fine. But I would like to speak to Ferdia and his phone is powered off.’
‘Oh. Okay. Let me get him for you.’
She hurried back to the pool. ‘Ferdia? Perla for you.’
‘Oh? I must be out of coverage.’
Nell loitered, waiting for her phone. She would have liked to know what they were saying to one another – yeah, she was curious, even if it wasn’t any of her business.
‘Thanks.’ Smiling, Ferdia bounded over and returned the phone. ‘I, aaaah –’
She could feel some sort of explanation coming and she didn’t need to know.
‘Perla and I are –’
‘Good for you.’
‘The thing is, we’re –’
‘Grand.’ She smiled. ‘All grand.’
In the heavy late-afternoon heat, all the loungers around the pool were occupied. The sound of cicadas filled the air. Jessie picked up her phone, she’d got a WhatsApp. Her heart beat faster when she saw it was a reply to her self-abasing message to Paige: I’ll FaceTime tomorrow, 2 p.m. your time. Don’t tell Liam. Don’t have the kids with you. Xx
She’d ended it with two kisses. That must mean Jessie hadn’t totally destroyed things.
‘Cara?’
‘Mum? Everything okay?’
‘Fine. Just ringing for a chat.’
They’d always spoken regularly but her mum’s calls had sharply increased since her seizure.
‘I’m fine.’ Cara pre-empted the question. ‘Don’t worry.’
‘Worry? Me?’ Dorothy made scoffing noises. ‘How’s the villa and all? Fabulous?’
‘Fabulous. But it’s the same one as the two other times.’
‘And you’re okay with the food?’
‘Yes, Mum.’ She wanted to sigh.
‘And you’re all set to go back to work on Monday?’
Now she’d got her. This morning she’d woken at around 5 a.m., suddenly hit by the enormity of returning after five weeks off with a mystery ailment. ‘Oh, Mum, I’m mortified. I feel so embarrassed.’
‘You shouldn’t be,’ Dorothy said. ‘You’re sick.’
‘Mum.’ She cradled the phone and whispered, ‘Please don’t say that. I hate it. I’m not sick. I was just a … I lost control for a while. But even with everyone knowing that, I want to die of the shame.’
‘People are very understanding these days. Much better than they used to be.’
‘Mmm.’ Maybe they were, with proper conditions like bi-polar or drug addiction. But with her propensity for overeating and puking, there wouldn’t be the same kind of absolution.
‘And are you getting any … urges? With the gelato and all that?’
‘Honestly, no. Mum, there’s nothing wrong. I just, I don’t really know, lost control for a while. But I’m fine now.’
‘Well, that’s great. How’s everyone? The Lovable Eccentrics? My favourite son-in-law? And’, her tone softened, ‘Jessie?’
‘All grand. Bye, Mum. See you next week.’
‘So,’ Robyn stood up and called out, ‘who wants to go to the designer outlet mall?’
‘The one near Siena?’ Jessie said. ‘Not me. It’s wall-to-wall junk.’
‘Oh.’ Robyn’s tone was cool. ‘Saoirse and I need someone to drive us.’ She twinkled at Ferdia, who studiously ignored her.
To everyone’s surprise, Liam said, ‘I’ll take you.’
‘Oh! Thank you, Liam.’
‘You’re welcome. Tomorrow do you?’
‘It’ll have to be Friday,’ Nell interjected. ‘We’re going to the Da Vinci museum tomorrow.’
‘Oh, yeah. Friday, then.’
‘You coming, Nell?’ Robyn asked archly. ‘To the outlet?’
‘I’m good. I’m not a shopper.’
‘You don’t say.’
Robyn and Liam laughed, then Saoirse joined in.
Sitting in the shade with her book, Cara wondered if she’d be invited. Nope, didn’t look like it. She was literally invisible to Robyn, not even worth mocking. It was sort of funny.
‘So maybe this afternoon, we’ll go back to the spa,’ Robyn said. ‘Get a deep tissue massaaaaaaaaage.’ She ran her hand up and down her smooth thigh.
‘Hey, I can massage you,’ Liam said. ‘I need a guinea pig to practise on.’
Cara was stricken with shock. He couldn’t possibly be serious.
‘Hey!’ Ed snapped. ‘Your back is injured. You can’t massage anyone.’
‘Yeah, but –’ Liam looked irritated. Then he said, ‘I guess I can’t.’
Cara flashed Ed a small grin and they exchanged a silent conversation, which went, Can you believe that fool? and You were a hero and You didn’t think I’d let him get away with it, did you?
Ed’s answering smile was very sweet. For a joyous moment they were back to normal.
‘Mum,’ Dilly said to Jessie, ‘why is he massaging the guinea pigs?’
‘No, bunny, he’s –’ ‘The March of the Valkyries’ blared, startling everyone.
‘Jesus,’ Liam yelped, holding his chest as Jessie grabbed her phone.
‘Loretta! Cara mia! Bene. Sì, sì. Bene. Fantastico! Grazie mille.’ She ended the call and announced to everyone around the pool, ‘Ha-ha, I spoke entirely in Italian, Loretta spoke entirely in English. Anyway! There’s a wedding up the town at five p.m. If we’re there for