Page 55 of A Place in the Sun
‘There is a chance we could raise the money needed to pay the rent on the building, but we need your help. We could run a cookery class over a weekend ending in a Sunday lunch together. A company I know will pay a lot of money for some of its people to come and stay in the village and learn to cook authentic Italian food.’
‘But we don’t have any authentic Italian chefs here.’
‘No,’ I say slowly, ‘but we do have you three. And that’s about as authentic as it gets.’
‘But we’re not teachers, just home cooks.’
‘Brilliant ones at that!’ I say. I see them look at each other and their chests swell with pride.
Nonna Teresa is the first to speak. ‘And La Tavola needs us to cook for it?’
‘Or, if what you say is true, we’re going to lose it for ever?’ Nonna Rosa says.
‘It is a lifeline for people,’ says Nonna Lucia. ‘We shouldn’t be fighting with each other. We are here, on our own. We have only each other left. It is the way of the world right now. People are having to leave their homes and move to bigger towns to find work. It breaks up families, meaning they no longer stay together, eat together or pass on the skill of cooking. Food costs are rising. Processed and cheap convenience foods are thedevil. It’s like you say. It’s who you share the food with that makes it special. If La Tavola folds, the people in this village will be deserted, like Casa Luna, because there is no one left to care.’
The threenonnas look at each other, and it’s like no time has passed, as if they are three young girls knowing exactly what the others are thinking.
‘I mean, Giovanni’s a good cook. He needs more pepper in hiscacio e pepe…’
‘And he sometimes undercooks his broccoli in broccoli carbonara.’
‘But his caponata is really very good. You can tell an Italian grandmother taught him that.’
‘I will be sad to see what he has done turn to nothing.’
‘He has helped us all when we’ve needed it.’
They nod.
‘When my drains were blocked.’
‘Oh, the stench!’
‘And when I locked myself out and he climbed in through the window.’
‘Only way you’ll get a man climbing in through your window …’
And they cackle.
‘And every week, whether we want it or not, he makes sure someone is here with a meal for us, and sits to keep us company.’
‘We were too stubborn to get together and cook for each other.’
‘It is time to say thank you.’
They nod in agreement. Nonna Rosa speaks for them all: ‘Contact your company. We will run the cookery school for the weekend.’
My eyes widen.
‘Are you sure? With no arguing?’
‘That’s not a certainty. What can you expect when threenonnas get in the kitchen?’
I can’t help but smile.
After Giovanni and I leave, we stop a little way from the house and hug. And then we pull back a little and drink in each other’s faces, our eyes darting from each other’s eyes to lips. I’m being drawn to his, like I’ve wanted this for weeks, like I need to feel them on mine.
‘We did it,cara! We did it!’ he says softly, his eyes dancing with excitement, his head tilting and leaning in to meet mine.
