Jigsaw Lovers by William Shenton

it Diana Johnston. It was now almost twelve and he was beginning to think that she wasn’t going to call. Not to worry, he told himself, it had been a pleasant evening, and he could probably find any one of a number of girls who would jump at the offer of a free holiday with him. However, there were none whom he would rather take than Diana. Although he had only spent one evening with her, he had been completely enchanted by her. He looked at his watch; twelve noon exactly. The minutes ticked by. She wasn’t going to call.
    Then the telephone rang. It startled him.
    ‘Ben? It’s Diana.’
    ‘Good heavens. I didn’t think you were going phone. It’s past twelve.’
    ‘It’s a woman’s prerogative to be late. Thank you for dinner last night. I’m sorry I had to rush off so quickly.’
    ‘That’s quite all right.’ Should he ask her or wait for her to tell him?
    ‘I’ve given your offer about Tuscany some thought.’ She paused.
    ‘Oh yes?’ he held his breath.
    ‘If you still want me to come with you, then I’d love to.’
    He couldn’t believe his luck.
    ‘I do, honestly.’ He was telling the truth.
    ‘There are a couple of conditions. I pay my own way, and I’m afraid, I can only go for a week. There was something I couldn’t rearrange at such short notice.’
    ‘There’s a flight on Saturday morning, if that’s convenient for you.’
    ‘Sounds great.’
    ‘I’ll book the tickets and let you know what time I’ll pick you up,’ he said.
    ‘Ben, I think its better if I call you, and arrange to meet you at the airport. As you may have realised from last night, my domestic arrangements aren’t very stable at the moment and I don’t want to upset things any further.’
    ‘I understand. Not a problem.’
    ‘I’ll call you in a couple of hours.’
    Ben Samuels sat back with a very big smile on his face. Everything in his life was going very well indeed. A free holiday courtesy of Ackermann, the opportunity to make vast amounts of money, thanks to Ackermann, and now a week with a stunningly beautiful woman. Nothing could go wrong.
     
    Ben Samuels and Diana Johnston drove through the small Tuscan hill town of Lucignano, just after three in the afternoon. A few kilometres out of town they took a dirt road that weaved its way through vineyards, which covered the gentle slope of the hillside, at the top of which stood the farmhouse. They were met by a middle-aged couple, who looked after the house and gardens, and who would come in each day to clean up, and cook if required.
    They had hired a car from Pisa’s Galileo Galilei airport and driven to Florence where they had had lunch.
    Ben had been amused by the effect Diana had on the waiters. They were falling over themselves, bustling to be of service. Although they spoke English to them, Ben had wondered what comments they were making when they reverted to Italian amongst themselves.
    He found out as they were leaving. With mock grandeur and much amusement the waiters lined up and bowed as they went to the door, asking if they had enjoyed their meal and insisting that the signorina must come and visit again.
    At the door Diana turned and delivered a speech in fluent Italian. The smiles dropped from the faces of the waiters, as they realised she had understood every word of their ribald comments during lunch. Then she laughed, restoring the previous atmosphere, and left blowing them a kiss.
    Ben was equally surprised.
    ‘I didn’t know you spoke Italian. What did you say to them?’ he asked.
    ‘Nothing much. Over lunch they’d been wondering what you had that a girl like me would be interested in. So I told them.’
    ‘What did you tell them? Actually, on second thoughts, its probably better if I don’t know’
    She laughed. ‘I said you were very rich, had a big house and a fast sports car.’
    ‘Thanks.’
    She took his arm with both hands, and with a sidelong glance at him continued. ‘But best of all, I said you were a fantastic