Page 1 of A Place in the Sun
1
‘You have arrived at your destination. Make a U-turn. Turn left. Make a U-turn. Turn right. You have arrived at your destination.’
It feels likeGroundhog Day, but it’s not wet or snowy, like the film. It’s hot. We have all the windows open. The aircon packed up when we were leaving France, and it’s getting hotter.
‘Make a U-turn! Turn left. Make a U-turn!’
‘All right, all right!’ I say, tired, flustered, and trying to switch off the satnav, punching the button. I stop the car and put my head into my hands. The heat sweeps in, wrapping itself around us, like a goose-down duvet. I fan myself with an empty paper bag from one of the many roadside meals we’ve had on our journey from the UK. At first I tried to make the road trip to Italy an adventure. And the B-and-Bs we’vestayed in for the last couple of nights have been small, friendly and lovely. But now I want it to be over. I just want to have reached our destination.
‘Mum,’ Luca says, from the passenger seat beside me, my iPad on his lap, ‘this could be it. It’s like one of the pictures Dad took. Look at the village up there.’ He points towards a hilltop we must have driven past at least three times, maybe four.
‘Are we nearly there yet?’ asks Aimee, from the back seat.
‘Nearly, love.’
‘You said that ages ago,’ she says.
In the rear-view mirror I can see her flushed cheeks. ‘I know, love. But I promise we’re nearly there now.’ Just wishing we could find the place.
‘Make a U-turn!’ interrupts the satnav, bossily.
‘You and I are going to fall out, lady!’
Aimee giggles, cheering me up. ‘She’s not real, Mummy!’
‘Isn’t she?’ I tease. ‘I thought she was. I thoughtshe’d eaten all the wine gums.’
Aimee giggles some more. ‘No, that was you.’
‘Me? It wasn’t! It was the satnav lady – I heard her burp.’
And even Luca smiles.
It’ll be fine, I tell myself firmly.
‘She didn’t. She’s a machine!’ Aimee laughs now.
In the rear-view mirror, she’s clasping Mr Fluffy toher chest as I turn the car and set off up a narrow lane towards the hilltop village. It’s overgrown and banked by tumbledown stone walls at either side, so tight that I’m not sure I should be driving along it … I’ve spent three days in the car with these two and they’ve been brilliant. I couldn’t be prouder. Luca has read the map all the way, regardless of the satnav. Belt and braces! Aimee has watched films, played with her toys and slept.
Now I can smell the sun on the fields around us and herbs: rosemary, a hint of mint and wild fennel as the car and wing mirrors brush against the hedge. Aimee is still laughing, and I can’t help smiling.
‘Mum, watch out!’ Luca shouts, jolting my attention to the road.
I slam on the brakes and a man with three goats crosses from a field on one side of the road to another. I nod when he and the animals are safely over and he nods slowly back.
The children are no longer smiling and I need to find the house. My tetchiness returns.
‘Well, she’s clearly gone to sleep,’ I say, tapping at the satnav but getting no response.
I take the next left, then left again.
It has to be around here somewhere. I attempt to drive straight on but the road is even narrower. I reverse, passing the man and his goats again, this time raising a hand, trying to look as if we’re not totally lost and to convince the children that everything’s fine.
‘Mr Fluffy really needs a wee. He can’t hold it!’ Aimee brandishes the well-worn stuffed rabbit, its head lolling to one side.
I know she isn’t joking. Mr Fluffy needing a wee tells me I must find her a toilet very quickly.
‘You have arrived at your destination.’ The satnav bursts into life again and I slam on the brakes.
