushered them inside. The kitchen table was spread with a cloth and plates of dainty cakes and biscuits. There was the fragrance of brewing coffee. ‘Sit, sit down,’ she bade them and set about pouring syrupy dark liquid into tiny cups.
Briony couldn’t stop herself asking straight away. ‘We went to look at the Villa Teresa. What’s happening there?’
At this a great smile spread across Mariella’s face. ‘You have already seen,’ she said. ‘I wanted to surprise you. The answer is l’amore.’
‘Love?’ Briony said, not understanding.
‘My daughter is to marry Piero Mei.’
