Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany #1) - T.A. Williams Page 0,14

floor with Bruno, Lucy instinctively glanced around to see if Virginia was watching from the wings, but she failed to spot her. Bruno must have realised her concern as he was quick to offer reassurance.

‘Virginia’s popped back to the clinic to check on a couple of things… like our tennis player for example. So, come on, let’s dance.’

They danced together to the slow tune, which lasted barely a couple of minutes before the band launched into a lively and noisy version of some indecipherable Italian pop song. The next dance was another far slower, softer affair and they ended up holding each other, and she felt his mouth close to her ear.

‘This is nice. When I was a teenager I often dreamt about dancing with you like this, Lucy. Who says dreams never come true?’

‘This is nice and it’s been lovely to meet up with you again, Bruno. It’s a pity I’m only here for a few more days. It would have been nice to have dinner with you and Virginia again.’ His reaction was surprise and maybe disappointment.

‘A few days? I thought you were here for a good long holiday.’

The more Lucy thought about it, the more she realised that now that Daniela was going off on her honeymoon to Sicily, it would be a bit weird to stay on with her mum. She did a bit of quick thinking.

‘I’ve decided it’s time I learned to scuba dive.’

In fact, this was something she had often considered doing – particularly when she had found herself pretty much bang in the middle of Africa, about a thousand miles from any ocean – although the idea had only just returned to her this instant. She quickly ran through her knowledge of Italian geography in her head before plumping for one of the Tuscan islands in the Mediterranean to the west of here. The one that immediately came to mind was the one where a massive cruise liner had gone aground some years earlier.

‘I’ve been checking it out on the internet. There’s a place on the Isola del Giglio that does diving courses. I think I’m going to head off there in a few days once I’ve finished helping Daniela’s mum clear everything up.’

He was still looking disappointed so she gave his shoulders a little squeeze. ‘I’ll be back sometime though. Maybe for your wedding to Virginia?’

‘Maybe.’

She spent the rest of the dance in silence and, as the music came to an end, he led her back towards her seat. Before they got there, she pointed across the room. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I can see the bridegroom on his own and I promised him a dance.’ She reached up and planted a little kiss on his cheek. Pulling herself away, she added. ‘And do let me know if you and Virginia feel like dinner one night, depending on when I leave – but no arguments, this time I’m paying.’

Chapter 5

Giglio was lovely, and very different from Poggio San Marco and the area around Siena. Only an hour by ferry from the mainland of Tuscany, the whole feel of the place was radically different. Here, the sea was omnipresent and Lucy went to sleep each night to the sound of waves lapping on the beach below her window. Her recurring bad dreams were continuing to diminish in frequency and these restful surroundings only increased her sense of well-being. She took photos and sent them to her parents and to Geneviève and Nicole. As far as she could tell, the two nurses were also managing to put the scary experiences behind them and get on with their lives although Geneviève, like Lucy, admitted to still having bad dreams. Unfortunately, neither of them had any news about their former colleagues and patients, particularly Lucy’s close friend, Miriam. Lucy sent off yet another email more in hope than anything else. Weeks had passed since she had last seen her, and the news from Mabenta was still grim.

Here on the tree-covered island, however, it was altogether very relaxing and Lucy had plenty of time to read up on the history of Giglio as well as taking diving lessons each morning. She made a point of driving up and down the very few narrow, winding roads of the little island in her hire car and spending her afternoons visiting Roman and Etruscan ruins around the rocky coastline.

Seagulls screamed above her head as she climbed the narrow paths while, below her, gorgeous rich red flowers clothed the rocky