It took two large gin and tonics in the Gannet to numb the aches and pains in Gaby’s arms and legs or at least make her not care about them. At times over the past few hours, she’d half-wished she’d volunteered to be cox, not row, but the prospect of steering the gig between rocks, reefs and sandbanks made that a non-starter. At least she couldn’t actually kill anyone but herself by rowing.
She looked down at her hands and winced. Jess had loaned her a pair of cycle gloves but she still had blisters on the insides of her fingers and wasn’t looking forward to the next day in the fields. On the other hand, she’d really enjoyed the sense of camaraderie with the other members of her own crew and their rivals and a quiet but deep sense of satisfaction was gradually filling her veins. Then again, that could have been the gin.
Everyone – even Will – was laughing and joking as they milled around the pub terrace which had glorious views over the lagoon towards St Mary’s. The evening was cool but clear, with flat-topped pink clouds hovering on the horizon, almost like ghost islands above the real ones. It was on nights like these that she contemplated the idea of staying on Scilly for more than a mere summer, even if it meant abandoning the promise she’d made to her family and herself to see the world while she could.
Around two dozen rowers were gathered around her, tucking into hot pasties. As it was Easter Saturday, there were also trays of Easter brownies studded with mini eggs. After all that rowing, the crews attacked the food like a pack of seagulls let loose in a chip shop.
Luca came over a second after Gaby had taken a large bite of a pasty.
‘Gaby, you were incredible.’
She nodded and tried to smile while chewing furiously, spraying him with pastry crumbs. She pointed at her mouth and tried, ‘Sobby.’
‘It’s fine. Please, finish your dinner.’
Gaby gulped down the chunk of pasty, wincing as the hot meat lodged in her throat. She started coughing.
‘Drink this.’ Luca shoved a pint of lager at her and she managed to dislodge the pasty and cool her throat at the same time. He patted her on the back. ‘Sorry. I’ve almost caused you to choke. I came over to see how you were. Great effort today by the way.’
‘It was nothing, really.’
‘Not at all. You performed extremely well.’
Gaby’s cheeks heated up and the volcanic pasty had nothing to do with it. Her fellow crew members – including Will – must have been able to hear. In fact, she could see Will out of the corner of her eye, holding a half-eaten pasty and scowling in her and Luca’s direction. Jess’s attention had been caught too, but her eyes were mostly on Luca.
‘I was rubbish,’ she said, embarrassed by Luca’s effusive praise. ‘And no, please don’t say otherwise. It’s only thanks to the others that we even made it over the line before dark.’
Luca smiled indulgently. He really was incredibly handsome, with gleaming black hair straight from a shampoo ad. She half-expected him to have arrived in a vaporetto with a supermodel or Hollywood actress on his arm. When he lifted his pint, the muscles flexed in his biceps very distractingly. Having a thing for the male bicep, Gaby couldn’t help comparing Luca’s with Will’s. Actually, she thought, sliding a very sneaky glace at Will, who was lifting a tankard of ale, her boss came out rather well, considering he wasn’t an athlete and must be five years older than Luca.
‘What part of Italy are you from?’ she asked, before Luca could praise her rowing skills again and annoy Will even further. She could still see him, casting glances at her and Luca. To be fair, Will had been less frosty of late, possibly because she’d agreed to be in the crew and stuck at it.
‘The Amalfi coast. My grandparents are Sardinian, but Mum and Dad moved to the mainland near Salerno when they got married. That’s where I was born. They started a small vineyard when I was a baby but it’s grown since then.’
‘You don’t have an Italian accent at all,’ said Gaby.
He smiled. ‘No. I went to boarding school over here because my parents wanted me to have an English education. My mother had some romantic notion about England gleaned from Jane Austen novels, but I picked up a taste for rowing and soccer rather than fencing and horse-riding and I ended up staying here for university.’
‘Don’t you miss home?’
‘That depends on the weather.’ He smiled. ‘I find excuses to visit my parents and grandparents as often as I can, especially in the English winter. Those opportunities have become fewer, sadly, since I set up on my own as a marketing consultant. I’m based in London normally, but I’m working freelance for the Petroc Resort for a few months. Enough about me. What about you? You said you were at Cambridge. What did you study?’
‘I went to St Aldhelm’s and I have a PhD in Flower Poetry.’
‘Wow. How romantic … and what a coincidence that you were at Aldhelm’s. You might know my sister, Sophia? She’s a few years younger than me and she was reading English there?’
Cogs turned in Gaby’s brain as she pictured a dark-haired girl who was much quieter and more serious than her brother seemed to be. ‘Oh, yes. Sophia Parisi. I do remember her. She was in the year below me. How is she?’
‘She’s doing very well, thanks. In fact she went to RADA after Cambridge. She’s an actress now. She was in that new Italian crime series on the BBC, but she uses another name.’
‘Wow. How exciting,’ said Gaby, amazed that the shy Sophia was now a performer.
After telling her a bit more about his sister’s work, Luca moved on to ask Gaby more about her job at the flower farm and somehow another G&T miraculously appeared in her hand. The evening grew cool so Gaby put her hoodie on over her T-shirt.
‘Have you been to Italy?’ Luca asked.
‘No. I’ve always wanted to go. I went to France and Portugal while I was a student, but never made it there. Terrible, isn’t it?’
He tutted and sighed. ‘I’m afraid it is. Never been to Italy?’
‘No. Bella Pasta is the closest I’ve come. I’m clearly a very bad person.’
Luca laughed and Gaby laughed too, while sneaking a look at Will and finding him engrossed in a conversation with Javid. She returned her attention to Luca’s question. Although she made light of not having been to Italy, Luca wasn’t to know he’d opened up a wound. She’d actually had a rail trip around Italy planned out with a friend, but Stevie’s accident had meant she’d had to cancel. She hadn’t cared at all; nothing had mattered to her but hoping he might recover and come out of his coma. She’d have given up every material thing in her life to see him wake up and have some quality of life, but it wasn’t to be.
To all of this, Luca was, of course, oblivious. He carried on smiling. ‘We’ll have to put that right. When you get some time off, message me and I’ll make sure our holiday place in Amalfi is free. My parents don’t use it much these days with the vineyard being so busy and Sophia’s always working. You’d be welcome to stay there any time. With your friends, of course,’ he added.
Gaby didn’t know what to say. She’d only known him an hour and he was offering to let her stay in his parents’ villa? Then again, she did know his sister – sort of.
‘Thanks,’ she said, not sure if she’d ever take him up on it and starting to question his motives for paying her so much attention.
‘Hold on. Keep absolutely still,’ Luca suddenly said.
‘What?’ Gaby squeaked.
Luca brushed her shoulder. ‘There. It’s gone.’
‘What?’
‘A rather large flying beetle of some kind.’
‘How large? I’m used to creepy-crawlies in my job but I do prefer them of manageable size. Thank you.’ She smiled, wondering if Will had noticed Luca remove the insect from her top.
Luca looked down at her. ‘No problem.’
‘Sorry to interrupt, but I think Hugo wants to row back to Petroc.’ Will’s gruff voice made them both turn suddenly. He’d detached himself from Patrick, Maisie and Jess and now loomed a few feet away.
Luca glanced at his watch. ‘Thanks for telling me. I totally lost track of the time.’
‘Luca’s invited me to his villa in Amalfi,’ said Gaby. ‘After I’ve finished working here of course.’
Will’s eyes darkened. Gaby hadn’t been able to resist it, but then wondered why she’d provoked him at all.
‘It’s my parents’ villa, actually, but Gaby’s welcome any time.’
‘Sounds great. Look, I hate to spoil anyone’s fun, but if you don’t leave shortly, mate, the tides will be against you and you’ll be stuck on St Saviour’s for the night.’ Will sounded neutral enough but Gaby knew him too well to miss the edge of sarcasm in his voice.
Luca shot Gaby an amused look. ‘You know, that might not be too bad, but Hugo’s in charge, so I’d better do as he says. Hopefully our paths will cross again soon,’ he said to Gaby. ‘Will you be doing the Mixed race in the champs?’
‘I doubt it, but Will’s our skipper so it’s his call.’ She turned to him, feeling slightly bad about mentioning Luca’s villa and hoping to smooth things over a little. ‘What do you say, boss?’
His expression was cool. ‘It’s up to you,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to force you to do anything.’
‘Oh, you should definitely do it, Gaby. Tell you what, if Will can’t find a place for you in his crew, you can join the Petroc II gig. We’d be delighted to have you and, in fact, there’s a training evening on Wednesday night. I could come and collect you in the island jet boat.’ He smiled indulgently, probably to show he was only joking.
‘Hmm. That’s a very kind offer, Luca, but if I do row again, I ought to stay loyal to St Saviour’s.’ Luca was engaging and easy on the eye, but she didn’t want to give him any ideas.
‘You don’t owe me anything,’ Will interrupted. ‘However, I’d hate to sound like a boor, but technically Gaby is part of our team now, so it wouldn’t be the best idea if she switched sides …’
‘I’m not going to switch sides, and I’m sure Luca’s only being polite,’ Gaby cut in, annoyed with Will. ‘I’m committed to the St Saviour’s boat and it’s my decision. Goodbye, Luca. Nice to meet you. I’m off inside to join the others. It’s getting cold out here.’
She walked off, leaving Will and Luca to battle it out on the terrace if that’s what their game was. Luca hadn’t actually done anything wrong, whereas Will had acted like an overgrown schoolboy. Gaby didn’t want to flatter herself that Luca had been trying to chat her up; he struck her as the kind of charming marketing whizz-kid who’d talk the hind leg off a donkey to use one of her granny’s favourite phrases.
As for Will, Gaby despaired. Since their kiss all those weeks ago, his moods had been as unpredictable as the weather. Anyone would think he was suffering from teenage hormones, but that was no help to her. Maybe Luca had the right idea about not hanging around. Why bother staying on for the summer, let alone longer? Perhaps she should take Luca up on his offer and head to Italy.
Later, as she followed the rest of the St Saviour’s crew to wave off the Petroc and Gull Island boats, Gaby thought she wouldn’t leave quite that evening, but she was having serious doubts about remaining much longer. She hadn’t given Will an answer to his question about staying on for the summer and he hadn’t renewed the offer. Perhaps he, like her, was having second thoughts about her staying.