The Star in my Eye - 8. Chapter 8

Sami barely spoke for the rest of the day. He stayed in his room, drawing feverishly with his new pencils then scrunching up the pages and throwing them away. Gianni avoided looking at the discarded pictures, for fear of what they might show.

There was a sombre atmosphere after Sami had gone to bed. As they attempted to relax in the den that evening, Angelo sought to reassure Gianni, reminding him of Sergio’s advice, but Gianni wasn’t convinced. He felt sure that there was something wrong between them and their foster son that couldn’t just be explained by something as simple as overexcitement.

The next morning, Gianni staggered out of bed without much enthusiasm. Dimly aware of an unusual cool in the air, he supposed he should head downstairs and relight the fire.

Angelo stirred in bed as Gianni hooked his dressing gown off the back of the door and knotted it about his waist.

“Buongiorno,” Angelo mumbled.

Gianni returned the greeting and slipped listlessly out onto the landing. Sami’s bedroom door was still shut; he wondered what would happen when it opened.

Gianni yawned as he made his way down the stairs, wondering how they would pass the time. It was Christmas Day but, with the family Christmas already celebrated – after a fashion – what else was there to do?

As he passed the two small windows in the dining area, where they seldom bothered to close the shutters, he stopped and did a double-take.

Outside, the terraced mountain landscape was dressed in a blanket of white. Snow had fallen during the night, settling thickly on the frozen ground and on the terracotta rooftops of the buildings on the mountainside; the view might almost have been in monochrome, were it not for the low, pale golden sun that blushed the trees and whitewashed buildings from the gaps between the cotton-wool clouds.

Despite his worries, Gianni found himself smiling.

Upstairs, he heard Sami’s bedroom door open.

“Sami?” he called, their argument temporarily forgotten. “You have to come down and see this!”

The little boy appeared on the stairs in his blue cotton pyjamas, watching him anxiously with his large brown eyes.

“Come on,” Gianni urged him, gesturing towards the window.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Sami came over and clambered up onto the church pew. His mouth fell open as he stared out at the wintry scene.

“Snow?” he cried.

Gianni nodded. “That’s right. For real, this time.”

They exchanged a glance, and they couldn’t help grinning at each other.

Relieved, Gianni allowed himself to relax a little. He supposed the issues that had flared up yesterday hadn’t gone away completely; but, at least for the moment, there was something more fun to focus on.

Angelo appeared, stretching and yawning as he descended the stairs in his nightwear.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he saw Gianni and Sami staring out through the window.

“Take look for yourself,” Gianni replied.

Sceptically, Angelo shuffled over to the window, then he stared in surprise. “Whoa!”

“A white Christmas in Ravello…” Gianni murmured. “The odds against it… they must be astronomical.”

Angelo grinned. “Seems more like fate to me.”

Sami whirled round to face them. “Can we go out an’ play in it?” he begged, pressing the palms of his hands together. “Please?”

“Of course,” Angelo replied, “just as soon as we’ve had breakfast.”

* * *

Freshened up and dressed, they were just finishing their breakfast of lemon croissants and orange juice when there was an insistent knock at the door. Gianni went to answer it, wondering who could possibly be calling so early.

It was Daniele, wrapped up in a warm coat, scarf, gloves, and a woolly hat, from which just a few tufts of his light blond hair protruded. His blue eyes were glistening with the cold and his cheeks were flushed with excitement. His boots were covered in flecks of powdery snow.

“Can Sami come out to play in the square?” he asked breathlessly, without even pausing to say ‘ciao’.

“Yes!” Sami shouted eagerly from his seat at the dining table.

“Absolutely, Dani,” Gianni replied, chuckling slightly with amusement. “We’re still getting up, but we’ll join you in a bit.”

Daniele grinned. “Cool.” Clearly itching to go, he glanced eagerly back out into the snow-covered street. “I have to go and get Marco.”

“What about Giacomo?” Gianni asked, glancing thoughtfully across the street, where Elena’s apartment was just out of sight beyond the courtyard gates.

“I’ll text him,” Daniele replied, waving the question away impatiently. “Emilia, too. Thanks, Gianni!”

Gianni smiled. “See you in a bit.”

With a parting wave, Daniele hurried away to make his next house call.

It took a few more minutes to wash up the breakfast things and get everybody ready, but before long Gianni, Angelo and Sami were setting out together into the stillness of the snow-covered street.

It was strange at first, so used was Gianni to the usual earthy colours of the street and the buildings. The crazy paving was hidden beneath the whispering white blanket, which kicked up a fierce glare under the brightness of the powder-blue winter sky.

They walked with Sami in the middle, each holding one of his hands, treading carefully lest there be any compacted, icy patches. They could see Daniele’s eager footprints stretching up the street from the Bishop’s Way to the arch above the belvedere, and a few other trails where other intrepid locals must have ventured out to explore; but, so far, there was more than enough crunchy virgin snow to make their passage safe and painless.

The broad stairway down the avenue of oleanders showed a few more signs of use, and they zig-zagged down the steps, avoiding the more trodden patches. Over the rooftops of the town and the valley beyond, the rocky mountains above Scala were crowned in white, while the terraced landscape of the village below brushed the hillside with artistic streaks of bright snow and grey stone.

Gianni and Angelo paused at the corner of the cathedral square to take in the dazzling landscape. Aside from a clearer patch beneath the dense canopies of the eight umbrella pines, the square was carpeted in an unbroken blanket of white.

As they watched, Daniele, Emilia and Luca came charging into the square from the tree-lined street below Reza’s construction site. They were followed by Marco, who wandered in a few paces behind the others and perched listlessly on one of the stone benches under the pine trees, watching as the others took up arms and began a vigorous snowball fight.

“Ciao!” Daniele called, waving enthusiastically across the square. He gestured at Emilia and Luca. “Look who we found on the – mfff!”

He was cut off mid-sentence by a well-placed snowball from Luca. The green-eyed boy ran off, laughing, and took cover behind Emilia.

“I said no aiming at the head!” Daniele shouted, snowball in hand, desperately trying to line up a shot while the other boy ducked and weaved behind his increasingly cross-looking girlfriend.

“Oh, boy,” Angelo chuckled. “This could get serious.”

Sami was practically bouncing on the spot. “Can I go?” he asked, tugging impatiently at both their hands.

“Sure thing, son,” Gianni replied, releasing him. The little boy shot off at once, giggling.

“Hey… wait for me!” Angelo called after him, charging off to join the fray himself. Gianni was left on his own, watching as the fight descended into mayhem.

Somehow, a stray snowball found Marco, who shielded himself with his arms. Without leaving his bench, he bent down, scooped up a handful of snow and sent it flying back into the mass of people, where it struck Daniele in the shoulder.

With a laugh of protest, the blond-haired boy ran over to him and took him by the arm, trying to persuade him to join the fight properly, but Marco resisted, shaking his arm free. Disappointed, Daniele made an enquiring gesture; from a distance, Gianni was unable to make out the other boy’s response.

From behind Gianni, there was a sudden sound of running footsteps followed by a yelp. Startled, Gianni glanced down just in time to see Giacomo slide into view flat on his back, wearing a new, bright red puffer jacket that stood out vividly against the snow.

“Ah… ciao, Giacomo,” Gianni chuckled, extending a hand to help the dark-eyed boy back up.

Accepting the hand with an embarrassed smile, Giacomo staggered to his feet.

“Grazie,” he said. “C'è il ghiaccio!”

“No kidding,” Gianni remarked.

Giacomo dusted himself down and charged on into the square, seemingly no wiser for his accident.

“Ciao, Dani!” he called, sending a snowball flying towards his friend, who ducked out of the way just in time; bypassing his shoulder, it hit Emilia square on the back of the head. Stifling a giggle with a hand to his mouth, Daniele backed away as Emilia rounded on the newcomer, dark brown eyes blazing, packing a large snowball in each hand.

“Uh-oh…” Giacomo had time to say, and then Emilia let fly; Giacomo cringed back, and the two snowballs caught him on the shoulder, spattering his coat liberally with blobs of white.

“I like your new coat, Giaco!” Daniele called. “I hear polka dots are in this year!”

He ran off, giggling, as Giacomo gave chase.

Sami, meanwhile, was engaged in a three-way fight with Angelo and Luca. So far, Angelo seemed to have taken the most hits, with several white patches caught in the rough navy-blue fabric of his heavy winter coat.

Scooping up a snowball of his own, Gianni circled round behind them, firing off a shot at Angelo in passing.

Angelo ducked in surprise as it struck him in the back of the shoulders.

“Get you later, Gianni!” he called, but Gianni had already slipped away with a smile. He had other business to attend to.

Marco looked up in surprise as Gianni slid onto the bench next to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Gianni noticed that Angelo and Sami had paused to greet two new figures, and he realised that Reza and Tiziana had arrived on the scene.

“Is everything all right, Marco?” Gianni asked, turning his attention back to the mousy-haired boy.

Marco shrugged. “Dunno. Haven’t had the best Christmas, I guess.” He glanced at his friends. “Not sure I’m in the mood for all this.”

“Are you sure?” Gianni asked. “I mean… you may never get another chance. Snow days like this don’t happen here very often, do they?”

“Yeah… c’mon, Marco,” said another voice.

Gianni glanced up in surprise; Daniele had reappeared beside him and was looking at the mousy-haired boy with concern in his light blue eyes.

Around the blond-haired boy’s shoulder, Gianni caught sight of Giacomo watching from a distance; the dark-eyed boy paid for his momentary distraction, struck with a one-two snowball punch by Luca, who raised two fingers in the air in victory, grinning mercilessly. Suitably baited, Giacomo turned to retaliate.

“You go on, Dani,” Marco mumbled evasively.

Daniele shook his head. “No chance. Not while you’re sitting here looking so sad.”

“I’m a black cloud, huh?” Marco asked.

Daniele nodded. “Yeah, the blackest.” He stuck out his bottom lip in an exaggerated sad face. “I reckon you must be where all this snow came from.”

In spite of his apparent gloom, the ghost of a smile touched Marco’s face. “That’s so corny, Dani.”

Daniele placed a hand on the seated boy’s shoulder. “Please come and play,” he urged. “It’ll make you feel better.”

Marco’s cool grey eyes looked up at the other boy for a moment, and Gianni could sense his resolve crumbling.

The power a simple feeling can have…

“Maybe in a minute,” Marco said. “Go and get Luca for me. He looks like he’s asking for it.”

Daniele smiled. “All right. I will.”

Marco sighed a little as the blond-haired boy moved away.

“It’s hard for you, isn’t it?” Gianni said.

Marco gave him a puzzled look. “What is?”

“Letting people look after you.”

Marco looked a little thrown by the question.

“I…”

Gianni gave him a reassuring rub on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “But… we all need a bit of looking after, sometimes.”

Marco shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Go on,” Gianni urged. “Get involved. Dani’s right – you’ll feel better for it.”

“All right.”

Marco got to his feet and, with one last, slightly confused glance back at Gianni, set off into the fray.

* * *

Reza and Tiziana seemed to have been roped into the snowball fight and, with it, had commanded Sami’s attention. Backed up by Daniele and Giacomo, the little boy was giving his best effort at hurling snowballs at all three of the other adults.

Gianni smiled as a snowball exploded right in the middle of the startled Tiziana’s chest.

Well, that’s one way to… break the ice…

“You okay, Tiz?” Reza called from a few metres away.

“Stop calling me that, Reza!” Tiziana replied, hurling a spare snowball in his direction.

“Hey!” Reza yelped, dodging aside. “Friendly fire!”

Sami giggled. “Friendly fire!” he echoed, giving no indication that he knew what it meant, only to be stopped by a low-flying snowball from Angelo. Without hesitation, he scooped up some more snow and shot it back.

The other teens were circling in, threatening to make their presence felt.

“Gianni… we could use your help over here!” Angelo called.

Gianni hastened to join their lines, scooping up two handfuls of snow.

Angelo’s dark eyes flicked from Gianni to the gang of young people that were beginning to surround them, all of whom seemed to be thinking along similar lines.

“Nobody’s got you yet, Gianni,” Angelo said. “I think you just became the prime target…!”

Gianni looked nervously at the six young faces that all seemed to be looking intently at him, bouncing snowballs in their hands.

“I think you might be right,” he replied.

Giacomo drew back his arm, apparently seeking to lead the charge, but Gianni was saved by the timely intervention of a new voice.

“What’s this? Are you all ganging up on the adults now?”

It was Claudia, standing a few metres away with her camera and observing the scene with a critical eye. Gianni wondered how much of the battle she had already captured.

Six snowballs flew towards her at once. Claudia screamed and turned away, shielding her camera as three of the snowballs exploded on her back.

“Dio!” she laughed. “You’d all be so dead right now, if I wasn’t carrying this!”

It was enough to break the line-up, anyway, and soon chaos reigned once again. Claudia set her camera down in a sheltered spot under the pine trees and set about getting her revenge.

Gianni was soon dripping with burst snowballs. After a few minutes, he caught sight of two more new arrivals; Patrizia and Elena were chatting by the cathedral steps, and Patrizia flashed him a wave.

He broke away just as Claudia lurched to a halt in front of him, caught at a cheekily low height by a well-placed snowball from Daniele. For a second, she stared incredulously at the mess it had made of the top of her trousers, then she scooped up two more handfuls of snow and set off after the blond-haired boy with her arms outstretched.

“Come for a cuddle, Dani!” she said.

Marco and Giacomo lined up shots in his defence as Daniele ran away with a laughing cry of “No! No! No!”

“Ciao, Gianni,” Patrizia smiled as he approached; Elena echoed the greeting.

“Buon Natale,” Gianni replied. “How are you both?”

“Keeping a safe distance,” Patrizia replied, watching the mayhem with eyebrows raised.

Gianni brushed some loose snow off his coat. “You’re right… it’s getting pretty intense out there.”

“We just talking about Marco again,” Elena said. She glanced out into the square, where the mousy-haired boy had got caught in a three-way struggle with Emilia and Luca. “It’s nice to see him having fun for once… just lately, he’s been looking more miserable than ever.”

Gianni nodded. “I noticed. Things still don’t seem to be going well at home.”

“It’s so ridiculous!” Patrizia exclaimed. “Marco’s a sweet boy underneath it all. I don’t know why Lorenzo and Gemma can’t just accept him for who he is.”

“We were thinking of trying to have that chat with them,” Elena said. “Maybe get a few of us together, take them for a drink…”

Gianni frowned. “You’re still planning to… stage an intervention? Are you sure that would really help?”

Patrizia shrugged. “Someone has to speak up for Marco. Maybe we could reach them by talking about some of our own experiences?” She paused, looking at Gianni hopefully. “If we do it, would you come?”

“I wasn’t much help last time,” Gianni replied. “My presence just seemed to make Lorenzo angrier.”

“All the same,” Patrizia said, “you’ve been where Marco is now. If Elena, Paolo and I do most of the talking, but we can also draw on what happened to you… I’m sure it’ll be helpful.”

Warily, Gianni nodded. “All right, I’ll be there. Just let me know when and where to meet you.”

* * *

By the time the snowball fight had run its course, the square was a far cry from the pristine state it had been in when they all arrived.

The combatants were tired and a little damp, but nobody seemed to feel like going home just yet. At Claudia’s suggestion, they decided to head for the Villa Cimbrone gardens en masse in the hope of seeing some spectacular views and a few photo opportunities. Nobody seemed very sure whether the gardens would even be open but, somehow, it didn’t seem to matter as long as they were all together.

Daniele, Marco and Giacomo led the charge up the winding steps that led towards the gardens, while Patrizia and Elena, who had agreed to tag along to spread the cost, brought up the rear. For the moment, Sami seemed to have attached himself to Reza and Tiziana; Gianni watched with conflicting feelings as they chatted animatedly, free of the tension that always seemed to underlie his own interactions with his foster son.

“How do they do it?” he whispered to Angelo as they wound their way between the pine trees and high stone walls above the convent, treading carefully on the snowy steps. “How do they put him at ease like that?”

Angelo gave his hand a quick, reassuring squeeze. “It’s no different from the way Pietro gets to be the cool uncle. They can have all the fun without any of the pressure.”

“You mean… Sami doesn’t have to worry so much about whether he can trust them?”

Angelo nodded. “Pretty much.”

Gianni sighed. “That’s not fair. I thought trust was meant to bring people closer, not push them further apart.”

Angelo offered him a sympathetic half-smile. “It’s tough, I know,” he replied. “But… who do you think Sami would run to if he got hurt?”

Surveying the group of animated youngsters in front of them, Gianni twisted his mouth ironically. “Marco, probably.”

Angelo snorted with laughter. “Okay, you’ve got me there.”

They passed the wedding venue where they had held the birthday party, and then the view opened up over the vegetable garden. Claudia pulled out her camera and began taking photographs at once, capturing the way the snow gleamed on the swirling terraces and distant terracotta roofs of Pontone under the bright winter sun. The mountains beyond shone like something out of a fairy tale, plummeting steeply into the powder-blue sea below.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” she murmured.

Descending the sweeping stairs beyond the vegetable garden, the group filed in twos and threes past the high, creeper-covered wall that flanked the path that led to the villa gardens. Gianni felt a moment of slight apprehension; having come this far, it would be a shame if the excitable little group were disappointed; but he needn’t have worried. As they rounded the final bend into the little walled garden outside the entrance, they found the great wooden gates closed, but the smaller wicket gate stood open.

“That’s a relief,” Patrizia said, sidling up behind Gianni. “I have to admit, with it being Christmas Day… I didn’t think they’d really drag Viola up here to sit in that draughty wooden kiosk.” She shook her head. “The poor thing… I hope she wrapped up warm.”

But there was nobody sitting in the ticket booth. A sign set up inside the entrance read:

‘Buon Natale from the Villa Cimbrone team. For today, you are free to enjoy our beautiful gardens without charge.’

It was a generous offer, but there was little sign that anybody had taken them up on it. The snow lay thick and largely undisturbed, thinning out slightly under the shelter of the great umbrella pine that shaded the courtyard.

Now that they had arrived, the group began to disperse naturally. Luca whispered something in Emilia’s ear, and they were the first to depart, heading hand in hand down a pretty footpath lined with topiary that led towards the lower terraces.

“Come play hide an’ seek with me!” Sami begged Reza and Tiziana, bouncing impatiently on his toes.

“Do you mind?” Tiziana asked, throwing a questioning look in Gianni and Angelo’s direction. Gianni and his partner shook their heads, watching wordlessly as Sami grasped the couple by the hands and dragged them away towards the rose garden.

Daniele and Marco were already heading away towards the main central avenue, leaving Giacomo, who paused uncertainly for a moment, unsure who to follow. Gianni watched with concern, wondering if he was about to see a repeat of the birthday party, but then the dark-eyed boy found his voice.

“Guys…” he called uncertainly after Daniele and Marco. “Can I come with you?”

Daniele glanced over his shoulder and smiled in that painfully open way of his.

“Of course you can! Andiamo, Giaco.”

Giacomo brightened and set off after the others, and the three of them ran off together.

“Did you see that?” Gianni asked his partner wonderingly. “He asked permission.”

Angelo raised an eyebrow. “Does that surprise you?”

“It’s just… it always used to be that wherever Giacomo led, Dani followed.”

Claudia wheeled round to face Gianni and Angelo and gestured to Patrizia and Elena, who were chatting quietly in the corner.

“You four,” she declared, “are going to pose for me. Let’s move.”

* * *

Claudia escorted them to the long lawns beside the main central avenue; the same space where, a few days ago, Gianni had taken photos of Sami in the frost. Now it was their turn to be the subjects.

To Gianni’s satisfaction, Claudia sighted the same perspective he had, framing a photo down the length of the garden towards the sea, flanked by the two statues. Every twig of the trees and shrubs seemed to be crowned by its own little dressing of snow, picked out in minute detail against the blue sky.

“Ladies first,” she instructed, motioning Patrizia and Elena into shot.

“Oh,” Elena protested, looking flustered, “you don’t want pictures of me.”

“Are you kidding?” Claudia replied. “You’re beautiful, and I’m betting there aren’t nearly enough pictures of you in the family album.”

Chuckling, Patrizia took Elena by the arm and tugged her into the shot, posing with an arm around her shoulders. Elena gave up her protestations and posed with an embarrassed smile.

“Now just you on your own, Elena,” Claudia insisted. “Giacomo will thank me for it one day.”

Now much embarrassed, Elena stood with her hands clasped demurely before her waist and allowed her picture to be taken.

“Perfect,” Claudia said once she had taken the picture. “A real queen of the snow. Now for the boys.”

Patrizia and Elena circled back round behind her and watched as Gianni and Angelo moved reluctantly into shot and attempted to smile.

“No, that won’t do!” Claudia chided them. “I want you holding hands.”

This time, Angelo’s smile was real. Gianni snickered in embarrassment as his partner clasped his hand in his own.

“That’s more like it,” Claudia said, with a smile of her own as she took the picture. “Now kiss.”

Gianni gaped at her. “C’mon, Claudia! This isn’t a wedding shoot.”

Claudia shrugged. “It’s not your fault you guys never got to have a wedding. Seems only fair.”

“Go on, Gianni,” Patrizia said with an encouraging smile. “Nobody here’s going to judge you.”

Next to him, Angelo was still holding his hand. Gianni turned towards him and found his dark eyes looking back at him in a familiar, unguarded way that had always given him a quiet tingle deep inside.

“Works for me,” Angelo said quietly.

With a deep breath, Gianni nodded. They leaned in and sealed the moment.

* * *

They found the three boys on the Terrace of Infinity. Daniele had his smartphone out once again and seemed to be trying to take a selfie of the three of them against the snowy backdrop of the valley below. There was a certain amount of giggling going on; it looked like Giacomo had been spiking most of his attempts by making silly faces.

“Quit it, Giaco,” Daniele laughed; reluctantly, the dark-eyed boy dropped his left hand, which he had been using to give Marco bunny ears, and Daniele was finally able to get his photo.

“Now let me take one of you,” Giacomo said.

Trustingly, Daniele gave the phone to his friend. Giacomo backed up a few paces towards the balustrade, lining up a photo of the other two boys, and Gianni distinctly saw him take it before the pantomime that followed.

“Now, smile…” Giacomo said, with the appearance of great care. “I’ll just… oops!”

With the talent of a natural born performer, Giacomo appeared to trip over his own feet, seeming to fall towards the balustrade with his arms outstretched. A fleeting look of horror crossed the blond-haired boy’s face as he saw his treasured smartphone about to embark on a fantastic voyage to the bottom of the hundred metre cliff, but then the dark-eyed boy was back on his feet as if nothing had happened, grinning mercilessly with the phone clutched safely in his hands.

“See ya, Dani,” Giacomo said cheerfully. “Thanks for the phone!”

Smirking, he turned and ran. Successfully baited, Daniele charged after him.

“Give that back!” Daniele exclaimed, and then he was upon the dark-eyed boy. They wrestled fiercely with one another for possession of the cherished object, giggling like mad. Gianni winced as he watched, torn between amusement and a dreadful certainty that the phone would end up tumbling to the ground and smashing, but Daniele somehow managed to extricate the phone from Giacomo’s clutches without any collateral damage. Flushed and ruffled, he broke apart from the other boy and slid it into his pockets.

“Hands off the merchandise,” he said.

Marco watched from the far end of the terrace, shaking his head in bemused disbelief.

“Having fun, are we?” Angelo asked.

Daniele shrugged. “You know how it is,” he said with a smile. “Giacomo here requires full-time care.”

The dark-eyed boy shot him a sly sort of smile and punched him hard on the arm.

“Ow!” Daniele mouthed, laughing in spite of the pain.

“Well, I don’t know!” Patrizia murmured to Elena as they caught up with Gianni and Angelo. “I didn’t know we’d raised two such violent boys.”

“How should we punish them?” Elena murmured back. “I suppose we could start them on a strict regime of daily housework.”

“Oh, no, we’re good,” Giacomo replied, hastening to put an arm round Daniele’s shoulders. “Right, Dani?”

Smiling, Daniele slipped out of the other boy’s clutches. “Don’t touch what you’re not prepared to take,” he said.

Claudia cleared her throat. “Group shot, please,” she declared, ushering those present back towards the far end of the terrace, where Marco was still leaning against the railings.

They took a moment to organise themselves. Soon, Patrizia was standing with her arms around Daniele’s waist, Elena was holding Giacomo by one hand and Gianni and Angelo had scrunched in beside her.

Marco was lurking in the corner, looking a little lost and forlorn. Gently, Gianni guided him in to stand in front of him and Angelo, resting one hand on the teenager’s shoulder. Marco glanced back at him, giving him another slightly confused look with his cool grey eyes. Daniele glanced across at them, favouring the mousy-haired boy with a smile.

“Smile for the camera, Marco,” Gianni urged him.

Marco turned back to face Claudia. Gianni wasn’t sure whether he managed to look cheerful or not, but he heard Claudia’s shutter click, and she stuck up her thumb.

“That was perfect,” she said.

* * *

In search of the others, they left the terrace and headed down a flight of steps that led to a lower garden with a small bar, where Gianni had attended many a party.

He found himself wondering how Sami was getting on with Reza and Tiziana; but from the sound of the high, enthusiastic cries that drifted over from the far end of the otherwise deserted gardens, things were going just fine.

The bar was closed, but Emilia and Luca had settled down at one of its outside tables and were huddled around Luca’s phone screen, engrossed in goodness knew what. At the sight of their approach, they got up and hurried to join the larger group.

“Are we leaving already?” Emilia asked.

“I guess your parents might want you back at some point, Emilia,” Gianni replied.

Emilia shrugged, as if to say, ‘meh…’

“If they’re too precious to throw snowballs,” she replied, “I think they can manage without me for a little longer.”

“But they threw you an amazing party,” Gianni said. “They can’t be that bad, surely?”

Luca smiled and elbowed her gently in the ribs. “She won’t say it, but she loves them really.”

Following a winding earthen path lined with pine trees, scattered with fallen needles and pinecones under only the thinnest coating of snow, they made their way to the formal gardens at the centre of the estate, where they found Sami, who was engaged in a game of chase around the geometric pathways with Reza and Tiziana, both of whom looked slightly out of breath.

“Time to go, sport!” Angelo called.

The little boy shuffled to a halt and looked up.

“Aww,” he grumbled.

Reza stopped gratefully, stooping and supporting his hands on his knees while he caught his breath.

“Thank… goodness…” he panted.

Tiziana took Sami by the hand and led him back to Gianni and Angelo, with the air of formally handing him back to their care.

“Thank you,” she smiled. “That was… an experience.”

Gianni chuckled. “I bet you thought you were pretty fit until Sami here gave you the run-around.”

Tiziana nodded. “Maybe we could get him to refurbish the house for us,” she replied. “He certainly never seems to run out of energy.”

Reunited, the group began the journey back towards town.

As they climbed the sweeping steps outside the villa gates and passed the vegetable garden, Reza caught up with Gianni and Angelo and nudged Gianni gently on the arm to get his attention.

“Tiziana and I had a really great time with Sami today,” he said.

Gianni smiled. “I’m glad. Angelo and I had a nice break, too. It was great to have a little adult time together.”

Reza nodded. “Yeah, about that… it’s made us think. Do you think Sami could come and stay the night with us some time? It could teach us a lot about what it’s like to have a child at home, and it could give you and Angelo just the time alone you probably need by now.”

“That sounds great, Reza,” Angelo said at once. “I could totally go for that. Gianni?”

Gianni nodded. “I have to admit, that does sound pretty cool.”

The corner of Reza’s mouth quirked into a smile. “Well, how about New Year’s Eve? We’re not going to a social this year – we don’t know enough people yet. It could be the perfect way for you both to celebrate.”

Gianni and Angelo exchanged a glance; each seeing the enthusiasm in the others’ eyes, they nodded.

“It’s a date,” Gianni replied.