Mabel considers this for a moment. “That still counts as a family.”
I grin at her. “Absolutely.”
One of the smaller boars spots us and the group takes fright, toddling off into the valley.
“Come on,” says Angelika, “it’s time for that drink.”
Chapter 40
The next day, Mabel summons me into the big lounge. Archie’s perched in the doorway to the cottage, playing with his figures while also watching the builders, who are creating their usual cacophony of noise. Mabel’s sitting with Callum at the dining table, a laptop, iPad and both their phones spread out before them.
“Adam,” she declares, “we’ve got something to show you.”
I sit down and they present to me their digital marketing strategy for the Castello Montemagno.
I’m impressed. Callum’s website is stylish and slick, and he’s worked in the text I gave him about the history of the house—a lot of which came from Luisa—plus information on the village and nearby towns. There are some gorgeous photos that show off the first rooms to be finished, plus plenty of gaps to add more once the refurbishment has progressed. There are some stunning exterior shots of the olive grove, the chapel wall, the castle—viewed from the bottom of the vineyard—and the view from the patio over the valley. Callum’s layout, design and graphics are simple but effective, and he’s made sure the dominant color is the same turquoise as the front doors. And he’s dedicated a whole page to “Instagrammable moments,” so far featuring pictures of the hammocks, rope swing and pizza oven. But he doesn’t think this is working.
“We need someoneinthe pictures,” is his verdict. “Otherwise they just look empty.”
“I’ve got the same problem,” chips in Mabel.
She runs through her plans for the social media channels, showing me draft posts on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. They’re nicely shot and do a good job of capturing the look of the property but I agree there’s something missing.
“Will you go in them?” she asks.
I rear back. “Me?”
“Yeah,” says Callum.
He asks if he can take a pic of me in front of the house and if I’ll provide him with a short biography. Although I don’t consider myself much of a frontman, I concede that a short section about me and my relationship with the property could help warm it up.
“Alright,” I say. “Let’s give it a go.”
We develop various ideas for social media content and I suggest we start posting on Monday, which is the beginning of our final week in Italy.
“That’ll be a good launch day,” I say. “The front of the house will be finished tomorrow so we can take pics over the weekend.”
The builders have stripped, treated and filled the old front doors so they can repaint them with a color they’ve had mixed that’s exactly the same as the original turquoise. They’ve just finished ripping up the tiles from the patio—as too many of them were cracked or uneven, not to mention the ones that were dislodged or swept away by the storm—and are about to start relaying it.
Mabel pulls a face. “But Monday’s the quietest day of the week on social media.”
There’s something else I remember from my sisters’ WhatsApp chat. “And it’s Manchester Pride this weekend, which means Monday’s the bank holiday.”
“Shall we wait till Tuesday?” suggests Callum.
“That’s probs best,” agrees Mabel.
I give them a smile. “Fab!”
Behind the closed door to the study, I hear Theo ending a call. It’s the day the students get their GCSE results so he has back-to-back meetings again. I fling the door open and grab him before hedisappears once more. “Theo, come here for a minute and see what the kids have done.”
Mabel shows him her work first and Theo raises his eyebrows. “That’s outstanding.”
I bring up the website’s menu and click through a few pages. “And get a load of this.”
Theo nods, slowly. “Cal, I knew you were good but this is bloody amazing.”
Callum looks like he’s struggling to suppress a smile. “I just used a basic website builder.”
