‘Alice, hi.’ She turns her gaze to me and I’m fixed to the spot with her wide smile. She doesn’tlooktoo freaked out so that’s good. ‘I see Sienna and Francesca have made their introductions already. Do you want to come through?’
‘I’d love to,’ she replies as I kiss her on the cheek. I pick up her bag and we head into the kitchen, Fran and Sienna chatting non-stop as we go.
‘The famous Alice,’ Ellie pulls off her apron and kisses Alice three times on the cheeks.
‘That’s the kind of introduction I can get on board with,’ Alice laughs. ‘Ellie? It’s a pleasure to meet you.’
The two women take a few steps back from one another and I realise I’m holding my breath. Raff’s standing next to me and I get the impression that he’s doing the same.
‘Thank you so much for inviting me today,’ Alice says after a pause. ‘I asked Zach if I could bring a dish but he said you’ve got that covered so I bought these instead.’ She hands Ellie the bouquet of bright yellow sunflowers tied together with brown paper.
‘These are beautiful,’ Ellie says. ‘Thank you. Now come in, come in! Make yourself at home. We’re having a picnic lunch outside a little later.’
‘L for lunch,’ Fran pipes up. ‘Uncle Zach told us about your alphabet dates.’
‘Oh did he? Well, he told me that you guys are into colouring at the moment and guess what? So am I! I brought some felt tips and colouring books with me if you fancy …’ Alice is being dragged outside by Fran and Sienna before she has time to finish her sentence.
‘Well, she’s definitely a hit with the girls,’ laughs Raff as we watch Alice pulling the gifts out of her bag and placing them on the play table in the garden. The girls have dragged a sun lounger over so Alice can sit down next to them and now they’re fighting over who’s closest to her, so Alice seems to be diplomatically making sure both Sienna and Francesca feel like they’re getting plenty of attention.
‘She’s a natural with kids,’ Ellie says, following our gaze.
It’s true. Raff, Ellie and I stand for just a minute, watching the sweet scene outside before the timer goes and Raff’s put in charge of pulling the lunch together.
The table is heaving with food. Sliced focaccia sandwiches stuffed with salami and aubergines. A fresh tomato salad dressed with herbs and olive oil. Artichokes and roasted peppers. A taleggio frittata in the middle. Jugs of peach juice making crackling noises as Ellie tips in handfuls of ice.
‘This is heaven,’ Alice sighs as Raff hands her a plate laden with food. ‘Did Zach warn you that I’d eat you out of house and home?’
‘I bought some Hula Hoops just in case,’ I tease and she chuckles.
‘We’re foodies here Alice, you will fit right in,’ my brother smiles and I could convince myself that Alice looks pleased at that.
She runs her hand along the gold cutlery and colourful plates. ‘This looks so effortlessly stylish.’
‘Thank you,’ Ellie says. ‘When Raff and I got married, his Nonna sent us a huge box of mismatched crockery as a wedding gift. It’s been in the family for years.’
‘The lemon prints on these plates are too pretty,’ Alice enthuses.
‘Apparently there’s a lot more back in Italy ready for Zach when he—’
Don’t mention the M word! We’ve already got the G word to contend with.
‘More frittata over here please!’ Raff cuts across his wife and I’m eternally grateful for his timing. Thank goodness for brothers. I give Ellie what I hope is a shut-your-face look.
‘Did you guys marry over there?’ Alice asks.
‘We had a legal ceremony here and then a big celebration in Amalfi. My family are Italian too so I think we’d all have been disowned if we didn’t celebrate over there,’ Ellie says.
‘How did you meet, then?’
‘Through this legend,’ Ellie waves at me. ‘Zach and I met at uni, we were in the same halls in first year. Zach had found the only decent Italian restaurant in Newcastle, made friends with the owners and charmed his way into free food at the end of each service so most of our time at uni was spent eating bowls of pasta late at night.’
‘That sounds perfect!’ Alice flicks her eyes between us.
‘It would have been if I didn’t have to spend it with this chump,’ Ellie jokes.
‘Come on. There’s no way we’d have handed in our dissertations on time if Angelo hadn’t kept us stocked up on limoncello on the night before our deadline,’ I point out.
‘I met Ellie on their graduation day,’ Raff pitches in. ‘I’d heard so much about this best friend of his so I knew she’d be brilliant to hang out with, I just hadn’t expected her to set my heart on fire as well.’
