Sisters - Michelle Frances Page 0,20

pick up the phone? What, Matteo proposed, the priest was waiting and the dress was about to be turned back into rags?’

Abby didn’t answer.

‘And now you have this new secret. Something else you won’t tell me.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘I’m not stupid. I’ve seen you whispering with Mum.’ Ellie paused. Whatever it was, she knew it would make her feel inferior and she’d rather just know and get it over and done with. ‘What is it you’ve done now? What big thing have you got to announce?’

To Ellie’s frustration, Abby was saved from answering as Susanna breezed back up to the table, followed by the waitress, who placed the bill on the cloth. Abby picked it up and started making mental calculations.

‘OK . . . so I had the mushroom pizza, Mum you were the artichoke and a lemonade and Ellie—’

‘Can’t we just split it three ways?’ Irritation burning, Ellie stared at her sister.

‘I suppose . . . it’s just . . .’

‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ said Abby graciously. ‘It doesn’t matter that some people ordered more drinks.’

‘Oh, for God’s sake!’

‘What’s up now?’

Ellie gritted her teeth. ‘You’re so . . . tight.’

‘I’m frugal!’

‘I’m not just talking about the money! It’s everything! You’re so tightly wound, so not relaxed! And look around you!’ Ellie waved her arm towards the beach. ‘You’re in the most perfect place with the most perfect life—’

‘It’s not as straightforward as you think.’

‘No? You want to swap?’

‘I needed to escape.’

‘Don’t we all.’

‘It was more than that.’ Abby looked at her uneasily. ‘I’ve needed to escape ever since I was small—’

‘I’ve settled up, girls.’ Susanna was standing next to the table, smiling carefully at them. Ellie had been so irritated she hadn’t even seen her mother leave. ‘Just popped to the till,’ continued Susanna, ‘while you were,’ she lowered her voice, ‘arguing.’

Abby started to protest, to get out her purse, and in exasperation, Ellie flounced out of the restaurant.

TWELVE

They drove back to the villa in strained silence. The car was unbearably hot; black seats burned bare skin and, even with the windows fully down, only a blast of warm air filled the car as it wound its way over the shimmering tarmac. Feeling faint from the heat, Ellie found herself smouldering at Abby further – she’s got enough money, why can’t she get a car where the air conditioning actually works?

She was first out and didn’t wait for Abby to open the front door but unlatched the side gate and made her way around the back to the terrace. As she approached, a lizard stopped dead on the flagstones. The sun beat down. The leaves on the lemon trees in the large terracotta pots were utterly still. Ellie felt a rivulet of sweat trickle down her lower back. She heard the patio doors slide open behind her. Her shoulders stiffened.

‘Are you all right? Ellie?’

It was her mother. Her voice was soft, gentle and full of understanding, and it triggered neuron pathways that had been set when she was a child, sick and reliant on her rock of a mother. Embarrassingly, Ellie felt herself well up. She quickly brushed away the tears.

Susanna came out and walked over to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. ‘Why don’t I get you a drink?’ she said and then went back inside.

Ellie looked down at the lizard. It was still there, not even an eyelid blinking. The sun was burning her shoulders and she half thought about moving into some shade. She heard footsteps behind her and turned – she was so thirsty – but it was Abby standing there, not her mother. Abby crossed the terrace until she was standing next to her.

‘I know you think I have everything I could ever want . . . a charmed life . . .’ said Abby. ‘But you could have the same too.’

‘Oh, pur-lease,’ said Ellie.

‘But you could.’

‘I was not given the gifts you were, Abby. Or if I was, they were stunted in childhood.’

‘No, but that’s the point. All those years you felt your illness was holding you back—’

‘It was holding me back. I was too ill to learn. It affected everything. Whereas you – you were able to do whatever you wanted. You just . . . took off, and I was left on the sidelines. No Girl Scouts, no trampoline club, no going to friends’ houses to play, half the time not even any school . . . just a struggle, everything a struggle. You didn’t even look back over your