chat. ‘I mean, he was amazing, like, real clever and stuff, but I think he kept a lot of secrets from all of us. What do you think?’
I suddenly felt his little body relax in my arms and by the time Ally came back, Bear had closed his eyes and was fast asleep.
‘Wow, you’ve got the touch,’ Ally smiled at me. ‘I normally have to rock him for hours before he’ll give in.’
‘I guess he was bored,’ I shrugged as Ally gently took him from my arms.
‘I’m going to put him in his cot and catch some rest while I can,’ she whispered. ‘See you later.’
Before dinner, I made sure that I’d taken enough precautionary vodka to keep calm, then fixed myself another large one from the pantry when I got downstairs. Thankfully, the conversation didn’t go much past how phenomenal Claudia’s cooking was (it was her famous schnitzel, and I ate up every scrap) and the plans for our boat trip to Greece to lay a wreath on the anniversary of Pa’s death.
‘I thought we girls should go on the actual cruise alone, but Maia is flying over the week before with Floriano, who I can’t wait to meet, and his daughter Valentina,’ Ally informed me. ‘Star, Mouse and his son Rory will be flying in, as well as Tiggy, her boyfriend Charlie and his daughter Zara . . .’
‘Wow!’ I cut in. ‘So Maia, Star and Tiggy are all surrogate mothers to their partners’ children?’
‘Yes, they are,’ Ally agreed.
‘And as your surrogate mother, I know my girls will love the children in their care no less because they are not blood,’ said Ma firmly.
‘Is CeCe coming?’
‘She said she will, yes. She hopes her grandfather and her friend Chrissie might come with her too.’
‘Her “friend” Chrissie?’
Both Ma and Ally stared at me and I wondered why I had to be the only one in the family to actually voice the truth.
‘They’re in a relationship, right?’
‘I don’t know,’ Ally said, ‘but she sounds very happy, which is the most important thing.’
‘But it was obvious from the get-go that CeCe was gay, right? That she was in love with Star?’
‘Electra, it is not our place to pry into other people’s private lives,’ interrupted Ma.
‘But CeCe isn’t “other people”, is she? And besides, what’s the problem? I’m happy for her if she’s found someone she cares for.’
‘We really will be struggling for room,’ Ma continued relentlessly.
‘Well, as the rest of you guys have all found families and it’s just little ol’ me by myself, if there isn’t room, maybe I just shouldn’t come.’
‘Oh Electra, don’t say that! You have to come, you promised.’ Ally looked genuinely upset.
‘Yeah, well, maybe I can sleep in the secret basement Tiggy found when she was here,’ I replied, turning to Ma.
Ally’s expression threw daggers at me across the table, but I was too drunk to care.
‘Ah, the basement.’ Ma regarded both of us. ‘Yes, I did tell Tiggy it is there and there is no mystery to it. Once we have finished Claudia’s wonderful apple strudel, I shall take you down myself to see it.’
I threw back a ‘so there!’ look to Ally, who raised her eyebrows in exasperation, and once the dessert was finished, Ma rose and took out a key from the box on the wall.
‘Right, shall we go down?’
There was no need for an answer, as she was already walking out of the kitchen and Ally and I filed after her. In the corridor, Ma took hold of a brass loop and pulled back a mahogany panel to reveal a miniature elevator.
‘Why was this put in?’ I asked.
‘As I explained to Tiggy, your father wasn’t getting any younger and wanted easy access to all parts of the house.’ Ma opened the door and the three of us crammed inside. I immediately felt claustrophobic and took some deep breaths as she pressed a brass button and the door closed behind us.
‘Yeah, I get that, but why did he hide it?’ I asked as the elevator began to move.
‘Electra, shut up, will you?’ Ally hissed, by now beyond irritated with me. ‘I’m sure Ma will explain everything.’
It was a four-second ride, and I felt the bounce as we reached the bottom. The door slid open and we all stepped into a very plain basement which, as Ally had said, was bounded on all sides by wine racks.
‘And here you are.’ Ma stepped out and swung her arms around the room. ‘Your father’s wine cellar.’ She