(2012) Evie Undercover by Liz Harris

but she hadn’t wante d him to come to that conclusion by himself, and for the wrong reasons . Damn!
    ‘So you think that English food is the bees’ knees, do you?’ she heard Gabriela ask, laughing in disbelief as she picked up her menu.
    She stared at Gabriela for a moment, and then turned to Eduardo and asked how Gabriela came to speak such perfect English when he didn’t know a single word.
    He giggled. Gabriela had been a good girl at school, he told her, a mischievous glint in his eye, and he had been a very naughty boy. Drawing plans for houses was much more fun than learning how to say ‘I am; you are; he is’, so he drew houses while Gabriela learnt to say ‘I am’.
    He had picked up a little English along the way, no matter how hard he’d tried not to, he admitted with a shy grin, and he’d left school able to say a few words. But as he hadn’t spoken English since then, he’d forgotten just about everything he’d ever learnt.
    However, with the American s and English buy ing houses in Umbria, he knew that he really ought to be able to speak to them himself and not rely on the help of someone else, charming though that person might be, and he was going to ask Gabriela to help him. She would be staying with him at his place near Todi for the rest of the week so he could make a start at once.
    So Gabriela would not be heading back to Florence the following day . Damn! Damn! Damn! S he’d bet any amount of money that Gabriela planned on hang ing around them for the rest of the week. Her chance of getting the lowdown from Tom about his affair with Zizi Westenhall was fast disappe aring down the proverbial tube.
    Her hand tightened around her glass.
    There was a slight pressure on her arm. She looked up and saw Eduardo’s eyes on her again. He gave her a rueful smile, gently removed the glass from her hand, picked up his menu and indicated that she should do the same.
     
    ‘You were very quiet on the way home,’ Tom said as they sat over a grappa on the spotlit terrace of Il Poggio . ‘And you’re very quiet now. That’s most unli ke you, Evie. Are you cold, ill or dreaming romantic dreams that would need to be heavily censored before they could be told to another person? If it ’s the la st of the three and it would help you to unburden yourself, I’ll mentally fortify myself and you can share the uncut version with me.’
    That was a g ood opening, and she must rise to it. If only she didn’t feel quite so depressed .
    ‘ The temperature’s just fine, thank you, Tom, and I’m in the best of health. As for relaying the content of my dreams , you can relax – I wouldn’t risk any damage to your delicate sensibilities, fortified or not.’
    ‘I’m not convinced that those sensibilities you rate so highly would be averse to a little bit of damage. Try me.’
    She laughed. ‘Dream on. I’m afraid you’ll have to rely on your imagination to help you out with your masochistic tendencies.’
    ‘Masochistic, indeed! That’s a long word for this late at night.’ He paused for a moment. ‘So, tell me truthfully, Evie . D id you enjoy the evening?’
                  ‘Of course, I did. Gabriela and Eduardo are both very pleasant and the food was great. What’s not to enjoy?’
    ‘I agree , it was a good evening. It was certainly better than I’d expected. Gabriela’s English is quite amazing . I can talk to her almost as easily as I can talk to you.’
    And that was the problem in a nutshell. With Gabriela around to translate, she wouldn’t be needed in the same way, and that would make it much harder to get any closer to Tom. Frowning, she turned towards the dark hills outlined against the distant horizon. Why couldn’t Eduardo’s bloody sister have stayed in Florence?
    ‘W hat’s up, Evie? Please tell me. ’ She turned back to Tom and saw that he was looking at her with genuine concern. ‘You’ve not been yourself all evening. I know you like Eduardo – even a blind