Page 20 of The Island Villa

“I disagree. You look good in everything. But if you didn’t like it, then it should be on the reject pile. You don’t need my opinion, Cassie. You don’t usually doubt yourself when it comes to clothes, so what’s going on here?”

If he thought she looked good in everything, then maybe she didn’t need his opinion, because he clearly wasn’t giving this task sufficient thought.

“I don’t think you’re understanding the significance of this outfit. It’s possible the single most important piece of clothing I’ve bought since I met you on that first day in Oxford when I was trying to make a good impression. I need it to be exactly right.”

“I know.” He removed his phone from her hand. “I know the wedding is important, Cassie. You’ve talked about nothing else since her letter arrived.”

“The wedding is important, but that’s not the reason I’m struggling to pick the right dress. I’m not worried about the wedding, exactly. I’m worried about seeing Adeline.” She turned sideways and studied herself in the mirror. If you really wanted to create a good impression, then it was important to look at an outfit from all angles.

“I thought she wasn’t going?”

It seemed that finally she had his full attention.

“I said I hoped she wasn’t going, but sadly there’s a gap between hope and reality and I just fell into it. I spoke to my mother last night, when you were out with Suzy. She told me Adeline will be there.” She felt sick at the thought of it. “I don’t know why. It’s obvious that she hates weddings. Or maybe she just hates our mother’s weddings. I have no understanding.”

“So this—” he waved his hand at the stack of outfits she’d rejected “—this is all about your half sister?”

“My sister. I think of her as my sister. I’m not the sort of person who does things by halves.” She turned again and twisted her head as far as it would go, trying to see the back. “I haven’t seen her for ages. What I wear matters.”

“Why?” He leaned against the wall, his phone momentarily forgotten. “You’re trying to impress her. You want her to like you, even though you said you were done with all that.”

“I know what I said. I’m not trying to impress her. It’s more that I’m giving myself confidence.” She adjusted one of the straps of the dress. “I’m walking into a stressful situation and I need to look exactly right. I want to appear calm and in control, which basically means I can’t be me because we both know I lean toward the emotional in my response to things.”

“Lean toward?” Oliver grinned. “You face-plant into emotional, Cass. You are a one-woman drama.”

“Exactly. So I’ll be playing a part, and it will help me play that part if I look right. I don’t expect you to understand. Can you take a photograph of me from the back? I want to check I’m not bulging anywhere.” She was sure that Adeline wouldn’t bulge anywhere. From what Cassie knew about her, her sister was a woman who showed rigid control in all things and that included eating and exercise.

She regularly checked Adeline’s social media posts, although she did so carefully so that Adeline wouldn’t be aware of it. She didn’t want her sister thinking she was a stalker.

Oliver took the photograph and handed her his phone. “I don’t understand why you’re so stressed about this and I want to understand. Talk to me.”

And that, she thought, was why he was her best friend.

He didn’t say, You’re being ridiculous. Or, Get a grip, Cassandra.

He said, I want to understand.

“Adeline is an impressive person. Scarily impressive. I don’t want to feel inferior.” She checked the photograph and reassured herself that the dress looked good from all angles.

“Why would you feel inferior? You’re brilliant, Cassie. Smart, funny, warm—” He stopped. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Because they didn’t say that kind of thing to each other. Their conversation usually consisted of banter, insults and the occasional emotional confession (on her part, at least). They were rarely polite to each other, or complimentary.

His gaze locked on hers for a moment and she felt strange and awkward for the first time in their friendship.

“You’re just saying that because you know your best friend status is under review.” She chose to be flippant and he hesitated and then did the same.

“That’s right. Also, I hadn’t finished. I was going to add that you’re also late for everything, pathologically untidy, permanently hungry, can’t walk through a door without banging into it and have an irritating habit of interrupting a conversation so that you can write down a line of dialogue or an idea that just came to you for your book. Sometimes I think all I am to you is a source of inspiration.”

She relaxed. This felt so much more familiar and comfortable.

“Dialogue and ideas are precious,” she said. “And if I don’t write them down immediately, I forget them.”

“Like I said—irritating. I don’t understand why it matters to you so much what Adeline thinks. She’s virtually a stranger.”

“Maybe, but she’s still my sister. And I care what she thinks because I care what everyone thinks. It’s my biggest failing, although you missed that off your list.”

Did he really think she was smart, warm and funny?

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