house.
‘What’ s that?’ She spun round and stared towards the staircase.
He made a move towards the door. ‘I think we’ve got visitors. Someone’s at the front door and they sound pretty insistent.’ The banging came again, and they heard people moving around outside the house. Voices were talking excitedly. ‘Can you hear what they’re saying?’
She listened intently. ‘No, not really , the sound’s muffled. Someone mentioned water and someone else said something about the pool , b ut that’s all I could make out.’
The banging was followed by the sound of a heavy vehicle being driven past the outside o f the house. T hey heard it come to a stop, and then a second vehicle followed the first.
A m oment later, there was more thump ing on the door.
‘Come on . L et’s go and see what they want.’ He tucked the plan of the room in to his pocket. ‘If neces sary, I’ll have to ring Eduardo, or rather you will. It looks as if we may end up having him with us after all today.’ He gave her a wry smile and went out on to the landing.
They went quickly down the stairs and Tom opened the front door. Three men in overalls stood under the porch, three shapes dark against the bright glare of the midday sun.
‘ Buon giorno! ’ Evie said, stepping forward, and she asked them what they wanted.
‘It’s water for the pool,’ she told Tom when she’d finished talking to the men and looking at the papers that they’d shown her. ‘They’ve been filling the pool by bringing up lorry loads of water, and they were short by a couple of loads. Apparently the water is meant to come to the top of the pool and flow over the side into the white grating, but it isn’t yet high enough to do that. They’ve got all the necessary papers. They told Eduardo that they’d be coming today and they thought he’d be here.’
‘Is there anything we can do or should we call Eduardo?’
‘No, we don’t need him. There’s something t o be signed, but you can sign. T hey don’t need us to be here at all, they just need a signature.’
‘Right, then . S how me where to sign and we’ll let them get on with it.’
He signed on the line that Evie indicated and handed the paper back. The men nodded their thanks, turned and went back to the lorries. Tom closed the door behind them and led the way into the sitting room.
‘Your suggestion about leaving Montefalco till t his evening is a good one . All the more so because it means we can come back from lunch after the men have gone, just to check that everything’s al l right.’ He w ent over to the arched glass doors and looked out at the pool. ‘It’s a shame we can’t swim today. It would have been nice to have been able to use the pool at least once before we went back to England , but we can’t – the pool man will need to do his stuff first. However, there’s nothing to stop us sitting with our legs in the water, if we felt so inclined.’
Fantastic ! Things were getting better by the minute. Lunch somewhere nice; a hot afternoon by the pool; wine in the evening. And just the two of them together all day. It was beyond brilliant .
‘So, l et’s get off to Massa now, Evie – we can pick up a couple of towels on the way.’
Suppressing her inner elation, she forced a concerned expression to her face . ‘What about the room plans? We’ve only done one room so far.’
‘We can do th e other s when we come back. W e’ve done more than enough for one morning . W e’ll leave the men to do their job and b y the time we get back, they’ll have long gone and we’ll have the pl ace to ourselves . So we can go if you’re ready. ’
She beamed at him. She certainly was !
Chapter Ten
A gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do …
Evie leaned back in her seat and stared up at the awning of leaves above her. The hot sun shone through tiny gaps between the leaves and sp rinkl ed the terrace with a shower of gold . She felt blissfully relaxed.
S
‘What’ s that?’ She spun round and stared towards the staircase.
He made a move towards the door. ‘I think we’ve got visitors. Someone’s at the front door and they sound pretty insistent.’ The banging came again, and they heard people moving around outside the house. Voices were talking excitedly. ‘Can you hear what they’re saying?’
She listened intently. ‘No, not really , the sound’s muffled. Someone mentioned water and someone else said something about the pool , b ut that’s all I could make out.’
The banging was followed by the sound of a heavy vehicle being driven past the outside o f the house. T hey heard it come to a stop, and then a second vehicle followed the first.
A m oment later, there was more thump ing on the door.
‘Come on . L et’s go and see what they want.’ He tucked the plan of the room in to his pocket. ‘If neces sary, I’ll have to ring Eduardo, or rather you will. It looks as if we may end up having him with us after all today.’ He gave her a wry smile and went out on to the landing.
They went quickly down the stairs and Tom opened the front door. Three men in overalls stood under the porch, three shapes dark against the bright glare of the midday sun.
‘ Buon giorno! ’ Evie said, stepping forward, and she asked them what they wanted.
‘It’s water for the pool,’ she told Tom when she’d finished talking to the men and looking at the papers that they’d shown her. ‘They’ve been filling the pool by bringing up lorry loads of water, and they were short by a couple of loads. Apparently the water is meant to come to the top of the pool and flow over the side into the white grating, but it isn’t yet high enough to do that. They’ve got all the necessary papers. They told Eduardo that they’d be coming today and they thought he’d be here.’
‘Is there anything we can do or should we call Eduardo?’
‘No, we don’t need him. There’s something t o be signed, but you can sign. T hey don’t need us to be here at all, they just need a signature.’
‘Right, then . S how me where to sign and we’ll let them get on with it.’
He signed on the line that Evie indicated and handed the paper back. The men nodded their thanks, turned and went back to the lorries. Tom closed the door behind them and led the way into the sitting room.
‘Your suggestion about leaving Montefalco till t his evening is a good one . All the more so because it means we can come back from lunch after the men have gone, just to check that everything’s al l right.’ He w ent over to the arched glass doors and looked out at the pool. ‘It’s a shame we can’t swim today. It would have been nice to have been able to use the pool at least once before we went back to England , but we can’t – the pool man will need to do his stuff first. However, there’s nothing to stop us sitting with our legs in the water, if we felt so inclined.’
Fantastic ! Things were getting better by the minute. Lunch somewhere nice; a hot afternoon by the pool; wine in the evening. And just the two of them together all day. It was beyond brilliant .
‘So, l et’s get off to Massa now, Evie – we can pick up a couple of towels on the way.’
Suppressing her inner elation, she forced a concerned expression to her face . ‘What about the room plans? We’ve only done one room so far.’
‘We can do th e other s when we come back. W e’ve done more than enough for one morning . W e’ll leave the men to do their job and b y the time we get back, they’ll have long gone and we’ll have the pl ace to ourselves . So we can go if you’re ready. ’
She beamed at him. She certainly was !
Chapter Ten
A gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do …
Evie leaned back in her seat and stared up at the awning of leaves above her. The hot sun shone through tiny gaps between the leaves and sp rinkl ed the terrace with a shower of gold . She felt blissfully relaxed.
S
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