His hand moved towards her, and she took it. They rose andmoved towards each other, the notes of a slow, romantic song now floating through the night air.
She could smell him, feel his breath tickle her ear, his long legs lightly touching hers. A giddy mix of anticipation and awkwardness flashed through her as they slow danced to the music.
‘Dario…’ Lucy whispered.
‘Sì?’
‘Please don’t tell Elena what happened. It took a lot of persuasion for her to leave me in charge.’
‘We make a deal,’ said Dario. ‘I don’t tell her about your accident, and you delete the photo you took earlier of me wearing this flowery apron.D’accordo?’
Lucy gasped. ‘You saw?’
‘I see everything,’ he deadpanned. Moving his arm further around her waist, he drew her closer. Her awkwardness and the burning sensation in her arm vanished in that instant as they shared their first kiss.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Stefano’s eyes were glued to Jamie’s prosthetic leg. Jamie was used to this and the awkwardness that usually followed; but instead of whispering to Stefano that he shouldn’t stare, Elena leaned forward and said, ‘Isn’t that cool, Stefano?’
The boy looked a while longer, then nodded and said, ‘Real cool.’
Jamie smiled. ‘Your legs may be wee, young man, but they have more power in them than you know. Ready?’
‘Ready.’
Elena’s heart glowed at Stefano’s first impression of disability. She hoped it would remain with him for all of his life.
Jamie took him by the hand and led him through the players’ tunnel and out onto the cavernous pitch.
Elena took her seat in the empty football stadium, blew the whistle and picked up the megaphone.
‘The atmosphere here at Celtic Park is electric. Who will be the first to score? Will it be Anderson or Moretti? Anderson, he has got the ball, but Moretti’s coming up on the inside. It’s a decent cross, but Anderson’s not giving it away. Both sides are looking for a breakthrough. Here comes Moretti. He’s got fantastic flair. Yesss! That’s a majestic header. And Moretti scores! The crowd is going wild…’
Elena looked down at Stefano, now sitting on Jamie’s shoulders, waving to his imaginary supporters. She half-closed her eyes, dreaming just for a moment that it was Giancarlo’s shoulders he was sitting on.
She turned up the collar of his old leather jacket and took a deep breath. She could almost feel him beside her.
Hey, amore mio! What do you make of our boy, eh? Forza Napoli!
She felt a pang of longing, as she always did at times like these. She worried too about the psychological ramifications that growing up without a father might have on Stefano’s future. She’d read online that fatherless kids were more likely to drop out of school, and were more prone to low self-esteem, which in turn could affect future relationships. She really had to stop googling this sort of stuff.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. ‘You okay?’
She brushed away a stray tear. ‘Yes. Sorry, Jamie. I was in a world of my own.’
Jamie nodded towards Stefano, bouncing around the pitch like a Duracell bunny. ‘He’ll no’ have a problem sleeping the night.’
Elena smiled. ‘Thank you for arranging this. Stefano will never forget it. And neither will I.’
‘You’re welcome. My sister’s very fond of you, you know. You’re helping her through a difficult time of her life.’
‘Just as she is helping me.’
Jamie opened his mouth to speak but changed his mind.
‘I wish to thank you also for introducing us to the documentary filmmaker.Mamma mia! The interest in our company, it’s huge – from abroad too. These last two months… crazy busy. Our feet have hardly touched the… floor. Is this correct?’
Jamie smiled. ‘Nearly. It’s the ground, not the floor.’
