BooksBarbecue
Back Escape to the French Farmhouse
Chapters (79)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Jo Thomas
  4. DEDICATION
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. THIRTY-NINE
  44. FORTY
  45. FORTY-ONE
  46. FORTY-TWO
  47. FORTY-THREE
  48. FORTY-FOUR
  49. FORTY-FIVE
  50. FORTY-SIX
  51. FORTY-SEVEN
  52. FORTY-EIGHT
  53. FORTY-NINE
  54. FIFTY
  55. FIFTY-ONE
  56. FIFTY-TWO
  57. FIFTY-THREE
  58. FIFTY-FOUR
  59. FIFTY-FIVE
  60. FIFTY-SIX
  61. FIFTY-SEVEN
  62. FIFTY-EIGHT
  63. FIFTY-NINE
  64. SIXTY
  65. SIXTY-ONE
  66. SIXTY-TWO
  67. Epilogue
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. RECIPES
  70. Lavender shortbread
  71. Apricot jam sponge cake
  72. Lavender lamb
  73. READ MORE
  74. Prologue
  75. ONE
  76. TWO
  77. THREE
  78. FOUR
  79. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘That, lovely, you will have to wait and see in the morning,’ he says, walking towards the stove where the pot of tomato sauce is waiting to be stirred. He’s still smiling to himself. ‘Let’s just say I think it could be perfect!’ He turns back to me, as if he’s trying to read my reaction. ‘This place will continue to have a pizzaiolo, a master pizza-maker, making pizzas here. Like I say, the best thing you can do is hand on a legacy while you’re still alive, and that is what I plan to do. To pass on my father’s legacy to the next generation.’ He steps out of the back door and comes back in with a pile of wood. He lays the fire in the pizza oven, ready to light before service later.

‘When can I meet them?’ I ask. ‘And why can’t you tell me about them?’ I frown, keen now to have every bit of information on the person taking over my family’s business.

‘Tomorrow. All will be revealed tomorrow. I will invite them to the apartment to talk things through. You can meet then,’ he says.

Well, I think, at least I won’t have to leave here worrying about him and Nonna. It looks as if he’s got everything in hand and this place will go on being ‘Nonno’s’. As long as it stays as it is, I’ll be happy, very happy indeed. I can’t think why he seemed so worried about telling me.

FOUR

The following morning I wake to Angelo’s singing, as he serves customers in the café below, the scent of coffee and pastries floating up from the street. I can hear the town stirring, feel the sun’s warmth rising above the apartments opposite and smell my first meal of the day. Just the same as yesterday, and every morning for as long as I can remember coming to stay in my grandparents’ apartment. Why do we never take time to sit and have breakfast before we go to work? I’m at my desk with a cereal bar by seven thirty. We make time for the gym, exercising inside on machines. Why don’t we sit, smell the coffee, enjoy the sunlight on our faces? It makes me feel better than the gym.