Matt shook his head ruefully. ‘Some hopes. I’ve started asking around, but I’ll probably just have to take what’s going. There’s so little on the market up here and I’m so tight for time at the moment. And I’ve just heard that I’ve to get back to Florence today. So I’ve got a four-hour drive back down there when we get out of here, but I’m planning to come back at the weekend for a few days to see if I can find an apartment to rent.’
When Janet saw Matt, she rushed across and threw her arms around his neck. ‘Matt, you don’t look a day older.’
‘And you, Janet, look as gorgeous as ever.’ Matt turned to Annie with a smile. ‘It must be the mountain air. You both look fantastic. I can barely keep my hands off the two of you.’
The girls exchanged glances. No, Matt hadn’t changed.
‘Matt! Ciao, caro.’ Guido emerged from the corridor and came over to give him a hug. ‘How long’s it been? A year, two years?’
‘At least two, Guido.’ Matt shot a glance across at Annie. ‘The last time you and I climbed together was with Steve.’ Annie did her best to remain impassive.
‘You must come and see us more often, Matt.’ Janet caught his eye. ‘Annie’s told us you’re coming to live up here. It’ll be just like old times.’
Again, Matt glanced at Annie. ‘Not quite like old times.’ His voice was low. Annie took a deep breath and managed to make an effort to reply.
‘Not like old times, but time goes on. It’s the future that’s important now.’ The more she said it, the more she found she was starting to believe it.
After coffee and biscuits with Guido and Janet, Annie drove Matt back to where he had parked his car. This turned out to be a rugged-looking pickup truck. She looked across at him with a grin. ‘So what happened to your old Land Rover?’
He shrugged. ‘When it finally packed up on me, I sold it to a chap in Lucca for spares. But I managed to get this thing cheap. One of my jobs this year was down in Cinecittà in Rome. They’d acquired two or three of these for some movie and they were selling them off at the end of production for a fraction of list price. It’s got a few dents and scratches.’ He caught her eye. ‘There’s a mark on the dashboard that they told me is Johnny Depp’s blood.’ Annie wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. ‘Anyway, if the predicted heavy snow really does arrive tonight, I’ll need the four-wheel drive.’ He leant over and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Thanks for lunch and thanks for renting me the room for my office.’ He opened the door of her little Panda and hauled himself out into the cold. ‘I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on. You know, Annie, I’m glad; really glad.’
‘Me, too, Matt.’ And she meant it. It was a wonderful coincidence that they had both chosen this time to relocate to the mountains. The past two years had been so terribly lonely for Annie. It was going to be so very good to have an old friend at her side. And a very handsome old friend at that. Which reminded her. ‘Just remember you promised you’d keep your hands off Paolina.’
That evening, Annie had promised to take Janet out for dinner. She offered Janet her choice of restaurants and was surprised to hear that she wanted a pizza. As they drove down to Santorso, Janet explained that she so rarely had pizza these days, she was only too happy. Secretly, Annie wondered whether it was just because she knew that Annie’s finances were stretched and she wanted to keep the cost of the meal down.
Annie took her to her local pizzeria where Signora Toniolo and her husband greeted her as an old friend. As they ate their pizzas, they chatted and Annie got a surprise.
‘I wasn’t sure if I should tell you, but Matt phoned us a long time ago, asking about you.’
Annie looked up from her Margherita. ‘Asking about me?’
Janet nodded. ‘It wasn’t that long after Steve’s death and he wanted to know how you were coping. He was asking if you were still living in Turin, still working and all right for money.’
‘Matt was asking you about me?’ Annie put her fork down and took a sip of red wine. ‘I wonder why he didn’t contact me direct.’
‘I suppose he was afraid he might disturb you or something. Of course, we couldn’t tell him very much as we hadn’t seen you either.’ Annie nodded. After Steve’s death she had more or less gone into voluntary purdah for months, unwilling to meet people, not wanting to face the inevitable expressions of concern and condolence. Janet went on. ‘All I could say to him was that you’re a tough cookie and I was sure you’d be okay.’ Janet caught Annie’s eye. ‘And I was right.’
Annie sat and thought for a while before answering. ‘I suppose you are right. I am okay, now. But I’m not sure how tough I am. The last two years have been the worst of my life. There were times when I just didn’t know how to go on.’
‘I can imagine. We were devastated when we heard the news. But you’ve got over it and you’re getting on with your life.’
‘I couldn’t just carry on moping. But, Matt? That was sweet of him.’
‘Matt’s a good man. And he likes you a lot.’
‘My sister said the same thing. It’s just a pity he’s such a bastard with women.’
‘He’s getting older, just like the rest of us. He’ll change, I’m sure.’
Annie shook her head. ‘I very much doubt it.’
That night it started snowing again, this time seriously, and it didn’t stop for forty-eight hours. By the time Friday came along, the whole town was underneath a thick layer of the white stuff and strangely quiet, everyday noises muffled by the snow. But, among the inhabitants of Santorso, things were buzzing. Signora Toniolo in the bar told Annie first and then Paolina confirmed it; the ski lifts had started working all around the valley. The skiing season had begun and it was still just the beginning of December.
By eleven o’clock, Annie had done everything that needed doing at the school and she couldn’t wait to take advantage of her wonderful new ski pass. Leaving Paolina in charge, she pulled on her skiing clothes, strapped her skis to the roof of her little Panda and set off for Montalto.
The snowploughs had been working hard and, with the aid of her winter tyres, she found it quite easy to drive right up the winding road to Montalto through the pine trees and grassy meadows, now buried under a thick layer of snow. She parked close to the big chairlift, carefully avoiding leaving the car under any of the trees, all of which were laden with snow. She and Steve had made that mistake years ago with their old cinquecento. When they returned, they found it nearly buried in a huge pile of snow that had then frozen. It had taken them almost an hour to hack their way into the car and then reverse out again.
It was almost lunchtime by now, but it was still bitterly cold. The sun was just beginning to burn off the low cloud, but it would be an hour or two before the temperature rose above freezing. Her visit to the slopes didn’t start too auspiciously. As she stepped out of the car onto the frozen ground, her feet slid out from underneath her and she almost did the splits, ending up on her bottom on the very cold ground. She pulled herself to her feet, her breath forming clouds in front of her in the frozen air, dusted herself off and reflected that it was just as well her sister hadn’t been there to witness that little scene. She made her way gingerly around to the back and sat down on the rear bumper to put on her ski boots. As she did so, she noted that there was no queue for the main lift. Tomorrow, Saturday, once skiers from Turin and Milan had made their way up the motorway, it would be busier, but for the moment she felt as if she had the place to herself.
Once she had tightened her ski boots and fastened her jacket, she pulled on her hat and released her skis from the rack on the roof of her faithful old car. Then, finally,