A Place in the Sun(49)

“La tramontana.”

“Right. Tramontana.”

“Georgie, your line’s moving.”

“Oh! A fish!”

I laughed and helped her reel it in. It was only a small sea bass, but Georgie held it up, proud of herself.

“We’ll cook it up for dinner, right? It will be heavenly with the fresh zucchini Katerina brought me earlier from Massimo’s farm.”

Her eyes were wide with hope, her cheeks flush and pink from the wind. She was grinning from ear to ear and holding the unlucky fish, waiting for my response.

“We’ll need more than that for dinner,” I said, pointing to the small creature.

She laughed and leaned forward to press a quick kiss to my mouth. “Well then, I suggest you work on catching one of your own ’cause I’m not sharing.”





“OH BLOODY HELL. How much farther have we got?”

Katerina and I were still at the bottom of the hill that lead up to Gianluca’s villa. We were lugging a case of wine, some bags from the market, and our clothes for the party. We’d managed to make it round the church just past the square before she threw up her hands and deemed the trek impossible.

“Katerina, we’ve only got to go up the hill. We can do it.”

“We already have our hair done! I don’t want to sweat so much my curls fall out.”

It was chilly outside with heavy, fat clouds covering the sun.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. Here, give me the wine and you go on. I’ll catch up to you.”

It was finally the day of the party and I was so excited. Gianluca and I had worked endlessly the last few days to get the bed and breakfast ready, so much so that we’d hardly had time for ourselves. I’d been running into La Spezia for supplies and decorations for the rooms. By the time I would arrive back, Gianluca was usually gone off getting building supplies or smack-dab in the middle of a project he couldn’t step away from, like replacing the main light in the first-floor sitting room with a pretty vintage chandelier I’d found at a resale shop in La Spezia. By the time we were finished each day, I’d dismiss dinner in favor of a shower and early bedtime. I was exhausted but determined not to show it. It had been my idea to fix up the place, and I couldn’t complain now, not when we were so close.

Our first guest was due to arrive in a two weeks: Taylor Dubrow from Seattle, Washington. We’d emailed over the last few days and she seemed very nice. She was staying on for a while and I’d already thrown together a care package for her filled with Cinque Terre must-haves: lemon candies, olive oil, and hand-rolled pasta. If I could have, I’d have put fresh baked focaccia inside of it as well, but I’d just have to take her to get some once she arrived.

“Looks like the rain isn’t going to hold off,” Katerina said, a few yards in front of me on the trail. “It’ll be storming in no time.”

I frowned.

We were due to cook outside and grill up a ton of fish, meat, and veggies. We’d have to cram ourselves into Gianluca’s house if it rained and I knew he wouldn’t like that. He’d told me as much the day before when I’d listed the people Katerina, Massimo, and I had invited.

“That’s too many people.”

“It’s not even ten!”

“I’d have preferred it to be just you and me.”

I’d grinned at that—any girl would—especially since it’d been days since we’d had a chance to be alone together. I swore to him it wouldn’t be too many people, but it wasn’t true. I’d left off the fact that Massimo had called round to a few pals in La Spezia. Ten people could easily double if they’d all agreed to attend. I grimaced at the thought, took a deep breath, and followed Katerina up the hill. I was determined to make it a fun night no matter what.

Gianluca and Massimo were waiting for us outside his villa, fixing up the grill and starting to heat the coals. They were using the second-floor balcony as a bit of protection from the rain; it was just enough space that Gianluca could still grill outside if it started pouring.

“You should have called for us,” he said, rushing forward to relieve me of the wine and grocery bags. “I’d have come down and helped you carry all this.”

I grinned. “We are independent ladies with large muscles, thank you very much.”

He bent down in greeting and pecked my cheek, nothing too conspicuous since we were in front of Katerina and Massimo. They knew we’d become good friends, but I’d yet to tell Katerina we were fooling around as well. It wasn’t like Gianluca had forbidden me from telling other people about us, but when I’d open my mouth to tell her, something would stop me, this little voice in the back of my head telling me to keep the relationship private. Maybe a part of me was a bit ashamed by the setup, but I stowed that thought away and replaced it with more likely ideas. I knew Katerina would pester me to make it official—why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free and all that—but truthfully, I didn’t mind giving away my milk for free. And, to be perfectly clear, I hadn’t yet given away the whole carton, but I hoped that would change tonight.

“Gianluca, did you invite Chiara tonight?” Katerina asked, waggling her brows for emphasis.

He frowned. “Why should I?”

I looked at the ground and pretended to be intrigued by a cactus growing up near the barbecue.