Page 71 of My Lemon Grove Summer
Luca nods his head sadly, his eyes shooting back to Valerie, as if wondering how much she knows.
‘Like I say, I can help,’ she says brightly, and I love that she’s so keen to be involved. I need to assure her that I’m here with Lennie. I love Valerie as much as I do her son. I don’t want to ruin this. I have to put things right. After Lennie and I left, I did wonder what she would do to fill her days. She loves having him living at home. The wedding has taken up all her time until now. I think it’s good for her to be getting outside and doing something else. I owe her. I need to make sure that whatever that kiss was, it was just a blip. It doesn’t mean anything, no matter how much it seems to have shifted my insides.
‘We need to move the verdello to keep them cool and safe overnight,’ I tell her.
‘But no one must know where we’re taking them,’ Luca adds sternly, and I feel myself biting my bottom lip, hard, to stop the feeling that is creeping up on me. The feeling I have been working so hard to ignore since the day he measured me for my dress. The feeling of attraction and . . . yes, desire.
I can feel Valerie’s eyes on me.
‘Cool and safe sounds exactly what’s needed,’ she says, and I feel myself blushing again.
‘So, how are we going to get them there without anyone noticing?’ I ask quickly, focusing on the verdello and trying to forget how attractive I find Luca and how my heart races when I’m around him. Once the wedding dress is finished, I won’t have this problem any more. I wish I could feel happier about it. But Valerie’s hard stare seems to help.
We load up the minibus with the verdello and make the bumpy journey to the other side of town. Valerie stops at the gates of the lemon grove and we unload.
‘No one must know about this place,’ Luca reminds her. ‘No one must find out about the tunnels.’
I help him carry the crates down to the tunnel entrance. When they’re all safely stowed away, we return to the minibus.
‘What are you doing?’
The voice makes us jump. It’s Sophia.
‘You shouldn’t be here,’ I say. ‘Does your mamma know where you are?’
‘I saw the minibus. I wanted a ride. How come everyone else gets all the fun?’
‘Okay, we’ll give you a ride, but just back to your house. Your mamma will be worried.’
‘Mamma is always worried. I’m never allowed to do anything.’
‘Come on, hop in,’ says Valerie with a smile.
Chapter Thirty-five
‘Gone! What do you mean, they’re gone?!’
Luca is shaking his head as he emerges from the tunnel’s mouth. ‘See for yourself.’ He holds a hand out.
‘I can’t believe it!’ I’m almost lost for words. ‘I know your father wants us gone, and the town to go back to how it was, but this is . . . bullying! Intimidation! He can’t get away with it!’ I’m shaking, I’m so angry. How dare he?
The air is thick and heavy, the heat almost suffocating. I look up at Etna’s smoky peak and wonder if she’s in a dark mood again. If the fruits aren’t found and I can’t make the limoncello – if I can’t meet that order – it’s all over for us here . . . and I am not going to let that happen. I am not going to let Il Nonno stand in my way. I have had enough of this!
The sky has darkened to match my mood. I can feel the pressure in the air, like it’s pushing on my skull, making my head ache. He’s not going to get away with this.
‘That’s it! I’m going to have it out with him!’ I begin to march towards the gates, Luca following me. ‘Other people may be too scared to stand up to him, but I’m not!’
What have I got to lose? Nothing, because Ihavenothing. I have nothing here and nothing to go back to. I am nearly forty and I’m not going to let this bully of a man take the one chance I’ve got at making something for myself and my housemates.
I realise with a jolt that I’m including the others here, the people I was so keen to get away from when we arrived just a few weeks ago. But I care about them. I care about Ralph getting a new start and putting his mistakes behind him. About Tabitha creating a life for herself with her words. About Sherise and Billy finding a home and Barry putting down some roots. This is not just about me; this is about the funny, raggle-taggle bunch we have become, and I’m not going to let him ruin my last chance at making things right for myself and for them.
‘Just because he hasn’t got over the fact that his wife left him all those years ago,’ I say. ‘Frankly, I don’t blame her. I’d leave him if he was my husband!’
Luca stops and stands still, and I realise my words have hurt him. It’s not just Romano’s wife I’m talking about . . . it’s Luca’s mother!
‘Sorry,’ I say.
I’m still fuming as I pull the gate open and stride through. It slams behind me, swinging on its hinges, and Luca is left on the other side.
