Page 28 of The Island Villa

“Do I need to spell it out? Your mother lives in a fictional world,” he said. “She spins stories about romance. You do the same about family. Admit it, deep down you keep hoping she is going to turn into the sort of mother you’d like to have. The sort you read about in books. The type of books she writes.”

Adeline swallowed. She didn’t do that. Did she? Maybe she did.

“Why are you being like this?”

“Like what? We’ve always been honest. You’ve always been honest about everything except this. For some reason I haven’t been able to figure out, you manage to lie to yourself about your family. You’re spinning a fantasy, Adeline, if you’re expecting this wedding to be anything other than stressful. And maybe you can lie to yourself, but don’t expect me to lie to you because I won’t do that.”

“Enough. Stop.” The back of her neck was sweating. Her apartment suddenly felt airless and oppressive. “I’m finding this conversation upsetting and hurtful. I wanted a little comfort. A hug. Not a lecture.”

“You’re being oversensitive. It happens every time your mother comes up in conversation.” He sighed. “But I agree we should stop. You’re unsettled, which I understand, and that makes you needy, which isn’t like you.”

“Needy?” She licked her lips. “You think I’m needy?”

“Wanting me to comfort you for a decision that was entirely yours? Inviting me to the wedding because you need moral support? Asking if I mind you going? I understand what’s going on here. You want the reassurance of a stable relationship because right now you’re reverting to childhood. You’re like a child on her first day in the playground. You’re feeling unsettled, but this whole thing was your choice, Adeline. You’re the one who decided to put yourself through this.” He glanced at his watch. “We should leave. The table is booked for seven thirty.”

Reverting to childhood? Was that really what he thought was happening here?

He didn’t understand her at all. Worse, he had no interest in understanding her.

“I’m not hungry.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and he looked at her in exasperation.

“Do you have any idea how hard it was to get this reservation? I booked the table two months ago. There’s a waiting list. The chef makes the best noodles in London.”

“Go without me.”

“Adeline—” He seemed about to say something else and then took a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll take someone else, but you need to have a long hard think about what you really want in life. And if you’re going to persist with all this toxic family stuff, then I want no part of it.”

She didn’t know what she wanted, but she knew she didn’t want noodles.

And right now, she didn’t want Mark.

“Fine,” she said. “Let’s end it. Enjoy your noodles.”

He paused. “You’re being hysterical...”

“No, I’m not.”

“You don’t know what you want right now.”

She did know.

She no longer wanted to be with Mark, and she wanted this wedding to be behind her.

Part Two

8

Cassie

“Hi, Adeline, great to see you. How are things?” Cassie practiced her speech as she drove from the villa to collect her sister from the airport. She knew the road well, having spent so much of her childhood living here. It was as familiar to her as the cobbled streets of Oxford. “No, I can’t say that. She’s not likely to tell me how things are because this is my sister, and my sister isn’t exactly the confessional type. Her answer will be fine and then we’ll be stuck with awkward silence. Nightmare.” She pressed her foot to the floor and the little Jeep sped up the steep hill. “I could say hi, how was your flight?” She braked and shifted gears as she approached a hairpin bend. “But the answer to that could also be fine. Whichever way I approach this, I’m heading for the most awkward car journey of my life. Maybe I should just play loud music. Fill the silence that way.”

A car sped past her, narrowly missing her wing mirror. A local, no doubt, because only the locals drove like that. Tourists were more cautious, wary of the narrow roads and the vertiginous drops. Cassie yelled something in Greek and then grinned. It felt good to be home and for Cassie, the island of Corfu was definitely home.

Her mother had purchased the villa more than two decades ago, and it was all thanks to a book called Summer Star. That particular book had been a game changer and catapulted her to the top of the bestseller lists. A major movie deal had followed and the release of the movie, which broke box office records, had driven another surge in book sales. Catherine Swift always said that Summer Star was the book that had changed her life, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that when she found the perfect villa on the stunningly beautiful north coast of Corfu, she’d called it Summer Star.

It was on the island of Corfu that Catherine had met Rob Dunn and fallen in love.

Cassie smiled as she thought about it.

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