Chapter 27
Amy had taken some time for herself, leaving the hotel and heading for the lake.
She had done her best to persuade Billie not to write a negative review for Casa del Cibo, or for Tad.
But Amy had never seen Billie in such a state – she seemed genuinely destroyed by Kelly’s news – and when the man himself phoned Billie, Amy had been dismissed.
He wanted to ‘talk things through’ with Billie, apparently.
Amy would have told him where to stick his conversation, but even though Billie was cavalier with other people’s emotions and relationships, her whole face lit up when she realised who was phoning her, and quite honestly Amy was relieved to be able to leave her to it.
Walking the streets of Riva on her own wasn’t settling Amy’s thoughts as she’d hoped it might. She stood on the edge of the quay for ages, simply staring out across the water as though if she looked for long enough, a solution to her situation might emerge from Lake Garda like Excalibur.
Familiar voices managed to break through her negative thoughts and Amy looked up to see Hugh and Kathleen approaching.
‘G’day,’ Kathleen said, a grin on her face brightening as Hugh echoed her words with his own casual greeting.
‘Ahoy there,’ he said, wandering across to stand beside Amy. ‘We’ve been in the Museo Alto Garda – hard to believe, but it’s full of things even older than either of us.’
Kathleen bristled. ‘How did you get to be so completely insensitive?’
Hugh waved a dismissive hand at her. ‘You know I mean it in jest. Although it is also completely true. Anyway, Amy, turns out Kathleen and I get on rather well and you’ll never guess what we’ve decided to do.’
Kathleen took the space to the other side of Hugh, resting hands on her hips as she stared out across the water, too.
‘He talked me into it,’ she said, but there was a twinkle in her voice.
‘And it might all go wrong, and we’ll end up killing one another. Which wouldn’t take much in my case, I’m as weak as a kitten these days. Trip me up at the top of a flight of steps – job done,’ Hugh said.
Kathleen snorted a laugh. ‘Idiot man. You’re still as strong as a bloody ox; you just enjoy the attention.’
‘Well anyway, never mind all that. Except – Amy—’ He swung around to stare at her.
‘If you hear of my untimely death in the Egyptian pyramids or that I’ve been stabbed on a snowy train journey – the antipodean will have done it.
Because – guess what – we’ve decided to go on our very own version of a Grand Tour. ’
Amy grinned and frowned at the same time. ‘You’re going to go around the world and drive loads of different cars?’
‘No! What on earth are you talking about?’
‘The Grand Tour – it’s a TV show with the Top Gear team. You know, the car people. Malcolm loves it; he was so upset when it finished.’
‘I think we must be talking at cross purposes,’ Hugh said, his frown as deep as her own.
‘I’ve no idea what you’re going on about, but I’m talking about Kathleen and me doing our version of the tours people used to do back in the day.
And by “back in the day” I mean the eighteenth century.
Back then the wealthy young things used to head off in horse-drawn carriages and steamer ships to visit all the cultural places of the time.
Clearly, we’re not so young any longer, but the idea still holds.
We’re going to see the Acropolis, the pyramids, the Nile. ’
‘The old coot twisted my arm,’ Kathleen said. ‘Told me he has a life assurance policy that matured a while ago, liquid funds he wants to spend.’
‘I’m thinking Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum. Grand Canyon. Anywhere we want. And I don’t want paying back.’ Hugh frowned. Money had obviously already been discussed.
‘Well, I’m determined to pay him back… somehow. I’m not a freeloader. Anyway, I’m sure it’s going to be more complicated than he’s making out. It probably won’t even happen. There must be visas and so on.’
‘It’s not like I’m going to spend it on anything else, Kathleen.’
‘And I’m still no freeloader, Hugh.’
‘Whatever – we’ll work something out. I’m imagining us at the Taj Mahal. You could do the Princess Di pose.’
‘The what?’
‘Maybe not. What about the Yellowstone National Park?’
‘I think we’ll have to be more sensible than this. You’re being outrageous again.’
‘At last you see it – I’ve always thought of myself as fairly out there. But seriously, since I lost Brian – far too long ago, even though it still feels like yesterday – I have nothing to go back home to, and it suddenly occurred to me… Why go home at all?’ Hugh said, smiling at Kathleen.
She considered his words. ‘And I suppose my kids have their own children to keep them busy. Nobody will notice if I’m away for a while.’
‘And then, when we’ve had enough of globetrotting, we can finish up where we began, right here with another wonderful week in Tad’s company at Casa del Cibo.’
Amy’s expression faded.
‘What’s wrong?’ Hugh said.
‘I’ve done my best to calm Billie down, and I’m determined to make her change her mind, but I’m really worried about what she’s going to write for the articles about Casa del Cibo – and Tad.’
Amy was doing her best to squash her fears.
It should be possible for her to have a certain say in what copy went forward to the editor at the newspaper – but Billie was so hot this time, so very angry and was channelling it all in Tad’s direction.
If only he hadn’t lost his temper with her, perhaps Billie wouldn’t have become so vindictive towards him personally.
Chances were, now she’d zeroed in on Tad as being the problem, the proprietors of Casa del Cibo would cut him loose as soon as they saw the articles.
And Billie had all but promised he wouldn’t get to work anywhere else where she might hold sway.
Amy didn’t know what to do. It had all been for nothing. Pretending she didn’t feel anything for him, making him believe she hadn’t wanted anything from him except the obvious – it looked as though it hadn’t protected him at all.
‘I thought it would be enough to do as she wanted – I thought it was that she couldn’t cope with me and Tad finding something together. I thought if I pretended not to—’
Amy paused, glancing at Hugh and Kathleen as they flanked her on the edge of the lake. How much had she said out loud? Enough, it seemed, if their expressions were anything to go by. She bit at the edge of her lip.
‘Ignore me,’ she said. ‘I’m confused, that’s all. This trip has been exhausting.’
‘I think we should go and find somewhere for a coffee,’ Hugh said. ‘I don’t believe you’re tired from the trip, Amy. And I, for one, would like to find out what’s really going on here.’
‘I agree,’ Kathleen said, earning herself a look of arched eyebrow surprise from Hugh.
Amy didn’t have the fortitude to argue, and actually, the thought of telling someone the whole story was more appealing than she’d imagined.
A while later, and with empty coffee cups on the table in front of them, Amy had offloaded most of the salient points.
How Billie’s reputation had been hard won, and when she decided to do a hatchet job on someone, or somewhere, she did the job properly.
The fact that her break-up with Kelly had aired on social media before the man had the decency to speak to Billie had left her in a mood the likes of which Amy hadn’t experienced before – and she feared that if the phone call Billie had taken when Amy had left the hotel went badly, it would be the final nail in Tad’s coffin, career-wise, and that he was about to bear the full brunt of the fallout.
It had taken Amy a while – almost the entirety of her Americano, in fact – to get to the nub of the matter.
To come clean about what she’d done, that she’d promised to stay loyal to Billie in order to protect Tad’s reputation.
How it had meant she’d had to tell Tad there wasn’t anything between them worth a damn.
How, after the events of that morning, she wasn’t sure it would be enough – but that she couldn’t see any other way out of it.
‘Strewth, girl,’ Kathleen said, rattling her coffee cup back into its saucer.
Hugh had remained tight-lipped, his misty gaze surprisingly piercing as he studied her.
‘What was I supposed to do?’ Amy said, shrugging. ‘Perhaps it’s all for the best. I hardly know him; he doesn’t know me – maybe it was only ever going to be a holiday thing. Given time, we’ll recover. Move on.’
‘I mean, I’m not the right person to talk,’ Kathleen offered, ‘but if you ask me there’s something very wrong with all this. Hugh? What do you think?’
‘I’m thinking a whole lot of things right now,’ Hugh said. ‘Not sure most of them should be turned into words, though. Not in polite company, anyway.’
‘Well, that’s unhelpful,’ Kathleen said. ‘Typical bloke.’
Hugh pursed his lips, then expelled a sharp breath. ‘There’s nothing typical about me, Kathleen, and it’s about time you began to appreciate that. The stories I could tell you – you have no idea…’
‘Oh, old man, we’ve all got stories. Get over yourself.’
With a huff, Hugh swivelled his attention back to Amy.
‘I went through this when I met Brian, you know. Back then being gay might not have been illegal, but it was far from being accepted. It would have been far simpler for everyone – us included – if we hadn’t got together or stayed together.
But sometimes, if it matters enough, there’s no limit to the amount of hellfire you’re prepared to bring down on yourself.
What you have to decide, Amy, is whether or not you – or Tad – are worth the fight.
I know you’ve only just met one another, and only you can know how you’re feeling, but if I’m any judge – and I decided a while ago I’m pretty good at this stuff – then it will be worth it. ’
‘But what if she throws everything up in the air for this bloke, loses her job and lets the Forsythe woman destroy the cookery school and Tad’s career, and then expects him to still want her?
’ The frown was back on Kathleen’s face.
‘You might not be a typical bloke, Hugh, but I can tell you a bit about what most men are like. And selfish doesn’t come close. ’
Amy sighed. Somehow, Kathleen verbalising the problems she’d only thought about up until now made it all so much more real.
And yet, she knew Hugh was right. Bottom line was she wanted Tad – wanted to make something real with him, however difficult that would make their future.
Or at the very least she wanted to make sure he knew how she really felt about him – he might still decide to cut and run, but at least she would have given it her best shot.
Maybe it was truly time to take off the safety catch, and deal with the fallout afterwards. Or maybe that would be the worst thing she could do…
‘Thank you both,’ she said. ‘But I couldn’t bear it if Casa del Cibo and Tad lose out because of something I could have done differently. It is what it is, I suppose.’
Hugh cleared his throat, a flutter of colour crossing his cheeks as he scrunched up his nose. ‘How I dislike that phrase, Amy. It smacks of defeat.’
He paused as Amy’s phone began to bleat, then before she had a chance to answer it, he added, ‘And, well, the thing is, I haven’t been completely transparent about everything to do with Casa del Cibo and me, either.’