A few heart-in-the-mouth minutes later, she began to pick up confidence and speed.
The autumn sunlight peeked from behind Vesuvius, the sea glimmered like tinsel, and a wispy vapour trail swept across the forget-me-not blue sky.
She was living the dream.
‘You can park here,’ Dario announced all too soon. ‘The shopping centre is there, just across the square.’
From the outside, Galleria Umberto looked like a palace, with its arches, columns and towering statues. Only in Italy.
Stepping inside, Lucy always felt like she’d been beamed onto the set of a Fellini film.
The soaring domed glass and steel roof and the colourful mosaic floor, depicting the signs of the zodiac, never failed to take her breath away.
Dario waved to her from the jewellery shop window.
‘Doyou think Francesca will like this?’ he said, pointing to an opal ring. ‘Is her birthstone.’
‘It’s beautiful,’ said Lucy. ‘What a lovely brother you are.’ She giggled. ‘Jamie bought me a cake tin for my last birthday.’
‘Do you mind to try it on?’
Lucy shrugged. ‘Of course not. That’s why I’m here.’
‘Buongiorno,’ gushed the willowy, oh-so-glam assistant as they entered the shop.
How do they do it,Lucy wondered,Italian women? They have that special something that gives them that effortless, I-woke-up-looking-like-this vibe.
The assistant’s perfectly manicured hand removed the ring fromthe window display. As Lucy slipped it on her finger, she was painfully aware of her own short, unpolished nails.
‘It’s a little loose,’ said the assistant. ‘Size “J” would be perfect for you.’
‘Oh, it’s not for me,’ said Lucy. ‘It’s for his sister.’
Dario rubbed his chin in quiet deliberation. ‘Actually, I think she would prefer the opal necklace.’
Lifting the necklace from the box, he gently turned Lucy towards the full-length mirror and opened the clasp. She swept her hair up in one hand, revealing her creamy, swan-like neck.
He stood behind her and raised his arms. Her skin tingled as he slid the necklace around her, his fingers lightly brushing the side of her throat.
He leaned over her shoulder, studying her reflection. Her heart launched into the mambo. Colour flooded her cheeks.
‘Perfetto,’he said eventually, pulling away with an air of triumph. ‘Please gift wrap it for me.’
‘Well, that didn’t take long,’ said Lucy, regaining her composure.
‘When I find what I am looking for, I know,’ Dario said, his eyes burning into her. ‘Caffè?’
Lucy cleared her throat and checked her watch. ‘I’d love a coffee but I really ought to be getting back,’ she said; not that she wanted to get back.
Dario shrugged. ‘Of course.Andiamo.’
‘I have lots of baking to do and school prep to finish by Monday, not to mention…’
Lucy realised she was talking to herself, Dario having disappeared into a flower shop.
He emerged a few moments later, clutching a single red rose.
Without a word, he placed it in the under-seat storage compartment.
