Page 22 of The Island Villa

“Why not?” She handed him the dress and the jacket while she bent to tie her laces. “Was it because she didn’t make you laugh? That could be because you have a strange sense of humor. I’ve said it a million times.” She straightened and smiled, expecting him to be smiling too. He wasn’t.

“There was nothing wrong with her.” His voice sounded strange. Strained.

“But she wasn’t the one. I get it. If you need ages to think it over, then it isn’t right.” She picked up her bag and draped the clothes over her arm. “How many couples do you know who date for ten years and then wham, one of them meets someone else and gets married in a month.”

“I don’t know anyone like that.” He grabbed the jacket from her before it could slide to the floor.

“Neither do I, but I’ve heard plenty of stories.” She pulled out her credit card. “And it proves the very obvious point, that if you’ve known someone for years and still haven’t got it together, then it isn’t right. Something is missing.”

“Maybe. Or maybe there are other reasons. Maybe it takes a while for some people to figure out how they really feel about each other.”

“Excuses. For my parents, it was instantaneous. They took one look at each other and just knew.”

Oliver’s gaze was steady. “How?”

“I don’t know. Not everything can be easily explained. Love is a feeling that defies logic.” Which was probably why Adeline wasn’t a fan of weddings and was still resolutely single. From the little she knew, her sister wasn’t big on feelings and emotions. “Come on. I’ll max out my credit card with these clothes, and then we’ll overdose on sugar.” She was going to focus on cheering up Oliver and that would stop her thinking about her sister.

But Oliver was staring at his phone again.

She waited. “Now what? Has she messaged you? Don’t reply. Be strong. Delete her from your contacts so that you don’t drunk text her by accident.”

“She hasn’t messaged me.” He glanced up. “Did you write to your sister?”

“No. Why would I write to my sister? Oh—” She stopped, horrified. “You mean did I write to Dr. Swift?” She felt her face heat. “Maybe. I mean, yes. I did it that evening when you were at the movies with Suzy. Why?”

“Because she’s answered your letter.”

“Please tell me you’re kidding.” Cassie snatched his phone. “No, no, no! That isn’t possible.”

“Why isn’t it possible?”

“Because I read somewhere that she gets hundreds, or maybe it was even thousands of letters and emails,” Cassie moaned, “and mine should have gone unnoticed.” Why was she so impulsive? Why had she pressed Send? She should have written the email and filed it in drafts. That was what a normal person would have done.

“If you wanted to go unnoticed, why did you send it?”

“Because it was the Saturday night my mother rang to say my sister was coming to the wedding and the whole thing made me stressed and anxious. Also, I may have had one or two very large glasses of that Pinot Noir we’d opened together the night before.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow. “You told me you knocked the bottle over.”

“I lied. I didn’t want you to judge me. Anyway, it lowered my natural inhibitions.”

“You have inhibitions? Since when?”

“Stop. This is terrible. What if she guesses it’s me? Oh, this is mortifying. I can’t possibly risk going to the wedding now and I’ve just spent hours choosing a dress.”

“Whoa, slow down. You’re doing that writer thing of seeing drama and catastrophe in every situation.” Oliver was calm. “If she receives hundreds and thousands of letters, she’s hardly going to guess it’s from you, is she?”

“You guessed.”

“Yes, but I know you. She doesn’t. And it’s not as if you put your real name on it. The letter you sent was anonymous.”

“Yes.” Cassie scanned the phone. There it was. The question she’d sent in. What had possessed her?

She read it aloud.

Dear Dr. Swift, my sister and I are estranged and lately I’m finding that harder and harder to cope with. When I was young, I tried on many occasions to bridge the gap but she made it clear she wants to live her life without me in it. Perhaps I should let her do that, but somehow I can’t let it go. It feels wrong. I don’t think I’m a bad person and I don’t understand why she is behaving this way. Our mother is getting married again this summer and we will be meeting up at the wedding. Should I try once again to heal the rift between us, or should I give up and accept that family ties can indeed be broken?

Yours truly,

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