Last of the Summer Vines: Escape to Italy with this heartwarming, feel good summer read!

He scowled. ‘Of course I am. You’re lucky I’m not bloody unconscious, or worse.’

I glanced at the weapon in my hand. I held an old-fashioned iron for pressing clothes, one of those solid antique cast-iron types that opened up to place hot coals inside. A formidable weapon indeed. ‘I am so sorry! I thought you were a burglar.’

He moved to lean against the scarred Formica kitchen counter, as if unable to stand without help, and I hurried to his side to offer support, even though I still felt as shaky as a budding spring leaf.

He brushed me away, irritable. ‘How can I be a burglar when I live here?’

‘You live here?’ Oops. Luca hadn’t mentioned anyone living here. I took a wild guess. ‘You’re Tommaso?’

‘Of course. Who else would I be?’ he snapped. I could hardly blame him for his surliness. The blood was trickling now down his temple, and his face was paler than it had been when he’d loomed over me in the pantry door.

I felt a tad pale too. The bedding upstairs was masculine. Had I pulled a Goldilocks and slept in Baby Bear’s bed? Not that this man could be remotely confused with a baby bear. More like a great big, angry Papa Grizzly.

Until he swayed on his feet.

‘You need to sit.’ I set down the old iron and pulled out a chair from the kitchen table. Casting me another annoyed glance, he slid into it. Satisfied that at least he wasn’t likely to collapse on the floor, I hurried to the cracked sink and wet a tea towel, which I used to dab at his forehead until the blood stopped trickling and the wound looked relatively clean. Thankfully it was a shallow cut and shouldn’t need stitches. I just hoped the iron wasn’t rusty enough to cause an infection. ‘You’ll need antiseptic and a band aid, to keep the cut clean. Where will I find them?’

‘Under the kitchen sink.’

I found a first aid box under the sink and set it on the kitchen table, rooting through its jumbled contents for band aids and antiseptic. He flinched when I dabbed iodine on the cut but didn’t make a sound. Done at last, I moved back to the kettle and set it going again. I needed tea more than ever. In fact, I could do with a shot of brandy, but I wasn’t brave – or stupid – enough to ask my host where to find his liquor cabinet.

‘Tea?’ I offered, bringing the filled teapot and two mismatched cups to the table.

‘Yes, please.’

While I poured, I sneaked a surreptitious look. He wasn’t as old as the beard had at first made him appear, nor quite as rough and threatening as he’d first seemed. His thick hair was long, almost to his shoulders, though not as shaggy as I’d first thought.

But even if he wasn’t a terrifying burglar, he still wasn’t Baby Bear. He was the rightful owner of this castello, I was his guest, and probably a very unwelcome one at that – now more than ever.

‘Shall we start over?’ I infused as much good cheer into my voice as my still jittery nerves could manage. ‘I’m Sarah Wells, John’s daughter, and I’m very grateful you’re letting me stay in the house.’

He said nothing, just eyed me with a cool, grey gaze that was more than a little hostile. Okay, so I wasn’t going to get the red carpet rolled out for me any time soon.

I cleared my throat and tried again. ‘Luca didn’t tell me you were living in the house.’

He gave me an odd look. ‘I don’t. I live in the cottage.’

The cottage was across the back yard. It had been converted from the old stable block back in the Fifties and was where the housekeeper Elisa had lived.

‘Okay. So what are you doing here in the kitchen?’

‘I saw the light on and came over to say hello. I thought you might want dinner.’ He waved, and I turned to look behind me at the tray he must have set down on top of the old wood stove before coming to find me in the pantry. Only now did I become aware of the aromatic smell filling the kitchen. My stomach pulled tight, and not just from hunger.

He’d been nothing more than neighbourly, and I’d bashed him over the head with the nearest weapon I could find. Not a great way to open negotiations.

I forced a polite smile I didn’t feel. ‘Thank you. That’s very kind.’

His eyes narrowed. An uncomfortable silence filled the room but I refused to show any weakness to this intimidating man, so I ignored it and returned his hard gaze.

There was something oddly familiar about his light eyes, blue-grey, with an emphasis on the grey.

Then realisation struck. ‘Tommy?!’

The discovery that this tall, broad-shouldered, bearded man was my old childhood friend rocked me even more than the fear that a complete stranger was breaking into the castello. ‘You were my father’s business partner?’

His eyes narrowed further. I didn’t even think that was possible. ‘No one’s called me that since my mother died. You didn’t know?’

The mental adjustment took me a long moment. I couldn’t help myself – I stared openly at him now. If I looked hard enough, past the long hair and scraggly beard, I could just about see a glimmer of Elisa’s grandson, the boy I used to play with when he’d come to visit during those never-ending summers so long ago.

I only ever knew him as Tommy, the English-speaking kid from Edinburgh, not as Tommaso, but of course he was half-Italian from his father’s side. His accent, always a convoluted mash-up of Scottish and Italian, certainly leaned more heavily now toward his Italian side. How long had he been living here?

‘I’m sorry about your mother. And Nonna.’

He shrugged, a simple gesture that managed to convey a great deal, a uniquely Italian ability. I’ve never met an English person able to say so much with nothing but body language.

‘My grandmother was old, and it wasn’t unexpected, but my mother … it was nearly nine years ago now. She had cancer, and in the end her death was a mercy.’

I’d never met his parents, but still felt a pang for his loss. Like me, Tommy was sent to Italy alone as a child. In my case, Geraldine had been eager to get rid of me, but for Tommy it had been out of necessity. His parents had both worked, and they hadn’t had time to entertain an energetic youth all summer. And his grandmother had been delighted to have him. He’d been wanted.

His visits to his Nonna Elisa had been the highlight of my summers. Even at the age when most boys would have been horrified to have a younger girl tagging along wherever they went, we’d been friends. We’d explored this big house together, run wild on the farm, gone fishing and truffle hunting and blackberry picking together. And then there’d been that last summer…

Involuntarily, my gaze dropped to his mouth. Tommy always had the most sensuous mouth for a boy, with full lips that tasted of … I blushed, and averted my gaze, but not before he noticed.

His eyes narrowed again as he studied me. ‘Your hair has grown since I last saw you.’

‘Well, it has been twenty years.’ I touched the end of my long braid. I’d been growing it out for years, mostly because I hadn’t had time for anything but hurried trims.

‘Nearly twenty. I like your hair long.’

‘Well, I liked your hair shorter.’

The amused gleam in his eyes was very much the young man I remembered from that last summer. Always full of mischief, needling me, pushing my boundaries.

‘The last I heard, you were still living in Edinburgh,’ I said to fill the sudden, awkward silence.

‘That was a long time ago. I moved here soon after my mother died. Nonna was getting old, and I didn’t want her to be alone.’

Nearly nine years. ‘My father never told me.’ I bit my lip, a habit I thought I’d grown out of. There were so many things John and I never discussed, and now we never would.

‘We have a meeting tomorrow with Luca at ten.’ Tommaso lifted the teapot, offering to re-fill my cup, but I shook my head. ‘We’ll drive together. We should leave at about nine-thirty.’

I nodded, though the thought of spending even half an hour in a car with this man I once knew so well, who was now a stranger, only made me more anxious. I rose to clear away the teapot and cups. ‘In that case, I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day.’ A shattering day. Half an hour ago, I’d dreaded being alone, now I craved it.

Tommaso rose. ‘You can leave the iron when you go to bed. This is a very safe district. You can sleep peacefully.’ The wicked glint was back in his eyes.

‘Thank you for the food,’ I said, as he stepped out into the back yard. He merely nodded. I didn’t wait to watch him cross the yard to the cottage. I shut the door, flicked the latch, and heaved a sigh. Then, grabbing the tray, I bolted back upstairs, not pausing to see what was under the cloth covering, not even pausing to catch my breath, until I was safely in my room with the door shut and my wheelie case pushed up under the door handle, creating a barrier between me and the rest of the empty, echoing house.

Chapter 3 (#ub473b70d-7760-58f7-a67a-a852e57f29ea)