The Cornish Hideaway by Jennifer Bibby

Author:Jennifer Bibby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2022-03-22T00:00:00+00:00

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It took three nights to scale up the drawings, and although Freya was not actively involved in the sketching, she enjoyed hanging around the café watching Angelo, learning from him. He’d found an old bandana to tie his long hair back. Freya had laughed when he’d first put it on. ‘You look like a pirate! Maybe you should dress as one for the Fisherman’s Fair.’ Angelo had seen the funny side of this and made some pirate noises and then pretended to hobble around the café with a wooden leg until Freya couldn’t stand for laughing.

The evenings passed companionably. Angelo talked about his time in Italy, and Freya, wondering if that was the last time he’d been truly happy, asked the question.

Angelo paused to think about it. ‘What makes you say that?’

‘You told me about Italy, the little bars you went to, the villages you visited, the art, the food, the coffee, but you never said anything about art school, or your career.’ Her words petered out, afraid he’d slam the door shut on her.

Angelo finished the bit of drawing he was working on before replying. ‘I was in Italy almost twenty years ago. I should have moved on by now, you’re right. Maybe I just remember it as something beautiful and golden and pure. Yes, pure, because it was all simple. I had no idea where I was heading; I was just on a gap year drinking a bit too much, flirting with hard-to-crack Italian girls and gorging on everything, food, culture, art. You name it, I tried it. Art school was a bit sterile after that. I think I sort of fancied myself as a bit of a modern-day Renaissance master.’ Angelo stepped back and surveyed the scaled-up drawing. ‘But art school wasn’t all bad. It had its moments and it did give me experiences. And, without sounding crude, money to pursue what I wanted. Or what I thought I wanted.’ Angelo stretched out his tired fingers. ‘What made you decide to study art?’

Freya shrugged. ‘I guess it was because I was good at it. I wasn’t very good at anything else, not enough to pursue it at least. I wanted to experience being at uni too, which was fun. I guess I thought I’d be more of an artist if I did postgraduate study at a proper art school. Turns out I was wrong, but I guess it will be an experience to look back on.’ Freya shrugged as if it didn’t mean anything anymore that she’d spent money and years studying without anything to show for it at the end. ‘What about you? Why did you study art?’

Angelo turned to Freya and studied her for a long time, as if contemplating what version of events to tell her. Freya perched on the edge of a spare table, suddenly nervous but unwilling to stop Angelo if he was finally ready to open up.

‘Because, like you, it was the only thing I was good at.’ Angelo stopped and gave Freya a long, resigned look before continuing.

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