‘Yes, don’t let him near any power tools,’ teased Anna.
‘Hey. Whose side are you on? I’m very good at cleaning up,’ he protested, playfully poking Anna in the side. ‘I can be your assistant. Hand you the screws and whatnots.’
Anna winced. ‘Whatnots? Oh, Leo, Leo. What are we going to do with you?’ she asked with a mournful sigh, although those lovely expressive eyes glinted with laughter.
‘Well, work or not, it feels like we’re going on holiday, especially when we get to play hooky,’ declared Leo, as he wedged his and Anna’s overnight bags into the back of Jan’s Volkswagen Passat. The roomy boot was already packed to the gunnels with Jan’s tools, bedding, food, beer and several boxes of tiles that were for the kitchen. It resembled an elaborate Jenga puzzle. Take the wrong thing out and everything would come tumbling out.
Jan shook his head, giving Leo a pitying look. ‘Don’t let Michaela hear you say that. She’s delighted to have two extra pairs of hands. You’ll have to work for your dinner.’
‘In England, we say, “Sing for your supper”. That’s your department, Anna.’
Puzzlement creased Jan’s face until Leo explained. ‘Anna’s a brilliant singer. She’s got a gorgeous voice.’ Inside, a little voice of his own reminded him that she had a gorgeous face, a gorgeous soul and a gorgeous body, not that she’d ever believed him when he told her so. Despite her willowy build, there was a softness about her that had drawn him from the first time he saw her. She’d brought out his protective instincts, even though she’d always made it clear she didn’t need looking after.
‘So has Jan. You can sing together this evening,’ said Michaela, with the blithe assurance of someone who had no idea how harmonies worked.
‘I can hold a tune,’ said Anna, blushing. ‘Leo’s exaggerating,’
He wasn’t, but he wouldn’t embarrass her any more, although he found the blush endearing. She’d always downplayed her abilities, perhaps because they hadn’t been valued by her adopted family. He had to stifle the urge to give her a hug and tell her she was brilliant because no one else ever had. She’d overcome a tragedy and had never felt sorry for herself. She made the most of every situation and just got on with things.
With everything loaded, the four of them piled into Jan’s ageing estate car, Michaela in the front with Jan, Leo and Anna in the back.
‘How long will it take us to get there?’ Anna asked as she struggled to plug in her seatbelt. When Leo leaned over to help, his hand brushing hers, her familiar scent teased him and he felt an unexpected longing for how things had once been.
‘About three hours if the traffic is good,’ said Jan. ‘Most people’schatasare only forty-five minutes or an hour away. Driving this far for a weekend is unusual but it’s because it is where my family originally came from.’
The initial part of the journey through Prague was slow going until they reached the motorway.
‘Sorry, it’s not a very interesting journey at first,’ Jan apologised. ‘But the fastest way is to take the toll road to Brno and then drop down towards the Austrian border. But I promise when we get nearer, it will be better.’
‘So where are we going?’ asked Anna, opening up her phone. ‘I know it’s Southern Moravia but that doesn’t mean much to me.’
Leo nudged her with his elbow. ‘And you do like to know where you’re going.’
‘We’re going to near the Austrian border. The nearest town is Pavlov, but we are right by the Vestonice reservoir, which is a big nature park.’
‘Can you spell that?’ asked Anna, as she brought up the Google maps app.
‘Anna is the go-to navigator,’ said Leo, as he watched her input the journey. ‘Whereas I have absolutely no sense of direction.’
‘It’s true. He’s useless.’ Anna looked up from her phone and then quickly glanced back again.
Leo smiled to himself. An old in-joke. He had no sense of direction, unless it was in the bedroom, where he knew due south.
‘I have my moments,’ he murmured, and was gratified when Anna made a stalwart attempt to move the conversation on, her cheeks reddening. He leaned back in his seat and folded his arms with an ever so slightly smug grin on his face. He really shouldn’t take pleasure in Anna’s discomfort, but sometimes it was gratifying to know she wasn’t immune to him. He knew women liked him but Anna had always held back. It was that cool reserve that had first attracted him.
* * *
Anna stared out of the window at the rolling green countryside, which offered occasional glimpses of orchards and vineyards dotted with traditional white buildings and the now familiar terracotta-tiled roofs. Michaela had told her this was South Moravia and this particular area was known for growing almonds and grapes. She was grateful that they were at last coming off the slip road of the motorway into somewhere called Hustopece. Acutely aware of Leo beside her, she’d been tracking their journey on her phone as a distraction, although her left foot had developed a constant jitter which was nothing to do with being cooped up in a car.
‘We should take a quick detour to show you the town square and the church, shouldn’t we, Jan?’ said Michaela, suddenly warming to her role of tour guide. ‘St Wenceslas and St Agnes is very modern, built in a circle. I think it’s beautiful. Jan isn’t so keen, it’s too modern for him.’
Jan grunted from the driver’s seat but obligingly turned off the main road down a side street. They emerged in a large, cobbled square with an extraordinarily contemporary church on the right. With its tall tower and the curved walls that swept down into a graceful curve of white stone it made a striking contrast to the rest of the buildings.
‘Now that is beautiful,’ said Jan pointing the stone-and-white rendered building opposite. It was five storeys high, with arched windows, an oriel window, a gable and a square tower with a clock and a turret. It might have been an architectural extravaganza with all those features but, when viewed as a whole, it was a quiet, calm building, elegant in its simplicity.
‘I agree,’ said Anna, looking round the square. ‘Everything is so clean and tidy,’ she marvelled, taking in the litter-free pavements and the hanging baskets on every lamppost.
‘Now the road crosses the reservoir,’ announced Michaela, pointing to the bridge spanning the centre of the body of water. ‘Imagine, before this you would have had to drive all the way around.’
