Anna repeated the greeting and said, "You're so cool! I bet you were in the pool already this morning."

  "I was." They were not the surprise guests I had been expecting.

  "Give us a hand with these oranges, would you?" Giovanna sliced an orange in half on a cutting board and handed it to Laura, who squeezed it in a citrus press. "The Cecchis invited us for the day. We just came down to check on Laura and to chat."

  Anna whispered to me, "They invited us to join everyone today. I hope you don't mind."

  "I think it's wonderful," I answered honestly.

  Giovanna called out, "Come along, you two. We need help!"

  Laura laughed and said, "We have enough juice for a small army, Giovanna. I think we can stop now."

  Thinking of Laura's friends, old and new, who were to arrive soon, I said, "You can never have enough fresh orange juice." I started slicing oranges with Giovanna.

  "I came to tell you what I've decided," said Giovanna. "I'm selling the company and dividing everything between Ernesto, Tomaso, Cinzia, and myself. And I'm setting up a fund for Paola Cecchi so she can finish her education without any financial worries. I go to the lawyers tomorrow morning to settle everything."

  "You don't want to think about it longer?" Laura asked.

  "No, Laura, dear! No more thinking! After the stolen money is back in the company, the books will look very attractive to a buyer. I doubt we could ever get as good a price for the firm as at this time."

  "Are you sure you'll get all the money back?"

  "Your marshal friend is helping me with that. He's had their passports confiscated until all the funds are returned and the back company taxes are paid."

  Laura looked surprised at the reference to her 'marshal friend,' but did not disagree. "How's Ovidio doing?"

  Anna said, "Giovanna has hired a psychiatrist and a lawyer for him. He's to be evaluated, and they may try to get him sent to an institution rather than to prison." She took a pitcher of juice from Laura and put it in the refrigerator. "Just one more pitcher. That will be for us girls, right now."

  "I hope it's the right thing to do." Giovanna explained, "Ovidio knew what he was doing and convinced himself it was right, but he does confuse Antonio with Egidio when talking about it. I don't know what to think!" Giovanna went to the back door and looked out on the garden and the valley shimmering in the heat below.

  "So much has happened this week, Giovanna. Are you going to be alright?" I asked.

  "Yes, I suppose so. I was just remembering how, lately, I would look at Antonio and see his father, just as Ovidio did. Antonio was thirty, only a bit older than his father was when we married. Sometimes I would look at Antonio and try to remember why I'd married Egidio."

  "All the girls wanted to marry Egidio, me included," Anna said with honesty.

  "Not Giusi!" Giovanna laughed. "She was older and wiser than us. She saw right through Egidio to his vanity and his arrogance. When I looked at Egidio, all I saw was beauty and self-confidence."

  "You were practically children, inexperienced in the world," I said. "It should have been a lesson learned, like it is for women today. In our day, we weren't given many chances to learn lessons. We were married off to the first mistake we fell for!"

  Giovanna and Anna laughed in wry agreement.

  "Lets go in here. It's nice and cool." Laura carried a tray with four glasses and a pitcher of juice into the dining room. We followed her and sat around the table. Only very thin streaks of sunlight made their way through the shutters that covered the windows and kept out the heat.

  "Cinzia's decided to accept an assault charge, and she'll probably go to prison for a while," said Anna. "She worked it out with a lawyer, refusing to speak to me, of course, and she's shown no remorse!"

  "The money will be waiting for her when she gets out. I expect she'll leave and start over someplace else." Giovanna assured her friend, "A few years on her own will work wonders, Anna! You'll see."

  We were surprised by a knock on the dining room door. "Sorry to startle you," said Franco. "That juice looks good. May I join you?"

  "Of course you can join us!" Laura rose to meet him. When she reached the dark corner where he stood, he leaned over and kissed her.

  Giovanna and Anna signaled me silently from across the table. Anna whispered, "We noticed something between them, yesterday evening."

  Giovanna whispered, "We approve!"

  They both turned in their seats to get a better look at Franco Tadeucci.

  "Let me get you a glass." Laura started nervously for the kitchen door.

  Franco said, "I'm a detective, remember. I think I can find a glass in a kitchen. You sit down."

  Laura returned to her seat and waited with us for our guest to return. We heard some kitchen cupboards being opened and closed, and then there was a pause. Then more cupboards opened and closed, and within the space of a minute, it sounded as if every cupboard in the kitchen had been searched at least once, maybe even twice. By the time Franco returned, we were laughing with delight.

  Franco stood triumphantly in the doorway holding up the glass. "I probably should have asked Bert for a hand. Two detectives are always better than one." Franco laughed at my surprise at the compliment. He sat down next to Laura and poured himself some juice.

  Giovanna eyed him curiously, and then said, "I'd have been very proud if my sons had turned out like you, Marshal."

  It was Franco's turn to be surprised by a compliment. "Thank you, Signora, but please, call me Franco."

  "Franco," Giovanna said, "as long as you're not about to arrest any of my family or friends, you may call me Giovanna."

  Giovanna Bartolini smiled her most charming smile. I recognized the energetic and charismatic woman I had admired only a week before. Giovanna was nearly back to herself.

  "No arrests today. I'm off duty!" Franco pointed to his shirt to show us the evidence. He was not in his usual dark uniform. I found the difference striking. Franco looked years younger, and his manner was decidedly more relaxed.

  "I meant what I said about my sons, Franco. I failed with them, terribly."

  "Parenting is not easy, and it's not an exact science," Franco assured Giovanna. "Far from it!"

  "I suppose that's true," Giovanna admitted reluctantly. "More than anything, I wanted my boys to learn three things, but I failed. The first thing was to learn self-control over evil desires. The second thing was to learn self-denial because we can never have all we want in life. The third thing was to learn from their setbacks and to live with the disappointments because they're a part of life."

  "How could you teach them these things, Giovanna? Egidio never let you get near them for any length of time." Anna stated what we all knew to be the truth. "They were Egidio's children."

  "I struggle to teach Pina, my daughter, those things," Franco confided. "But sometimes I think I made the wrong decision to move away from Florence. Here, there's not many good, female role models for Pina."

  "But there's Laura!" shouted Anna, causing the others to laugh.

  "Yes," agreed Franco with a smile, "there's Laura and her friends." He indicated the women seated around the table.

  "Oh, yes, of course," Giovanna waved a dismissive hand. "But we're oldies. Young girls need young role models. I worry about my granddaughter, Beatrice. Her parents are so backward in their thinking about women!" She threw her hands in the air to show her exasperation.

  Anna smiled and said, "Giovanna lectured Ernesto and Graziella this morning for over an hour! Giovanna brought the children to them right then and there, and made them promise the children they could both go to University and could study whatever they wanted!"

  "Good for you!" Laura cheered. "That was long overdue."

  "I'm glad you approve, my dear, because we brought them with us." Giovanna smiled at her surprise.

  "The children," clarified Anna, "not their parents!"

  "They're with Pina and the others." Franco knew immediately that he had made a mistake.

  "The others?" Laura picked up on the word and his reaction.

  "Sorry, Bert. Did I ruin the surprise?"

  "No, not at all! I think it's time to tell her. We have company, Laura. While you were in the bath last evening, Michela called to check on you. She suggested everyone spend Sunday together and that we have a picnic. Donatella offered to organize everything, and she suggested we surprise you. Then Franco called to see how you were doing, and I invited him and Pina to join us."

  "Giusi invited us," Anna explained.

  Laura asked conspiratorially, "So how much longer do I have to pretend not to know?"

  "Long enough to listen to our news," said Giovanna. "After the company's sold, Anna and I are opening a quality fabric and custom clothing store in Florence. We start looking for locations tomorrow!"

  "And an apartment somewhere near the shop," added Anna.

  "I think that's a wonderful idea!" Laura said. "I'll even write you up for one of those exclusive magazines I contribute to. You'll be famous!"

  "Free publicity!" Giovanna clapped her hands in pleasure. "We were going to do this after your marriage. Laura, dear, I'm so sorry the way things worked out. Tomaso says he's going to Milan to work for an old friend of his father's. No, not a friend. What do you call it, a crony?"

  "A crony sounds about right, Giovanna," Laura agreed dryly.

  With a close eye on both Franco and Laura, Giovanna said, "I doubt he'll ever come back. There's nothing left for him here, is there?"

  Giovanna's "here" was suggestively vague. I suspected this was intentional on cagey Giovanna's part. She was providing Laura with an opportunity to reject Tomaso in front of Franco, a prospective suitor.

  Laura said firmly, "There's nothing left for him here! Nothing at all!"

  "That's good to know, isn't it?" Giovanna smiled innocently, and let her gaze rest on Franco.

  Franco looked amused. "Laura, would you like to surprise your surprise guests? We could go see how the bread's coming along."

  Before Laura could say anything, Giovanna stood up. "You two go ahead. We have more juice to make for all those guests! It's going to be a hot day. Let's go!"

  Anna and I followed her into the kitchen. Anna stood guard, listening for the sound of the front door closing behind Franco and Laura. "There gone! Well done, Giovanna!"

  I laughed at the two conspirators. "To be honest, I don't think you'll have to scheme much to get those two together."

  "No," agreed Giovanna, "he's not the shy type. Did you see that kiss? I don't think he'll waste any time! And Laura's clearly attracted to him. It's so nice to see her with a good man!"

  Anna nodded her agreement and said, "We may still have a wedding before the end of the year!"

  *****

  "May I join you?" Franco sat down opposite me.

  "I was about to get up, actually. I'm feeling guilty about not helping." I was sitting under an umbrella at a table in the back garden. "Laura won't let me do anything. She says this is my welcome party, without a murder!"

  Aldo interrupted, "May I have a word?" He sat down next to Franco.

  Colin quickly joined us. "Going over the case, again? I don't want to miss a thing!"

  Franco eyed the two men suspiciously and then fixed his gaze on Aldo. "What did you want to talk about, Dr. Bianchi?"

  "Aldo, please. Laura seems to think you're getting cold feet. It's a strange English expression, but I think you know what it means. You're having second thoughts about your feelings for her."

  "Laura said that?" I did not think it possible that after all this time, and with Laura very nearly his, Franco was hesitating, but he did not deny it.

  "Perhaps you could offer me some professional advice, Aldo," said Franco. "I'm unsure if I should pursue a relationship with Laura so soon after her ending the other relationship. I wouldn't want to discover in a few months time that I was just a rebound relationship." Franco said slyly, "That's a strange English expression, but I'm sure you know what it means."

  Aldo considered this for a moment before saying, "If Laura were the victim, I would agree with you, but she's not the victim in this case. Laura came to realize that she did not love Tomaso. Later she learned of his betrayal. Her pride was hurt, and her confidence in her own judgment was shaken, but her heart was not broken. She ended the relationship with him so I say don't wait. That was my profession advice. Now for the unprofessional advice." Aldo's deep voice became suddenly deeper as he looked up at Franco. "You had better be sincere and not out for a foreign adventure, because if you are, you'll answer to me!" As an afterthought he said, "And if I don't scare you, you'll answer to Colin!"

  Colin grinned and said enthusiastically, "My pleasure!"

  Franco looked at Colin in disbelief.

  Colin laughed. "Alright, I'll tell him! Aldo, Franco's late wife was Swiss, well, Swiss-Italian. He's not into foreign adventures. He's into foreign women, period!"

  In his surprise, Aldo let slip, "Very different from Laura!" He glanced up quickly at Franco. "Sorry, it's just that by reputation, Swiss-Italians are very different from Laura."

  "Yes, they are." Franco said no more about his late wife, and he looked like he was no longer in the mood to be threatened by Laura's friends. "I'd like to speak to Bert, alone."

  Colin and Aldo muttered something about having to help out in the kitchen, and they left together. As they walked away, I head Aldo whisper to Colin, "You should tell me these things so I don't make a fool of myself!"

  I was not going to threaten Franco, but I was concerned about his hesitation. "What's your real worry?"

  "Always the detective!" he laughed. "Pina's my real worry. She's pushing hard for this relationship to move very quickly. I want Laura to decide how quickly the relationship should move, not Pina. She should feel free to end it, too, if that's what she wants."

  I sensed Franco had difficulty even considering that possibility, but because of Pina, he had to consider it. "Don't worry. Remember that first evening, Laura chose to befriend Pina because she liked Pina. The afternoon at your place, Laura chose to strengthen that friendship by offering herself as a confident for Pina. Laura chose to be Pina's friend before she decided to have a relationship with you. If anything were to happen, God forbid, to end your relationship with Laura, nothing would change between Laura and Pina, unless you wanted it to change. Laura would never hurt her. Never!"

  Franco looked moved by my defense of Laura's good nature, but he was still unsure. "Pina's asking me where she'll live if something happens to me. She's never asked these questions before! I'm afraid Pina will frighten Laura by pushing for more than she can give."

  "I understand your situation and your concern, but I know Laura better than you do. You just have to trust me when I say, trust Laura. Tell her your concerns. Tell her what Pina's pushing for. Ask for her advice. You'll be surprised. Actually, I can promise you that Laura will surprise you every day you know her. She still surprises me!"

  Franco sat back, and I watched as he his worries slipped away. Slowly, a grin appeared on his face. "She's already surprised me at least twice, today, and it's still early! That kiss hello," he shook his head in amazement, "and when I told her about my new job."

  "New job? You aren't leaving here, are you?"

  "No, I won't have to move," Franco assured me. "At the end of last year, I was offered a new post. They said I could take some time to think about it. I'm going to accept. I'm to set up a task force to handle serious crime in this area." He grinned and said, "I accepted it because of the positive experience of working with you. It reminded me how much I enjoyed the work I did in Florence. With this new job, I'll get to do similar work, just not quite so busy. I can still be here for Pina."

  "The best of both worlds," I said. "I'm very happy for you. I think you've made the right decision."

  "That's what Laura said. She surprised me with how well she understands the work I do."

  "Laura's very proud of you. She was bragging about you to me the very first day I arrived in Montemorello!"

  Franco looked embarrassed yet happy to know that. I assured him, "I'm sure she'll help you with Pina if you get tied up with work."

  "She's already offered."

  Laura sat down between us and handed Franco an iced glass of orange juice. "This is one part of my apology for Colin and Aldo threatening you. I did not put them up it!"

  "What's the other part of your apology?" Franco took a sip of the juice.

  "Oh, we can discuss when we're alone." Laura and I laughed as Franco nearly spilled his drink. "Stay calm!" she urged him with a devious smile. "Right now, I need to make another apology, this one to Bert. I had you take part in two stupid lies this week that very nearly cost you your life. It was wrong of me, and from the bottom of my heart, I'm so sorry."

  "I accept your apology, but I agreed to go along out of my own free will, so don't take all the blame on yourself."

  Laura did not look convinced she should share the blame, despite my assurances.

  Colin joined us once again. "Are you talking about the case? I still had a few questions."

  "What questions could you still have, Colin?" Franco laughed. "We've been over everything, twice!"

  Colin dove right in with his first question. "Why did you have Bert question Ovidio and Cinzia? Granted, she had Ovidio singing like a canary, from what you've told me, but why didn't you question him?"

  "That's a good question." Laura turned to Franco. "I was wondering that, too."

  "We'd noticed early on that Ovidio was most comfortable with women. He seemed afraid of men. He would never have been open with me. It was a toss up with Cinzia, however. We knew she was tough, and we didn't have much to link her to the crime, so we agreed to both take a shot at her. In the end, she responded to Laura out of anger and incriminated herself. But I have to say"—he eyed me with suspicion—"I've had a feeling from the beginning that this wasn't the first police investigation for Bert."

  Colin said quickly, "You're a police consultant back home, aren't you?"

  "No! I'm not a police consultant! Don't be silly, Colin. I'm a retired librarian."