‘Salute!This is so nice and cold! And these small crostini –deliziosi! Try the one with olive paste, Natalie.’
She crunched into a salty oval of toasted bread. ‘I am going to miss thesecicchettiwhen I’m back in London.’
‘I think that is not all that you are going to miss. What about this man whose name you can’t help mentioning when we speak?’
‘Eraldo…’ It seemed inconceivable that the day after tomorrow, she’d be flying home. Leaving Venice, leaving him.
‘Yes, the watch restorer. You have become very fond of him, I think.’
‘I hardly know him.’ It was what she was going to have to keep telling herself.
‘But he is someone special.’
Natalie sighed. ‘You’re right. To meet someone like him was the last thing I expected.’
Lucia smiled. ‘This is how you find love. Me, two years ago, I tripped over the long lead of a small dog. The owner was busy looking at his phone. The lead, it extended like this…’ She flung her arms wide. ‘I hurt my ankle; I was so cross. But I look into the eyes of the man who walked the dog and all this anger, it goes “poof” and that is how I met my boyfriend.’
‘And he is still your boyfriend?’
‘Yes… and I hope soon…’ She fiddled with her unadorned ring finger. ‘But we are not talking about me. What will you do, Natalie? You cannot let this man go.’
‘I don’t know what to do. I’m meeting Eraldo at his workshop later. He’s taking me to his mother’s home in Cannaregio to have dinner with his family tonight. It feels significant: something that you do when your relationship is becoming more serious. It should be the beginning of something, not the end.’
Lucia ran her finger around the rim of her wine glass. ‘It does not have to be the end. Can he not go to England? Did you not mention he studied there and speaks the language? Surely with his talent he could work anywhere.’
‘I couldn’t ask him to. Eraldo is Venetian from head to toe. He’s not just devoted to his work but to keeping the artisan tradition in Venice alive. Being in this city is what inspires him, what makes him tick – if that isn’t a terrible pun.’
Lucia laughed. ‘Ah, tick like a watch! Yes, I believe you are right. Venice is unique. Everywhere there are reminders of the talented artists and craftspeople who built this incredible city on mud. Venice must not lose the creative people; it must not become a theme park catering for tourists who do not realise they are driving out the very people and things that make it special. If things carry on like this, we will be eating hamburgers, notbaccalà mantecato.’
‘Eraldo has a cousin who is training to become a gondolier; he will be there tonight too.’
‘That will be interesting. I am sure that you will have a nice evening. I am just sorry that it will make you both happy and sad.’
‘At least we have a whole day together tomorrow.’ Natalie tried to sound upbeat. ‘Floella sent me a message a couple of days ago asking if it was okay if she booked me onto a later flight back.’
Lucia frowned. ‘Was she worried that we would not finish on time?’
‘I’m sure it wasn’t that.’
Floella hadn’t given a reason and Natalie didn’t need one. There was no one she had to contact back in London, no close friend or lover coming to the airport to scoop her up in their arms. Not even a dog, like Ted, waiting behind her front door, scratching his paws on the mat.
43
‘What if they aren’t coming?’ Phil said.
Cate laid down the café’s menu. ‘He’ll come. That’s him walking towards us now, isn’t it? Looks like they’ve brought all three kids.’
Raj raised a hand and waved. The smallest of his three children, a little boy, ran towards them, Raj’s wife in hot pursuit, her long plait flying.
Phil stood up.
‘Phil! I can’t believe it; you haven’t changed a bit!’
‘Nor you.’ Phil couldn’t help smiling at their blatant untruths. Raj was stockier, Phil’s hairline receding at an alarming rate.
‘This is my wife, Neelam.’
Dark smudges beneath Neelam’s eyes told of the exhaustion of mothering three lively youngsters but her green eyes were bright and clear. And her smile was genuine. Perhaps Raj never spoke about his days at Hillingdon. Perhaps he’d never mentioned Phil at all.
