Page 73 of My Lemon Grove Summer
‘Papà!’
I turn and see Luca running up the drive.
‘Luca, I . . .’ My heart lifts and twists at the same time. But he doesn’t look at me, just touches my elbow gently as he passes towards his father. And I realise it’s Romano who’s important to him just now, not my guilt and apologies.
‘If there is anything I can do . . .’ I say, rooted to the spot.
‘Papà! It’s Sophia!’
Suddenly Romano’s head jerks up and his hand slips from his chest.
‘She’s gone missing!’ Luca says in English, turning back to me.
Romano stands up straight, his hand dropping to his side. So, it was just a ruse! But I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m thinking about Sophia.
‘I saw Carina,’ Luca continues. ‘She’s out of her mind with worry. Sophia was supposed to be doing her homework. But when Carina went to check, she had disappeared. She has no idea how long she’s been missing, or where she might have gone.’
My heart feels like there’s a vice around it, squeezing. I feel sick at the thought. How must Sophia’s mother feel? And briefly I wonder if my own mother ever felt anything similar. If she did, she never showed it.
‘I’ll get my hat,’ says Romano.
‘What can I do?’ I ask Luca.
He turns out his palms. ‘We need to start searching. Anywhere we can think of.’
I look at him, the water pouring through his hair like he’s standing under a shower, making it spring into curls. He has worry etched across his face.
‘This is a bad storm. We need to get her back safely,’ he says.
I nod, feeling his concern, and just for good measure, lightning rips across the sky and there’s another crack of thunder.
‘Her mum is frantic. It’s just the two of them. Tell anyone you can,’ he shouts over the rain.
I want to take him in my arms and tell him everything will be okay. But I can’t. I can’t touch him. He has to believe that kiss was just a mad, impetuous, impulsive moment. That there was nothing in it and it will never happen again. Even if it felt as if everything was in it. He can never, ever know that.
‘I’ll get the others from the house!’ I turn to the gates.
‘Good idea. And I’ll tell Giuseppe to spread the word,’ Luca says. ‘What’s your number?’ He takes out his phone, and so do I, and we exchange numbers.
‘No, you go and look.’ Romano appears again in his hat, this time without his stick. ‘I’ll go and find Giuseppe. I’ll ask him for help, and the villagers. They’ll listen to him,’ he says, and I realise how important it is to all of them if he is finally able to speak to the man he hasn’t had any contact with for so long.
I just hope there will be good news soon.
‘No one wants another burial in this town . . . especially not a young one!’ Romano says what we’re all thinking. I look at him. Right now, there are more important things to worry about than his fake heart condition and my missing lemons – way more important. ‘We need to find her, quickly! The storm is getting worse!’ and lightning cracks open the sky once more.
Chapter Thirty-seven
‘Lennie!’ I’m soaked and out of breath and I struggle to call his name. But he’s there all the same.
‘Zelda! What on earth’s happened?! Look at you. Come on, let’s get you inside and out of those wet things.’
More than anything I’d love to fall into Lennie’s comforting and reassuring arms and let him tell me everything’s going to be okay. But I can’t. I shake my head.
‘It’s . . .’ I drag in a big gulp of air. Sherise and the others are standing behind Lennie now. Sherise gets me a glass of water.
‘Is it the lemons . . . the verdy things?’ she asks.
‘No.’ I shake my head and take a swig of water. ‘Much. More. Important.’ I have another drink. Everyone is on tenterhooks. ‘It’s Sophia, the little girl from the shop. She’s gone missing.’ Another clap of thunder explodes overhead, making us all jump, and no one needs asking twice.
