Second Chances in Chianti (Escape to Tuscany Book 2) by T.A. Williams (online e reader .TXT) 📕

‘Don’t worry about it.’

She jogged along after his car and by the time she got to the bar, Matt was already sitting outside at a table, while Rita bustled about with a cloth, wiping everything dry. Guinness made a terrific fuss of Alice and then stretched out happily underneath the table. She knew there was something she had to do so, as soon as Rita had brought them their coffees and a doughnut for her, she launched into it.

‘I think I saw you yesterday afternoon. Sorry I didn’t have a chance to chat, but I had a visit from a good friend from Rome. He’s a lecturer in medieval history and he was very helpful to me when I was researching my thesis.’ Was that an expression of relief on his face? Surely not?

‘He must like you a lot to drive all the way from Rome to see you.’ That definitely sounded like fishing.

‘He’s on holiday in Tuscany and he came to tell me he’s engaged to be married in September. We had lunch together and then talked history all afternoon.’ Confident she had got the message across, she reached for the doughnut. As she did so, a black nose materialised at her side and rested on her thigh, while a pair of mournful brown eyes stared longingly up at her – or more precisely, the doughnut. ‘Is it all right if I give Guinness a bit of doughnut?’

‘By all means. He gets loads of exercise, so he’ll just run it off.’

Matt leant back, and Alice sensed he was relaxing more and more in her company. They chatted for half an hour but he still didn’t talk about himself much, except to tell her that he had a ‘little place’ in London, but that the tower was now his permanent home. He made no mention of a job, but it was clear he must have a regular income from somewhere. She wondered where his money came from but didn’t think it appropriate to press him on it.

After a bit, she decided he had relaxed sufficiently for her to do a little digging. ‘So why come to Tuscany, Matt?’

‘I needed a bit of peace and quiet, and I was getting fed up with London.’

‘But you could have gone anywhere, surely?’

‘Yes, but my mother’s Italian and, seeing as I spoke the language reasonably well, Italy seemed like a logical choice. I’d been to Tuscany before and loved it. As a place to escape to, this region seemed an ideal choice.’

‘Why buy yourself a tower? Isn’t that a bit extreme in terms of getting away from it all?’

He smiled gently. ‘I’d been going through a funny time in my life – it’s complicated but I was feeling a bit stressed, a bit harassed, so I suppose the idea of a fortress was just what I needed at the time. Like I said, it was a sort of escape for me.’

‘And are you still feeling stressed?’ She glanced across but saw little of the rather careworn expression on his face that she had noted before. ‘Is something still bothering you?’

‘It’s far better now. Without going into detail, I’d been getting a lot of grief on social media and I needed to get away. I’ve hardly used the computer for anything more than emails for years now and I feel a hell of a lot better as a result.’

‘When you say “grief”, what sort of grief?’

‘Everything from ridicule to death threats.’ He caught her eye and nodded. ‘I know, it’s unbelievable the stuff people are prepared to say from behind the anonymity of their computer screens.’

Alice knew only too well just what he meant. Although she had never had death threats, she had regularly received the most barbed insults and even threats of sexual violence, which had led her to do the same and drop out of all social media. She toyed with the idea of telling him, but decided that, as it really did appear he had no idea who she was, she would leave it like that. At least that way she would know that any reaction from him would be towards her as a real person, not to Polly the flirt. She wondered what he had done to attract all this negative attention but, as he seemed unwilling to go into any detail, she decided to relegate that line of enquiry to a later date. The main thing, for now, was that he had started talking.

Attempting to steer the conversation to different territory, she told him what Claudio had said about the possible Amerigo Vespucci connection and was surprised to find that this struck an immediate chord. He picked up his teaspoon, turned it over and used the narrow end to trace the shape of a shield onto a paper napkin. As he drew it, she saw immediately that it was the same design, with the stripe and the wasps, as the coat of arms at the villa.

‘Wow, that’s it!’

‘You sure this is the shield you saw?’

‘Absolutely.’ She felt a thrill of genuine excitement run through her. ‘Where have you seen that?’

‘It’s etched into a slab set in the wall on the ground floor as you come into the tower.’ He looked up at her and she could see excitement in his eyes now. ‘Do you think it might have belonged to Vespucci?’

‘Well, it’s the same shield they found at the villa, so it would make sense, seeing as they’re side by side and the villa is supposedly built on medieval foundations. I wonder… I don’t suppose I could take a closer look at it by any chance?’

She saw him hesitate again and she waited with bated breath. Finally, he nodded.

‘Of course, any time you like. This evening, if it suits you? Why not come along at six and I’ll give you the tour? But, be warned, the place is in a terrible mess and there are a lot of steps.’

Chapter