Lily had a way of putting everyone at their ease. It was such a skill and when they’d been handing it out Lily must have gone round twice because she definitely seemed to have got more than her fair share.
Julia kissed her father on the cheek and then trailed after the rest of them outside. Felicity followed, closing, and locking, the door behind her.
In the garden the three of them stopped for a mini post-mortem whilst Lily’s boys chased each other around the lawn.
‘It’s all very strange,’ said Felicity as she fastened a complaining Hugo into his seat, an operation that required almost a contortionist’s skill on her part, given the size of the car. ‘But I think everything’s okay, don’t you?’
It was rare, Julia thought, this element of doubt in her eldest sister. Only when the three of them were alone together would Felicity ever let her guard down, and there was no guarantee that it would happen even then.
‘It’s fine,’ replied Lily. ‘It’s certainly weird, but Dad seems happy enough. I wish he’d tell us what’s really going on, though.’
Julia agreed. It was obvious that their father was holding something important back. He had mentioned that their mother had received an invitation, but who had sent it, and what was so alluring that she had dropped her life with them and raced over to Greece at a moment’s notice? Still, one thing was clear. There would be no answers for any of them just yet.
4
GREECE
Cecily looked out of the window and across the wing of the plane. The sky beyond was the purest blue, but if she tilted her head to look below her all she saw was a thick blanket of grey. They truly were above the clouds. It felt a little bit magical, almost on a par with being over the rainbow, a secret place where wonderful things might happen.
She wanted to tap the arm of the woman in the next seat to tell her, too, but then she supposed that perhaps the stranger might see things differently and so she focused on the clouds instead, spotting which parts were thicker, which more fluffy-looking.
She must have been above the clouds before – this wasn’t the first time she had been in an aeroplane, after all – but somehow she had never noticed. The weather was a little disappointing, though. She would have preferred to peer down at a tiny world beneath them. Where would they be now – somewhere over France perhaps, or Italy? Her mouth pulled itself into an involuntary little smirk. She was on her way to Greece. Then she remembered why, and a tiny wave of panic washed over her.
She wriggled herself down into her seat, trying to block out the sound of the whimpering child a few rows behind her. The sound set off a chain reaction in her, resulting in a twinge of guilt. By disappearing without a word, she had let Felicity down and her conscience was pricking her uncomfortably. Still, she felt sure that the problem of what do to with Hugo would have been sorted without too much difficulty. Norman was perfectly happy to look after him on his own and having his grandson in the house would keep his mind busy and stop him overthinking. Cecily hoped that that was what had happened, but there was little point in worrying about it now. She was on a plane 36,000 feet above the earth and her daughter’s childcare arrangements were no longer her concern.
She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the letter nestling in her handbag. In truth, she had thought of little else in the days since it arrived and it made her feel . . . she wasn’t entirely sure how, but it wasn’t pleasant. Still, there was nothing to be done whilst she sat on the plane. Everything would no doubt become clearer when she arrived at the hotel. She just had to be patient. So instead, she forced her mind to think about what she had packed, whether she had brought enough knickers and how she might wash the dirty ones if she hadn’t.
‘Any drinks or snacks?’ said a voice to her left, and she snapped open her eyes. The air steward, resplendent in a yellow jacket with white trim around collar and cuffs was staring at her expectantly. His skin was an unusual colour, as if he’d been dipped in maple syrup.
‘I don’t know,’ Cecily said. ‘What do you have?’
The air steward did an excellent job of not actually rolling his eyes at her, but she saw his chest rise as he took a deep breath before answering. ‘We have a wide range of hot and cold drinks, sweet and savoury snacks, meal deals and alcoholic beverages,’ he said, just about managing to maintain a civil tone.
Cecily, in her fluster, only heard the final option. ‘A gin and tonic, please,’ she heard herself say. ‘And some nuts?’
What time was it? Was this an appropriate order? She had no idea, but the person across the aisle was sipping Stella Artois from a can so at least she wouldn’t be alone. She had a quick look at her watch. It was gone midday – not too shocking. And she was on a holiday of sorts. Wasn’t she entitled to relax a little, let her hair down?
‘Ice and lemon?’ asked the air steward as he retrieved a tiny bottle of Gordon’s from one of the drawers in his trolley.
Cecily nodded. Decision made. Well, that wasn’t too hard, was it?
With her plastic cup resting lightly on its little paper coaster she resumed staring out of the window. Yes, Norman and Hugo would be getting along just fine without her. Hugo was such a funny little child, so solemn and contained, but with a quirky sense of humour that bubbled to the surface once in a while and took you by surprise. He wasn’t a bit like Lily’s kids, who were basically feral. But then Felicity wasn’t a bit like Lily so it was only to be expected.
Six grandsons. What a blessing. And would there be any more? Only time would tell. Felicity had struggled so hard to have Hugo that it seemed unlikely she would go for a second. Lily and Marco might try for a girl, she supposed. Julia showed no sign of settling down with anyone. Girls were having babies later and later these days, Cecily knew, but there must come a point at which one decided it was no longer feasible. Julia would surely be getting quite close to that cut-off, particularly if you factored in the time it took to find a suitable partner. And who knew what news was awaiting her in Greece? But she mustn’t go jumping the gun. This could all turn out to be the wildest of wild goose chases.
When the pilot announced that there were ten minutes to landing, Cecily’s stomach began to turn somersaults. She had never negotiated an airport by herself before. Usually she had Norman at her side to take control. What order did things happen in? She could never remember. Was it baggage reclaim first or passport control? Not that it mattered. No doubt there would be signs in English as well as Greek. The plane was full of English holidaymakers and surely not all of them spoke Greek. She had learned a little at school, although that had been Ancient Greek, of course. Was there much crossover between the two languages, she wondered? Not that she could remember much of what she’d learnt, and certainly not anything that might translate to ‘Where do I reclaim my suitcase?’
She reached forward and took the letter out of her bag, slipping it out of the envelope and unfolding it carefully. Her eyes skimmed to the part she wanted to check.
‘Please go to the Travel Connect desk and they will direct you to the minibus that will bring you to the hotel,’ she read for the umpteenth time. Would they actually be expecting her? There had been no chance to send a reply in the timescale, so she just had to trust that everything would be just as the letter suggested.