The door shut. He waited in the hallway until he was sure she wouldn’t reappear, having forgotten something. Two minutes passed; he was safe. He opened the corner cupboard and retrieved a bottle of Basanotto; that would make an excellent aperitif. There was plenty of the local red wine to hand and a rather nice bottle of white from the Cinque Terre. He set four glasses on the coffee table, chuckling to himself. He’d survived his fall with no broken bones, he had a new assistant starting in just over a week and Stella had even managed to sell that ridiculous Dolce and Gabbana kettle. He deserved to celebrate. No tutting doctors, no bossy daughter, no overattentive niece to stop the fun. His three old mates would be gone by the time Stella got home. She would never know he’d thrown a little party.
* * *
Stella stood on Fernanda’s doorstep clutching a bottle of wine. After more than forty years, she had finally been invited in. But her curiosity about the home where her childhood sweetheart had grown up was nothing compared to the intriguing puzzle of Fernanda and Amy’s coin necklaces.
It was no longer just Stella, Gino and Fernanda eating together tonight. Both Amy, who had settled back into her old room, and Leo were joining them. If they all put their heads together, they might be able to work out if the existence of the two necklaces was more than one of life’s bizarre coincidences. And if they couldn’t make head nor tail of it all, the evening still wouldn’t be wasted. They’d taken the first step to overcoming the old family feud that threatened to keep her and Gino apart.
Fernanda welcomed her in. She took the wine, her beady eyes scanning the label. ‘Vermentino, my favourite.Grazie mille, molto gentile. Let us put this in the room where we are eating.’
Stella followed her into the back room where the oval table was set with placemats printed with scenes of Olde Liguria and cut glasses. Above the cupboard on the near wall, a pale rectangle marked the place where Stella imagined Violetta’s portrait had hung. It must have pained the old lady to take down the likeness of the sister she’d loved so much and to finally face up to Violetta’s part in the war.
The knocking at the front door interrupted Stella’s musings. Fernanda went to answer it, Stella following right behind.
‘Mamma!’ Gino hugged and kissed the old lady, then kissed Stella too. Out of the corner of her eye, Stella could see Fernanda was actually smiling. A moment later, Leo appeared, changed out of his overalls into a clean shirt for the evening. Amy bounded out of the kitchen wearing a striped apron, a corkscrew in her hand. The two youngsters hugged. Stella and Gino exchanged glances.
They all trooped into the small living room, Fernanda and Amy carrying in trays ofantipasti. There wasn’t quite enough seating, so Amy perched on the arm of a chair, glancing sideways at Leo as though she’d rather be sitting on his lap. Fernanda pointedly moved her grandson’s glass onto a coaster. Stella suppressed a smile. Fernanda had mellowed these last few days but there were still standards to uphold.
‘Morefritelle, Stella?’ Fernanda asked. ‘When we’ve finished these we’ll have the rest of the meal in the dining room.’
‘The necklaces?’ Gino prompted. They were all waiting for Fernanda’s big reveal. She’d been playing them like a singer holding back her number one hit to tease her audience.
‘Allora…You have waited long enough,’ Fernanda said, ‘but I wanted everyone to have something to eat first. Amy, would you be kind enough to clear away these things?’
Amy leapt up, swiping the plates. Leo took the serving platters. They were back in a trice.
Fernanda laid the two necklaces on the coffee table, side by side, Amy’s now shorn of its broken golden chain. The other coin sported its original leather thong. They all craned forward for a closer look. Stella’s nose filled with the scent of Fernanda’s hairspray and Gino’s cologne.
‘They really are identical,’ Gino said.
‘But that’s not all. They are a pair. My sister Violetta’s necklace and Amy’s.’
With a flourish worthy of the Magic Circle, Fernanda flipped over the coins. The reverse of each was etched with a simple curve. She lined them up carefully, sat back and folded her arms.
‘It’s a heart!’ Stella said.
‘Only when they’re joined together,’ Amy added. ‘That means my Grandpa Lance and Violetta must have been in love. But how and when?’
Gino rubbed his forehead. He moved the coins apart and pushed them back together again. ‘Amy, your grandpa must have been in Liguria during the war, one of the prisoners transported from North Africa to the mainland.’
‘But Papà,’ Leo interrupted. ‘You told me yourself there were no escaped POWs here. The Germans didn’t find anyone like that when they swooped on the village.’
‘Perhaps they didn’t search properly,’ Amy said.
Fernanda shook her head. ‘No, those men were thorough. If anyone had been hiding here, they would have found them.’
‘Except there was one place they wouldn’t have looked. In your home, Mamma. Everyone knew Violetta fraternised with the Germans. They wouldn’t have searched her house.’
‘That’s absurd. Where do you think Amy’s nonno was? In our basement, or under the bed? I was an inquisitive little girl, always playing. I was in and out of every nook and cranny in that house, no one could have been hiding there. And my sister was a fascist, through and through.’
‘I know it sounds far-fetched but perhaps she met Lance and fell in love with him despite her politics,’ Gino said. ‘Stranger things have happened. And if she did, there’s one place she could have let him hide. Somewhere you never went, Fernanda.’
‘Your grandparents’ oldrustico?’ Stella said.
‘That’s what I’m thinking.’
‘If my great-aunt was secretly in love with Lance, that must have weakened her commitment to the fascist cause. Surely she wouldn’t have betrayed the village by giving a list of names to the Germans?’
‘Perhaps it wasn’t her,’ Amy said.
