From Rome with Love by Jules Wake

Author:Jules Wake
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008221942
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2012-12-12T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

They flopped into wooden chairs under a large cream umbrella, relieved to get out of the sun for a while. The bar, tucked away down a side street, had an outdoor terrace at the back and it would have been easy to walk on by, but Will seemed to have unerring talent for finding the right place and snagging the last table.

He’d spotted it as soon as they arrived and homed in on it with determined assurance.

‘Have you been here before?’ asked Lisa.

‘No, but it’s great, isn’t it?’ He was already perusing the menu, looking like a sniffer dog on a mission.

‘It is, but it looks nothing outside. How did you know?’

He looked up, serious for once. Will with his businessman head on. ‘I didn’t.’

‘So what? Are you like some kind of restaurant-diviner? Or is there a secret code, like a sign in the window to tell other people who own restaurants that this one’s okay?’

Will laughed. ‘No, that’s a Trip Advisor certificate. This place looked busy, nowhere else around here did, so I figured it was a good bet.

‘What would you like to drink?’

She caught him giving the room a quick sweep to see what everyone else was drinking.

‘How about an Aperol spritz?’ He nodded towards the table across the way where two middle-age couples sipped at balloon glasses of an orange-hued drink.

With a thoughtful frown, he started rummaging in one of the pockets of his shorts before producing a stub of a pencil and a battered notebook. ‘It’s an Italian favourite. I’d forgotten about it. Definitely needs to go on the menu.’

She watched as he hastily scribbled notes with the quick, jerky strokes she associated with him. Decisive and determined that was Will. When he made his mind up, he acted quickly and made things happen. A smile crossed her face as he looked up.

‘What?’

‘Nothing?’ He would be horrified if he knew who she’d compared him to. Like him, Nan didn’t dwell on things, made her mind up quickly and didn’t regret or admit she’d made a wrong decision. As an approach to life it had both pros and cons.

He tucked the notebook away with a pleased flourish. He was nothing if not single-minded when it came to business.

‘Have you got your menu all worked out?’ she asked.

‘A rough idea. I know the sorts of dishes I want to serve and the feeling I want to create, but coming here cements things. And sourcing some local ingredients will give me a bit of a marketing edge, as well as that touch of authenticity.’

‘I never asked, how was the artisan cheese?’

‘Perfect, in fact Mario has also put me in touch with a guy who makes Nduja salami.’ He picked up his phone and checked the screen, as he’d been doing periodically, rather than obsessively, throughout the day. ‘I’m hoping to go and visit him tomorrow. Just trying to make some arrangements.’ With a lift of his head he acknowledged the waitress on the other side of the room.

‘I’m going to try one of those.

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