‘My kids are seventeen and twenty-one,’ he replies. ‘So obviously, yes. Yes, I do.’
Ellis is much sillier than I would expect a ship’s captain to be, but I have no basis for comparison. Maybe they’re all like this? Maybe the job requires both skill and foolishness in equal parts?
We approach the tower and discover it’s roughly 294 steps to climb to the top. I feel like I’m being punished. I did not come on this cruise just to climb. Before I can protest, we’re told that the next tour isn’t until 4 p.m., by which time we’ll need to be back on the train.
‘Oh well, that’s a shame,’ I say, trying not to sound delighted. I’m glad I’m here but I feel like even attempting those stairs in this heat might be the end of me.
‘I climbed it last time I was here,’ Ellis says, looking up. ‘To be honest, the building is impressive, but the climb I can live without. Unless standing on top of high buildings is your thing?’
‘Heights are one hundred per cent not my thing,’ I assure him. ‘I hate heights.’
‘You hungry?’
‘Always.’
‘So why don’t we sit outside? Get some lunch? Maybe a hair of the dog?’
‘Yes, yes and no,’ I reply. ‘I’m already ninety per cent proof. Keep me away from naked flames.’
We wander for a while, finding a little Tuscan restaurant with a modest seating area outside. We barely have time to look at the menu board before a woman in a black dress with a messy bun appears from nowhere.
‘Come in, lovely people! We have table here for you,’ she says, pointing to the left. Even though we haven’t decided this is where we’ll have lunch, we find ourselves doing as we’re told. She’s far too welcoming to refuse.
We order a platter to share and are presented with a mountain of bread, cheese, olives, cured meats and pickled vegetables. Ellis has a beer while I have a mimosa mocktail. As soon as I start to eat, I feel better.
‘You know that film where Julia Roberts goes abroad to find herself and just eats pasta until her clothes don’t fit her any more?’
‘Eat Pray Love?’
‘Yeah, that’s the one,’ I reply, inhaling some more cheese and bread. ‘She was away for months. I’m only on day five and I already feel the need for an elasticated waistband. I really should take advantage of the buffet salad bar but who the hell eats salad on holiday?’
‘So you have the Eat part down,’ he responds, smiling. ‘Just Pray and Love to go! You’ve got this.’
‘I’m not sure I have the will or the inclination to find a higher calling anytime soon,’ I say.
He chuckles. ‘Not religious then?’
‘Not even a little bit,’ I reply.
Ellis sips his beer. ‘I was raised Baptist. Mom made me and my older sister Kerry go with her to church every Sunday. But when I went into the army, I fell away from it.’
‘Are you still close with them?’
‘Kerry lives in Dallas now. We keep in touch but probably not as often as we should. Mom died in 2000.’
‘Sorry to hear about your mum. My dad passed away a while back so it was just me and Mum for a long time. She thinks she needs someone to take care of her. I’m the opposite. Anyway, I don’t hold out much hope for the love part. I’m not even sure I’ll continue this when I get home.’
‘I think if you want it, it’ll happen,’ Ellis replies. ‘I mean, you’re trying, right? You’re following your “yes” strategy, which, by the way, I still don’t entirely understand, but now you’re in Pisa, drinking mimosa and hogging all the cheese.’
‘This is true,’ I say, moving my hand away from the Fontina. ‘And you’re right. I do want it. I’ve been single long enough.’
‘How long is that?’
‘Hmm, if you don’t count the three months in 2019, which I don’t, then I’ve been single for oh, twenty years, give or take.’
He stops eating. ‘You’re kidding?’
I shake my head. It’s hard to verbalise with a mouth full of prosciutto.
