Chapter 7
Two weeks later, on a Friday afternoon in July, Kate arrived at Pisa Airport. Emerging into the arrivals hall, she pushed her luggage-laden trolley slowly, eyes scanning the crowd at the barrier. She heard her name called and spotted Louise, Will’s assistant, waving to her from among the crowd.
‘Hi, Kate,’ Louise said. ‘Did you have a good flight?’
‘Oh yes! It was lovely – I’d never flown first class before.’
‘Nice, isn’t it?’ Louise led the way to the exit, helping Kate to manoeuvre the trolley.
Louise was a long-limbed, angular girl, not conventionally pretty but attractive in an offbeat way, with a wide mouth and a long mane of wavy fair hair that reached almost to her waist. Casually dressed in a body-hugging white T-shirt, jeans, trainers and wraparound shades, she was the consummate rock-chick.
‘I’m glad to see you travelled light,’ she commented, eyeing Kate’s trolley as they went to the exit.
‘I know.’ Kate winced. ‘I’m sure I don’t need half of it but—’
‘I wasn’t being sarcastic,’ Louise hastened to reassure her. ‘I’m used to dealing with the likes of Tessa and Tina. They’d bring this much for an overnight stay.’
Normally Kate did travel light, but before coming to Italy her mother had brought her on the promised shopping spree and kitted her out with a whole new wardrobe.
Of course Rachel had been roped into the project and the pair of them had been in their element dressing Kate, like two little girls playing with their own life-size doll.
But they knew their stuff when it came to shopping and she loved her new clothes so much that she hadn’t been able to leave anything behind.
A wall of heat hit them as they emerged from the air-conditioned building into dazzling sunlight.
Somehow they managed to stuff all of Kate’s cases into Louise’s tiny Italian car and were soon on the motorway speeding towards the Tuscan countryside.
Louise drove like a native Italian, bombing along with one hand on the wheel, the other arm leaning casually on the open window frame, while she fielded calls on her mobile and chatted to Kate.
She nearly missed the exit, slamming on the brakes so hard at the last minute that the car almost went into a 360-degree spin.
‘Oops.’ She smiled calmly, peeling off across two lanes of traffic amid a riot of honking, shouted Italian expletives and obscene gestures as they zipped past. To Kate’s amazement, they left the motorway in one piece, but Louise barely dropped her speed as she drove along narrow, winding roads into the Tuscan hills.
Kate sank back in her seat and gazed out of the window.
Fields of terracotta earth, dotted with yellow ochre farmhouses and deep green cypress trees baked in the sun, while up ahead, the red-tiled roofs of hilltop villages shimmered in the heat haze, stone church towers pointing into the azure sky. ‘It’s so beautiful here,’ she breathed.
‘Is this your first time in Italy?’
‘I’ve been to Florence and Rome.’
‘The villa’s amazing. You’ll love it,’ Louise told her.
‘You’re the last to arrive. Most of us came out yesterday or the day before.
I’m afraid you’ll find more people at the house today than you were expecting,’ she said apologetically.
‘Will got bamboozled into letting the wives and girlfriends come for the weekend.’
‘So Tessa Bond’s there?’ Kate asked, dismayed.
‘’Fraid so,’ Louise smiled sympathetically, ‘with her entourage. She decided it’d be the perfect setting to do the photos for her new book so she brought an army of stylists, photographers and assistants with her – her “team” as she calls them – along with Fawn, who’s doing the shots with her.’
‘Is that the Fawn?’ Kate asked. The Fawn was a stunning Californian model who had risen to fame in the UK as an underwear model and calendar girl. She had dabbled in acting and TV presenting but, like Tessa, was more famous as tabloid fodder than for any of her work.
‘Yes. She’s a friend of Tessa’s, though you’d never know it. They spend most of their time bitching each other up.’
‘What’s Tessa’s new book?’
‘It’s on yoga,’ Louise raised her eyes to heaven.
‘I’ve read that she’s really into it.’
‘Hmm.’ Louise pursed her lips. ‘She’s been to about five classes and now she reckons she’s an expert.’
Kate laughed.
‘Anyway,’ Louise continued, ‘you don’t have to cook tonight.
I’ve organised some food from a local restaurant so you’ll have a chance to catch your breath and settle in.
And they’ll all be gone by Monday. Luckily Tessa has commitments back home, so she won’t be able to hang around – otherwise, we’d probably never get rid of her.
She has to go back to start a new reality-TV series. ’
‘I hadn’t heard about that. What is it?’ Kate asked.
‘Oh, it’s all very hush-hush. It’s one of those I’m-a-third-rate-has-been-get-me-back-on-the-telly type deals. It’s called Celebrity Cell Block,’ Louise grinned meaningfully at Kate.
‘Gosh! Is it what it sounds like?’
‘Basically a bunch of so-called celebrities get put in jail. I try not to listen when she starts talking about it,’ Louise said.
‘Of course, she isn’t supposed to be talking about it at all.
She’s not even supposed to tell anyone she’s going to be in it.
It’s meant to be a secret until the “inmates” are revealed when it starts next week. ’
‘Sounds awful.’
‘I’m sure it will be. But it’ll keep Tessa out of everyone’s hair for a while.
Rory could do with a break – she’s a real drain on him.
So demanding.’ She went quiet for a while, apparently lost in her thoughts, but she was soon babbling away again.
‘That’s one of the reasons Will let everyone come out now.
They were supposed to turn up at the end of our stay, but Tessa mightn’t be able to come then, depending on how long she lasts in this show – and Rory’s life wouldn’t be worth living if she felt she was missing anything.
Anyway, with a bit of luck she’ll be banged up all summer once the show starts. ’
‘Is Tina here?’ Kate asked warily. She might as well prepare herself for the worst.
‘No, she’s working.’
Kate breathed a private sigh of relief.
‘Owen didn’t bring anyone either. It’s really just Tessa and her travelling circus, and Summer. Have you met her?’
‘Only briefly. What’s she like?’
‘She’s cool. She only came because she knew Tessa was going to be here and the guys wouldn’t get anything done anyway.
She’d never get in the way when they’re working.
She can seem a bit aloof, but she’s lovely once you get to know her, and she takes such good care of Phoenix.
She probably saved his life. He was very heavily into drugs when they met, but she straightened him out…
Rory needs someone like her,’ she added.
‘Will you be staying?’ Kate asked, daunted at the thought of all those celebrities. It would be nice to have an ally.
‘No. I’m just here to get everyone sorted and settled in.
I have some stuff to go over with Will in the next couple of days, but I’ll be leaving on Monday too.
I have to get back to man the fort,’ she said cheerfully, ‘but I will be flying out from time to time. Don’t worry,’ she added, as if she knew how Kate was feeling.
‘Like I said, they’ll all be gone by Monday, and the guys are really easy – you won’t have any problems. I’ve made some notes for you about likes and dislikes food-wise, but they’re not very fussy.
Owen and Rory eat pretty much everything.
Georgie’s borderline anorexic so eats practically nothing.
Phoenix is a vegetarian, but I don’t suppose that’s a problem. ’
‘Oh, no, I’ve done a lot of vegetarian cooking. My boyfriend’s a vegetarian, actually.’
‘Oh, really? Didn’t he mind you coming out here for the summer?’
‘Well, he wasn’t exactly over the moon about it,’ Kate confessed, ‘but it was such a great opportunity I couldn’t pass it up.
I couldn’t make anything like this kind of money at home.
And Will said Brian – my boyfriend – could visit while I’m here.
’ The prospect of a free holiday had mollified him somewhat.
‘Will said that?’ Louise said thoughtfully. Kate got the impression that she didn’t approve somehow. Maybe she was afraid they would disrupt the calm working atmosphere.
‘How’s the food shopping here?’ she asked, changing the subject.
‘There’s a great local market twice a week, and some really good shops in the village.’ Louise briefed her as they drove, and before long they were turning off the road onto a long avenue lined with ramrod-straight cypress trees towards a huge, apricot-coloured house.
‘Wow!’ Kate gasped, as they circled an ornate fountain and pulled up.
Louise had called Will when they were turning into the drive, and he came out to meet them. ‘Hi, Kate.’ He looked tanned, healthy and relaxed. ‘Welcome to Tuscany – it’s great to see you here.’
Her heart slammed against her ribs as he bent to kiss her cheek.
‘I’m glad you survived your drive with Miss Whiplash here,’ he said, grinning at Louise.
Louise opened the car boot and Will took out the first couple of bags. ‘Leave the rest – I’ll have it brought up later,’ he said.
They entered a vast tiled hall, wonderfully cool after the heat outdoors.
‘Come on, I’ll show you your room,’ Louise said to Kate.
‘Oh, I’ll do that,’ Will told her, already heading for the stairs.
‘Okay.’ She seemed a little put out and gave Will a beady look as he led Kate upstairs.
It wasn’t lost on Will. He couldn’t understand what was up with Louise. She had been reluctant from the start about hiring Kate and, even though they obviously got on well, she still didn’t seem sold on the idea.
He led Kate down a long corridor. ‘This is it.’ He opened a door and ushered her into a big, high-ceilinged room filled with sunlight.