Читать книгу Dreams Of Tuscany - Kate Fitzroy - Страница 8

CHAPTER ONE

The waiter placed a perfect cappuccino in front of her with a small flourish. Zoe looked up at him with a fleeting smile of thanks and then returned to her thoughts. She slowly stirred the frothy milk into the rich darkness of the coffee, enjoying the aroma that floated up to her. Sunlight glanced across the café, lighting on the dark marble floor and reflecting on the enormous Gaggia coffee machine behind the bar. The day was perfect but Zoe felt an inexplicable reluctance to enjoy it. She sighed heavily and began to sip her coffee.

‘Ciao, bellissima!’ A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts and a chair was scraped back as Paolo Santini, her boss and good friend, joined her at the table.

‘Why you look so sad, cara? You too beautiful to be sad and the day is beautiful too…una bella giornata! Un espresso, per favore, subito!’

Zoe looked up as Paolo shouted across to the barman, waving his arms and filling the space with his energy. She knew he would be like it all day long. Paolo was irrepressibly larger than life. They worked side by side in an estate agency in the town, Zoe’s quiet, calm nature a foil to his exuberance. Paolo’s father had begun the business years ago, mainly handling the selling and buying of parcels of agricultural land in the surrounding vineyards and hills of Tuscany. After his father’s death, Paolo had inherited the agency and quickly realised the potential of selling farmhouses to the English. Zoe had first met him when she was teaching English in the town and had helped out with some translation work. Then Paolo had offered her a full-time job at a salary that doubled her teacher’s wage and she had accepted happily. They worked well together and the business soon flourished. Zoe looked across the table at him fondly and took a deep breath. Her day had begun.

Less than an hour later she was driving her jeep through the dazzling sunshine, enjoying the scenery as it rushed past. It never failed to thrill her – the famous red earth punctuated with the exclamation marks of dark cypress trees, all spread under the canopy of an azure sky. Paolo was right, it was the most beautiful day and she had a new client to meet. Zoe flicked her long, ash-blonde hair back from her shoulders. Her mother, an exquisitely elegant woman, always told Zoe it was her crowning glory. Zoe frowned and sighed. Somehow, the way her mother had said it made it sound more like Zoe’s only redeeming feature. She looked briefly at her reflection in the driving mirror as if to reassure herself. Her eyes were a very deep blue and her skin, now lightly tanned by the Italian sun, had resisted freckles and was smooth and unlined. Her mouth was surely too serious – but a full, even shape with lips that curled quite cutely at the edges. The problem was it didn’t smile quite enough to get any practice. Her teeth were perfect thanks to the persistence of her perfectionist mother. Years of wearing a brace and several thousand pounds had seen to that. Zoe looked again into the mirror and tried a wide smile. It certainly felt awkward. She concentrated her vision back on the road as she turned sharply into the shade of a long avenue of cypress trees leading to the Villa Sognidoro. Time to stop self-criticism. Nearly there. She looked at her watch and was pleased to see she was five minutes early for her appointment. As the jeep bumped over the last bend in the long, pot-holed driveway, the derelict mansion finally came in sight. She was surprised to see a car outside; the client had beaten her to it. In fact, this client had a top-of-the-range hire car, a shining pale blue Mercedes coupé SLK. It was the sort of thing that she and Paolo, working together, always remarked on. Not that a car necessarily meant everything, but it was unusual for a client with enough money to buy a large property to turn up in a tiny compact. Zoe drew quickly to a halt and jumped out of the jeep, grabbing her clipboard and handbag.

‘Sorry if I’m late, Mr. Knight!’ She called as she went towards the man waiting in the shade of a large fig tree.

‘Not at all. I have a natural habit of being early and I’ve been taking photos.’ The man waved his camera and then held out his hand.

‘Alex Knight, please call me Alex – pleased to meet you.’

They shook hands briefly.

‘Zoe Bennett, please call me Zoe.’ She smiled up at him. The smile had come quite easily, she found, and it stayed glued to her face whilst she looked into his slate-grey eyes. She looked down quickly and found herself staring at his large hand-made leather shoes. Zoe drew a deep breath. Mr. Knight was rather nice, well actually very, very nice. Tall, lean and muscular, strangely dark metallic grey hair which didn’t match his smooth, youthful face… She pulled herself together, gripped her clipboard defensively in front of her and cleared her throat.

‘As I told you on the phone, the Villa Sognidoro has been abandoned for several years. Obviously a full renovation is needed but the location is spectacular!’ She turned and waved an arm at the panorama spread out before them.

‘It was your photos of the view that brought me rushing out here.’ Alex Knight turned and looked out across the wide valley and distant hills dotted with mediaeval villages. ‘Nothing has changed in hundreds of years in that view. The house…’ He swung round, spreading his long arms wide to embrace the sight of the ruined walls and gaping roofs. ‘Anyone can bring that back to life but a vast, unspoilt view…you have to be a god to create that!’

‘Absolutely!’ Zoe nodded feebly in agreement. A Greek god was just what she had been thinking. As he moved enthusiastically about in front of her she sensed a faint aroma of his cologne…maybe aftershave or just good soap? Was it pine, mint or sea breeze? Whatever it was, her senses reeled and it was a great effort to return to business once more.

‘And nothing will change it,’ she added, hearing her own voice changed to that of a squeaky schoolboy. She cleared her throat…this was ridiculous. She looked resolutely at the villa and summoned up remnants of her usual fluent sales patter. ‘The vineyards and fields can never become building land. The Italian government are dedicated to protecting the rich heritage of the landscape of Tuscany.’ Zoe stopped talking abruptly, now she was babbling like an enthusiastic tourist guide. Alex turned back to look at her and she felt the full impact of his dark eyes looking at her directly as he picked up the conversation.

‘A good thing too. One hears of corruption amongst the governmental offices but hopefully what you say is true. It would be a terrible crime to destroy this panorama.’

Zoe smiled and quickly thought to herself how much smiling practice her mouth was getting this morning.

Her voice had nearly regained its normal timbre as she replied more easily, ‘Would you like to go around the property now – at least where it is safe to do so?’

‘Yes indeed, I’ll follow you.’

Zoe walked ahead of him up the crumbling, stone steps and onto a wide terrace. She turned back to him and found his eyes riveted to a close inspection to the back of her Armani jeans. He looked quickly up and they looked at each other, eye to eye, for a brief second. She was standing two steps above him and matched his height exactly. Zoe felt her cheeks begin to blush as she turned away, and carried on walking across the terrace to the front door.

She found the old key in her handbag and tried to push it into the keyhole. Her hands were trembling and she fumbled and nearly dropped the key. Alex placed his hand over hers and helped her fit the key into the rusty lock. Zoe felt the warmth of his large hand for a moment and then the door creaked open and they moved inside the gloom of the hall. They stood side by side, absorbing the atmosphere of the house as it enveloped them.

Alex was the first to speak and his voice was low and quiet.

‘It’s simply beautiful – the dimensions are perfect and the stone stairway so solid and yet graceful.’ He moved ahead of her and laid his hand on the turned oak banister. ‘Simply beautiful!’

Zoe smiled with pleasure. She had shown the Villa Sognidoro to an English couple a few days before but they had been appalled by the dark dereliction of the shuttered rooms. Zoe knew the villa had amazing potential but had seriously wondered if they would ever find the right buyer, someone with enough money and taste to restore the place to its former glory.

‘I’m glad you like it! It’s a huge villa but some parts are too dangerous to go through. There is also a vast, vaulted cellar underneath the central part of the building but it is too risky to view until it’s been checked out by a surveyor. This wing of the villa is in a comparatively good state of repair. Shall we begin here?’

She moved to a pair of double doors leading from the hall and pushed them open.

‘I think this room shows the style of the place. There are still some remnants of the original wall paintings in places.’ She moved into the long room and went across to the first window and pushed open the creaking shutters. Sun flooded into the room, dust motes whirling in the shafts of light.

Alex walked slowly across the room, his shoes sounding quietly on the dusty, marble floor. He turned to her, his face alight with enthusiasm.

‘I shall have to buy this house!’ he said, laughing, ‘I am not going to pretend otherwise. It is the house of my dreams. My Tuscan dream!’

‘Did you know that the house is called Villa Sognidoro?’ she asked, adding with yet another wide smile. ‘It translates as Villa of Golden Dreams…or sweet dreams, as we would say in English.’

They spent the next hour going from room to room, Alex making notes and taking photos as he went. Zoe had to restrain him from going into areas of the house that were too dangerously derelict. They finally returned to the hall and Alex put his bundle of notes and drawings in order. Brushing the dust off his shoulders he said, ‘Thanks for taking so long to show me over… Do you have time to just explain where the land perimeters are?’

Zoe went out onto the terrace. The noonday sun blinded her with its brightness and she pulled down her sunglasses from where they had been holding her hair back from her face. Alex reached out and lightly brushed a cobweb from her hair. She had a mad desire to kiss his hand as it passed close to her lips. She swallowed hard before speaking.

‘Of course, I have plenty of time!’ she replied casually, thinking that she would happily spend the rest of her life with him. ‘If we walk to the north end of the terrace you can see a group of oak trees that mark the furthest corner of the land in that direction.’

They walked slowly to the low, stone wall that bordered the end of the terrace. The heat was intense. The sun, at the height of its strength, burnt down on the flagstones. Waves of heat rose around them, the parched air still and shimmering.

Zoe pointed to the trees in the distance.

‘There they are – across the first valley – which is called the Valle dei Sogni – Valley of Dreams – more dreams for you! That’s the end of your property and then if you follow the line of that ploughed field across…’ She swivelled in front of him, every nerve of her body hotly aware of his closeness. Once again she could smell the faint tang of his perfume as he stood close by her side. He screwed up his eyes as he peered directly into the sun and Zoe noticed the small, smiling lines that formed around his deep-set eyes. He even looked good in bright light. She gulped and continued, ‘I have a plan of the whole estate if you’d like to look at it…it’s in my jeep?’

He looked at his watch. ‘It’s getting near lunchtime – would you be able to join me for a working lunch?’

Zoe made a small attempt at thinking about it but, even so, her answer flew from her lips.

‘There’s a favourite trattoria of mine in Siena, Luigi’s – we could eat there and I could show you the plans.’

‘Sounds perfect!’ Alex smiled as he spoke and Zoe smiled back. A wide open smile that stretched her cheeks. Really this smiling thing was so easy.

Zoe was still smiling when they entered the trattoria as the owner came to meet them.

‘Buon giorno, Zoe, buon giorno, signor!’ He ushered them to a corner table in the cool of the interior. Zoe was well known in the town and had eaten in the trattoria most days when she had been teaching. Now she often brought clients to the restaurant. Although it was not on the tourist route it had a great family atmosphere and the food was always excellent.

They ordered aperitifs and went to wash their hands. Zoe looked into the mirror and saw a ridiculous smile pasted onto her face. As she dried her hands she tried a sad frown at her image in the mirror. She shook her head…it just didn’t work.

The meal passed in a leisurely way. They talked mainly about the Villa Sognidoro, but their conversation drifted easily into interests they found they had in common.

‘So you first came to Italy to teach,’ Alex said. ‘I taught for a while too – some years ago now. I enjoyed it but then I moved on.’

‘Me too. I studied history of art at uni and then took a TEFL course so that I could teach English abroad…my first choice was Italy. I came to Siena to look at a particular painting…’

‘Not Duccio’s Maestà …’ Alex interrupted her and she looked at him in amazement.

‘Yes, it’s one of my favourite early Italian paintings!’ She continued to stare at him. How could this be? It wasn’t as though it was the Mona Lisa.

‘Mine too… I went to see it yesterday as soon as I arrived. It’s fabulous – the wonderful darkness of the Madonna and the soft blue folds of her robes.’ His voice died away as though he was actually looking at the painting, whereas he was looking closely, very closely, at her lips.

Zoe carried on where he had left off. ‘And her gentle features – her smile!’

‘Her smile is like yours – it’s there and then it’s not there…or rather even when you are not smiling your mouth looks ready and waiting! Much more elusive than the Mona Lisa’s!’ Alex stopped abruptly and looked away, breaking the enchanted thread that had hung between them. He picked up his wine glass and drained it quickly.

They had shared a small carafe of the local wine between them, aware that they both had to drive away. Away from each other, Zoe thought to herself miserably, as their time together seemed to be drawing to a close.

‘Would you like a coffee?’ Alex asked.

‘No, not unless you want one,’ Zoe replied quietly. Suddenly she wanted the lunch to end. She realised she had done most of the talking and he had told her little of himself. This was supposed to be a business lunch and she had quite simply lost her head. She looked at her watch.

‘Actually I had better get back to the office – I do have another appointment this afternoon.’ Zoe thought firmly of the Partridges, the English couple that she had lined up for a converted mill on the other side of Siena. The same clients that had turned down the Villa Sognidoro. ‘Maybe we should meet again tomorrow when you have had time to think things through?’ she added, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible although every fibre of her being wanted him to make another meeting. Tomorrow, the day after or…every day and night for the rest of her life.

‘I’m afraid I have to get to Florence airport by this evening. This was a flying trip.’ Zoe’s heart sank…not only had she failed to tie up the business knots but she could feel Alex Knight disappearing out of her life as quickly as he had flown in. Faraway in her own thoughts she suddenly realised he was still talking.

‘I am seriously interested in making an offer on the Villa Sognidoro. Would you be able to check out the details for me? I should particularly like confirmation that there will be no new building permitted in that superb view.’

Zoe forced herself back to the work in hand. ‘If you are serious, then the next step would be to go to a notaio and draw up a preliminary contract. Of course, I’ll check out local planning permissions, that’s part of my job. My boss did tell me that the area was a designated site of natural beauty so there should be no possibility of new building.’

‘Your boss?’ Alex looked at her for a moment as though confused and then hastily continued. ‘Yes, of course. I’m sure he knows his locality but I mustn’t let my heart rule my head…although it usually does!’ He smiled at her ruefully.

She gave a small smile back but felt a slight and irrational touch of anger. If he was so ruled by his heart couldn’t he have attempted to take her hand across the lunch table? Made the very smallest of first moves? All that talk of her smiling lips. Hadn’t he shared her strong sense of it all being so right between them? She shook her head at her own stupidity. Usually men were accused of going too fast and being impatient.

They walked out into the sunshine and over to their cars. Zoe made a last effort to act in her usual businesslike manner

‘Why don’t you take the plans with you – they’re only copies that I made at the office. They’ll give you something to think over.’ She reached into the back seat of the jeep and pulled out the long roll of plans and gave them to him.

‘I certainly have a lot to think about!’ he said, his grey eyes holding her gaze for a moment longer than necessary. ‘I shall be back in England late tonight. I live and work in Bath – I’ll ring you tomorrow.’

‘Bath, my parents live near there!’ Zoe said in surprise as yet another coincidence linked them together.

‘Really – it’s a small world!’ he said and his voice sounded suddenly sad.

Then he got into his car and, with a wave that was almost a salute, he drove away.