‘What a coincidence!’ said Libby.
‘She lives in a small village called Tremento. It’s about an hour’s drive west from Amalfi, up in the hills,’ explained John. ‘About twenty minutes to the nearest beach… I’ve forgotten the name.’
‘I’ve heard of Tremento,’ said Luca. ‘I bet it’s very beautiful up there.’
‘Have you been to visit?’ asked Helen.
‘Not for quite a few years,’ said John. ‘When Julie became sick, we stopped travelling abroad. But we did visit Lizzy a couple of times over the years. She is married to an Italian chap called Giuseppe. She runs a bed and breakfast.’
‘How wonderful!’ said Libby. Her mind immediately darted to her own dormant but ever-present plans to run her own bed and breakfast one day. Maybe she could open one in Italy? That was an idea that hadn’t occurred to her before. Perhaps she should bite the bullet and leave law completely, move back to Positano with Luca and start a business. That way maybe they could both be happy. She wanted so badly for him to be his sparkling, usual self, and she knew things weren’t quite right between them in London.
‘So how was Positano?’ asked Helen.
‘It’s almost unrecognisable at this time of year,’ said Libby. ‘The waves are pretty rough; they have dismantled all the beach restaurants for the winter.’
‘Do they do that every year?’ asked Miriam.
‘Yes, they have to rebuild them for the start of each season, it’s exhausting!’ explained Luca.
‘I’ll bet!’ said John.
‘It’s quite beautiful, though; the clouds hang low over the hills above and the whole place has more of a mystical feel to it.’
‘I prefer the summer,’ said Luca. ‘But it was great to be home and to see all my family.’
‘You must miss them terribly,’ said Miriam.
‘It was my first Catholic mass on Christmas Day,’ said Libby, trying to change the subject. ‘I didn’t understand a word!’
‘They all adore Izzy, of course,’ continued Luca.
‘She is looking impossibly sweet at the moment,’ said Miriam. ‘I know I am biased, but I do think she is the most gorgeous little girl I’ve ever seen.’
‘Well I’m not biased,’ said John. ‘She really is the most beautiful little thing!’
Luca and Libby spent a happy few days making the most of having such willing babysitters on hand to go for walks together, watch movies and generally relax. She was glad of the opportunity to spend time with him. She wanted more than anything for him to be happy and she felt like some of the distance that had built up between them since their holiday in September was beginning to break down. It was a much-needed break for them both as they gathered strength for the new year to come.
As January dawned, Libby suddenly began to dread the approaching end of her maternity leave. ‘I can’t believe I’m going back to work at the end of the month,’ she said to Luca. She just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Izzy.
‘Nine months have gone by very quickly, haven’t they?’ said Luca. ‘We need to sort out what we’re going to do with Izzy once and for all.’ They had lined up both a nursery and a child-minder who lived locally as possible childcare solutions, but they had yet to decide which option they would choose.
‘I think we should go with the child-minder,’ Libby said. She had been weighing up both options for quite some time. ‘Nurseries won’t accept babies if they have even the slightest sniffle, and I can’t be off work every time she has a cold.’
‘I’m happy with that. I can’t just drop everything either. But I do think we need to pay for the child-minder for four days a week. I can do the fifth day of childcare, but I need at least one of my days off from Sicaro to work on my freelance stuff.’
‘OK, so if we put her in care from Monday to Thursday, are you happy with that? It needs to be the same days every week.’
‘Yes, that sounds perfect. Shall I phone the child-minder?’ offered Luca.
‘No, don’t worry, I’ll do it. It’s going to break my heart leaving her,’ she said miserably.
‘I’m sure you’ll get used to it. It’ll be like ripping off a plaster. You’ve just got to take the plunge, and then when you’re back in the flow of working it will be fine.’
‘I don’t even enjoy my work, though. At least if I was passionate about what I was doing, it would seem more worthwhile. How am I supposed to leave Izzy, the one person in the world that I love more than life itself, to sit in an office staring at a computer for eight and a half hours a day?’ The only reason she was determined to stick at her law conversion was to provide for Izzy’s future. The money was so good she knew it was the responsible thing to do. As much as she would love to start her own bed and breakfast, to move to the countryside or back to Positano, she would never be able to reach anything like the earning potential she would by staying in law. She knew she should give Digby and Edwards her best shot. If she didn’t get an offer from them at the end of the training contract, then she would have to rethink. She knew she owed it to Izzy, and to herself after all the hard work she had put in so far, to give it one final shot.
She had negotiated her hours to start at nine and leave at five thirty so that she could be home with Izzy by quarter past six for her bath and bedtime. She was determined to stick to her guns about her leaving time. There was no way she was willing to miss out on Izzy’s bedtime routine; it was her favourite time of day and in her mind it was completely non-negotiable.
Soon enough, Libby’s first day back at work dawned with an early alarm call. She left the house, having handed Izzy over to the child-minder with a thousand last-minute tips and instructions, tears shining in her eyes. It was one of the strangest days of her life. She had dressed in a smart navy dress and heels, the first pair of heels she had worn in as long as she could remember. She arrived at Digby and Edwards at nine o’clock on the dot, walking through the huge swivelling doors and breathing in the familiar smells of wood polish and coffee. Nervously she had made her way to the Contentious Trusts and Successions Department. She had a meeting first thing with Derek, her supervisor, who welcomed her back and explained that she would be completing the remaining five months of her seat in the company of the new round of first-year trainees. She met the two trainees who would be sharing her placement, Imogen and Rajid, both of whom had already settled in well to their new roles in the department.
Strangely, against all expectations, she actually quite enjoyed being out of the house and having a purpose other than childcare, as rewarding as that was. It was refreshing to use her brain and engage in adult conversation for such large parts of the day. The work itself seemed dull to her, but it felt good to be back in a buzzing office environment.
As spring flew by, Libby was happier than she had thought she would be to be back at work. Izzy seemed to adore Zoe, her child-minder, which certainly helped. It was a wonderful relief having such a reliable and kind person to leave her daughter with. Libby had liked her instantly. She had come highly recommended from a local family, who had employed her for both of their young children over the last five years, sadly letting her go now that they were both old enough for primary school. Libby felt happy with the arrangements that they had made and soon settled into her new routine, relishing the precious evenings and weekends that she spent with her daughter. Both Luca and Libby were so busy at work that they hardly seemed to see each other. He would sometimes get back late from client meetings as apparently Sicaro was keen for him to win new business; this – coupled with his football matches and other social engagements with Lorenzo at the weekends – meant that they weren’t spending nearly as much time together. During the weekdays, when Libby had got through the bedtime routine, she often collapsed into bed, desperate for an early night after a long day at work. Juggling work, relationships and motherhood wasn’t easy, but she felt as though she was trying her best. She felt proud of herself, for once, for persevering when the going was tough.
