Hearts On Fire Episode 24
“It feels like thunder, doesn’t it?” Debbie said as they climbed from the SUV.
They had parked at the side of a track leading to a farmhouse.
With Océane on her day off, they were eating out.
Mark, trying not to think about the weather, looked around him but saw no evidence of a restaurant.
No menu on display, no gaily decked tables outside.
A man appeared, about Mark’s age, swarthy and thick around the middle.
Mark imagined him in a gangster movie wearing a double-breasted suit and a fedora.
Words were exchanged with Jacopo, then the man introduced himself in faltering English as Antonio and asked that they follow him.
He led them into the house, passing through a small salon with four or five tables, and out to the garden at the rear.
A row of trestle tables sat in an unbroken line beneath a vine-covered pergola.
Strings of lanterns hung from the wooden framework supporting the plants, giving the place a festive air.
Marianna arrived with the remaining guests in her estate car.
As light began to fade over the forested hills, Mark was happy to remain in the open air.
Being indoors increased his anxieties because he couldn’t monitor his environment.
“Isn’t this adorable?” someone piped up.
“Antonio!” Charlie launched into Italian.
Mark watched the proprietor.
He smiled and laughed as the exchange continued.
However irritating Charlie might seem, she could be charming as well.
He eyed up the table, wondering where to sit and also where Julia was.
Jacopo had explained during their short journey that she was tired and planned an early night.
He was not surprised she was tired after their nocturnal adventure, but her absence troubled him.
Was she avoiding him? Was she in trouble with Marianna?
Their host had tried and failed to look surprised when he reported the intruder in the animal enclosure that morning, which must mean she knew about it, and that they’d been seen together.
Starters appeared and wine was poured.
Soon they were all laughing and chatting, and Mark found himself enjoying the company.
His doctor had been right – he needed the break.
He also knew he needed to stop running away from his fears and face them.
He should view Villa Davide as a place of relaxation and fulfilment, not a heap of stone and tiles atop a huge mound of tinder, waiting for a match.
As Marianna was settling the bill, Mark noted clouds heaping up to the south.
As they climbed back into the cars, fat drops of welcome rain began to fall.
Mark laughed all the way home at anecdotes from the irrepressible Margot and dry asides from Jacopo, relieved that the drought was about to end.
He tumbled into bed feeling more content than he had in months.
He didn’t need Julia’s yoga tonight – the sound of fat raindrops spattering the earth was soothing enough.
Soon the ground would be sodden and the risk of fire minimal.
But just after he plunged into the deep sleep of the exhausted, those vanguard drops petered out and the real storm began.
It was the worst possible storm – lightning forking on to a parched land.
To be continued…