What Happens in the Alps... (7 page)

‘An espresso would be lovely, thanks.' After the waitress had left, Annie answered Raffaella's question. ‘I'm afraid I'm still looking for somewhere to live at the moment. I hadn't realised how difficult it was to find somewhere round here for a long let.' She smiled. ‘At the moment I'm sleeping at the school.'

Raffaella and Massimo exchanged looks. ‘That doesn't sound very comfortable. We'll keep our eyes open and we'll let you know if we hear of anything.' Massimo glanced at his watch and stood up. ‘Well, we'd better make a move.'

Annie stood up as well. ‘Me, too. Thank you very much for lunch. You're so very generous.'

‘You're welcome, Annie. You're welcome.'

Later that afternoon, Annie emerged from the shower at the school and started drying herself off. She was just thinking about where to start in the room piled high with boxes when the doorbell rang. As it was the weekend, the school was closed and she wondered who it might be. She was casting round for something a bit more substantial than the towel she was holding when the door opened. She squealed and ducked back into the bathroom for cover.

‘Ciao, Annie. Are you there?'

Annie relaxed as she recognised the voice. She poked her head round the bathroom door and saw that it was Paolina and, along with her, a pretty, red-haired girl who Paolina introduced as Rita. Annie emerged from the bathroom to greet them. Rita held out her hand and Annie shook it but, as she did so, she lost her hold of one end of the towel and squealed again, desperately and unsuccessfully grabbing it before it fell down at her side. She scrabbled around with her hand for the elusive corner of the towel, located it and wrapped it round her body again. The two girls exchanged glances and did a magnificent job of not falling about laughing. Annie, her face now glowing with embarrassment, shuffled back into the bathroom and pulled on her clothes.

When Annie emerged from the bathroom once more, Paolina announced their intentions. ‘We've come to help. Where do you want us to start?'

‘There's no need for that, Paolina, I'm just trying to make space for a bed in the room where all my stuff is. That shouldn't be too hard.' In fact, given the mountain of boxes and furniture that had come up from Turin with her, she knew it wouldn't be quite as easy as she was suggesting.

‘No, we're here now, so just show us what you want to do.'

Brushing off Annie's protests, the girls were soon hard at it, shifting boxes and furniture, cleaning and tidying. Annie was very moved that Paolina should come in on a Saturday to help out. They chatted as they worked and Annie learnt that both had been at school together in Santorso. It soon emerged that nothing of any major significance took place in the town without these two knowing about it. Annie told them about the attempted theft of her new sign the previous night and there was an exchange of meaningful glances.

‘Sounds like it could be Gruglio up to more of his dirty tricks.' Paolina had no doubt.

‘Who's Gruglio?' Annie hadn't heard the name before.

Paolina deferred to Rita, who filled Annie in. ‘He owns the ABC School. He used to run a very seedy nightclub before that and I could tell you any number of stories about what he got up to.'

Annie was puzzled. ‘That's one hell of a career change; from nightclub owner to language-school principal.'

‘The school was set up by his girlfriend.' Clearly, Rita really was well informed. ‘She was Australian or South African, I think. Anyway, she set the school up and then, less than a year later, she dumped him and left for home. So, as the club had been closed down, he took over the school.'

‘But… qualifications…?' Annie couldn't believe her ears. ‘Is he at least fluent in English?'

‘Can't speak a word as far as I know. He's got a Sri Lankan running it for him. Poor girl; I don't envy her one bit.'

‘Anyway, Annie, stealing your sign sounds just like the sort of thing he'd do.' Paolina caught Rita's eye. ‘I know – we'll do a bit of sniffing around next week. Between us, we know a good deal about what goes on up here in the valley.' Of that, Annie had no doubt at all.

As the daylight gradually gave way to night, they managed to rearrange the room so that there was just enough space for Annie's bed amid all the boxes and furniture. Finally, as they were sitting in reception, drinking tea, the doorbell rang again. This time it was Matt. With him, he had brought a bag of food and drink. Annie noticed the immediate expressions of interest on the faces of the two girls when they caught sight of him, but she felt relieved she had at least been able to warn Matt off Paolina, who was working out really well at the school and was definitely too precious to lose. Annie made the introductions.

‘Hi, Matt. These are Paolina and Rita. Girls, this is Matt. He's one of my oldest friends.' She kissed him on the cheeks and watched as he proceeded to produce a bottle and set it on the counter.

‘Hi, ladies. First things first – have you got wine glasses?'

‘Somewhere in a box, but we've got tumblers in the kitchen.' As Paolina went off to find the glasses, Matt opened the bottle of Prosecco.

‘What's this in aid of?' Annie watched as he filled the glasses.

‘It's not every day you move house.' He grinned. ‘All right, this is only temporary, but there's always a good excuse for drinking Prosecco.' They toasted Annie's new home as he produced a
panettone
and chocolates from the bags he had brought.

They sat down and chatted, Matt as ever managing to charm the girls with his impeccable Italian and his good looks. Annie heard him repeating the story of his life that she knew well by now. His father had been in Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service, based in Rome for many years, and Matt had gone to school there. Although he had returned to the UK to study law at university, he had come back to Italy again in his mid-twenties and had been here ever since. He was fluent in both languages and this, of course, explained why he was such an effective translator.

‘So what are you girls doing tonight?' Matt looked across at Annie first.

‘A quiet night in, I think. I'm worn out after skiing and unpacking.'

Matt turned his attention to the other two. ‘Now I bet you girls know where there are a few good parties up here in Santorso, don't you?' Paolina smiled and shook her head, but Rita gave him a look that Annie recognised. The invitation in the girl's voice was quite clear as she replied.

‘I know where there's going to be a great party tonight. Paolina, you're going out with Davide tonight, aren't you?' Annie saw Paolina flush.

‘Not necessarily. I could always put him off.' Her eyes were firmly fixed on Matt. For his part, he was looking nonchalant.

Rita wouldn't hear of it. ‘No, of course not, Paolina. You go out with Davide and I'll sort Matt out.' She caught his eye. ‘Would you like me to show you the local night life, Matt?' Paolina made no response, but she was looking daggers at Rita across the table. Seemingly unaware, Matt glanced at Annie.

‘Sure you don't fancy coming out on the town with us, Annie?'

For a moment, Annie felt tempted. She couldn't remember the last time she had been out dancing and it would have been fun to dance with Matt for once. But then she thought better of it and shook her head. ‘No, I'm staying in. But don't let me cramp your style. You young people go out and have fun.' But as he walked out with his arms around the two girls, she felt a strange sensation. If she hadn't known better, she would have described it as jealousy, but that couldn't be. This was Matt, after all.

Chapter 6

When Annie surfaced around nine o'clock on Sunday morning and set about making coffee, she was still thinking about Matt and shaking her head in disbelief. What was it she had said about him to her sister? The morals of a tomcat, and she hadn't been exaggerating. If he had spent the night with Rita, she just hoped the girl's subsequent almost inevitable disappointment at then being dumped by him wouldn't impact on Paolina and then on the school. More to the point, there had been no missing the interest in Paolina's eyes, so, unless Rita did it first, Annie resolved to find the appropriate moment to enlighten her as to Matt's true colours.

She glanced out of the window. The sky was a brilliant blue and the sunshine flooding across the car park had already reached her car. As a result, the ice was visibly melting on the windscreen. Her phone started ringing. She had to hunt round the cluttered kitchen before she found it and managed to answer. It was Paolina with a suggestion.

‘Ciao, Annie. It's such a beautiful day, why don't we go skiing?'

Annie was about to say no when her eyes slipped out through the window again and she saw the sunlight reflecting on the snow that covered the mountains behind the town. It was a fairy-tale scene and she knew there was only one sensible option. ‘Paolina, I know I should stay home and tidy up a bit; my room looks like a train wreck. But, even though it's a Sunday and it'll be busy on the slopes, it's too fine a day to miss. Yes, let's go skiing.' She glanced at her watch. ‘How about if I pick you up from home at ten?'

They reached Montalto at ten-thirty. On the way, Annie tried a couple of times to bring the conversation round to Matt, but Paolina seemed unwilling to talk about him and Annie dropped the subject. The car park was much fuller than the last time Annie had been up there, but there was still ample space. They were able to get straight onto the main chairlift without wasting time in a queue, and by eleven they were up at the middle station. It was there that Annie got her first surprise of the day. Waiting for them by the recently illuminated fir tree chosen as this year's Christmas tree was none other than Rita from last night. Somehow, Annie had assumed Rita would still be with Matt.

‘Ciao, Rita. Did you have a good time last night?' As she asked, she could sense Paolina's impatience to know more.

Rita nodded, a touch of what could have been regret noticeable in her expression. ‘Yes, thanks, Annie.'

Paolina butted straight in. ‘So, come on, how did it go with
il bellissimo Matt
?' Evidently, Paolina had no compunction about prying into her friend's affairs.

‘He was great. We went to a party out by the airport. He insisted on giving me champagne and we did a bit of dancing.' She glanced across at Paolina, her eyes shining. ‘He's an amazing dancer. But it wasn't a very late night. After we'd been there for a while, Matt told me he was feeling very tired and he had to get some sleep, so I was home by eleven.' The regret was all too clear in her voice now, but Rita didn't stay despondent for long. Out here in the fresh air, with a cloudless blue sky above them, it simply wasn't possible. ‘So that's why I was up early and I sent Paolina the text suggesting coming up here.'

‘Well, I'm really pleased you did.' Annie gave a silent sigh of relief. Her little sermon to Matt had obviously worked.

‘He's too old for you anyway, Rita.' Paolina clearly saw the ten-year age gap as insurmountable. From the expression on Rita's face, she didn't agree.

‘He's only thirty-six. I'm twenty-five, after all.'

‘Well, I'm twenty-six.' Paolina was clearly making the point that she felt better qualified to vie for Matt's attentions.

Annie couldn't forget Matt's birthday. He was only a week older than she was. Both of them would be thirty-seven early in the New Year. She breathed in deeply, the crisp mountain air cold on her lips. She pulled off a glove, dug in a pocket, pulled out a lip protection stick and ran it over her lips. As she was doing so, they heard a voice calling to them. All three of them turned as a ski instructor swept by at the head of a gaggle of little children in crash helmets, like a Chinese dragon in a festival parade.

‘
Ciao ragazze
!' He raised his hand in salute.

Annie recognised him as he went past, rather glad to be included in the greeting as a girl alongside girls a lot younger than her. It was the same ski instructor who had appeared with the sledge to rescue the big black dog. She had felt his eyes on her then and she felt them again now as he sailed past. What was his name? Her eyes were still following him and he had almost disappeared across the slope, trailed by his cortege of six-year-olds, when it came to her. Paul. That was it. The Italian with the French name. She turned to the other two girls and saw from their faces that they knew him.

‘Do you two know him?' They both nodded.

‘Paul Cornaz. He was at school with us.' Rita glanced across at Paolina. ‘You had a thing for him for a while, didn't you?'

Paolina nodded. ‘But he wasn't interested in me. Every time I tried to talk to him he just clammed up and ignored me. Shame, because he's got the most amazing thigh muscles.' She caught Annie's eye and looked a bit bashful. ‘I've got a thing about men's thighs.'

Annie was surprised to realise that she, on the other hand, had had her eyes trained on another part of the young skier's body. Clearly, different parts of the male anatomy appealed to different women. She shook her head to clear it of the image of Paul's muscular bottom and reached for her goggles. As she did so, just to add to her confusion, she saw a tall figure in a blue jacket ski elegantly past and found herself wondering if it might be Alessandro with the bright blue eyes, rather hoping it was. As he, too, disappeared from sight, she pulled her goggles down over her eyes and got a grip.

‘
Bè,
andiamo
?'

They had a spectacular morning, skiing their way around the natural amphitheatre that made up the ski domain of Montalto. Away to the right of them, at the head of the valley, was the bulky mass of Mont Blanc, while back behind them they couldn't miss the magnificent monolith that was the Matterhorn, or
Cervino
, as the Italians called it. The two girls skied fluently and naturally, unsurprising as they had started almost at the same time as they started to walk. They did red runs and blue runs, black runs and some powder snow, although the depth of the powder hadn't built up quite enough by then. It was only a degree or two above zero, but the unbroken sun warmed them through their clothes. By the time they stopped for a late lunchtime sandwich at the mid station restaurant, all three of them were boiling hot. By a stroke of really good luck, as they reached the chalet-style wooden building, a group got up from one of the tables on the terrace and the girls found themselves sitting in the sunshine gazing out over a natural spectacle of rock and snow that was hard to beat. Around them, people were stripped to their shirtsleeves, lapping up the sun even though they were in the depths of December. Annie took off her jacket and relaxed.