“And so moving,” adds Vito, wrapping his arm around Dom.
“I hope you’re listening, Willie!” drawls Angelika, glancing up at the ceiling. She turns to me. “You know, he’d love being at the center of a party. And Arnaldo could be a bit grumpy but I’m sure he would, too.”
She gives me a beam and I feel a rush of happiness.
When Angelika totters downstairs to pour herself another Castello Cosmo, I open the visitors’ book to read more compliments.
“To a wonderful couple,” Kate has written. “You’ve created a beautiful home and I wish you a long and happy future in it—all five of you.”
My happiness blossoms.
Just as I’m closing the book, Theo and Mabel announce that the treasure hunt is over and anyone who’s found any little Leaning Towers should come outside and hand them over. When they’ve calculated the scores, Freya is declared the winner. Freya and Mabel squeak with glee and treat themselves to another round of Virgin Versilias.
Next on the agenda is the orange-throwing competition, coordinated by Archie, who I quickly grab to wipe a smudge of tomato sauce off his face. He hands out the oranges and directs each contestant to stand behind the line of stones he’s arranged along theridge of the hill. As each contestant throws, he judges how far the oranges travel by studying their impact on the tops of the trees. The builders become very competitive, then unite in opposition to the diggers. Signor Mancini must have drunk too many Montemagno Margaritas, as he loses his balance and his wife has to grab onto him before he totters over the hill. And Callum draws his arm back as far as possible and flexes his bicep to impress a besotted-looking Lina. When his orange arches through the air, clearing the top of the tallest tree, Archie declares him the winner. Lina rewards him with a kiss.
As the keepy-uppy competition is declared open, all those who didn’t win the orange throwing are keen to take another shot at glory. Theo’s attempt to keep the ball up is admirable—not to mention sexy—but it’s Dom who manages to keep it up for the longest, as Vito watches, possibly even more besotted than Lina was with Callum. That is, until my dad steps up.
Dad starts by saying he’s had too many beers to do his best, then stuns the party with an incredible run of 423 bounces, to some extremely enthusiastic cheerleading from Debbie, Gloria and—once he passes 300—pretty much everyone. Afterwards, my sisters lift him up onto their shoulders and parade him around like a hero. Seeing this gives me an unexpected thrill.
When the games are over, Gloria takes charge of the playlist. The introduction to Bananarama’s “Venus” blasts out of the speakers and he lip-synchs along, directing an energetic, physically expressive performance at Angelika. She stands watching, sipping on her cocktail and smoking a cigarette from her extravagant holder, then declares herself honored to be his goddess.
After kissing her hand to riotous applause, Gloria asks everyone to clear away the chairs and tables and transforms the patio into a dance floor. Under the disco ball, he teaches the guests a simple routine to “Mambo Italiano,” in a deliciously camp version by Bette Midler.
Theo asks Kate if she’ll dance with him, and she accepts. I watch the two of them laughing as they mess up the moves and feel another unexpected thrill.
I find myself dancing with Mabel and Archie—and Callum breaks away from Lina to join us. When Kate and Theo spot us, Kate takes out her phone to film it.
“That was great,” she says, once the song’s over. She hands her phone to Mabel. “Why don’t you post it online?”
As Mabel steps away to open her TikTok, I remain on the dance floor. And, finally, I manage to commandeer Theo. The two of us dance to song after song, enormous smiles on our faces, buoyed up by the party atmosphere but at the same time almost unaware of everyone else, our eyes fixed firmly on each other.
I dance closer to him and say into his ear, “We did this, Theo—you and me.”
He puts his arms around my neck. “I love you, Ads.”
“I love you, Theo.”
After a few more songs, we decide to switch off the music so I can make a short speech. I tidy up my hair, wipe my forehead, and take up position on the edge of the lawn, the valley behind me. I start by thanking everyone for coming and remind them to please post about the castello on their social media.
“But the main reason we’re throwing this party isn’t to launch the castello,” I go on. “It’s to thank you for all your help. Some of the jobs we’ve done we knew absolutely nothing about, so we’ve had to rely heavily on you all. And I’m embarrassed to say I still can’t speak a word of Italian.”
Stefano shouts something that fittingly, I don’t understand. Those that do, laugh.
“But I must say a special thank you to my gorgeous, brilliant, attentive, romantic boyfriend.” I turn to face him and take his hands. “Theo, on our first night in Italy I hoped it would be the start of a special adventure—and it really was. Thanks for being at my side and for promising you always will be.”
He leans in to kiss me on the lips, to the sound of cheers from the crowd. As I turn back to them, I catch sight of Dad and he shoots me a grin.
“I also want to say a special thank you to our main helpers Callum, Mabel and Archie,” I continue. “I think it’s fair to say we got off to a bit of a shaky start, but we soon hit our stride, and lookingback I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Callum, Mabel, Archie, I’m so happy to have you in my life.”
As the three of them run over to hug me, I hear a female voice hollering and I can’t be sure but I think it may be Kate’s.
“And everyone else,” I say, “this may be the end of our summer but it’s definitely not a goodbye. We’ll be back soon. And I may be crap at Italian but I did ask Luisa how to say that.Alla prossima!”
Chapter 52
By early evening, the social media post of the kids and me dancing is generating high levels of engagement across all platforms.
“That’s what we needed to do differently,” asserts Mabel, her face flushed. “People love it!”
