Page 43 of My Lemon Grove Summer
‘Good,’ he says. ‘I’ll tell him,’ and I physically shiver with what feels like pleasure. ‘I’m pleased. Etna will be too. And the town. They want a wedding. Even my father wants a wedding –mywedding,’ he adds with a smile and a raised eyebrow. ‘There are many things I’ve done for my family. Returning here when my father needed me, for starters. Staying here and not returning to the mainland. But you are right, I should not marry just to keep him happy. I won’t act on orders. I believe you should only marry for true love.’
He stares at me, and I feel a hot flush start at my chest and run all the way up my neck and over my head.
‘The town may want a wedding, but I do not think Etna wants it to be a sham.’
‘You don’t really believe that legend, do you . . . about having to have a wedding to keep Etna happy?’
He shrugs. ‘Who knows. But the town believes it and we do need new families. You saw how unhappy Etna was when she thought you were leaving. Maybe she really does want this wedding as much as the town does.’
‘But not your father.’
‘My father is a suspicious man, and greedy. Like I say, he doesn’t want anyone coming in who will take any profits away from him.’
‘He needs to learn to share,’ I say flatly. I turn back to the shop. ‘And I have a wedding to plan. First, I have to find a wedding dress.’
‘Let me make it up to you,’ says Luca.
‘What? Again? You’ve done that already,’ I remind him, ‘when you helped us make pasta.’
‘Again,’ he says firmly, and holds my gaze.
‘Do you know a dressmaker, then?’ I ask, worrying that I probably can’t afford one even if he does.
‘No, this one closed down when the owner died.’
I look at the yellowing dress in the window.
‘There’s no real call for a shop like this now,’ he continues.
‘Then how can you help? Is there a shop in a nearby town you can direct me to?’
‘There is, but it’s a journey and there are no buses here.’
‘So how?’
‘I’ll make the dress for you,’ he says.
Both my eyebrows shoot up. ‘You’re a dressmaker?’ I say, astonished.
He dips his head, and I suddenly feel foolish, worrying that I’ve embarrassed him.
‘A tailor, actually. I studied in Milan. Before I had to come back and run the restaurant. I will make a dress for you . . . if you’ll let me. But first, I must get to know you. Will you join me at the lemon grove? We can talk there without anyone seeing us. These walls have eyes everywhere.’ He looks around and I see net curtains twitch. ‘I have to get the lemons in, and,’ he laughs, ‘to be honest, I could do with the extra hands.’
‘And you can make me a dress?’ I think of our tight budget.
‘Yes, of course. A gift . . . to make up for my father’s bad manners.’
I look at him. I think of our dwindling finances again. I couldn’t expect him to do it for nothing. That seems unfair. He’s trying to make a living like we are in this ghost town. But I really couldn’t afford to pay a lot and I can’t imagine hand-made dresses come cheaply. I don’t want to feel indebted to him. I mean, why else would he do this for me if he doesn’t want something in return? Is he really just offering to make my wedding dress or, like his father, am I going to have to return the favour? I think of Matteo turning around our signs on Romano’s orders, mistrust creeping into my thoughts.
‘I have some boxes of clothes at home,’ I say. ‘I’m going to see what’s there. But thank you for the offer.’ Thinking how much I would love to say yes, but it seems too generous a gift to accept. If only there was a way I could pay him for it.
‘If you don’t find anything, you know where to find me. And for the rest of your party, suits. We are a dying community; suits are often handed on. I can make alterations.’
He smiles, and again I feel lit up. The wedding, I tell myself firmly; it’s the thought of the wedding that’s doing that.
‘I’d like to help,’ he says softly. ‘We are all happy there is going to be a wedding,’ and my excited nerve endings stand to attention.
Back at the farmhouse, Valerie is sitting in the kitchen wafting a cheap-looking Spanish fan in front of her face.
