Page 29 of The Island Villa

It was the ultimate love story, and it turned out she wasn’t the only one who thought so because a week earlier Cassie finally got the call she’d never thought would come. We love your book.

An agent loved her book! Not just an agent, but her agent, because she was now officially represented by Madeleine Ellwood. The Madeleine Ellwood. Cassie still couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t stopped grinning for the past week. And of course that still didn’t mean that a publisher would actually buy her book, but Madeleine loved what she’d written (apparently, she’d cried! Actually cried at Cassie’s book), didn’t want to make any changes and for now that was enough. Cassie had signed a contract with the agency, and the next step was for Madeleine to approach publishers. She’d seemed particularly interested in the fact that the story had been inspired by Cassie’s parents’ relationship. Would Cassie be prepared to talk about that? The human angle will make for great publicity.

There was nothing Cassie loved more than talking about her parents’ love story to anyone who would listen, so she was more than happy to agree to that.

She was trying not to get too excited. Just because Madeleine loved her book, didn’t mean that a publishing house would and Madeleine had warned her that the process could take some time because editors everywhere were overworked, burned out and exhausted. But she felt Cassie’s book was timely. Her story didn’t have a happy ending of course, but it did have a hopeful ending and Madeleine had loved the fact that it was set on Corfu. It was obvious that Cassie knew it well. She’d praised the sense of place.

The setting had been easy for Cassie to handle because she’d virtually grown up on the island. Her first steps had been taken on the soft sand below the villa, she’d learned to swim in the ocean, attended the local school and learned Greek alongside English.

The road climbed upward and at the viewpoint at the top she pulled over and jumped out of the Jeep.

She had time to kill, and it was better to stop here for a few minutes and enjoy the fabulous view, than sit in the sweltering, dusty airport car park.

The sun was hot and she raised her face to it for a moment, enjoying the warmth on her skin. Then she grabbed a bottle of water from her bag and strolled to the edge of the road, which had one of the best viewpoints on the island. The land fell away steeply, deep green and verdant. Slim cyprus trees jutted up from dense olive groves and beyond that the sea, a sheet of endless sparkling blue stretching far into the distance. It was one of her favorite spots and whether she was driving to the airport or the supermarket, she always stopped here.

She took a mouthful of water and then checked her phone. It seemed Adeline’s flight was on time, which was more than hers had been. Her flight from London the day before had been delayed by several hours. By the time she’d finally landed in Corfu, it had been late afternoon.

She slid her phone back into the pocket of her shorts, thinking back to her arrival the day before.

Her mother had been waiting for her, arms extended and Cassie had walked right into them. This, for her, was home. She loved everything about it; the scents, the endless blue sky, the feel of the hot sun burning her skin, the intense flavors of the food and the relaxed pace of life. She had nothing but happy memories of living here with her mother. She was looking forward to spending time together, although maybe the preparations for the wedding would get in the way of their usual cozy chats. Certainly, there had been nothing cozy about the conversation in the car the day before.

She frowned as she thought about it.

As usual, her mother had driven too fast, occasionally taking both hands off the wheel to gesture to another driver or add emphasis to a point she was making. Cassie, who was only ever a nervous passenger when she was in a vehicle driven by her mother, had offered to drive but her mother wouldn’t hear of it. She’d just come off a flight! She must be tired! Her mother wanted to spoil her!

So Cassie had clutched at the seat, breathed and hoped they’d both live long enough to go ahead with the wedding. She really should have been used to it after all these years. She’d lost count of the times her mother had suddenly slammed on the breaks and done an emergency stop, risking whiplash for her passengers. I’ve had an idea for my book, she’d say, ignoring the abuse from other drivers and frantically scrabbling for a pen and something to write on. Cassie had taken to stowing a pen and pad in the car, and also in her bag just in case. She’d grown up knowing that ideas should be treasured and immediately committed to paper in case they slid away and were lost, something she understood now that she was a writer herself.

But this time her mother hadn’t slammed the breaks to capture an idea, or talked about her current book—which was unusual—but instead had fired Cassie with questions, wanting to know how she was doing and what she had planned. It was almost as if she didn’t want to talk about herself.

Cassie had almost confessed that she’d got an agent (every time she thought about it, she started grinning) but something had stopped her. What if Madeleine didn’t manage to sell the book? Also, this was her mother’s celebration, and she didn’t want to be selfish and hijack it with her news.

So instead, she’d talked a little about the café and about Oliver, and then tried asking her mother about the man she was marrying. It had seemed like a reasonable question, but her mother had been evasive. All she would say was that she was sure Adeline and Cassie were going to love him.

Cassie was intrigued and a little amused by the secrecy.

Her mother had seemed nervous, but she couldn’t figure out why. This was her home, and she was about to marry the man she loved. Why would she be nervous? It was almost as if she was afraid Cassie wouldn’t approve, but she couldn’t possibly think that. Cassie had never fallen out with her mother about anything. She was totally nonjudgmental. She adored her mother and respected all her decisions. All she wanted was for her mother to be happy. If her mother was in love again, then that was great. She had less faith in Adeline’s ability to accept a new male presence in their lives gracefully and warmly.

Maybe that was the part that was making her mother nervous. Adeline.

For the millionth time Cassie thought how much easier it would have been for everyone if her sister had decided not to come, and then felt guilty for thinking that. Adeline was family. She deserved to be here. She should be here. But she should only be here if she was capable of celebrating their mother’s happiness. Was she? Cassie had no idea, but whatever happened she would make it work. She planned on being enthusiastic enough for both of them. She had experience compensating for Adeline at her mother’s weddings—she’d done it at the last one. She’d cheered and thrown her bridesmaid bouquet with such gusto that she almost knocked a guest unconscious.

Thinking of Adeline made her check the time again.

Deciding she couldn’t put the moment off any longer, she slid back into the car and tucked her bottle of water back into her bag.

She headed down the mountain, the wind blowing her hair and the sun burning her face.

The next hour or so would be tense, being trapped in the car with her sister, but she had the evening to look forward to. Dinner on the terrace. A chance to finally meet the man her mother would be marrying. It was going to be great.

As she approached Corfu Town, the traffic grew heavier and the scenery changed from rural to urban. She turned onto the main road and saw the ocean and the harbor where ferries docked to take travelers on to other islands. This was where the tourists gathered. They spilled from cruise ships and ferries with their guidebooks, beach bags and fat tubes of sunscreen. They visited the Old Fortress, and congregated in the shady cafés that clustered around the Spianada, the big open square.

Cassie loved the Old Town, with its labyrinth of narrow sunbaked streets. Balconies clung to old buildings that blended together in shades of coffee, dusky pink and butter yellow, their walls adorned with the bright tangle of bougainvillea. A walk revealed hidden gardens, a historic church, a pretty square where locals gathered and swallows swooped from their nests in the rooftops. Even now, after years of exploring, she would stumble on a restaurant that she hadn’t known existed, drawn by the scents of wild herbs and garlic sizzled in olive oil.

Trying not to think of all the more entertaining things she could be doing, Cassie took a shortcut and pulled over to grab a loaf of fresh crusty bread from her favorite bakery. Normally, she would have stopped and enjoyed a coffee at one of the shady tables, or maybe an ice cream. It would have been a race to eat it before it melted and dripped chocolate and vanilla over her fingers. But today she was too tense to allow herself either of those indulgences.

She arrived at the airport twenty minutes after Adeline’s flight had landed, and saw her sister immediately. It wasn’t hard to spot her. She was wearing a light-colored suit, teamed with a gleaming white shirt. Her hair was the color of polished oak and was pulled back and secured tightly at the back of her head. She looked as if she were ready to chair a board meeting or defend a client in court, not head to a beach villa. Surrounded by tourists dressed in an array of colorful shorts and sundresses that only ever saw the light of day during a summer vacation, she stood out like a zebra in a cornfield. But what really set her apart was the way she held herself. Whilst everyone around her was smiling and excited to be on the island, Adeline had the slightly martyred air of a prisoner about to be locked up for a crime she hadn’t committed. Any doubts Cassie might have had about her desire to be here vanished instantly.

She was willing to lay bets that her sister would rather have been anywhere else.

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