Page 62 of The Island Villa

“Oh, sweetheart—” her mother moved toward her but Cassie took a step back.

“Gordon was different. You were lonely. Vulnerable. He was a mistake, you told me that. But you always told me Andrew was wrong too, so why would you be marrying him again?”

“You’re upset, and I don’t blame you. I should have told you about Andrew before now. It’s all come as a terrible shock and I’m sorry. I misjudged everything, I see that now.”

Cassie felt a rush of frustration.

“Why didn’t you tell us? It’s not as if you’re marrying a stranger. This is complicated.”

“That’s why I thought it was better to have a conversation face-to-face. And to be honest, I thought Adeline would be thrilled. She loves her father and was horrified when we broke up. But I can see I was overly optimistic.”

Cassie thought about what Adeline had said. She spins things the way she wants them to look. “She’s concerned.” It was an understatement, but she didn’t want to throw fuel on the fire by being her usual emotional self. She aspired to be more like her sister. Calm. Measured. In control.

“She has no reason to be concerned, and hopefully her father will be able to reassure her this morning. They’ve gone for a walk. It will be good for them to have some time alone to talk.” Catherine sat down at the table and Cassie hesitated for a moment and then joined her because standing in the hot sun after a sleepless night didn’t seem like a great idea.

“Is it really surprising she’s worried? You and Andrew have been divorced for decades.” She glanced at her mother. Close up, she saw now what she hadn’t seen from a distance. Shadows and stress. Tiredness. So maybe she wasn’t finding this as easy as she seemed to be.

“That’s true,” her mother said. “People tend to view relationships through a simple lens. Because our relationship didn’t work out the first time, Adeline can’t understand why we’d be giving it another go.”

“I can’t understand that either.” Not only did she feel compelled to defend her sister, she felt the same way. “You always told me that your marriage to Andrew was already over when you met my dad. You said that meeting him didn’t break anything that wasn’t already broken.”

“That’s true.”

“You told me that Dad was your big love. You said he used to tell the story of how you met. I went into that bar for a drink, and left with the love of my life. You said it was only when you met him that you realized what love really was. You said that the two of you shared something so powerful it was like nothing you’d ever experienced.” The stories her mother had told her had stayed with her. She’d painted a picture. From her mother’s words alone, she’d been able to feel the love they’d shared. It had been her goal to one day have a relationship exactly like theirs. Everything she believed about love was because of her parents.

“That’s true. I had never experienced anything like it before. It was—overwhelming.” Her mother spooned fruit into a bowl and passed it to Cassie. “Eat. I know what you students are like. Your diet is mostly carbs and sugar.”

She honestly didn’t care what she was eating. The shape of her world had changed, and she wanted to make sense of it. “You said that you realized that you and Andrew were wrong together. That you’d grown apart. That you weren’t in love anymore.”

“That’s true too. I did feel that way.”

“And yet now here you are preparing to marry him again?” Couldn’t her mother see the lack of logic? “What’s changed?” It didn’t make sense. She had a feeling that she was missing something big. It was like reading a book and realizing that you’d somehow jumped ahead and missed a huge chunk of the plot.

“We changed,” her mother said. “I was very young when I married Andrew. Our lives were different then. I suppose you could say we grew up together and as we grew up, we also grew apart. We wanted different things. Suddenly, we were both headed in different directions and our relationship no longer worked. It happens all the time. But just because a relationship ends, doesn’t mean it was wrong. I had no regrets about marrying Andrew. And he and I were already living separately when I met your father.”

Achilles emerged, tail flicking as he stalked toward her and then sprang onto her lap.

Cassie stroked him, feeling the comforting warmth of his body press through her shorts.

“So you did love him?”

“The cats are not allowed at the table when we’re eating. You know that.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Cassie kept stroking the cat, her fingers buried in the softness of feline comfort.

“What? You were asking about your father.” Her mother stirred her coffee slowly. “That man could charm the birds from the trees. He had the most compelling, irresistible smile. Being with him was the most intense, dizzying, all-consuming feeling—I can’t even describe it.” She put the spoon down. “He made me feel adored.”

She’d heard that part so many times. She’d written about it.

He made me feel adored.

She’d used that exact line in her book.

But still...

“If he hadn’t died, do you think you’d still be together?”

The air throbbed with heat and tension.

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