Tuscan Dreams by Daisy James

Author:Daisy James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The garden, Villa Limoncello

Colour: Dusky magnolia

Izzie steered the little pink Vespa between the gateposts of Villa Limoncello, the brigade of cypress trees welcoming her like a guard of honour at a wedding. She smiled to herself as an intense feeling of homecoming spun through her body – she had only been at Villa Limoncello a short time but already it felt like she’d been there for years.

With Luca’s help, her Italian was improving every day, especially the words for foodie treats like panzanella, torta di ceci and castagnaccio, a chestnut cake unique to the region flavoured with pine nuts and sultanas and sprinkled with olive oil and rosemary – delicious! Her culinary skills, non-existent before she arrived in Italy, were improving too, as was her appreciation of the intricacies of wine production – and sampling.

She cast a glance towards the vineyard and smiled as she saw a cloud of dust ballooning behind Gianni’s tractor as he ploughed his way between the vines, stopping occasionally to inspect the leaves for the scourge of disease. She really hoped that, come the vendemmia in September, the quality of the grapes would reflect the hard work he had devoted to their care. What an amazing feeling it must be to taste the wine that you have created yourself, from the vine to the glass. She wondered whether she would be at Villa Limoncello to join in with the celebrations. She wanted to be, that was for sure, but that meant she would have to redouble her efforts to ferret out who was responsible for putting the villa’s future in jeopardy.

A surprise honk of a car horn from behind caused Izzie to wobble on the Vespa as she drew to a halt at the villa’s front steps that led to the entrance, flanked by a pair of lemon trees proudly displaying the citrus globes the house was famous for. She twisted in her seat to see Luca jump out of the driver’s seat of his Alfa Romeo, and stride over to greet her.

‘Hey! Just the person I wanted to see!’

Izzie couldn’t stop herself from beaming as he dropped kisses on her cheeks, enjoying the frisson of pleasure that cascaded through her veins when his signature cologne hit her nostrils. However, the creases in his forehead warned her that this wasn’t a social visit.

‘What’s going on?’

‘I’ve just had a call from the food hygiene inspectors. They want to come over to the villa next week to carry out an inspection.’

‘Oh, no! I thought Carmen was still thinking about things. I thought she would…’

Luca rubbed his palm across his jawline, the over-long stubble testament to the fact he had a great deal on his mind, even though he preferred to give the impression of being confident and in complete control.

‘They didn’t say who called them.’

‘Well, it has to be Carmen, or possibly Hannah, doesn’t it?’

‘I suppose they are the most likely people.’

‘But what happened was a one-off. Everyone’s been fine since then, no problems at all,

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