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

carried on to the main entrance and pressed the bell. Seconds later the gates swung open and she made her way up the gravel drive to the big house. After all the rain, the air was crystal clear and she could see right across to the distant Apennines. Matt’s tower on its promontory stood out crisply against the blue of the sky, and she felt a shiver of pleasurable anticipation at the thought that she would be with him again before too long.

At the villa everybody was out on the terrace, and she was welcomed with hugs and kisses from all sides as the family members came up to thank her for what she had done.

Shrugging off the thanks, she felt she had to set the record straight. ‘All I did was what anybody would have done. It’s just lucky I was there and it all worked out so well in the end. Paolo did all the important stuff.’

‘I’ll never forget what you did, Alice.’ Zoë came up to her and enveloped her in a warm hug. Alice was delighted to see her moving normally and looking far better than the last time she had set eyes on her in her hospital bed. As Zoë released her grip, she gave Alice a warm, genuine smile – for just about the first time in her life – and kissed her on the cheeks. ‘Truly, thank you.’

It was a most enjoyable evening, although Alice still couldn’t quite get her head round the change in demeanour from her former nemesis. She told them all about her visit to the church and the unexpectedly familiar flag in the fresco, and she saw a sparkle in Conrad’s eyes.

‘Amazing. Listen, Alice, would you do something for me? Would you go see the priest? Tell him I’d be happy to sponsor whatever investigations or restoration works need to be undertaken. Tell him to send any invoices to Paolo here at the villa. It would be my privilege.’

Alice was delighted and she knew Father Gregorio would be over the moon. She promised to pass on the message and she thanked Conrad on his behalf. He waved away her thanks and went on to indicate that his generosity didn’t stop there.

‘Zoë and I’ve been talking, and we have a proposition for you. How would you like to come and join us at Pals Forever for a few guest appearances? It would be great to have you with us. I quite understand and applaud your decision to head off in a different direction with your career, but hopefully you could fit in a few appearances on the new show. Pretty much as many as you like, whenever you like, to suit your commitments.’

Inevitably, Alice’s eyes turned to Zoë and she was heartened by what she saw. Zoë looked genuinely happy – and it didn’t seem in the least bit forced.

‘I’d really like it if you would, Alice. It would be like old times.’

Alice wondered which old times – the first few years of Pals, when they all had so much fun, or the last couple of much more stressful years? Still, she told herself, while this remarkable new era of peace and tranquillity lasted, it would be churlish to turn down this second chance – and the money would come in very handy.

‘That sounds wonderful. Thank you so much. I must admit it would be really good to work with the old gang again. There are so many people over in the studios that I haven’t seen for five years.’

‘Great, I’ll get my people to get in touch with your agent.’ Conrad clapped his hands together and waved across to Paolo, who was hovering by the French windows. ‘Paolo, this calls for champagne, please.’

The rest of the evening sped by and Alice finally left the villa feeling remarkably happy. Somehow, the idea of doing a few cameos on the new show had real appeal. Of course, she reminded herself, this would mean that a full-time art history job – whether in an auction house, university or wherever – would probably be out of the question, at least for the first year or so, as she would obviously need to be able to take weeks off every now and then to fly over to LA. And then there was the matter of Fliss’s movie, which could further complicate matters – but in a good way. She felt a little pang of regret that her new career path was going to have to be put on hold, at least for a while, but still, going back to Pals was suddenly a far more enticing prospect – particularly if Zoë really had undergone some sort of lasting metamorphosis. That, of course, remained to be seen.

Chapter 25

On Saturday morning Alice received an email from Teresa, saying that she and her husband would be delighted to come down next Wednesday and take a look at the fresco. Alice replied straightaway and invited them both to lunch at Giovanni’s that day as her treat, to say thank you. After her run, she went over to the church and was pleased to find Father Gregorio there, pottering about with some hymn books. She related what Teresa had said about next Wednesday and invited him to join them for lunch, and he accepted most willingly. She then went on to break the news of Conrad’s generous offer to cover any expenses he might incur with the restoration effort. The old priest was terribly grateful and she even saw little tears in the corners of his eyes. By the time Alice left the church, she was feeling quite emotional herself.

She drove to Florence after lunch and spent a happy couple of hours wandering through the historic streets and along the banks of the river. She even climbed up to Piazzale Michelangelo, from where she had a panoramic view across the roofs of this most magical of cities. It was another clear, cloudless day and last night’s rain had washed