Page 9 of The Island Villa

Gloom descended, along with a certain level of trepidation, the sort one might feel before a visit to the dentist. Her sister’s presence wouldn’t exactly ruin the wedding, but it would be enough to put a significant dent in Cassie’s enjoyment and celebration. And, worse still, it would upset their mother and if there was one day when a person should absolutely not be upset, it was surely on their wedding day.

Maybe Adeline wouldn’t show up. At their mother’s last wedding, Adeline had refused point-blank to be a bridesmaid, so it had been left to Cassie to fulfil that role alone. She’d fussed over her mother and thrown flowers and tried to make her smile big enough for two people to compensate for Adeline’s stony expression. It was clear that Adeline had hated every minute so perhaps, if Cassie got really lucky, she’d decide not to put herself through that again.

It wasn’t as if she was romantic. In fact, Cassie had never seen her sister display a single emotion. Adeline was so cool and composed it was unsettling. She was the exact opposite of Cassie, who spread her emotions around freely. The truth was she found her sister intimidating and a little cold. At what point did one give up trying?

All through her teens, when Adeline had spent those agonizing summer weeks on Corfu, Cassie had been friendly. Partly because it was her nature, but also because she’d badly wanted to be close to her sister. All the books she’d devoured suggested that having a sister was a gift. A definite benefit in life. An older sister was an even greater benefit, offering as it did access to superior wisdom and a level of protectiveness alongside a guarantee of lifelong friendship unshaken by the tremors that so often caused cracks in lesser relationships.

Keen to nurture and exploit this special relationship, Cassie had worked hard to build a connection with Adeline. It made her cringe to remember how hard she’d worked to make her half sister like her, but it had been a lost cause. She’d been like a comedian trying desperately to get a laugh from an unreceptive audience. A puppy trying to win the affection of someone who disliked dogs. If anything, her efforts to bring them closer had driven them further apart. The more she’d stepped forward, the more Adeline had withdrawn. Hurt, pride and confidence dented, Cassie eventually backed off too and forced herself to accept that she was never going to have a relationship with her sister. She was never going to call her when she was stressed about a boy, or worried about her exams. She was never going to be able to share any of her worries or fears because Adeline wasn’t interested, which was hurtful given that Adeline seemed to have devoted her life to helping other people navigate uncomfortable feelings. She liked helping people, but not Cassie. She gave strangers access to her wisdom, but not Cassie.

Her lack of interest was personal. It was as if Adeline couldn’t bear to be near her, which was upsetting because Cassie thought her half sister was pretty cool.

Adeline was a genuine adult, whereas Cassie felt most of the time that, although she was trying hard to be an adult, she was failing dismally. She was a dreamer, whereas her sister was ruthlessly focused and practical. Adeline was a clinical psychologist, and you didn’t get more adult than that. Dr. Swift. She dispensed advice and sympathy to people like Cassie who couldn’t quite get their lives sorted out by themselves.

Adeline was poised and dignified at all times, and also self-reliant and independent. Cassie needed people in her life. She didn’t know where she’d be without her mother and her friends. Adeline, it seemed, needed no one.

Adeline was sure of herself and her choices, whereas Cassie wasn’t sure about anything. She definitely wasn’t sure about the future. How many times would she allow her writing to be rejected before accepting that she wouldn’t be able to make a living that way? When should she give up and get a “proper job”?

She wondered for a moment what Adeline would say if she knew about Cassie’s dream to be a writer. She was pretty sure Adeline would think her dream was ill-advised to say the least.

“I used to wish we were closer, but I’ve given up on that,” she told Felicia. “Adeline is eight years older than me, so there’s quite an age gap. After the divorce she chose to live with her dad. I think it almost destroyed my mother. So we didn’t see much of each other growing up.” She saw no reason to edit the truth and she wasn’t great at keeping secrets. In Cassie’s opinion, secrets were great in fiction, necessary even, but in real life they made things complicated.

Perhaps Adeline would turn down her mother’s invitation.

Please, please let her turn it down!

It was a wedding after all, and it was clear from the advice she dished out in her column that Adeline didn’t have a romantic bone in her body. Of course she didn’t. To be romantic, you had to feel something, and Cassie sometimes wondered whether her sister felt anything at all.

Adeline seemed to dismiss the notion of romantic love as transient and an unreliable basis for a long-term relationship.

And Cassie had tried hard to be sympathetic and see the situation from Adeline’s point of view. Their mother had fallen in love with Cassie’s father. They’d had an affair, and Cassie had been the result. Adeline had been eight years old when her parents divorced, and that must have been so hard. Her family had been shattered. Adeline had blamed their mother.

From her own point of view, Cassie was able to see things a little more objectively. Would the affair have happened if Catherine had been happy in her first marriage? No. Some relationships worked, and some didn’t. Some were happy for a while, and then ended. And that was sad, but it was also life. People changed. Relationships changed. Cassie regretted the hurt their mother had caused to Adeline and her first husband but, in her opinion, she’d showed emotional honesty and done the brave thing. Catherine had no longer been in love with Adeline’s father. It was over. What was she supposed to do? Stay miserable for the rest of her life? How was that good for anyone? If something was wrong, then it was wrong. It was just one of those things.

Cassie believed Catherine had been right to follow her passion (and if she hadn’t, Cassie wouldn’t exist, so she had to admit she was biased), but Adeline clearly disagreed.

Cassie had spent long hours studying Adeline’s advice columns, trying to understand her sister.

She poured over every word, analyzing every detail, feeling as if each answer gave her an insight into Adeline’s soul. She’d occasionally thought about writing in herself.

My half sister hates me, and although some people might think she has reason, it really wasn’t my fault. How can I help her put aside her anger and bitterness so that we might stand a chance of forging a relationship?

Felicia handed her the jar of oregano. “It doesn’t worry you that your mother is marrying again?”

Cassie smiled, grateful to be nudged away from thoughts of Adeline. “Not at all.”

Why would it? She would never begrudge her mother happiness. And she trusted her mother’s judgment. She’d written more than sixty romance novels and sold hundreds of millions of copies. That was all the evidence anyone needed to prove that Catherine Swift knew everything there was to know about love.

You didn’t marry for a fourth time because you were a failure; you did it because you were an optimist. Not because you regretted the past, but because you had hope for the future.

Cassie didn’t know who her mother was marrying, and the idea that it was a secret thrilled her. She didn’t need to know yet. No doubt she’d find out once she arrived on the island for the celebrations.

Her mother obviously wanted it to be a big surprise, and you couldn’t get much more romantic than that.

Cassie sighed as she plated up Greek salads and slid them into the fridge.

With luck, Adeline would decide not to go to the wedding.

Please, please let her decide not to go.

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