Tad was planning to make some dark chocolate decorations to add to the served dish, but he’d abandoned all pretence by then and left Matteo to it.
Ironic then, that the sour nature of the lemons had been sweetened by the rest of the ingredients to produce a wonderful dessert, only to find – when the fruit was ready to put in one of its finest performances as a dessert – that the atmosphere had been soured all over again.
27
Amy had taken some time for herself, leaving the hotel and heading for the lake. She had done her best to persuade Billie not to write a negative review for Casa del Cibo, or for Tad. But Amy had never seen Billie in such a state – she seemed genuinely destroyed by Kelly’s news – and when the man himself phoned Billie, Amy had been dismissed. He wanted to ‘talk things through’ with Billie, apparently. Amy would have told him where to stick his conversation, but even though Billie was cavalier with other people’s emotions and relationships, her whole face lit up when she realised who was phoning her, and quite honestly Amy was relieved to be able to leave her to it.
Walking the streets of Riva on her own wasn’t settling Amy’s thoughts as she’d hoped it might. She stood on the edge of the quay for ages, simply staring out across the water as though if she looked for long enough, a solution to her situation might emerge from Lake Garda like Excalibur.
Familiar voices managed to break through her negative thoughts and Amy looked up to see Hugh and Kathleen approaching.
‘G’day,’ Kathleen said, a grin on her face brightening as Hugh echoed her words with his own casual greeting.
‘Ahoy there,’ he said, wandering across to stand beside Amy. ‘We’ve been in the Museo Alto Garda – hard to believe, but it’s full of things even older than either of us.’
Kathleen bristled. ‘How did you get to be so completely insensitive?’
Hugh waved a dismissive hand at her. ‘You know I mean it in jest. Although it is also completely true. Anyway, Amy, turns out Kathleen and I get on rather well and you’ll never guess what we’ve decided to do.’
Kathleen took the space to the other side of Hugh, resting hands on her hips as she stared out across the water, too.
‘He talked me into it,’ she said, but there was a twinkle in her voice.
‘And it might all go wrong, and we’ll end up killing one another. Which wouldn’t take much in my case, I’m as weak as a kitten these days. Trip me up at the top of a flight of steps – job done,’ Hugh said.
Kathleen snorted a laugh. ‘Idiot man. You’re still as strong as a bloody ox; you just enjoy the attention.’
‘Well anyway, never mind all that. Except – Amy—’ He swung around to stare at her. ‘If you hear of my untimely death in the Egyptian pyramids or that I’ve been stabbed on a snowy train journey – the antipodean will have done it. Because – guess what – we’ve decided to go on our very own version of a Grand Tour.’
Amy grinned and frowned at the same time. ‘You’re going to go around the world and drive loads of different cars?’
‘No! What on earth are you talking about?’
‘The Grand Tour– it’s a TV show with theTop Gearteam. You know, the car people. Malcolm loves it; he was so upset when it finished.’
‘I think we must be talking at cross purposes,’ Hugh said, his frown as deep as her own. ‘I’ve no idea what you’re going on about, but I’m talking about Kathleen and me doing our version of the tours people used to do back in the day. And by “back in the day” I mean the eighteenth century. Back then the wealthy young things used to head off in horse-drawn carriages and steamer ships to visit all the cultural places of the time. Clearly, we’re not so young any longer, but the idea still holds. We’re going to see the Acropolis, the pyramids, the Nile.’
‘The old coot twisted my arm,’ Kathleen said. ‘Told me he has a life assurance policy that matured a while ago, liquid funds he wants to spend.’
‘I’m thinking Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum. Grand Canyon. Anywhere we want. And I don’t want paying back.’ Hugh frowned. Money had obviously already been discussed.
‘Well, I’m determined to pay him back… somehow. I’m not a freeloader. Anyway, I’m sure it’s going to be more complicated than he’s making out. It probably won’t even happen. There must be visas and so on.’
‘It’s not like I’m going to spend it on anything else, Kathleen.’
‘And I’m still no freeloader, Hugh.’
‘Whatever – we’ll work something out. I’m imagining us at the Taj Mahal. You could do the Princess Di pose.’
‘The what?’
‘Maybe not. What about the Yellowstone National Park?’
‘I think we’ll have to be more sensible than this. You’re being outrageous again.’
‘At last you see it – I’ve always thought of myself as fairly out there. But seriously, since I lost Brian – far too long ago, even though it still feels like yesterday – I have nothing to go back home to, and it suddenly occurred to me… Why go home at all?’ Hugh said, smiling at Kathleen.
She considered his words. ‘And I suppose my kids have their own children to keep them busy. Nobody will notice if I’m away for a while.’
