What Happens in the Alps... (21 page)

‘Yes, who is it?' She recognised the old man's voice.

‘Signor Lago, it's Annie. I'd like to see you, but if this isn't a good time, I can come back…' There was a buzzing sound and the gate sprang open as she heard his voice coming from the speaker.

‘Annie, what a pleasure. Do come in, come in.' He sounded really happy to see her and Annie's heart fell at the thought that she was going to be the bearer of bad news. Taking a deep breath, she followed the dog into the garden, closing the gate behind her. Signor Lago was waiting for her at the front door. ‘Come in, my dear, come in.' He held out his hands and took both of hers in his. ‘What a lovely surprise.'

He led her into the lounge and insisted that she join him for tea. While Romeo was preparing it, they sat down on the sofa, the dog sprawled across Annie's feet as usual, and Signor Lago asked her what sort of Christmas she had had. She told him about her mother's house and their family get-together. He sounded quite envious.

‘That sounds wonderful, my dear. As for me, I've just been here on my own most of the time.' He looked over and caught her eye, giving her a smile. ‘From choice, I would hasten to tell you. I've grown too old for the whole Christmas celebration thing. Alex wanted me to come away with them, but I really didn't feel like getting on a plane and flying halfway round the world. So Alex and his sister went off to the Caribbean and I stayed here. I don't have any other close family nearby these days, but I've been quite happy on my own with Leo and Romeo. I'm sure your family Christmas must have been lovely.'

By this time, Annie was only listening with one ear. His sister? Alex had a sister and he had gone on holiday with her? She waited impatiently as Romeo brought the tea and arranged the cups and the plate of biscuits on the table in front of them. No sooner had he left the room than she pounced. ‘Does your daughter live here in Italy as well?'

‘She used to, but she moved to London a few years ago. Teresa's a research chemist at Imperial College and she's doing really well. She came over here to see me for a few days before Christmas and then Alex and she flew out to Anguilla. They've always been very close. And I'm sure you and she would get on very well together.' He poured the tea and picked up his cup. ‘But she's gone back to London already. They came back yesterday, but Alex had to fly straight down to Rome as we've got a problem with one of our hotels down there.'

‘I see.' Now she did. The blonde girl at Turin airport was his sister. His sister! Annie almost shouted it out loud.

‘Now, was there anything special you wanted to see me about or am I just lucky to have a visit from a beautiful woman?' The brown eyes flashed and, for a moment, she saw the son reflected in the old man's face.

‘Well, after four hours getting sweaty on the ski slopes, I don't feel very beautiful, but thank you anyway.' She was thinking quickly. ‘I just thought I'd call in and see if you were all right and tell you what sort of Christmas I've had.'

‘Then I really am lucky. You know, Annie? I look forward to these little visits. Do please drop in any time.'

Just at that moment, Annie's phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket to turn it off but saw, with a surge of excitement from the caller ID, that it was Alex. She glanced up at Signor Lago. ‘It's Alex. Would you mind if I take it?' He waved indulgently and she swiped the green button. ‘Hi, Alex, Happy New Year.'

‘And a very Happy New Year to you, Annie. Where are you? Still in the UK or are you back in the valley?'

‘I'm actually sitting with your father in his lovely house drinking tea at this very moment. What about you?'

‘I'm in Rome, sitting in a café in the Via Sistina, waiting for the rain to ease off enough for me to make a run to my next appointment. Sorry I haven't been in touch before, but there was no internet or phone connection over on the island. As a result, you can probably imagine the backlog of emails and messages I've come home to. Anyway, tell me about your Christmas.'

They chatted for several minutes while Signor Lago sipped his tea and stared out of the window, a contented expression on his face. Finally, Alex told her he hoped to be home before long. ‘I'll definitely have to be home at the weekend. That only gives us two weeks before the start of our big tour operator promotion, so I need to be back in good time before that, to see that everything's set up. Daniela's on the case and she's very organised, but I'm not taking any chances with something so important to us.'

Annie realised she was really looking forward to seeing him again. She made a decision. ‘I'm going down to see Signor Dumoulin next, to see when I can move into his guest chalet. If all goes well, I'll try to make it this week. If I manage it, how about letting me cook you dinner on Saturday night?'

‘That sounds absolutely marvellous. I tell you what: make it Sunday night in case I get held up here in Rome.'

‘Great, Sunday it is. It's a date. See you soon.'

‘I'll look forward to it. Bye.'

Annie dropped the phone back in her pocket and looked across at Signor Lago, her mind now made up. ‘I'll go over and see Signor Dumoulin now and ask if it's possible to move in on Thursday or Friday.'

‘Good, good. But first, you must drink your tea and talk to me. Alessandro took you out for dinner before Christmas, didn't he? How did that go?'

Annie gave him an edited version of their evening out at the casino and the little café in the square. ‘The only problem was that he took me in the Ferrari. Apart from me making a spectacle of myself in a short skirt trying to get in and out of it gracefully, he drove so fast I felt quite car sick.'

Signor Lago smiled and shrugged his shoulders. ‘He loves that car and I know he drives it too fast. Mind you, I've got to admit that he's a very good driver and he hasn't had an accident so far. Still, he needs somebody to keep an eye on him and stop him behaving like an adolescent.' He winked at her.

‘Well, unless he wants me to throw up all over his beautiful car, he's going to have to slow down if I'm with him. In fact, he was very good. When I asked him to slow down he did so straight away. I'll keep an eye on him for you, don't worry.'

He laid his hand on hers. ‘You're a very good and a very sensible girl, Annie. I'm sure you're going to be just what Alex needs.'

Annie left Signor Lago just before dark and walked back towards her car. In the shadows beside her she saw that she had a companion. Leo was only too pleased to come for a walk with her and it was rather nice to have company as she went through the shadows beneath the trees. She thought back to her reaction to the news that the girl at the airport had been Alex's sister. From the wave of relief that had surged over her she now knew, if she hadn't known before, that she had been fooling herself when she had told her mother that her relationship with him was ‘no big deal'. Clearly, it had been a much bigger deal than she had been prepared to admit. For the first time since going home for Christmas, she found she was humming to herself again.

As she approached the Hotel Montalto, she saw the lights on in Massimo's office and went in to wish him a Happy New Year. The dog followed her into the lobby and then vanished, most probably in search of food. The interior was now finished, and stylish new steel and leather furniture dotted the floor. There was even somebody at the front desk. As she walked across, she saw that it was Massimo's PA, Daniela. Annie walked over to her with a smile.

‘Hi, Daniela. A very Happy New Year to you.' To her surprise, she saw an expression of annoyance cross the other girl's face.

‘Oh, yes, and the same to you.' Her expression wasn't welcoming. Annie found herself wondering what had happened to put Daniela in a bad mood. She pointed towards the lift.

‘Is Massimo in? All right if I go up and say hello?'

‘You'll have to ask
him
that. Anyway, the last time I was up there, he was in.' Daniela's tone was decidedly cool. Annie decided there was nothing to be gained by hanging around, so she thanked her and headed for the lift. She was still wondering what was going on when the lift arrived at the sixth floor and the doors slid open. Annie went across to the door marked
Direzione
and walked through it to the glass door now proudly bearing the words
Massimo Lagrange, General Manager
. She tapped on the door and a voice from inside shouted to her to come in.

‘Ciao, Annie, a Happy New Year to you.' Massimo jumped up from his desk when he saw her and came round to greet her. He, at least, looked pleased to see her. Annie gave him a warm hug.

‘And to you, Massimo. I hope you had a good Christmas.' He nodded and pointed to the sofa.

‘Come and sit down. Can I get you something?'

Annie shook her head. ‘No, thanks, this is just a flying visit. I'm on my way to see one of Signor Lago's friends who's renting me a house down at Le Pont. I just wanted to say hello and to check when you want the lessons for your staff to start.'

Massimo glanced across at a whiteboard on the wall. ‘As soon as you can. Next week all right?'

Annie nodded. ‘Absolutely fine. Tuesdays and Thursdays from two till six. I'll be teaching these classes myself. Is that still all right?'

‘Perfect.' He consulted the whiteboard. ‘You can use conference room B on the ground floor.' He hesitated. ‘You'd better just check with Daniela if that's still okay. She's dealing with this, really. I think she's downstairs somewhere. Do you want me to page her?'

Annie shook her head. ‘No, thanks, she's down in reception. I saw her on my way up.' She paused for a moment. ‘Tell me, Massimo, have I done something wrong? She was very frosty towards me.'

Massimo registered the question, walked across to the door, peered out to check that Daniela's office was still empty and then closed the door. He came back over to Annie and lowered his voice. ‘It would appear that the word has spread that you and Alex have been going out together.' Comprehension began to dawn in Annie's head.

‘And that's a problem for her because…?'

Massimo caught her eye. ‘Because she and Alessandro had a thing together a few months back.'

‘Ah.' Annie suddenly understood. No doubt Daniela was furious with her for trespassing on what she deemed to be her territory. She mustered a smile for Massimo. ‘Right, well that explains things. I'll treat her with kid gloves for a while.'

Chapter 16

Paolina arrived at work with a broad smile on Wednesday morning. She was wearing skin-tight jeans and a jacket covered in gold and silver sequins that could well have come from Elton John's wardrobe. Annie was delighted to see her again and gave her a big hug.

‘Ciao, Paolina. A Happy New Year to you. Here, I brought you a little something from London.'

Paolina's eyes lit up as she recognised the Harrods bag and they widened still more as she took out the jumper and held it in her hands. ‘Annie, you shouldn't have. This is wonderful.' She slipped off her jacket and tried it on. Fortunately, it was a perfect fit and she dashed off to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. When she got back, she thanked Annie profusely.

‘You're very welcome, Paolina. That's for not just being a great receptionist, but a really good friend.' Seeing Paolina blush, she changed the subject. ‘So, how was your Christmas?' Then, before Paolina could speak, Annie remembered she had to ask a more important question. ‘Or rather, before you go into that, how did your date with Paul go? Have you seen him since? Are the two of you together?'

Paolina was still smiling, maybe even more broadly now. ‘It went well, very well. And we've seen a lot of each other since then.' She caught Annie's eye. ‘And I mean a lot.'

‘Like his muscular thighs, for example?'

If she had been expecting Paolina to blush, she would have been mistaken. Paolina's beaming smile didn't waver. ‘Yes, and he's got the most incredible stomach muscles, too. And a few other amazing bits as well. So, it's been a great Christmas, thank you. And what about you?'

Annie told her all about her trip to the UK. She didn't mention seeing Alex at Turin airport and she was just finishing telling Paolina all about her days in Devon when the door opened and Matt came in. He gave them both a big smile and a hug. From the expression on Paolina's face, she was more than happy to get a hug from a hunky man, in spite of having already acquired one of those in the shape of Paul. Matt took a look at Annie's face.

‘You've been skiing already, haven't you? You didn't get that colour in your cheeks in the UK, I bet.' He pulled off his jacket and hung it up. He was wearing faded jeans and a tight sweater. Annie found herself idly wondering whether he, too, had amazing stomach muscles. It came as a surprise to her that she was having such thoughts about good old Matt. What on earth was happening to her? She shook her head to clear it and looked up. He was smiling at her and she hoped he hadn't been reading her mind. He had a surprise of his own for her. ‘Anyway, Annie, I've been waiting for you to come back so I could give you your Christmas present.'

‘Matt, there was no need. All I got you was a bottle of fizz at Gatwick.'

He was grinning. ‘We'll drink it together. But I think you might enjoy this present even more. Here, take a look.' Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out a white envelope and handed it across to her. ‘It's addressed to you, but he didn't seal the envelope, so I've taken the liberty of reading it already.'

Annie pulled out a sheet of paper and immediately saw the letterhead
ABC School, Santorso
emblazoned across the top. It didn't take long to read.

Dear Signora Brewer,

I am writing to welcome you to Santorso and to wish you every success with your new venture. I am sure that the presence of another quality school of English in the town will be of great benefit to the inhabitants.