An Italian Dream

She kicked off her slip-on trainers and left her bag on the floor, then padded across the cool tiles to fling open the balcony doors.

The private balcony overlooked the gardens, with a glimpse of blue sea beyond the trees. The wall surrounding it was planted with herbs, their fragrance wafting on the light breeze, and flamingo-pink flowers bloomed in pots.

Fern leant her hands on the edge of the wall and soaked up the warmth and peace. For some reason, she hadn’t felt as utterly relaxed back at Villa Giardino as she did now; at least, she hadn’t realised she’d felt that way until coming here. It didn’t make sense as she’d been with family and friends there, while here she was with strangers and she’d only met Edith so far. It felt like fate, meeting and chatting to Edith on the ferry over. It was funny how it had all worked out.

* * *

Matteo took Fern by surprise an hour later as she was walking across the large and airy entrance hall on her way outside. He strode towards her with his hand held out.

‘Welcome, Fern. Edith said you’d arrived.’

Her first impression was that his hand was warm and firm. He spoke perfect English with barely an accent. Her second impression was how handsome he was, with dark brown hair and warm hazel, almost green, eyes. Stubble decorated his strong jaw. He must have been somewhere in his early forties, she reckoned, and had quintessentially Italian good looks but not in an off-putting way.

‘You’re Italian?’ she asked, eager to fill the brief silence.

‘I am. I was born in Italy, although my mother grew up in England and we spoke English and Italian at home fluently, hence the lack of a strong Italian accent.’ He swept a hand towards the stairs. ‘Edith assured me she’d shown you to your room. I trust you have everything you need?’

‘I have, thank you. The room is gorgeous. The whole place is.’

‘Thank you. We aim to please. My passion is to make guests happy and ideally never want to leave. If they feel that way, then I’ve done a good job. Art, creativity, food and wine is what we’re all about. Our day pretty much revolves around food.’ He laughed with a jolliness that Fern hadn’t expected. It made her smile. ‘You can choose to have breakfast and lunch in your room or wherever you wish in the villa or garden, but dinner we eat together. We like to socialise over food, chat about our day and everyone’s creative plans. Talk, eat and drink.’

‘That sounds wonderful.’

‘You missed lunch; would you like something to eat now?’

‘Oh, I’m fine, thank you. I had a big breakfast. We were fed rather well where I’ve been staying.’

‘It seems it was fortuitous you meeting Edith.’

‘I’m completely surprised by being here and can’t thank Edith enough for her invite and your generosity in being okay with it.’

‘Oh, the more, the merrier, I say.’

‘That’s what Edith said.’

He nodded and smiled warmly. ‘I’ll let you explore, but before dinner we must chat about how you want to spend your time here.’

Fern nodded in agreement and they said goodbye for the time being. Fern headed outside and strolled along the shaded terrace outside the living room. Matteo was as Edith had described: warm and generous, and seemingly fine with her being here in place of Edith’s friend. It was also easy to see why Edith was so taken by him – he was rather handsome… Fern brushed the thought away as she continued to explore.

On the edge of Anacapri, a pretty whitewashed village on the more peaceful side of the island, the villa was perched on a hill and nestled within private gardens with glimpses of the sea between the trees. Fern could hardly believe her luck; the place felt like a dream. She was unsure how she was supposed to explore the creativity that had been buried for so long, but she was certain that this place would provide inspiration. She was nervous though, about how it would feel to do something she used to love. She felt the stirrings of creativity and the unexpected freedom felt good.

Stone steps led down to a swimming pool. The water was clear and turquoise, just one more inviting element of the tropical-looking garden. With so many beautiful hidden areas, Fern’s breath was snatched away at every turn. She thought the villa Stella had rented was beautiful, but this place was even better. Despite its size and elegance, it felt lived in and loved. Everything about the place made Fern feel as if she was a movie star living someone else’s life. Even on a multi-million-pound yacht, she was hard-pressed to think how Stella, Amber and Chloe’s experience could top hers.