Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany #1) - T.A. Williams Page 0,21

living in rented property and sleeping and eating on other people’s furniture, it would be wonderful to be able to make a fresh start. She breathed deeply. Her escape to Tuscany was really taking shape.

Outside to the rear there was a small garden that backed onto the estate to which it had originally belonged, and the backdrop of olive trees, cypresses and lines of vines reinforced the rural feel of the place. The garden was little more than a mass of straggly weeds and she could tell that she would have her work cut out for her in that department, but this didn’t intimidate her either. With a garden to create and tend, and knowing she would be living in one of the most historically interesting parts of Italy, she would have more than enough to fill her free time. And there was even a bare patch of soil alongside the back door just crying out for a rambling rose bush. It was perfect.

‘Why are they selling a gorgeous place like this? It’s not on the San Andreas fault or anything, is it?’

The house agent shook his head. ‘Most of Tuscany’s designated a seismic region, particularly as you get closer to the Apennines, and there are little quakes around Siena from time to time, but there hasn’t been a serious earthquake in this area for ages. Just think of the centre of Siena – the buildings around Piazza del Campo have been standing for six hundred years. The way I look at it, as long as the Torre del Mangia stays upright, there shouldn’t be too much to worry about. No, I believe the vendor’s selling this place because he’s got all he needs with the villa.’ He pointed up the hill. ‘That’s the Villa Castelnuovo up there. I’ve never seen it, but I’m told it’s beautiful.’

Lucy followed the line of cypress trees marking the driveway as it curled up the hillside until she could just make out a broad red-tiled roof barely visible above the tops of a little copse of more cypresses and umbrella pines about half a mile away. Not as big as the Siena Clinic villa, it was still a sizeable place, with a little tower sticking out of the centre of the roof in classic Tuscan style. She had no doubt a house like that would be worth many millions; definitely the sort of ostentatious place where she would never feel comfortable. Still, she thought to herself with a satisfied grin, as long as they were happy to sell her this little cottage, she would be well pleased.

They drove back to agency where she wasted no time in signing the rental agreement and paying the deposit. They also discussed making an offer to buy the property and she decided to take the plunge. The place had just felt so right. They agreed a figure and she crossed her fingers under the table as Federico emailed it through to the vendor’s solicitor.

While waiting for a decision, Federico gave her all sorts of useful information about opening a bank account, arranging a mortgage and getting fixed up with all the complicated paperwork involved with settling in Italy. He also gave her some excellent advice about a number of antique shops and regular markets in and around Siena where he told her she should be able to find furniture at a fraction of the original price.

She was still scribbling the information down when the phone rang. He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up. They had accepted her offer.

* * *

The next week was a busy one for Lucy, but she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. She went on a spending spree that included a second-hand Fiat 500 that had allegedly belonged to one careful lady owner. After seeing the way Virginia had thrown her car about as they raced up to the clinic from Daniela’s wedding, Lucy took this with a pinch of salt, but the Fiat garage offered a year’s guarantee, so she suspended her disbelief.

She found a lovely old farmhouse table and eight straw-upholstered chairs in an antiques warehouse, along with a fairly battered but solid sofa. She splashed out on a brand-new double bed for herself although she had no candidate for filling the other half of the bed at this moment. Not, she told herself, that this bothered her in the slightest. For now, she just wanted to concentrate on her new house and her new job. There would be time to think