Chapter 43.
Imogen and her parents were sitting in the guesthouse living room on a Sunday afternoon, sun rays falling through the bay window onto the Persian rug and Vivien"s beloved green-velvet chair. Hepburn was curled up on the sofa with Imogen and she was tickling him gently behind his ears.
"So is it really true, what I hear about Evie heading out to Italy?" Jan asked, her eyes wide.
"Straight out to Sorrento, first cla.s.s," Imogen said. "She didn"t want to leave the shop, but I wasn"t going to let her get out of it that easily. I"m doing a couple of days, and Lauren"s boyfriend Callum is doing the others."
"Well, I do hope it all goes well for her," Jan said. "How exciting, don"t you think, Tom?"
"I"ve always got that sense from her, that there are more adventures to come. Perhaps this is the next one," Tom said.
"I"m very hopeful," Imogen said. "And there does seem to be a fair bit of love in the air at the moment."
Imogen nodded over to the kitchen, where Clarissa and Martin were laughing together as they prepared tea for the family.
"She"s moved out, as you know back to London," Imogen whispered. "Not that you"d notice, of course she"s down here every spare minute. I"m pretty sure it"s not just to see her grandparents."
"She seems nice, doesn"t she?" Jan remarked, glancing over at Clarissa.
"She"s lovely," Imogen said. "He"s done well for himself. And look at him he can barely stop smiling. She"s a vast improvement on Francoise, obviously."
"Oh, Imogen. Be nice," Tom chided her.
"It"s true, though, isn"t it?" Jan said, cheekily.
"You"re as bad as each other," Tom said, shaking his head.
"He didn"t deny it," Imogen said. Her mum laughed. "So, what"s next for you two? How are you planning on filling your days now that things have settled down here?"
Jan considered a moment before answering. "Well, your dad"s got his sculptures, and I have a bit of charity work . . ."
"Oh, come on!" Imogen scoffed. "That can all wait. Evie"s flown off at the blink of an eye, and Anna"s dropped everything to go to Italy. When are you two going to have your big adventure? Or were you working all those years for nothing?"
"She"s got a point," Tom said.
"It wasn"t for nothing: it was for our family," Jan said.
"I know, I know," Imogen said. "And we"re very grateful and all that. But Anna and I are both grown up now. You deserve a proper break."
Tom and Jan glanced at each other. "Well, I hadn"t really thought about it," Jan said. "I"ve always been a homebody. You know that, Imogen."
"Life is short, Mum," Imogen said. "It"s never too late to change."
Evie walked into the ice cream shop, in a summer dress and sandals, pulling a suitcase along behind her. There was a glow in her cheeks, and she looked younger than when she"d left.
"You"re back!" said Imogen, excitedly laying down the ice cream scoop she"d been holding.
"Here I am," Evie said. "And what a trip it was."
"Come in and tell me all about it," Imogen said, pulling out a chair for Evie.
Since the day Evie had left for Italy, Imogen had barely stopped thinking about her. "I tried to get updates from Anna, but she insisted I should wait and let you tell me everything yourself."
"It was wonderful to see your sister out there," Evie said. "She and Matteo were so welcoming, and the ice cream at their new place was delicious. Little Bella has settled right in, hasn"t she?"
"Yes." Imogen said. "That"s all nice, but-"
Evie laughed at Imogen"s evident impatience. "I get the sense there"s something else you"re more interested in."
"Of course there is," Imogen said. "My mind"s been on overdrive."
"Well, I"d better put you out of your misery then. I met Luigi, and it went well. Very well, in fact."
"Excellent," Imogen said, unable to restrain a huge smile.
"I think Luigi was even more nervous that I was, if that"s possible. But the moment we saw each other well, something came back." Evie had a sparkle in her eyes. "It didn"t feel like so long ago all of a sudden. And the fact we"d chatted on the computer beforehand thanks to you made the whole thing more relaxed."
"Was he how you remembered him?" Imogen asked.
"He"s older and greyer, of course, but the years suit him. I must admit I was wondering what he"d make of me, the way I am now but, well . . ." She blushed slightly. "I needn"t have worried."
"That"s amazing," Imogen said, full of excitement. "I"m so proud of you for going out there."
"I don"t know if it"s the craziest or the most sensible thing I"ve ever done, Imogen," Evie said. "But it"s one of the two. In any case, it was worth it."
"Were you tempted to stay longer?"
"I was, actually," Evie said.
"So why didn"t you?"
"I wanted to come home and see how I felt. It"s a lot to take in all at once, a reunion like that. It"s all felt a little too good to be true how we have a proper chance to be together now, in a way we didn"t back when we were younger."
"You want to be more sure."
"Exactly. It"s such a beautiful place, the Amalfi coast, it"s easy to get swept up with the romance of it all, the landscape, the delicious food and good wine."
Imogen had a flash of how it had been with Luca, how easy it had been to get caught up in the moment out in Italy. But she could already see from the content look on Evie"s face how different the situation was for her.
"I"m not one for rushing. I don"t want to be an old fool, Imogen."
"I don"t think there"s any chance of that," Imogen rea.s.sured her. "And he seems very genuine."
"Yes he does, doesn"t he?" Evie said. "Kind. And charming. And we have fun together. A lot of fun. I know in my head that we need longer to get to know one another . . ."
"But your heart says you want to get back over there as soon as you can."
Evie nodded her head, laughing. "Tell me again I"m not an old fool?"
"You love him," Imogen said confidently. "That"s brilliant!"
There was a new light in Evie"s eyes. "Calm down, Imogen," she said. "You"re getting rather too much like your grandmother these days."
Chapter 44.
"Here," Matteo said, pa.s.sing Anna a cone laden with chocolate ice cream and raspberry sorbet. "Your favourite."
"Thank you," she said, taking it from him gratefully. They"d had a long evening of clearing the shop, and cleaning, making plans for the week ahead, and the thought of an ice cream at the end of it was what had been keeping her going.
He picked up his drink, a gin c.o.c.ktail with a scoop of lime sorbet. "It"s such a beautiful night. Let"s go outside."
They walked out into the square and sat on the edge of the fountain. It was nearly midnight and, it being a Monday evening, the square was quiet. A faint glow came from the back room of Luigi"s, but the other bars and restaurants, like their own, were closed.
Anna ate her ice cream in silence for a while, relishing the peace of the square. Being there, beside Matteo, appreciating his closeness, his calm. With him she felt complete.
Matteo said, softly, "It hasn"t been easy this summer, has it?"
"No." She shook her head. "Not quite the holiday we both imagined."
"And yet it"s been amazing too," he said.
She nodded. She followed his gaze over to the ice cream shop, but saw that it was fixed higher, at the small room their young daughter was asleep in.
"Every moment," she agreed.
"It"s taught me a lot," he said.
"Like what?"
"That, whatever we go through in life, I want you by my side," he said. "I already knew it, of course. But I feel it now, so deeply." He reached over and took her hand. "I"ve made you cry," he said, brushing away a tear on her cheek.
"They"re happy tears," she said.
"Promise?"
"Yes," she said. "And how could I not be happy when I"m eating the best ice cream in the world?" she added, taking the final lick of chocolate.
"I love you, Anna," he said, kissing her.
She pulled away, looking deeply into his brown eyes and running a hand over the stubble on his jaw. "I love you, too."
She returned to her ice cream, taking a bite of the waffle cone.
"You know you might not want to eat that right down to the bottom," he said.
She glanced down into the waffle cone in her hand. Something inside caught the light.
"You didn"t!" she said, laughing. She turned the cone upside down onto her hand. A platinum ring with a solitaire diamond twinkled in the light of the moon. Her breath caught. "Matteo!" she whispered.
"Shall we make it official?" he asked. "Say you"ll make me the happiest man in Italy."
"This isn"t . . ." Anna said, hesitantly.
"It"s nothing to do with my mother, if that"s what you"re thinking." He laughed, gently. "It"s about you and me, our family. No one else. Nothing else."
Flashes of the previous two years came to Anna the days spent in Florence, their emails, the moment Matteo arrived in Vivien"s Heavenly Ice Cream Shop, filling her life with happiness. Yes, they"d had their rocky times, too, but all she could see now was that he was the man for her and she wanted to be with him for ever.
"Yes," she said. "S, s and s."
He laughed. "You"re sure?"
"Absolutely," she said.
He put the ring on her finger and kissed her. "Thank you," he said.
The next day, Anna and Matteo called through to her family on her laptop.
"Have you got any plans for October?" Anna asked them coyly.
Imogen wrinkled her nose. "I haven"t got any plans beyond next week," she said, sounding glum.
Jan and Tom shrugged. "Nothing we can"t rearrange," Jan said. "Why do you ask?"
"I think you"ll all need to book some plane tickets," Anna said cheerily.
"Anna"s agreed to marry me," Matteo said, a warm smile on his face. "And we very much want you all to be there with us."
"Wow!" Imogen said, brightening immediately. "That"s amazing! Congratulations!"
"Thanks. I nearly ate the ring," Anna said, laughing and holding it up to the camera. "He"d stashed it in my ice cream cone."
"Very romantic," Jan said, laughing. "We"re thrilled for you both. Will Bella be a bridesmaid?"
"Yes," Anna said. "And Imogen . . ." She hesitated. This moment was one she"d often imagined, and she wanted to savour it. "I"m hoping you will be one too?"
"Just you try and stop me," Imogen said.