Page 97 of The Island Villa

“Good. I’ve been urging you to tell her for ages. I bet she was proud. Did she love the dedication?”

Thinking about the dedication made her cry even harder.

“No.”

“Cassie—” Oliver’s voice was deep and firm “—take a breath. Whatever has happened, we’re going to figure it out together. Tell me slowly. And tell me all of it.”

It was a jerky, sob-filled conversation and several times he had to interrupt her and ask her to repeat things but she stumbled through it, relaying what her mother had told her.

When she finished, Oliver was silent for a moment.

“I don’t know what to say. That must have been tough to hear,” he said. “How are you feeling? What are you feeling?”

“I don’t know,” she hiccupped. “I’m angry that she didn’t tell me, but part of me wishes she hadn’t told me because I had these lovely illusions—and I know now that they really were only illusions, but I was happy and I thought my life was great and now—”

“Your life is the same, Cass,” Oliver said gently. “That hasn’t changed. Whoever your father was, whatever he did, doesn’t change who you are. You still have the same good people in your life who love you. Your mother still loves you. This must have been so tough for her too. I guess she was trying to protect you.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t envy her. Telling you, or not telling you—that’s not a decision I would have wanted to make.”

“I know.” And she realized that she hadn’t given enough thought to how very hard it must have been for her mother and what an impossible position she must have found herself in. “I think at first she was focused on survival.” She’d often pictured her parents together and those images had always been soft. Loving. Arms wrapped around each other in a hug. Gentle touches. Kind words. But those images had been replaced with something else. A blow that bruised. Words that wounded. And fear.

How would she have handled that?

She realized what a safe, protected life she’d led up until this point.

“I feel as if I’ve been living a lie, as if my whole life story has just been rewritten.” She sniffed. “And I preferred the earlier version.”

“I can imagine. How about your sister? I guess her life story has also changed. She must have feelings about the whole thing too. Have you talked to her?”

“Not yet. Not alone. I just—” She swallowed. “I wanted to talk to you. I needed...”

What exactly had she needed? She’d needed him, that was the truth.

“You wanted to think it through with someone who wasn’t directly involved.” His voice changed and she could tell he was shifting his position, making himself comfortable. She imagined him sprawled on the oversized sofa in the living room. He was probably wearing his favorite sweatshirt and his old comfy jeans that clung in all the right places. She loved the way he looked in those jeans. Hot, in a relaxed not-trying-too-hard kind of way.

She frowned. Hot? Okay that was weird, thinking that way about him. Or maybe not. She knew when her girlfriends looked good, so why not Oliver?

His voice came down the phone again. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m calling. You’re the calm, sensible one in this friendship. I’m the drama queen.”

For once, he didn’t laugh. “You’re not a drama queen, Cass. You just don’t hide your emotions, and I like that.”

She sniffled. “You do?”

“Yes. It makes you easy to figure out. And what I think, is that you should give this time to sink in and not try and fix it right away. You’ve had a shock. You’ve got to let it simmer. You’ve all got some adjusting to do. It must have been distressing for your mother to have to tell you all this, and rake it all up. Talk to her. And talk to your sister.”

It was good advice.

“I’m going to have to ditch my book.” And she felt guilty even caring about that given the bigger issues, but she did care. She’d been so proud of the story and excited about the promise of what lay ahead.

She’d thought her mother would love it. Never in a million years had she thought it would hurt her.

“I don’t think you should do anything at all right now,” Oliver said. “I think you should pause for a few days. Let it all settle, Cass.”

“Yes. You’re right. And thank you. You’re the best. I love you.”

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