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Back The House by the Sea Save as PDF
Chapters (71)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. 55
  58. 56
  59. 57
  60. 58
  61. 59
  62. 60
  63. 61
  64. 62
  65. 63
  66. 64
  67. 65
  68. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  69. MORE FROM LOUISE DOUGLAS
  70. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  71. ABOUT BOLDWOOD BOOKS

‘You’re welcome,’ she said.

Now she was watching Joe as he tried his. He looked up to see her watching him and their eyes locked. Unconsciously, Valentina bit her lower lip and a flicker of sadness, or perhaps regret, crossed her face. I saw it and Joe saw it too.

‘Which pizza would you recommend?’ I asked Valentina brightly.

She turned back to me.

‘Oh…’ she smiled, ‘any of them. They’re all good. My personal favourite is the traditional scacciata. It’s a speciality of the region: delicious local cheese, potato, broccoli, anchovies…’

‘Edie won’t eat anchovies,’ Joe said.

‘No?’

‘Sorry, I’m vegetarian.’

‘It’s no problem,’ Valentina said, ‘I’ll make you a vegetarian scacciata. How about you, Joe?’

‘Do you remember Signora Ganzaria’s scacciata?’ Joe asked Valentina. ‘She used to pack them for us to eat on the beach.’

Valentina smiled. ‘They were the best I’ve ever tasted.’

‘If you could make me one like that, I’d be the happiest man on the planet.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ Valentina said, delighted to be presented with this challenge. She wiped her hands on the tea towel and disappeared back into the pizzeria. Joe watched her go. I saw his eyes following her. He was smiling. Me, I took a large drink of wine.

28

For the first hour of that evening, Joe and I didn’t say much to one another, although we competed for Francesco’s attention whenever he came to our table. Our pizzas were burning-hot, oily, salty and delicious. I was hungry and while I ate I forgot everything and simply enjoyed myself. I texted a photo to Fitz and as I texted I realised something inside me had changed in the days since I arrived at Catania airport. The weight of the sadness that I’d carried for ten years had eased, a little. My transformation was to do with discovering how close I felt to Daniel within the villa’s walls: the time in the graveyard when I’d felt him run by me; the growing sense of him being amongst the DeLuca ancestors in that strange and lovely place. For ten years, my love for him had been subsumed into the overwhelming grief and anger, but now those emotions were receding, the love was emerging and it was helping me.

It had been good for me to come here. And yes, okay, it was Anna’s will that brought me here, but that was all. She wasn’t to know how I’d react when I arrived. Her part in this was negligible. I pushed her from my thoughts.