Page 82 of The Island Villa

What was she going to do?

She had no idea. But the first thing was to read the book and see just how much damage it was going to do.

18

Adeline

“Could you stop pacing?” Adeline loaded a beach bag with sunscreen, a towel, a bottle of iced water and her e-reader. “The constant movement is making me seasick.”

Cassie stopped, pausing on her toes like a dancer. “Do you think she’s read it yet?”

“Since you asked me five minutes ago? I doubt it. You only gave it to us last night and it was gone midnight when we finished dinner. She probably fell asleep right away and hasn’t even read the first page yet. Relax.”

“I can’t relax.” Cassie wrapped her arms around herself. “Do you know how stressful it is waiting for your own mother to give you feedback on your book? Particularly when your mother is a successful author.”

“No. But I can imagine.”

“It’s terrible. I thought it was bad waiting to hear from an agent and awful waiting to hear from a publisher, but this is twice as bad. What if she hates it?”

Adeline suspected that if Catherine hated it, she would never say so. “Not that I know anything about publishing, but if a major agent and a major publisher want it, then it hardly matters what your family think.”

“It does. It matters more than anything.” Cassie paced across the bedroom again, vibrating with nerves. “Perhaps it’s because this story is personal. I’m hoping I’ve got the details right.”

“Why do details matter? I thought it was supposed to be fiction.”

“It is, but it’s closely inspired by all the stories Mum told me. I want to do justice to what they shared. Immortalize their story.” Cassie stopped pacing. “It’s my tribute to my father. My way of keeping a little piece of him alive.”

“Yes, I see that.” Adeline thought about how hard it must have been for Cassie, growing up with no father. And she thought about her own father, and how much she loved and admired him (even when he made questionable decisions).

“Did you see how emotional it made her?”

“Yes.”

There was no doubt that Cassie’s unexpected announcement had changed the tone of the evening. In some ways, it had helped because it shifted the focus away from the upcoming wedding. The undercurrent of tension had been replaced by a note of celebration.

And it was true that her mother had been emotional, but there had been something else too. A look of panic? Had her sister seen that?

Maybe their mother was upset about having a spotlight shone on that particular time of her life given that she was about to remarry her first husband. Her father had seemed remarkably relaxed about the whole thing (which was typical of him), but the situation couldn’t be entirely comfortable for him, could it? Or her mother. If they were getting married again, then presumably they were trying to put that part of her mother’s life behind them.

Or maybe her mother was concerned that someone would recognize the story and know it was about her. Apart from the occasional glorious photo of Corfu shared on her social media accounts, she was fiercely protective of her private life. And Adeline was grateful for that. It was a relief to her that most people had no idea that Dr. Adeline Swift was related to Catherine Swift, the novelist. She preferred to live her life below the radar.

Cassie looked at her. “Did you read it?”

“Cassie you only sent it to us eight hours ago! You need to chill.” She didn’t add that she’d lain awake staring at her laptop, willing herself to open the document. It was true that she’d been eager to read it, right up to the point where Cassie had said that it was inspired by her mother’s relationship with Rob Dunn.

That relationship had blown Adeline’s life apart. Did she really want to read about it? In the end, she’d decided that her emotions had been battered enough for one day and she’d closed her laptop and promised herself she’d read it in the morning when she’d hopefully be feeling stronger after a good night’s sleep. Instead, she’d reflected on the conversation she’d had with her mother. After her boat trip and swim with Stefanos, she’d felt calm enough to meet her mother. This time she’d simply listened as her mother had said all the same things her father had said. It still made no sense to Adeline, but she hadn’t tried to reason with her or change her mind.

She smiled at her sister. “I’ve transferred your book to my e-reader and I’m going to read it on the beach. How much of the story is factual?” She asked the question casually and Cassie gave a tiny shrug.

“I suppose you could say it’s fictionalized fact.”

“Is there a sex scene?”

“Yes. But I wasn’t thinking of our mother at that point, obviously. No one wants to think about their parents having sex, even fictional sex.” Cassie’s face was scarlet. “Do you think she’s worried about that? Now I feel like hiding under the bed.”

“The floor is hard and there isn’t a lot of room under the bed so I’d stay where you are.” Adeline pushed aside her own unease and hugged her sister. “Relax. This is your big moment. You should be enjoying it. It’s going to be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Cassie clung to her, a ball of warmth and nerves and shimmering anxiety.

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