Page 22 of Italy and Forever

‘I’m sure they’re not dying. Maybe you should ask Gabri. He knows about plants.’

‘He knows about flowers,’ Cillian said with an exaggerated eye-roll. ‘And herbs,’ he added. ‘Our kitchen stinks.’

Ginny grinned at him. ‘Or we could ask Andreas’s dad. I bet he knows.’

‘He could certainly tell you,’ Ginny heard from behind her. She turned to find the groom himself, hands in his pockets, his usual grim expression on his face, walking behind them. ‘He even has the word for forest in his name – Oswald. But it’s simple enough. Most species of conifer are evergreen, but not all. The yellow ones are larch.’ He ruffled Cillian’s hair affectionately.

Ginny’s skin prickled just before she heard the subtle click of a shutter and she turned to find Rhys behind his camera – hiding his face, although his hunched shoulders gave her the impression he’d like to disappear into it entirely. She wondered if he’d captured that sweet moment between Andreas and his godson. Rhys lowered the camera slowly and gave her what was probably supposed to be a smile.

She turned away again, perplexed at the odd tautness between them that she couldn’t shake.

‘It’s kind of like magic,’ Ginny said, turning to Andreas with forced brightness. ‘Evergreen forests that still have autumn colours. You’ve got castles and pristine lakes and we’re going to a waterfall next. You’re going to convince me that South Tyrol is a fairy land.’

‘It’s not fairies that have a long tradition here. It’s witches,’ he replied with a flash of his eyes.

They crossed over what had once been a drawbridge into the outer keep and Cillian ran ahead to peer down a shaft with a safety grille on top. Whether it was for fetching water or dropping hot oil on enemies, Ginny couldn’t be sure. The military past of the castle was clear, with its wooden galleries on top of the walls for fending off attacks, and slits for arrows.

Passing through an arched doorway, they spilled into the central courtyard of the keep, where a single lime tree rose between the old stone walls of the castle buildings, the leaves a gradient from yellow to orange. Tita was talking to their guide for the tour of the historic rooms.

‘I could really imagine getting married here,’ Ginny commented.

‘Do you look at every place as a possible wedding location?’ Andreas asked.

‘Occupational hazard,’ she said with a shrug.

He studied her. ‘But do you imagine your wedding in all of these places?’

‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘In my head, I’ve had dozens of weddings.’ Maybe because she’d never come close in real life. Or maybe she just wanted a party, she thought with a frown. ‘But this will be your only one,’ she said in a wistful tone.

Andreas didn’t reply for a long moment. Then he simply said, ‘Yes.’

Ginny hesitated, trying to interpret the silence and failing. It was one of life’s miracles how each person found their soulmate, because she never would have guessed her vibrant friend Sophie would fall in love with gruff, uncommunicative Andreas Hinterdorfer, no matter how much raw charisma he wordlessly exuded – emphasis on the ‘raw’.

Gathering courage, she asked, ‘Is everything all right?’

His throat bobbed. ‘Yes,’ he repeated.

That meant no. Ginny couldn’t speak mountain guide, but she understood enough to fear that this wedding would not be as special as she hoped.

Willard approached and clapped Andreas on the shoulder. ‘It’s just last-minute nerves, right? The first one of us to get himself a trouble and strife – a summit I’ve never attempted!’

‘A what?’ Andreas asked.

‘Trouble and strife is rhyming slang for wife,’ Ginny explained through gritted teeth. Perhaps she preferred it when the Great Heart crew was monosyllabic.

She followed the group up the stairs and into the historic rooms, which turned out to be a pleasant distraction. It was certainly a particular aesthetic. Everything was wood-panelled in knotty, stained timber. The furniture was made of more wood; there were busy rugs on the floor and dark oil paintings on the walls. Ginny took a selfie with a suit of armour and admired the tiled heating ovens.

On the way back down, she caught up with Caro. ‘Andreas is very quiet. Do you think everything’s okay?’

‘He’ll turn up for the ceremony, if that’s what you’re worried about,’ Caro answered.

‘That’s not really my measure of client satisfaction,’ she grumbled in reply. ‘Do you think I’m torturing him with all this wedding stuff?’

She laughed. ‘He’s the one who decided to seal the bond for life.’ She said that part with a mock sigh. ‘Honestly, I’m a little surprised he went for a big wedding. My brother is not happy in crowds, especially not in front of them.’

Ginny’s skin prickled with dismay.

‘I assume it’s what Sophie wanted, since she’s a wedding planner.’