Sicilian Dreams (25 page)

‘James Bond.’ said Liz.

‘No, it’s The Incredible Hulk,’ added Cassie. Whoever he was he was worth a second look she thought, and they all stared at him from behind their sunglasses.

‘I could do this all afternoon,’ said Kat. ‘I mean, look there’s another one going into the tide now. Look at those buns.’

‘Hey, that’s what got you into hot water last time.’ said Liz, laughing. ‘How quickly you have forgotten Captain Fantastic.’

‘Not forgotten, never forgotten’ said Kat. ‘I can’t help it if all these gorgeous men are striding around half naked in front of me, what’s a girl to do?’

‘Perve of course.’ answered Liz, lying back and enjoying the view.

‘Buon giorno ladies’ and they turned to see Davide striding towards them, a big smile lighting his face. ‘Shit.’ said Kat in a low voice.

‘How are you feeling today Katrina? You look much better.’ He smiled down at Kat and she sat up.

‘Davide, what a surprise. I’m feeling much better thanks. It must have been a tummy bug, but I’m fine now.’ Which was as obvious as the two empty champagne flutes beside her, thought Liz.

‘What are you doing here? Why aren’t you on the boat today?’ said Kat.

‘Did you forget what I told you already? Today is my day off, my brother takes the cruise today. I came here for a swim and look how lucky I got. Three beautiful women right in front of me.’

‘Er, yes’ said Kat ‘here we are.’ But it was impossible to remain cool or stand offish with Davide. His open personality radiated friendliness and she felt bad about the night before so she added. ‘I’ll come for a swim with you.’ and jumped up. Davide’s face split into a wide grin and he eagerly took her hand and they waded into the water together.

‘This boy just keeps turning up,’ commented Liz wryly. ‘I don’t think Kat has seen the last of him by a long shot. Oh my God, look Cassie, he’s picked her up and he’s throwing her up in the air.’ They heard a loud thwack as Kat hit the water and went under.

‘Oops’ said Cassie, grinning. ‘She’s still got her sunglasses on.’ Davide was laughing hard as Kat surfaced and she retaliated by leaping out of the water and pushing him over backwards.

‘Could be a match made in heaven,’ said Liz. ‘He doesn’t allow her to take herself too seriously.’ Kat was laughing now and she swam further out as Davide chased her.

‘What’s happening with you and Marco this evening?’ asked Liz. ‘Does he want to join us for dinner here in town?’

‘He said he was keen to get together and he would text me when he finishes his meeting.’ Cassie looked at her watch. It was nearly 6:30pm. It was still hot and the water refreshing so there was no hurry to move anywhere else. ‘Everything happens so much later here. I’m sure I’ll hear from him soon,’ she added.

Kat and Davide finally came out of the water and dried themselves off.

‘Kat tells me you are going to eat in town this evening. Do you mind if I join you?’ asked Davide.

‘Of course’ said Liz, ‘we would be delighted. I’m sure you have some great recommendations, being a local.’

‘How hungry are you?’ asked Davide. ‘If you don’t want anything too heavy I know a great bar with a tapas style menu up by the Cathedral. We can sit outside. They have live music later on. Also it is casual, so we can go straight from the beach.’

‘In our bikini’s,’ teased Kat?

‘Sure, you will attract much attention.’ he said, his eyes sliding from her skimpy top to her even skimpier bottom.

‘Happy to oblige, but I actually bought a change of clothes’ said Kat, sounding much more enthusiastic. Maybe her romp with Davide in the sea had changed her mind. She was positively glowing. They rinsed off at the showers again and changed in the cute little cubicles. Cassie pulled on her short cut-offs and a tank top and twisted her hair into a knot. Davide was similarly casual in a faded tee shirt and cut off jeans. He looks so much more at home in casual clothes, thought Kat. He took their carry bags and slung them over his shoulder as they walked along the promenade to the old part of town. Cassie checked her phone again for messages. Nothing. Strange, where was Marco? She shrugged, tucked her phone back into her pocket and hurried to catch up with Liz. Kat and Davide were waking ahead of them and Liz stopped in front of a Pasticceria.

‘Look at these cakes Cassie, they are to die for. I must take a photo and send it to Doug and the girls. They will never believe them.’ The plate glass window of the shop was filled with every type of pastry and cake imaginable, some filled with cream, and others, brightly colored marzipan made to look like exotic fruits. Liz was particularly impressed with a massive brandy basket cake, filled with fruit and whipped cream with chocolate chips sprinkled over the mounds of cream. It was impossible to pass by without stopping to gaze at the display, even if you didn’t have a particularly sweet tooth, thought Cassie.

‘Stand to the side of the window and I’ll take a pic for you. This is like heaven for you, isn’t it?’ she said to Liz, laughing.

‘Absolutely. Imagine the size I would be if I worked here.’

Kat and Davide had already turned into the main piazza under the Cathedral and

Cassie and Liz spotted them a couple of minutes later at a table outdoors on the right hand side of the square.

‘What a wonderful spot for people watching.’ said Liz, as they sat down.

‘Si, it will become busier later on as people come by for gelato and drinks later on.’

‘It’s a gorgeous piazza. We ate near here the other night and I couldn’t believe how busy it was. There were little kids out playing at 11pm.’ said Kat.

‘It is not unusual for families to be out here with little kids even at midnight in the holidays’ said Davide. ‘It is cooler than their houses or apartment, and anyway, what is the hurry?’ he said expressively, managing to shrug his whole body. ‘What would you ladies like to drink?’ he asked as a waiter started coming their way. ‘Prosecco? Wine? Whiskey?’

‘Prosecco please,’ said Kat and Liz together.

‘I’ll have one of those too,’ said Cassie. ‘ It’s what we started with.’

‘Va bene. You are happy for me to order some dishes as well?’ he asked.

‘Sure, you’re the expert here,’ said Kat, ‘we’re in your hands.’

‘Thank you Katrina but I only have 2 hands. One of you will be enough.’ he grinned at her and Kat looked momentarily nonplussed. Not often that Kat is tongue tied, thought Cassie, smiling to herself and kicking Liz’s foot under the table.

He gave their order to the waiter in rapid Italian and then turned back to them, pulling a packet of playing cards from his back pocket.

‘We have the perfect number of people for a game of Scopa? Would you like to play?’

‘Cards? Now?’ said Kat, looking bemused. ‘Sure, why not. What is Scopa?’

‘It is a very popular Italian card game which is easy to learn but difficult to master, and you need to have a good memory.’ he said, grinning at them. ‘ Scopa means to sweep, or broom, in Italian. The idea is for one player, or team to sweep the cards from the table and get the highest number of points to win.’

He spread the deck on the table in front of him and explained the suits.

‘There are only forty cards in an Italian deck and they are divided in four suits called Coins, Cups, Swords and Batons. Each suit has values from one to seven. The three court cards are the knave, the cavalier and the king, which are worth eight, nine and ten. Because there are four of us we split into teams and you usually team up with the person opposite you, so Liz, you would be my team mate and Kat and Cassie comprise the other team.’ He paused while the waiter arrived with their drinks.

‘Okay, are you with me so far?’

‘Sort of,’ said Kat.

‘No problems, I will explain the rules as we go, and we’ll have a practice round first. He dealt them each three cards face down and put another four face up in the middle of the table, keeping the remainder of the deck by his side. ‘Okay, pick up your cards. We go anti clockwise in Italy, so Cassie you are to my right. You start. The idea is to capture the cards on the table using your own deck if possible. If not, you may have to pick up.’

Cassie showed him her cards and he said, ‘Okay, you have a five here see, so you can capture that five on the table. He took a five of coins from the table and matched it to her five of swords and then placed both of those cards face down on the table in front of her. He went around the table, helping them with their hands before taking his turn. ‘The winners are the first team to reach eleven points at the end of each round.’ The waiter reappeared with dishes of antipasto and squeezed them onto the table around the cards.

‘Yum, what are these?’ said Liz.

‘They are ‘Arancini di carne’, rice balls with meat and peas which are wrapped breadcrumbs and deep fried.’

‘Swap you.’ said Cassie, serving herself some of the calamari and passing it over to Liz. Kat and Davide helped themselves to a platter of mixed fried vegetables before passing the dish around.

‘Okay, are you all ready to start playing?’ asked Davide. They nodded and he shuffled the cards before dealing them each another hand. They quickly became engrossed with the game as the waiter cleared their plates and brought more food and another round of drinks. Cassie lost track of time and was surprised when she glanced at her watch and saw it was after 10pm. A small band was playing popular tunes and several older couples were up dancing in the softly lit square. Davide and Liz had won several hands, but Liz and Kat were gaining on them. It was really quite an addictive game she thought. She had put Marco out of her mind when she was playing Scopa, and started when she heard her phone ringing.

‘Cassandra, are you in town?’ asked Marco.

‘Hi Marco, yes, we are playing Scopa with Davide in the piazza,’ said Cassie. ‘He and Liz are winning at the moment,’ she added, laughing. ‘Are you going to join us?’ It was hard to hear him with all the noise around them and she got up and walked up a few steps towards the Cathedral so she could hear him properly.

‘No, there is problem,’ he sounded serious. ‘My father has been taken to hospital.’

‘What happened?’ said Cassie urgently.

‘He has had a heart attack. My mother said it happened just after lunch. He started complaining of chest pains that she thought were indigestion, but then the pain got worse and she called the doctor. He sent an ambulance and they took him straight into hospital.’

‘Is he going to be okay?’ said Cassie softly, her heart going out to Marco.

‘Yes, the doctors say he is lucky and he will recover, but he will have to make some changes to his lifestyle. Like giving up his evening cigar for one thing. He used to be so fit when they lived on the estate, but in recent years, he has done very little exercise. That, combined with being stressed all the time about my mother has helped put him in hospital. My mother is very upset as you can imagine. They rely on each other so much. I have to stay here with her.’

‘Of course you do.’ said Cassie. ‘I totally understand. Do whatever you have to do. It is important that you are there for them now.’

‘I’m sorry I won’t see you tonight,’ he said. ‘I will call you in the morning.’

‘Take care Marco.’ said Cassie.

‘Buona notte Cassandra.’ She flipped her phone closed and returned to the table.

‘That is terrible news,’ said Liz, as Cassie explained her conversation with Marco.

‘Poor Marco.’ said Kat. ‘This is when being an only child must be really difficult.’

‘At least he is still alive,’ said Davide. ‘Antonio is a very different man to the one I knew when I was a child. I am not surprised it has led to this,’ he added somberly, getting up from the table and heading inside the trattoria.

‘I just wish there was something I could do for him,’ said Cassie. ‘He will be really suffering.’ She alone knew the stress this would be causing him. He would feel guilty all over again.

‘There’s nothing you can do at this stage,’ said Kat. ‘His father is in the best place right now and Marco needs to be there for his mother. Come on, let’s split the bill and go back to the villa.’ She tried to wave over a waiter just as Davide returned to the table.

Kat looked at him suspiciously. ‘Did you just do what I think you did?’ she said, looking at a scrap of paper he was pocketing.

‘Si. It was my pleasure after making you play Scopa all evening.’ He grinned and gave them a mock bow.

‘No way.’ said Kat, looking up at him.

‘We have to give you some money for this,’ begged Liz.

‘Yes Davide’ said Cassie digging some Euros out of her wallet. ‘Come on, you don’t have to pay for us, really.’

‘Please, I wanted to. Do not offend me,’ he replied. ‘Come, I will walk you back to your car.’ He slung their beach bags over his shoulder again and they made their way through the old cobbled streets back to the car.

‘Davide is quite a character,’ commented Liz and she drove through the now quiet streets of town.

‘Yes, he is growing on me too.’ said Kat. ‘He reminds me in a strange way of Peter.’

‘Mr Berkley?’ said Kat.

‘Yes, they are both a bit quirky and I like that in a guy.’ She smiled to herself.