about a hunting trip he’d been on, when Liz quietly confided to Sarah about her book.
“To be honest, I just can’t tell if it’s terrific or awful. It’s different from anything I’ve ever done. It’s mostly allegorical about the fantasy life of a child, but it’s very philosophical in some ways. I’m afraid to send it to my agent—he might think I’ve lost my mind. I haven’t called him in years.”
“Do you want me to take a look at it?” Sarah offered, as the sun went down, and they all relaxed together. They felt like a real family, during these holidays together, instead of separate unrelated individuals. Maintaining that bond to one another, and to her, was why Olivia got them together every year, and so far it was working. Even the in-laws got along better, and the cousins had a ball.
“I’d love you to,” Liz said with a shiver of fear running down her spine. “Christ, Sarah, what if it’s awful?”
“Then you’ll write something else. You have to try different things sometimes.” She knew Liz had been stuck for a long time. She was happy to hear that she was writing again, and intrigued to see what she’d written. “I’d love to read it,” she said, sounding enthusiastic, and neither of them had realized that Olivia was sitting right behind them, soaking up the last of the sun.
“So would I,” she said gently. “Can I read it after Sarah?” Liz jumped when she heard her mother’s voice, and turned to see her with a look of panic.
“Mom, it’s really not ready, I need to work on it some more.” Olivia nodded, but looked disappointed. She wanted to share in what they were doing, and learn more about them now, but sometimes it was hard to open those doors, and she could only enter the inner sanctum of their lives if she was invited. And apparently, in this case, she wasn’t.
“I’d love to see it whenever you’re ready,” Olivia said, and Liz nodded, thinking that would probably be never. The last person she wanted to share her failures with was her mother. Olivia had succeeded at everything she’d ever done, as far as Liz was concerned, and she herself had never done anything of importance or merit. What she didn’t realize was that Olivia thought Liz was an extraordinary mother, and felt like a failure in that area herself. They each had their talents and their strengths. Olivia’s had come out in business, and Liz’s had blossomed at home with her children. But Liz’s sense of herself was always as a failure. And if her new manuscript was another example of that, she had no desire to show it to her mother.
Liz changed the subject then, and a little while later the three women went off to the gym. Olivia played Scrabble with her grandchildren when they came back from their last swim, and Phillip and John were talking about the business. They had each gotten several e-mails from the office that morning, and had already discussed them with their mother. There had been a threatened strike at their Cleveland store, but the dispute had been settled, and Olivia wasn’t concerned. She had reminded them to send a copy of the e-mails to Peter Williams, to keep him informed. But work was the last thing on her mind as she played the game with her grandchildren. Sophie put down a seven-letter word, and then Alex managed two of them and beat them all soundly.
Olivia had a massage after the game, and they all dressed casually that night for dinner. They were going to make it an early night, so they could get under way to Elba. It would be an eight- or nine-hour cruise, so they could arrive by morning. Elba was a sleepy spot with good swimming, and excellent fishing for the boys, and it was a good halfway spot between Portofino and Sardinia, where they were planning to spend several days.
They had dinner at nine o’clock, and by ten-thirty they were under way toward Elba. The kids had decided to spend the rest of the evening in the movie theater, and the adults all wanted to go to bed early. None of them was used to the amount of sports they were doing, and they were genuinely tired after a long day in and out of the water. But all of them felt healthier and more relaxed than they had when they arrived.