Page 12 of A Place in the Sun
‘He’s good-looking!’ I imagine him saying about Giovanni. ‘He’d better not try anything funny!’ I give a sudden laugh, to Luca and Giovanni’s surprise.
‘She does that sometimes,’ says Luca to Giovanni.
‘When she remembers one of Papa’s jokes,’ Aimee says, startling me.
‘Or something he used to do,’ Luca adds. ‘Then she usually cries, when she thinks we can’t hear.’
Giovanni says nothing, puts on a head torch and switches it on.
I cough and take a breath, trying to block out the sound of Marco’s voice in my head. ‘Is this the guy whose house you sat outside and ordered food from?’ I hear him laughing.
I bite my lip, trying to stop the nervous laughter bubbling up. I’m embarrassed, but in comparison with what we’ve been through in the last couple of years, it’s not the worst.
‘Look, erm, about yesterday.’ I decide to address this head on. Giovanni turns to me, practically blindingme with his head torch. I put my hand up against the light, making Aimee laugh.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ he says, switching it off. ‘What were you saying?’
I clear my throat. ‘About yesterday …’
Giovanni grabs a chair, climbs onto it, then switches on the head torch again. With his back to me, I notice his wide shoulders and muscular behind …
‘I want to apologize. I didn’t realize you weren’t a restaurant.’ I try to focus and hurry on with my apology. ‘We were tired, hot … a little confused. I saw an old man.’
‘Giuseppe, I expect,’ he says, reaching up to take off the cover to the fuse-box. ‘Did he have goats?’
‘Yes! Hairy ones!’ says Aimee, surprising me again by talking. She only speaks to strangers when absolutely necessary these days, and usually from Mr Fluffy’s perspective.
‘Yes, hairy ones!’ I agree.
‘Bit smelly too!’ Luca waves a hand and we all manage a laugh, to my relief, including Giovanni. I’m feeling bad that I wanted to send him away when he’s trying to help. I must let people help me more. Since Marco died I seem to feel I have to do it all on my own, and usually I believe I can. But clearly I can’t or we wouldn’t have been without life insurance, lost the restaurant and our home. If Marco was here, he’d be feeling bad too. And I know I’ll never replace him.He’ll always be here, part of the children’s lives and mine, by my side.
‘The man with the goats, Giuseppe, pointed me in the direction of your house. I just assumed. I should have kept walking up the road,’ I explain quickly. ‘I would have found the shop. Sorry.’
‘Luca, pass me a screwdriver, will you?’ Giovanni points to it on the table and, again, I see Marco standing there, arms folded, a slight frown on his forehead.
Luca steps forward and does as he’s asked. I stand and stare but I’m not hopeful. I’ve been over and over the fuse-box with Google and YouTube before my phone battery died.
Giovanni turns off the torch and jumps down from the chair to stand in front of us.
‘Don’t worry,’ I say. ‘I’m sure the electrician will arrive at some point.’
‘Luca, give the lights a try,’ he says. Luca goes to the switch by the front door and presses it down with a clunk.
There’s a fraction of a second and then – the lights are on!
‘You did it!’
‘Fiddly things, these old fuse-boxes. Be good to get it replaced. But that should keep you going until you do.’ He tosses the screwdriver into his tool-bag. We have light, and the fridge comes on with a loud hum.
‘I don’t know what to say. Thank you!’
He’s smiling, pulling his torch off. ‘It’s no problem.’
I spin quickly round to see if Marco is still where he was with the lights out. He is.
‘Just glad I could help,’ says Giovanni. He closes his tool-bag and heads for the door, glancing around the shabby little house, the walls covered with black-and-white photographs, and cobwebs showing up even more now there’s light.
Suddenly Aimee tugs at Giovanni’s hand. ‘Would you like something to drink?’ she asks. ‘Mr Fluffy wants to know.’
