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‘I do,’ Matteo said. ‘I have news. Not quite as monumental as my early demise would have been.’ He paused, took a deep breath and said, ‘I have met someone. Someone I like very much. We’ve been seeing each other for a few months and it’s serious.’

No one spoke, so Matteo continued.

‘She’s a widow, it turns out we had our losses around the same time. She’s a local GP and will be retiring soon. Her name is Elizabeth, Lizzie for short. The day you saw me, Frankie, I was giving her a lift to Cedar Lodge as she’d been on call and her car wouldn’t start when she was asked to see one of the residents who had taken ill. She has a silly little sports car which I’ve been telling her she needs to replace.’ He finished and steepled his fingers together, waiting for the questions.

‘Where does Elizabeth live?’

‘How old is she?’

‘Does she have family?’

‘How did you meet?’

Matteo waited until everyone had settled down.

‘She is sixty-six and lives locally. She has two children – a son and a daughter – and has one grandson who is six weeks old. We met when she came in here one evening with a friend. The friend had to leave early and I kept her company and the rest… followed. She is a very lovely lady and we have a lot in common.’

There was a buzz of excited chatter until Matteo said, ‘You did get one thing correct, Frankie. I am hoping to cut back my work a little and I met with my lawyer,’ he gestured to Fraser, ‘to see about handing over the reins and the everyday running of this place while I’m away. I contacted Fraser in the strictest of confidence, I add!’ he said as a warning to Maria who had turned to her husband and looked as if she were about to admonish him. ‘You saw me with brochures, they were for Trailfinders. Once Elizabeth retires in the early spring, we plan on taking a year to travel the world together. In that year, we hope we can see everything we want to see. And I was visiting my own GP to arrange for my vaccinations for the trip.’

‘What?’ Cara said. ‘You can’t go and do that. Backpacking at your age! You’ll become ill for real. And you can’t just hand over your trattoria to any old person!’

‘Wait! A moment ago I was too young to retire and you were willing to step in and help out, but now I’m too old to go travelling? I assure you there will be no backpacking or roughing it. We are both far too mature to even think of a hostel or a sleeping bag. We plan on staying in very nice hotels.’

‘When can we meet her?’ Maria said.

‘Tonight.’ At that moment a taxi drew up outside the trattoria. Matteo stood up. ‘And I want you all to give her a very warm welcome.’

As Matteo went to the door, everyone sat staring at each other in disbelief. Frankie was just so relieved that her grandfather wasn’t ill or dying, that she wasn’t concerned that there was a new woman in her nonno’s life.

A moment later, Matteo let in an attractive blonde, slightly plump woman.

With a deep breath, Elizabeth smiled a lovely warm, if slightly tentative smile. She held up a couple of bottles of wine. ‘Merry Christmas, everyone.’

Of course, the family gave her a warm welcome. Maria instantly got up and ushered everyone to move up a space so Elizabeth could sit next to Matteo. Rocco hurried over to get an extra chair.

There was much kissing of cheeks and loud chatter.

‘Got that one a bit wrong, sis!’ Rocco said as an aside to Frankie after he’d poured everyone a glass of champagne. Elizabeth clutched her glass, looking a little flushed and possibly slightly overwhelmed at the Bartoli family welcome.

‘Why didn’t you say anything to me?’ Valentina chided Frankie.

‘I couldn’t risk upsetting you.’

‘I’m not some fragile china doll, Frankie! I sometimes think we’re too preoccupied making sure no one is upset in this family that we end up keeping everything bottled up.’

Matteo came up behind Frankie. He kissed the top of her head. ‘You should have spoken to me rather than letting this sit with you, worrying you.’

‘I’m sorry. I jumped to conclusions. I’m so happy you’re well and Elizabeth seems lovely.’

‘She is. You young ones don’t have a monopoly on love, you know.’ He looked up toward Elizabeth with a tender smile then turned back to Frankie. ‘I would like to have a chat with you though, tomorrow if possible. How about you pop to the trattoria before we open. Around eleven?’

‘Okay.’

Matteo affectionately tapped her chin with his knuckle. ‘Don’t look so worried, I’m hoping you’ll like what I say.’

CHAPTER 45

ROCCO