Page 36 of My Lemon Grove Summer
‘I must post a picture on Facebook,’ says Tabitha, and runs inside to get her phone.
‘This place . . . it was a beautiful farm. I used to come here as a child. It’s my uncle Giuseppe’s family home. It was always full of laughter and fun. It’s been a long time since I was here.’ He finishes his glass of wine. ‘Good luck with your guests. I will leave you now,’ he says.
‘Whaaa!’ We hear Tabitha’s squawk from inside the farmhouse, then she appears in the doorway, clutching the frame.
‘What is it, love?’ says Sherise.
‘They’re not coming!’
‘What?’
‘The guests. They’re not coming. They say they’ve tried to find us and keep going round in circles and getting lost.’
‘But my signs were perfect!’ Barry says.
‘They say they asked in the grocery shop and she’s found them alternative accommodation.’
‘With one of my other cousins, no doubt,’ mutters Luca.
‘They’re not coming!’ repeats Tabitha, and we all fall silent.
‘Now what are we going to do?’ I say at last. I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach. All our hard work, for nothing.
‘We could try and find them,’ suggests Sherise.
‘I’ll go and meet them on the bike and direct them here,’ says Barry.
‘We could insist they’ve entered into a contract.’ Ralph joins in.
I let out a huge sigh and shake my head.
‘We can’t force them to stay here,’ I say, dropping heavily into a chair, feeling totally beaten.
‘Zeld, you did brilliantly getting this together. Don’t beat yourself up.’ Lennie puts a hand on my shoulder.
‘But we’ve got everything ready.’ I look at the long table. ‘It’s such a waste. And we needed the money. Now what?’
‘We’re going to eat,’ says Luca decisively. ‘Nothing is ever wasted.Tutti a tavola!To the table!’ he says, taking control.
We all look at him in surprise, and then we do exactly as he says. Nothing should be wasted.
We sit under the big fig tree and eat the caprese salad, with creamy, soft, melt-on-the-tongue mozzarella, tangy, juicy tomatoes and peppery basil. Then we clear away, and cook the pasta, making sure we save some of the water for the sauce. We twist the pasta onto our forks, mopping up the last of the lemony garlic sauce in the bowls, and finish with gelato. If it wasn’t such an infuriating situation, I’d say it was just about perfect.
I gaze up at Etna, quieter now, almost serene, pushing out gentle smoke from her peak. Then I look around at this table of people who came here bravely looking for a new start in life, and a feeling of rebellion starts to bubble up in me.
Chapter Eighteen
At the end of the meal, we clear away. I feel gloriously contented and happy, despite the circumstances. Luca kisses the women on the cheeks and shakes the men’s hands, and wishes us all goodnight. I can’t help but smile as he rides away on his moped, gently letting my fingers touch the place where he left his kiss.
I climb the stairs with a smile still on my lips and head for the bedroom. It is only when I push the door open and find Lennie there, his trousers halfway down his legs, that I suddenly remember: we’re a couple! Sharing a room!
He freezes, and pulls his trousers back up. Clearly he’s as unsure about our new arrangement as I am. I walk in, shut the door and start to take off my scarf. It’s not like we haven’t seen each other in PJs before. We often have coffee in bed together after a night out. But somehow this feels different.
‘Look, Zelda.’ Lennie once again gets to grips with the situation quicker than me. ‘I don’t want to rush this, and ruin it by it not feeling right. We have all the time in the world to get to know each other. Let’s not feel pushed into anything just because we’ve ended up sharing a room. Let’s take our time. I want it to be special, not some grabbed shag because we feel that’s what we should be doing. I don’t want it to be like all our other relationships. Let’s take things slowly. Being together is what’s important.’
I find myself breathing a huge sigh of relief. See! Wearesinging off the same song sheet! We both feel exactly the same.
‘Besides,’ he adds, sliding his trousers down his long, hairy legs once more, ‘I’m not sure I’d be up to much after all that pasta.’ He puts his hand to his stomach and lets out a little burp, and we both burst out laughing. Then we tumble into bed and snuggle down, and as he slings his arm around me contentedly, I think I love him even more than before.
