Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany #1) - T.A. Williams Page 0,29

bees and a very distant tractor. There was no indication of any other humans in her vicinity so she pushed her way into the middle of a thick clump of broom bushes covered in aromatic yellow flowers and pulled down her shorts.

She was in the middle of doing what she had to do when she suddenly became aware of the unmistakable sound of human footsteps approaching. She crouched there, hardly daring to breathe, feeling terribly exposed, and tried not to make a sound as somebody came past her, just on the other side of the wire fence.

Unfortunately, her presence had been registered. She heard the now familiar mix of grunts and whines that indicated that Boris knew it was his new best friend who gave him bread sticks and pieces of banana who was squatting in the bushes, blushing like a schoolgirl. She even heard scrabbling, presumably as the dog tried to get through the fence, but, to her infinite relief, the human footsteps continued to recede into the distance. Finally, there was a piercing whistle and she heard the dog bound off through the undergrowth to join his master. She gave a little sigh of relief and wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. That had been close.

When she got back home later on she called Armando to tell him about the gap in the fence and he thanked her and told her the owner of the property had reported it himself only a matter of minutes earlier. As Lucy put the phone down, she reflected that it would have been highly embarrassing if her first encounter with her landlord had been with her pants around her ankles.

Just after lunchtime the rain started and it absolutely bucketed down continuously for four or five hours. Water came pouring off the rock-hard soil of the hillside onto the road and past her front door, four or five inches deep in places. Although she kept checking regularly, she was delighted to find that the house was well out of the way of the stream of water, and the new roof did a terrific job of keeping the elements at bay. Finally, just after six, the rain stopped, to be replaced by a symphony of drips all round, and within a very short space of time the water on the road had disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place.

She made herself a ham sandwich and picked up the history book she had found at the village shop. It was a hefty tome and, judging by the myriad footnotes, was meticulously researched. There was a detailed index at the back and she started there in the hope that this village or the old castle might be mentioned. Alas, there was no reference to Castelnuovo Superiore or the ruins, so she turned back to page one and started to read. She had barely got midway through the first chapter when she heard a car pull up outside and she peeked out to see who it might be. The car was a very smart silver Porsche and the driver was none other than Bruno.

Slipping a pencil into the book to save her place, she went over to open the door, wondering why Virginia wasn’t with him.

‘Ciao, Lucy. I came to wish you well in your new home.’ He handed her a bottle of cold champagne and leant forward to kiss her on the cheeks.

‘Ciao, Bruno. Thank you so much.’ She stepped aside and beckoned him in.

‘Wow, this is amazing!’ He looked around appreciatively and she felt a little thrill of satisfaction that he appeared to feel the same way about this lovely little house as she did.

She gave him a tour of the property, hurrying him past the bedrooms and out onto the loggia. It was pleasantly cool out here now after the rain, and the air was crystal clear. It was so clear, in fact, that for the first time she could make out the vague outline of the Apennines against the far distant horizon. She left him there and went down to the kitchen to bring up a couple of glasses and the bottle of champagne. He took it from her, opened it without fuss and filled the glasses.

‘So how’s it going, Lucy? Are you settled in?’

She took a seat opposite him and they chatted. He told her Virginia had gone off to Rome for a conference and wouldn’t be back until the day after tomorrow so