Second Chances in Chianti (Escape to Tuscany Book 2) T.A. Williams (early reader books .txt) 📖

for you, okay?’ She glanced round the table and received nods in response. ‘As for outside interference, I can promise you that any major changes in the direction of the script will have to be approved by me and me alone. Does that satisfy you? You know you can trust me.’

‘I trust you, Antonia, you know that, but I would need it written into my contract.’ Again, he stared hard at Zoë and, again, she didn’t rise to the bait. Could it be that the bullying director had been tamed? Alice caught Millie’s eye across the table and they exchanged looks – from Millie, hopeful, but from Alice still sceptical.

When they emerged from the meeting at lunchtime, Millie wasted no time in grabbing Alice and taking her for a walk in the garden, far from curious ears.

‘What do you think, Al?’ She sounded animated.

‘What do you think, Millie?’

As Alice stopped by a little fountain, her eyes followed a succession of bright green and blue dragonflies as they swooped and hovered over the lilies in the water. It was another hot day and she resolved to go for a swim this afternoon, maybe followed by a walk down to the village that was barely a kilometre away.

‘I love it, Al. And did you see Zoë? She was as good as gold and hardly said a word. I really think it could work out well for us all.’

There was excitement and real optimism in Millie’s voice, but Alice knew her of old. Whether it was a new job opportunity, a different man or a ridiculously expensive dress, Millie had this habit of psyching herself up to a point when she just had to have it – even though her track record revealed that her poor choices far outweighed the good decisions. Alice sat down on the low stone wall at the side of the fountain and did some serious thinking.

‘I wonder…’

After this reunion with everybody, part of her wanted to believe that Millie’s optimism was justified; after all, she felt sure it would be fun to join up with them again for this new series. A couple of years of earning a good salary should allow her to build up enough to buy herself a nice house in London for when she decided to give up acting and take up her chosen career in Renaissance art. Her more cautious, pragmatic side told her to keep her options open and wait until she could be sure that Zoë was either right out of the equation or at least firmly muzzled, before committing herself. On this morning’s showing, she had to admit that it was looking more hopeful that Zoë had indeed calmed down – at least to some extent. And if it turned out she wasn’t going to be a problem, the idea of signing up for Pals Forever did have considerable appeal.

At that point, of course, the next question to be answered would be the fate of her relationship with David. Although determined not to think of the fair-haired man again, she had to acknowledge that lusting – if that was what she had been doing – over a man working in a field was hardly the sign of a woman in a settled, long-term relationship. Setting aside any more thoughts of this for now, she did her best to respond to Millie.

‘It’s certainly sounding more positive than I expected. Antonia said we’ve got a meeting tomorrow when Zoë’s going to go deeper into the nuts and bolts of the new series. That’ll be the crunch. Let’s see what emerges from that before getting our hopes up too much.’

That afternoon, after a light lunch, David retired to the bedroom to have a much-needed siesta, while Alice sat on the terrace for an hour or two, reading a book she had bought in London about Leonardo da Vinci. This informed her that there was a villa not far from where they were staying which had, allegedly, been the home of the Mona Lisa herself. Lisa Gherardini, a Florentine girl, had been married at just fifteen to a wealthy silk merchant called Francesco del Giocondo and moved to this part of Chianti. As the wife of del Giocondo, she became known as La Gioconda, which is the name the Italians have given to the painting known to much of the rest of the world as the Mona Lisa.

Alice knew that a growing number of other academics felt that a major question mark remained over the painting, as recent studies had revealed the striking likeness in terms of facial structure with the few known self-portraits of Leonardo himself. Could it be that one of the most famous female faces of all time might, in fact, be that of its narcissistic creator – a man? Nevertheless, the idea of taking a trip to see this villa was fascinating, not least as Michelangelo had also allegedly owned a house not far from there. The villa in question was now an upmarket hotel and Alice reflected that she and David might go and stay there for a night or two when this meeting ended on Friday.

Around mid-afternoon she went up to their room and found her boyfriend wide awake, looking and sounding more like his old self again.

‘If I so much as pick up a glass of wine tonight, Alice, just slap me, will you?’ He gave her an apologetic look. ‘Hope I didn’t make a fool of myself – or you.’

She sat down on the bed alongside him and gave him a kiss. ‘Of course not. I’m sure it must have come as a shock to the system to find yourself surrounded by a number of household names, but you’ll get used to it.’ She grinned back at him. ‘And I promise I’ll slap you as often as you want. Now, how do you feel about walking down to the village and then coming back for a swim before dinner?’

The others had disappeared to the pool or