Page 25 of My Lemon Grove Summer
‘Is it the builder, Matteo? Or Luca’s father? I met Luca when I was looking for you.’ I remember not to say a word about the lemon grove. ‘He told me about his father. Is he the reason we can’t get into the houses? I’m sure we could work around him. Make him realise we’re not here to force anyone out of business.’
‘It’s very good of you . . .’ Giuseppe starts, and then swallows.
‘Look, we all want to help with our houses. We’re a gutsy bunch. We’re happy to get stuck in as soon as Matteo gets the go-ahead. Sherise and Billy just want a bit of land to keep some animals. Lennie and Ralph are happy to find work outdoors. Barry, well, Barry doesn’t mind what sort of job is on offer, but we’re just not getting anywhere. We could do with your help, an introduction at the council offices or some businesses who might want workers. And of course, our relocation fees would help . . .’ I raise a gentle enquiring eyebrow.
He says nothing. Drops his head. Then he takes a huge sigh and and stares straight at me.
‘Believe me, that is exactly what I want to do. We need people to take the jobs that the older people round here can’t do, like refuse collection, maintaining the roads and the buildings. We have already lost two people to falling balconies this year.’ He sighs again.
‘Great. Let’s get going on it, then. We thought you’d done a runner with the relocation fund!’ I joke.
But Giuseppe doesn’t smile.
‘I wanted to set up this project because more than anything I wanted to bring life back to Città d’Oro,’ he says. ‘I am tired of attending funerals. I want to celebrate a wedding, and a christening! As does Etna. You and Lennie answering the advert made my heart sing.’
I try to smile then. I want to celebrate me and Lennie as a little family too. I hope that if we keep at it, love will grow. We will make it happen. I hope with all my heart that it happens. The long, slow burn, instead of believing that there is such a thing as love at first sight, because there isn’t. It isn’t real. Whatever I felt when I met Luca the other night, and when I saw him again just now in the lemon grove, that’s not love. It can’t be. It’s just . . . desire. A silly crush. And that’s not being in it for the long haul. However attractive Luca is, I’m with Lennie and I’m happy about that. We’re here, and this is our new beginning.
I sigh, glad to have found Giuseppe and that he hasn’t run off with the relocation fund. We can get things started now.
‘Right, maybe we should go and see the others,’ I suggest. ‘Let them know you’re here and still really behind the project. For a moment there, we thought we were being taken for a ride!’ I laugh a little too loudly, and it echoes hideously around the big domed ceiling.
Giuseppe looks at me. I smile back. This man has such a good heart, I can almost feel it from here. I want to give him what he wants, give something back. I want him to be at our wedding, just three months from now.
‘Okay, let’s go.’ I turn and step out of the wooden pew, wondering if there is some kind of etiquette I should follow. I sort of nod at the altar, and bob in a curtsey, nearly tripping myself up.
‘The thing is,’ Giuseppe says as I right myself, blushing, ‘like I say, I wanted this more than anything. You have come here, trusted me with your dreams of a new life. But . . .’ he swallows, ‘I’m sorry, Zelda. It isn’t going to happen.’
‘What? Of course it is! We’re all still here. Still on board. No one is going anywhere. We want this to work. We’ve just been delayed, that’s all. A setback. Let’s go and talk to the others and get things moving before we all go stir crazy. The mood in the house is getting a little tense.’ Just like in the town, I think. There is tension everywhere, crackling in the air, like the coming storm. I rub my temples to try and persuade my headache to leave.
He looks around the old church, almost as if he’s seeing it for the last time.
‘I’m sorry, Zelda,’ he says again. ‘It’s over. The project is off. You’ll all be going home. There is nothing more I can do.’
I feel like the rug has well and truly been pulled out from under my feet, and my knees buckle.
Chapter Fourteen
Back at the farmhouse, we’re all gathered around the long wooden table. Billy and Sherise are sitting together. Tabitha is messaging on her phone. Giuseppe is at the end of the table, his hands clasped as if still in prayer, hoping for a last-minute miracle. Shutters upstairs are banging to and fro.
‘So you see . . .’ He swallows hard. The air is still thick and heavy, and there’s a low rumbling that may well be Barry’s empty stomach. My head feels really thick too, as if full of cotton wool, like a real tension headache taking grip. Because once Giuseppe has explained everything to the group, I have no idea what I’m going to do next. I look at Lennie. Whatwe’regoing to do, I correct myself. Maybe this isn’t our fate after all. Maybe the pact is just a silly romantic dream, like the rest of my dreams. I thought the answer had been right in front of me all the time, but clearly I was wrong.
‘When I set up this project,’ Giuseppe explains, ‘I spent some time raising the funds for it to happen. I applied for grants and even sold off my own land so that you would have a sum of money when you got here, houses repaired for you to live in and a further payment if you decided to stay on in three months’ time.’
We all nod in agreement. That’s what we understood and agreed to.
‘It was important that you fitted the criteria. In particular, couples looking to start a family here . . .’ He looks at Lennie and me and I can feel all our hopes and dreams cracking in two. There is another rumble outside, the sky darkening further.
‘The money was put in an account in the bank. But . . .’ he looks around the table, big blue eyes sad, ‘now it is gone. The account is empty. Or . . .’ and this time I can almost see the red mist rising in front of his eyes, ‘or maybe someone is stopping the funds from being released. It was money for the community, a fresh start. But I understand there is a new gymnasium being built, and I fear that the money may have been . . . redirected.’ His hands are shaking now, despite his best efforts to hold them steady. I put my own hand on his shoulder.
‘I have spent a lifetime trying to fight against this . . . bullying. For my town to be like it used to be, full of families, thriving and growing up here. But I fear it’s too late. I have lost the battle, and now Città d’Oro will die, along with its last residents. And may those who made it happen rot in hell!’ He puts his hands over his scrunched-up face.
Everyone is silent for a moment, his words hanging in the air. It’s hot in here. I throw open the French doors and look out at the cloudy sky, shivering despite the heat and the heavy atmosphere both inside and out.
‘So we’re not getting our money, or anywhere to live?’ Barry breaks the silence.
Giuseppe slides his hands down his long, sad face.
‘No. I’m sorry. I cannot deliver what I promised you.’ He looks like a broken man. ‘I hate to let you down, to break my word to you all.’
