Page 91 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

He was surprised to see Paolo laugh. ‘No, you don’t,’ he said. ‘You don’t treat me any better.’

‘You don’t deserve anything from me,’ said Nico, feeling irritated now. ‘What is it that you want? What are you really doing here?’

But as his father hesitated to speak, Nico felt the truth hit him squarely in the stomach.

‘It’s the car, isn’t it?’ he said, in a dull tone. ‘That’s the only reason that you’re here now.’

‘You stole my Ferrari!’ said Paolo, his good looks lost in a fit of temper. ‘That was my car. You had no right.’

‘I had every right,’ snapped Nico. ‘You took everything else from me.’

‘Didn’t I make sure that you were brought up right?’

Nico almost laughed. ‘That was nothing to do with you and everything to do with Nonno and Nonna. They brought me up. They fed and clothed me. They made sure that I knew right from wrong. They made sure that I care about the right things in life, not money and fast cars. But about people.’

Paolo shrugged his shoulders, confirming what Nico already knew. That his father didn’t care about anyone but himself.

Nico felt around in his shorts pocket and brought out the car keys. ‘Take the damn car,’ he said, shoving the keys into his father’s hand. ‘I don’t care. It means more to you than I ever will.’

And then he walked away, the tears pricking at his eyes as he did so.

55

Flora hadn’t meant to overhear Nico’s conversation with his father. But after Tyson had left, she had gone to water the pots at the side of the house and had suddenly been aware that she could hear what they were saying to each other.

She sank down onto the bench, not wanting to invade Nico’s privacy but desperate to make sure that he wasn’t being hurt any more than he already had been in his early years.

The conversation was conducted entirely in Italian, but the harsh tone of their voices confirmed her fear that the hurt was very much real.

Nico suddenly appeared around the corner and Flora gave a start, not realising that the discussion between father and son would end so abruptly.

He stopped when he saw her before giving her a small sigh and sinking down onto the bench next to her.

She could feel the tension in his body, as if he were trying to keep his emotions in check after such an upsetting conversation.

Unable to stop herself, she reached out and took his hand in hers. She held it, willing his hand and body to relax, but he was obviously still upset.

A sudden roar of an engine confirmed that Paolo had started the Ferrari. A moment later, the car began to move away and they both listened until there was no sound in the air but the farm and the countryside around them.

Flora glanced at Nico and saw that he was looking down at their entwined hands.

‘Did you hear everything?’ he asked. It wasn’t an accusation. Rather, she felt, he couldn’t bear to repeat it over again.

‘It was in Italian, but I think I got the gist of it,’ she told him. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s only a car,’ he replied in a dull tone.

‘I didn’t mean about the car,’ she said softly.

He finally looked up at her and she could see the pain in his dark eyes.

He gave a shaky sigh. ‘For a moment I thought that he was here to see me. That he had been worried about me for once in his selfish life. But no. It was just about the car.’

She stroked his hand with her thumb, wishing she could take his pain away. ‘It seems that both of our fathers are selfish creatures.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, but at least you’ve got Grams. With both my Nonni gone, it’s just me now. I’m alone.’

‘You’re not alone.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘Not any more.’