‘Grazie, Paolo. I wanted to tell the modern story of this beautiful old vineyard,’ Tony said, gesturing around. ‘A place I’ve known my whole life, where Paolo and I grew up and spent our childhood. We’ve seen it evolve over the years, along with San Gimignano and the whole region of Tuscany. There are so many wonderful things about this area that I want to share with the world. And what better way to do it, than with a short film.’
Paolo beamed with pride. ‘My big brother – always trying to bring Hollywood to Tuscany.Vigneto Almagnothe movie.’
Mia laughed.
‘A mini movie, if you’ll indulge me,’ Tony said, from behind the projector, pressing play as the machine started to whirr. ‘It’s only a couple of minutes long and then we can get on with the real reason we’re here – to eat and drink and dance!’
I recognised the song as soon as the whistling started and looked over at Tony in surprise. He was looking straight at me and he smiled and pointed into the air at the music. It was a song I now knew very well – Sophia Loren singing ‘Bing! Bang! Bong!’ The theme tune toHouseboat– and it immediately transported me back to Siena, and that moment we’d had together. Our first real kiss. The screen dissolved to show an aerial shot of the vineyard, starting way up high, then getting lower and lower until we could just about make out the farmhouse and the swimming pool, the tables full of guests enjoying breakfast. Was that…me?Then the camera flew through the vineyard, taking us inside the vines as if Tony had attached his phone to Nero and sent him running off through the grass.
A time lapse showed the grapes growing, ripening, and changing colour, then bunch after bunch being snipped with the grape scissors and put into different baskets. The camera zoomed back out to show me, Viola and Mia working with Tony in the scorching heat to bring in the grapes. Photos of us hot and concentrating and then sun-kissed and smiling, working together, laughing together and then sitting drinking prosecco together. Glasses clinking at sunset in front of the farmhouse, at the open-air cinema in Siena, in anenotecain Florence, at the table inLavedrine X. It was supposed to be a promo film for the vineyard, but it was actually a whistle-stop tour of my time out in Tuscany, and I felt a lump in my throat at seeing all of those magical moments piled so quickly on top of one another.
I glanced back over at Tony, who was still watching me intently, almost shy, as I took it all in. A stunning shot of me in the Botticelli Room in front ofThe Birth of Venus, my face aglow at seeing her for the first time. Sunbathing by the pool, concentrating during the art classes, Viola in the lotus position, serene and smiling, the puppies running riot. It was a beautiful piece of film, and it was a brilliant reminder of everything I’d done while I’d been out here. I looked calm, and happy and relaxed. No sign of the fraught, tense Abi who had arrived only a month ago. I’d lived more freely in these last few weeks, than in the past eight years back in London.
Watching the film was like reading a love letter from Tony and Nero and Italy, and, once again, I felt completely seen. I hadn’t realised Tony had been paying so much attention. I remembered him taking a few selfies and the odd video, but not nearly enough to piece all of this together. The film finished on the batteredVigneto Almagnosign, forever swinging in the breeze and my heart was full. I looked at Mia and Paolo and I could see they felt the same.
‘Tony!!! You are so clever,’ Mia said, beaming as she threw her arms around him.
‘Bravissimo, Tony.Un video bellissimo!’ Paolo said, wiping away a tear. ‘You really should do something with this talent, you know. It is a waste.’
Tony laughed and slapped his brother on the back. ‘You think?’
I watched as they congratulated him, holding back until they’d finished. Mia took Paolo’s arm and helped him back over to the bar area as Tony turned to me.
‘Well…’ I said, softly. ‘It’s not often I’m caught by surprise, but you really got me there. I didn’t realise you were documenting everything so closely?’
‘Does that mean you liked it?’
I nodded, still slightly stunned. ‘I loved it.’
‘I’m glad. You inspired it.’
‘Did I?’ I stammered, taken aback.
He nodded. ‘San Gimignano is my home and I will always love it, but watching you experience Tuscany for the first time, was a different kind of magic.’
‘The music got me as soon as it started,’ I said. The flappy feeling was back.
‘We’ve packed a lot in over the past few weeks,’ Tony said, putting his arm around me. ‘I hope you didn’t mind me using some of our photos?’
‘Not at all.’ I leant into him, his arms strong and warm as he hugged me close, then pulled back, my heart thudding as I looked into his eyes. He was difficult to resist, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to anymore.
‘Er, ’scuse me?’ a lady with a broad Yorkshire accent interrupted. ‘Can me daughter ’ave ’er face painted?’ she asked. A tiny dot of a girl with mousy pigtails looked up at me hopefully.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Tony said, his eyes still locked on mine.
‘Let’s carry on this conversation later,’ I murmured, turning away. ‘She certainly can!’ I said, full of fun, switching into professional mode. I moved across to my face-painting stall and sat her in the chair. ‘Now, what would you like? A unicorn? A butterfly?’
‘Can I please be a dinosaur?’ she lisped, sticking out a bright green tongue.
‘You’re in luck – that’s my speciality.’
‘Really?’ she squealed.
‘Obsessed with ’em, I’m ’fraid,’ her mum said. ‘That green tongue is just a lolly though, it’s not been permanently dyed. Not yet anyway.’ She laughed and nudged her husband, who rolled his eyes.
I’d get a copy of the film from Tony later. I wanted to watch it again – and again – it was so beautifully observed, it made me feel funny inside. And it was exactly what the vineyard needed to reinvent itself. The bookings would start rolling in once the video was shared across their socials and people got wind that the idyllic Tuscan vineyard of dreams was sitting right here waiting for them. Paolo and Mia just needed to get a wine-tasting tour set up and the crates of wine would sell themselves.
I finished my tiny T-Rex and she skipped off happily as I looked around for Tony. I wanted to finish our conversation, but from that moment on there was a permanent queue of children waiting to be transformed into knights and princesses and goblins – and even a mushroom – for the rest of the day. At some point, Holly put a bowl of pasta under my nose, which I ate in between customers. The wine was flowing one side of me, with a very full YES bin, and Holly and Xavier were run off their feet feeding people on the other.
