children and grandchildren. It was the whole purpose of the trip, and their first day together had certainly been a great success. She hoped the rest of the vacation would be too. Even Sarah had finally relaxed, and been lively and outspoken at dinner, and more like herself. The only one who never really changed or warmed up was Amanda, but they were all used to that, year after year. “Are you going to watch the movie with the kids?” Olivia asked Liz.
“No, I think I’ll work on my—” She stopped herself before she said “book,” and looked panicked as she glanced at her mother. She didn’t want to tell her about it. What was the point? What if, like everything else she’d ever done, it was no good? “Work on my beauty sleep,” she filled in. “The kids stay up way too late for me.”
“Me too,” Olivia said as they walked down to their cabins together. Olivia gently kissed her cheek, and wondered what she was really working on. She knew her older daughter better than that. She was sure she did not intend to work on her beauty sleep. She wondered if Liz was working on a new book. But she was wise enough not to ask questions. She kissed her goodnight, and walked on to her own cabin, pleased at how well everything had gone. It had been a very good first day indeed.
Chapter 6
Amanda went back into Portofino with a crew member and the tender the next day. She was itching to get back to the shops and see what she could find. There were several fancy little stores strung along the port, some Italian, some French, a fun jewelry store, and she came back to the boat laden with her purchases. The crew member she’d taken with her looked like a beast of burden, carrying six or seven shopping bags, and Amanda wore a look of victory. She had worn a short pink strapless sundress with a matching hat for her trip into town, and she came back looking like the consummate shopper. Phillip always said that Amanda shopped as a form of relaxation, so he never complained about it. And Olivia suspected it was true. And as a side benefit, Amanda always looked like a page in Vogue. And she knew that her son liked that.
Amanda was beautiful, without a doubt, but even at her best, she was never warm. It worried Olivia for Phillip. And oddly, although he had suffered from how busy she had been when he was a child, he had picked a woman to marry who was just as intent on her career, or even more so. To the point that she hadn’t wanted children, and it always struck Olivia that she wasn’t much fun to be around. She was so intense about everything she did, and so determined to become a judge. She wanted to know the right people, be seen at the “right” events. There was nothing spontaneous about her. Even her shopping seemed calculated and determined. It was hard to imagine her with messy hair, or laughing herself silly. She seemed humorless and cold to all of them, although they never said so to Phillip. He wasn’t a particularly spontaneous person either, and he was serious by nature, but Olivia couldn’t help thinking that a more easygoing woman might have softened him, and done him a world of good. But he never commented on Amanda’s coolness, so maybe he didn’t mind it, and liked her the way she was.
Olivia had far more fun with Liz, whose humility was touching in many ways. She was bright and funny and beautiful, and never seemed to know it. She was quick to laugh at herself, which was endearing. And Olivia enjoyed talking to Sarah, who was intense but extremely intelligent, and madly in love with John, which pleased Olivia no end. It touched her heart to see her so loving to her son.
Olivia had come to know her children better as adults than she had as children. She was far more aware now of their sensitive points, their fears and weaknesses, and she worried about them more in recent years than she had when they were young. In the early days, they had had their father and grandmother to protect them, and Olivia had been around as much as she could. In those days all they had had to do was keep them healthy, safe, and warm, and keep them