Lara darted a look at me and rushed in with, ‘This and that. Sandro’s been playing on the trampoline. Gave me a little bit of time to get shipshape upstairs.’

Watching Lara was like looking at Sudoku without any numbers in the grid. I knew there was a puzzle to solve but I was damned if I could see where to start. Massimo was so open and friendly, whereas Lara always gave the impression she was trying not to deplete her daily word count. I’d hate to be so riddled with insecurities that I couldn’t even be honest with my own husband. Though it was unlikely Sam was going to meet a sticky end because I was too absorbed in housework. Sewing maybe, but dusting and hoovering, definitely not.

They were a funny lot, these Farinellis.

14

MAGGIE

Even without the prospect of Anna and Massimo coming over to discuss holiday plans for the ‘Farinelli fortnight’, the evening had got off to a bad start. Francesca had made some jewellery in her design class at school and wanted the gold box to display it in.

I hesitated. ‘Not quite sure where I put it. I think it’s too valuable to take to school anyway.’

She stood there, hands on her hips, with that teenage expectation that I’d immediately rush to look for it. To be fair, whenever Francesca showed any signs of wanting anything from me, I did hop to it. She probably couldn’t understand why I carried on peeling potatoes, when normally I’d fling down the knife and run around like a wind-up toy, so grateful for the little promise of connection.

I couldn’t think how to put her off. ‘Just let me finish making dinner and then I’ll see if I can find it.’ With every slice of the knife, my mind darted about, wondering what to do for the best. Tell her I’d accidentally thrown it away? Mislaid it? Chuck out all the keepsakes and mementoes and press the padded cushion tight into the box and hope she’d never find the inscription?

We’d had a couple of months of relative peace. Francesca wasn’t yet rushing to hug me goodnight but sometimes she sat on a stool in the kitchen even when Nico was still at work and told me about something that had happened at school or showed me a YouTube video she found funny. But at least the stomping about slamming doors seemed to be a thing of the past and I was determined that the disappearance of a bloody box wasn’t going to screw that up for me.

I was still scrabbling round for a solution when Anna and Massimo rang the bell. Long before we got married, when I was still waiting for Nico to discover that although I made him laugh, I wasn’t a ‘keeper’, he’d spoken about the family tradition of taking over the same castle in the Tuscan countryside for the first two weeks of August every year. I’d envied him. That closeness, the lively dinners under the stars, the banter bouncing between the sun loungers, the raucous races in the swimming pool. I’d felt ashamed of my fleeting comparison with the four days Mum, Sam and I had managed two years ago, in a caravan on the Isle of Sheppey, sleeping in beds barely wider than a shelf, turning on the gas hob to keep warm.

Now though, the prospect of being cooped up under Anna’s microscope for fourteen whole days filled me with dread. She sat on the settee, queen buzzy bee holding court about how we’d take turns cooking, shopping, supervising the kids in the pool. ‘And someone is going to have to mop that kitchen floor every day. Last year it was disgusting with everyone paddling in and out with wet feet.’

‘Nico, you’ll have to go shopping with Maggie. It’s a shame she doesn’t speak Italian like Caitlin did. Lara can manage, she’s picked up the basics fairly well over the years.’

Nico put out his hand to squeeze mine. ‘Give Maggie a chance, Mum. She’s never been to Italy before. Everyone else has been going for years.’ He sighed. ‘Anyway, I’m looking forward to sharing all the chores with Maggie.’

He turned to me. ‘Food shopping in Italy is great fun, all that fresh basil and tomatoes you can smell the sun on. We always buy a big wheel of Parmesan to hack our way through. Can’t wait to show you around.’

I loved Nico for defending me. I tried to offset my deadwood status by offering to get busy with the mop on a daily basis. Perhaps I could balance out my lack of linguistic ability with my Vileda skills. And at least I wouldn’t have to make small talk with my mother-in-law round the pool while I was Cinderella-ing inside.

A flash of frustration passed over Anna’s face as though her little dig at me had missed its bull’s eye.

Nico smiled and went off to fetch some wine.

Massimo winked at me. ‘You’ll have a brilliant time, Maggie. All the surrounding villages have little fiestas and open-air concerts in the evenings. We’ll have to take you up on the castle ramparts. You can see for miles across the vineyards and fields of sunflowers. Sandro will love having Sam to play with in the pool. We’ll organise some swimming competitions.’

As he filled me in on all the things we’d be able to do, I could have hugged him for making me feel just a tiny bit welcome rather than a cumbersome suitcase they’d have to shell out extra for to put in the hold. ‘It will be great for Sam to have some company. He finds Mum and me a bit dull on holiday.’

Nico reappeared with a tray of drinks. ‘Be careful what you wish for. Massimo is the mastermind of holiday activities. We won’t just have a bit of a splash about in the pool, we’ll have the Olympics of swimming competitions. You know Massimo used to swim for the county, right? We’ll have to give him a handicap, otherwise he’ll have done five lengths in the time it takes me to do one.’

‘Meant to say, I gather Francesca’s been doing pretty well in the county trials recently,’ Massimo said.

‘Yeah, she’s got your killer competitive streak.’

Massimo pulled a face. ‘Doesn’t seem to have rubbed off on Sandro yet.’

Nico took a sip of wine. ‘Mate, you might just have to face the fact that he’s inherited my arty genes, not your Superman ones.’

Massimo frowned. ‘Nothing to do with genes, it’s about wanting it enough and being prepared to put the hours in.’ He turned to me. ‘I’ll get you all in training this holiday. You didn’t realise you were coming to the Farinelli boot camp, did you, Maggie?’

Although he was joking, my stomach tightened at the thought of being the fatty at the back. Nico slapped Massimo on the shoulder. ‘I’m not having you bullying my young bride.’ He squeezed my knee. ‘If Massimo suggests anything, say no. You’ll think you’re just going for a little walk, but Massimo will have you hiking up and down the nearest mountains in double quick time. And don’t even think about getting out a pack of playing cards. Never has a game of Snap been so fiercely contested.’

Massimo raised his eyebrows at Nico. ‘No point in participating if you don’t intend to win. Why be mediocre when you can be the best?’

‘I can’t get excited about a game of Snap,’ Nico said. He shook his head at me. ‘Massimo can’t even stand losing to Sandro, can’t bear to be beaten by a seven-year-old.’

‘Too right. Winning’s a state of mind, dear brother. That’s why you’re driving a Volvo and I’ve got a BMW.’

Nico laughed. ‘No point in ruining a posh car with all the muck from the garden centre. At least I’m not so tight that I won’t stump up for driving lessons for my wife.’

Massimo threw his hands up in the air in mock despair. ‘Maggie, help me out here. Is it really my fault that my wife is so environmentally conscious that she refuses to learn to drive? I’d love her to have a car but she won’t.’

I felt a rush of admiration for Lara and her right-on attitudes, though I wasn’t sure how she squared her conscience with the patio heaters and Aga. Mainly though, I was envious she actually had time to walk everywhere, rather than squealing about town rushing here, there and everywhere like I seemed to do.

Massimo winked at me. ‘And talking of tightwads, isn’t it time Nico got you a little upgrade?’

I glanced over at Nico to see if any of these little barbs – which appeared to pass for humour in the Farinelli family – were bothering him, but they seemed to be rolling off him, good-natured man that he was.

I jumped in. ‘I don’t want a new car. I love my old Fiesta because I don’t have to worry about it – no one is ever going to bother stealing that, when they could pinch a decent car instead.’

Nico said, ‘Save your breath, my darling wife. Massimo doesn’t understand being satisfied with what you’ve got, he wants to be the best and have the best.’

I wanted Nico to know I was on his side. ‘It was a good job you weren’t in my sports team at school, Massimo. I was the one who would start waving at my mum on sports day and forget that I was supposed to be sprinting.’