The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop Part 3

'She's been giving him a gentle nudge towards having a proper look round, but she doesn't want to force the issue. In any case, she's been busy arranging the launch,' Anna said, 'sending out press releases and getting local publicity.'

'So much for being retired,' Imogen said. 'I knew she wouldn't be sitting still for long.'

'My mother's the same,' Matteo said. 'Happiest when she's busy.'

'Your family should all come and stay again,' said Imogen. 'Once the guesthouse is open there'll be much more room, they won't be squashed into the spare room at Mum and Dad's cottage.'

'Good point,' Matteo said. 'The Elderberry Guesthouse it has a nice ring to it. As English as fish and chips. I'm sure Mum, Dad and Caro would love it.'

Anna flashed her sister a look, and Imogen instantly regretted what she'd said. The previous Christmas which Matteo's family had joined them for hadn't been a tremendous success. A week had felt long to them all. Elisa, Matteo's mum, a confident and forthright woman, had taken charge, and made more than one comment about Anna and Matteo still not being married. She'd also swamped her grandchild with gifts, even though Bella, at only a year old, was only really interested in the wrapping paper. On the day that Elisa, Giacomo and Carolina left, they'd all breathed a sigh of relief. Elisa meant well but the truth was that Anna often struggled to get on with her.

Conscious of her sister's unease, Imogen quickly backpedalled. 'I mean in the future, next year or whatever. The place isn't even open yet, after all.'

A small cry came from Bella's room, then all fell quiet again.

Anna went out into the corridor to listen out.

'Anna, leave her. She's asleep,' Matteo said. 'Don't worry.'

'You're right. Nothing now. I thought she'd woken up. You know how she loves a party.'

'She's a Mediterranean girl at heart,' Matteo said, with affection. 'She'd stay up till midnight if we let her.'

'Your mother says you were the same,' Anna added, recalling the stories that Elisa had told her over Christmas.

'I was. Carolina and I would be running through the square on festival nights, playing games with the other children and hiding underneath the dinner tables. No one minded us staying up late.'

'We won't be trying that one out with Bella,' Anna said, shaking her head. 'She'd be impossible the next day.'

'I like the sound of it,' Imogen said, Matteo's description capturing her imagination. 'It sounds like a wonderful way to grow up. All that freedom. Hanging out with kids of different ages. Better than how it was in our house, in bed at seven whether you were tired or not. You were all right, Anna burying your head in a book or whatever but I remember going out of my mind with boredom on the days when I wasn't sleepy. I think the Mediterranean way of life sounds much more child-friendly.'

'You see, Anna,' Matteo said, nudging his wife gently. 'There's a lot to be said for the Italian way of things. The occasional late night isn't going to make any difference to Bella.'

Imogen clocked her sister's expression and sensed that she might have touched a nerve.

'I didn't mean for Bella, necessarily,' Imogen said. 'I'm just speaking generally.'

'I know,' Anna said. 'I do wonder if she's more of an Italian at heart. But this is where she's growing up.'

A look pa.s.sed between Anna and Matteo, and Finn, sensing the tension, jumped in to change the subject.

'How is everything going at Vivien's?' he asked.

'Really well,' Anna said. 'The winter menu's gone down well though I think we're both looking forward to spring, and being able to bring back the sorbets.'

'I remember that first summer,' Finn said. 'I was in there all the time looking for an excuse to chat to her . . .' He looked over at Imogen.

'So it wasn't just our ice creams you were interested in?' Anna raised an eyebrow.

Finn shook his head and laughed. 'Nope.'

'I didn't think she'd ever meet a man who could tempt her to stick around here,' Anna said.

'Well, it looks like I did,' Imogen said, briskly. 'Anna, didn't you say you had a new recipe you wanted to try out on us?'

'Yes!' Anna said, brightening. 'Of course. I almost forgot. You are in for a treat. Come on, Matteo, let's get the desserts ready.'

Anna and Matteo came back into the dining room a few minutes later with steaming hot mugs.

Imogen caught a scent of the drinks, carrying on the air. 'Cocoa?'

'Yes, but more than that.' Anna put the mugs down on the table. 'I hope you two are up for being our guinea pigs.'

'Always,' Finn said.

'Hot ice cream,' Matteo p.r.o.nounced. 'Our winter ice cream revolution. For you, on Valentine's Day.'

'Homemade cocoa,' Anna said, 'with a scoop of praline ice cream, a scoop of dark chocolate, and a sprinkling of finely chopped hazelnuts on top.'

'Give me that,' Imogen said, clamouring for it. 'Sounds amazing.'

She pa.s.sed Finn's mug over to him.

They both took a sip. 'Oh, this is good,' Finn said. 'Really good.'

'You have to put this straight on the menu,' Imogen said. 'No question.'

'I can't get enough of what you guys make,' Finn said to Matteo. 'But a lifetime of ice cream you never get tired of it?'

'I never could,' Matteo said. 'But you have to mix things up from time to time, of course. Running Vivien's gives us s.p.a.ce to experiment.'

'I'm not sure what Granny would think if she saw the place now,' Imogen said. 'All those granitas and sundaes. She'd kind of settled into selling 99s and Milk Maids, hadn't she?'

'Vivien's pa.s.sion was for people, not so much for food or finances,' Anna explained to Matteo. 'By the end she was running the ice cream shop pretty much as a community centre, caring for anyone who dropped in. I think her love for the business itself went out of her a little when Granddad pa.s.sed away.'

'It must have been hard for her, keeping their shop going after he died. They really loved each other, didn't they?' Matteo said.

'So much,' Anna said. 'They did everything together, in the shop and out of it. They would even finish each other's sentences.'

'I think the only time they were apart was that trip she and Evie had to Italy,' Imogen said. 'They relied on each other. She was devastated when he died.'

'I don't think she ever got over losing him. Not really,' Anna said.

Chapter 3.

The following Thursday, Anna was in Vivien's, preparing some white-chocolate-and-hazelnut ice cream for their Sundae of the Week. The bell rang to announce a new customer, and she looked up to see Evie, her candyfloss-pink hair pinned up loosely, and a blue denim jacket on. Anna smiled it always comforted her to see her grandma's best friend and, with her souvenir shop just two doors away, she was a frequent visitor to Vivien's.

'Hey, Evie,' Anna said. 'Good swim this morning?'

'Very invigorating, thank you,' she said, taking a seat up at the counter. 'Best thing about this time of year is that I seem to have the whole sea to myself.'

Anna laughed. 'You're the only one mad enough to go out there, that's why.'

'Vivien would have been out there, too, of course, if she were still here. There was no holding your grandma back from her morning swim.'

'I think she pa.s.sed that love of wintry waters on to Imogen. Not to me, that's for sure.'

'She rescued a boy out there once. Did she ever tell you that?'

'I didn't know that, no what happened?' That was the thing with Vivien: there had been so many layers to her. Anna was used to hearing snippets and stories from people, lighting up dark corners that she and Imogen had never known about.

'A young boy, he was, about five out walking the dog with his parents. When the dog dived into the water, he followed, and the tide dragged him out. His mum and dad couldn't get far out quickly enough, but Vivien was already out there. Got hold of him and brought him back into sh.o.r.e. The dog came trotting up soon after, totally oblivious to all the trouble it had caused.'

'That's amazing,' Anna said, feeling proud.

'Made the local paper, that one. I've got a cutting somewhere. I'll dig it out for you.'

'Please do. Maybe we could get it framed for the guesthouse Dad would like that. In the meantime, what can I get you to warm you up, Evie?'

'Do you have any of those pastries left?'

Anna called back into the kitchen. 'Matteo, are there any more cannoli out there for Evie?'

'Yes. I've got a batch here fresh from the oven,' he called back.

'Fantastic,' Evie said.

'Would you like an espresso? I know you're normally more of a tea drinker, but, really, you need coffee with them.'

'Yes, please,' Evie said. 'Although you'll have to deal with me talking a mile to the minute.' She laughed warmly.

'So how are things with the shop?' Anna said, pressing down the coffee grains and setting up the machine for Evie's drink.

'Fine,' she said quickly. Anna noticed then that the usual brightness in her eyes was absent today, and she looked older, more like the late sixties she really was, rather than the younger woman she so often appeared to be.

Anna saw right away that she wasn't being completely honest. She raised a questioning eyebrow.

'Oh, you know how it is, running your own business,' Evie said. 'There's always something to worry about, isn't there? It's been giving me grey hairs lately.' She touched her hair, dyed a pale pink for as long as Anna could remember.

'Really?' Anna said, looking at her hair and smiling.

'Well, let's see what you think when I can't afford the hairdressers' bills any more.'

'Are things really that bad?' Anna asked, concerned.

'Business has been slow for a long time. Winter's always a challenge you know that as well as me, in a town like this. But normally I've earned enough in the summer months to tide everything over. This year, I have to admit I'm only just sc.r.a.ping by.'

'Do you think changes to stock would make any difference?'

'I've tried, Anna. I've tried almost everything, but profits keep dropping.'

'I'm sorry to hear that.'

'Thanks. But perhaps it's a sign.' Evie's normally bright blue eyes were weary, and there was a heaviness in her words. 'I'm not one to give things up easily, but maybe it's time for me to move on. Sell the place and do something new.'

'Are you sure?' Anna said.

It saddened Anna to see Evie look so defeated. When she and Imogen had been working hard to make Vivien's a success, Evie had been with the sisters every single step, counselling and supporting them. And now her business was struggling. It didn't seem right. More than that: if Vivien had been alive, she would have been doing everything in her power to make sure that Evie was OK, and Anna felt that same responsibility and loyalty towards her grandmother's best friend.

'Some days I'm sure,' she said. 'Others less so. It's a difficult decision, after so many years. Selling souvenirs is all I've ever really done, other than travelling, that is.'

'Here,' Anna said, pa.s.sing Evie her coffee together with the warm cream pastry Matteo had brought over. 'I'm sorry. It doesn't solve things, but . . .'

Evie bit into her cannoli and gave an appreciative nod. 'It certainly helps.'

Anna smiled.

'These pastries take me back to that trip I took with Vivien to Sorrento, the Amalfi coast. Thirty-odd years ago it was now. We sat in pavement cafes all afternoon the sea sparkling in front of us and nothing to do but while away the suns.h.i.+ne hours with a paperback.'

'It must have been lovely,' Anna said, feeling a pang of nostalgia for the carefree days she'd had in Florence before Bella was born.

'You'd like it out there,' Evie said.

'Maybe one day,' Anna said.

'It was special to your grandmother, that place.' She paused and seemed to cast her mind back to that time. 'We laughed so much, back then.'

That afternoon, Anna's mum Jan came into the ice cream shop with Bella. They all kissed h.e.l.lo, Jan's cheeks cold from the fresh air.

'Thought I'd pop in and say hi.'

'Hey, Jan,' Matteo called out from the kitchen.

'Your dad and Uncle Martin are busy with DIY at the guesthouse, so Bella and I are on our way to the park. Would you like to join us?'

'Matteo, do you mind if I go out for a while?' Anna asked him.

'Of course, no problem.'

Anna bundled up a couple of the unsold pastries. 'Some fuel.'