Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany #1) - T.A. Williams Page 0,57

at Lucy’s feet, his nose firmly pointed at the food on the table and did his best to look as if nobody ever fed him. Knowing Labradors of old, Lucy hardened her heart – at least for now.

As for David, hardening her heart wasn’t so easy. He was looking very appealing. He was wearing a light pink polo shirt that was just tight enough across his chest to reveal his muscular frame. His strong forearms – she had always had a thing about men’s forearms – were tanned and covered with light brown hair. There was something different about him and it took her a few moments to realise he had had a haircut. She had only ever seen him with fairly stylish, medium length hair before, but now it had been sheared to barely an inch. It looked good. In fact, he looked very good and she growled to herself.

It was a very pleasant evening. They all approved of Roberto’s wine and Armando told her he was also hoping to try his hand at making some sparkling wine along with regular white wine when next autumn came around. David also had some good news for her.

‘I heard back from my lawyer today. The notary says all the papers are in order so the sale of this place should go through later this week or early next week.’

Lucy beamed at him. ‘That’s great. I really love this house and the thought that I’m going to end up owning a historic piece of Tuscany is amazing.’ Given her doubts about the probity of some of the patients and the nature of the job at the clinic, whether or not she would still be working at the clinic in a few months’ time was a different matter entirely, but for now she did her best not to dwell on that.

In the course of the evening she was delighted to see David visibly relax and she couldn’t miss the affection he had for Armando and Fioretta. It emerged that Fioretta was responsible for his new haircut and Lucy complimented both of them. David’s Italian was unexpectedly fluent until he revealed that his grandparents had emigrated to the USA from Italy and he had been brought up speaking both languages in the house. The dog – once he had scrounged a couple of pieces of salami – behaved impeccably, and all in all it was a most enjoyable evening.

The not so nice part came right at the end.

As they were standing at the door, chatting and saying goodnight, a car pulled up behind David’s Mercedes. To Lucy’s horror, she saw that it was Tommy. She rushed over to try to head him off before he recognised David, but she felt pretty sure she saw what might have been a glimmer of recognition on his face, although she hoped that might have been for Armando and Fioretta.

‘Hi, Tommy, I wasn’t expecting to see you.’

‘Hi, Lucy.’ He leant towards her and kissed her on the cheeks before she could retreat. ‘It’s really good to see you too. I’ve just been having dinner with my aunt and uncle and I thought I’d pop up to see if you were feeling better.’ His eyes once more flicked across to figures by her doorway. ‘That’s not your boyfriend, is it?’ He didn’t give her time to deny the accusation. ‘Sorry to interrupt you if you’ve got company, but at least that shows you’re feeling all right again.’

‘Back to normal, thank you. Listen, I’m sorry to sound inhospitable’ – she wasn’t sorry in the slightest – ‘but I’d better get back to my guests.’ To her relief, he nodded.

‘Of course. Anyway, I’m glad you’re feeling fine again. Goodnight, Lucy.’ And to her extreme annoyance, he tried to kiss her again, although this time she managed to avoid his advances.

As his car drove off again, she went back to the others. ‘I’m really sorry about that. He’s someone I know. He works with a friend of mine. His turning up here tonight was completely unexpected.’ But of course she was in the presence of long-term Castelnuovo residents. Fioretta had already recognised Tommy.

‘We know Tommaso, don’t we, Armando?’

‘Yes, we’ve known him since he was a toddler. He’s a local boy, but you probably already know that.’

Lucy nodded. ‘We had dinner together at his aunt and uncle’s restaurant a week ago and he told me all about the village. He knows it well.’ As she spoke, she caught a glimpse of the expression