The drive and the excitement of the destination temporarily pushed the tension into the background; everyone had a veneer of optimism to hide behind. The front of good feeling continued as they gasped at the turquoise and gold beauty of the beach and settled onto sunbeds.
The sun bore down on them as they dozed and read their books. After a while, Abby sat up.
‘Anyone for a swim?’ she asked.
Ellie was in the shade, under a palm tree, and was content to stay there. She looked across at her mother who was in direct heat and was turning a little pink and perspiring.
‘Maybe in a minute,’ said Susanna, pulling her longing eyes from the water.
Ellie frowned; it seemed obvious her mother would benefit from cooling off but Ellie had the distinct impression she hadn’t wanted to go with Abby. Ellie watched Abby get up from her sunbed and wade out into the crystal-clear water, shades of aquamarine flecked with patches of darker blue where small rocks lay on the seabed. On the back of Abby’s right shoulder was a scar about two inches long. Ellie had noticed it the day before, when they’d swum at the house, but hadn’t asked about it, as Abby had seemed self-conscious.
Susanna leaned up on one elbow. ‘Shall we get some lunch in a bit? We could try one of the restaurants along the beach.’
Ellie nodded but felt a flurry of disquiet. She had to be careful on this trip and not eat out too often. Funds were tight; in fact, she was trying to manage a substantial debt on her credit cards. Nearly eighteen thousand pounds, as it happened. She tried to pay off a little every month but the interest was greedy, eating into her deposits. It was something that made her feel sick if she dwelled on it too much, so she didn’t.
After Abby’s swim, they packed up their things and wandered along the seafront, checking out the restaurant menus.
‘This one looks nice,’ said Abby, stopping outside a cafe. Ellie wasn’t so sure – it seemed a little basic and had plastic tables and chairs, and she knew in the heat those chairs would be sticking to the backs of her thighs.
‘Or the next one along?’ she suggested. Ellie walked on a few metres and looked at the menu board. A little more expensive but you’d get the quality and the whole experience would be so much more enjoyable. She’d be able to relax, to let go of some of the tension in her shoulders, and wasn’t that the whole point of this holiday? Life was for enjoying – you could get run over by a bus tomorrow. Also, she noted with pleasure, this one had fabric cushions on the chair seats.
They ordered and sat back, gazing out at the sea. Then Susanna rummaged in her bag, pulled out her phone. She held it up to Abby and Ellie.
‘Smile!’
‘Mum!’ protested Ellie lightly, but it was no good and Susanna got her picture.
‘Oh, I could stay here forever,’ said Susanna, sighing and taking a long drink from a glass of iced water.
Ellie saw Abby rip off a piece of bread and dip it in olive oil, her face expressionless.
‘Think you might cramp Abby’s style, Mum,’ she said. ‘She is a newly-wed after all.’
‘Of course. It’s been so nice to finally meet Matteo. I can understand why you wanted to keep him to yourself for so long.’ She put down her glass. ‘Isn’t this lovely? The three of us being here. Getting on. It’s important, you know, that we make the most of the good times.’
‘What are you going on about?’ asked Ellie.
‘Nothing. Just being sentimental. Enjoying seeing my children spend some time together. Nothing should get between two sisters, you must always remember that.’
Abby was stony-faced but then the food arrived, breaking the moment.
Ellie thought that her sister seemed quiet during lunch. Then Susanna got up to use the bathroom and it was just the two of them, sitting back, eyes drawn again to the sparkling Tyrrhenian Sea. A group of young men in swimwear walked along the beach, bronzed, oiled bodies gleaming in the sunshine.
‘Nice view,’ said Ellie and Abby couldn’t help but smile.
Ellie pondered at how so many Italian men seemed to beat their English counterparts in the looks department. She wondered if they treated their women well; Matteo certainly seemed to dote on Abby – little touches to her knee, a whisper in her ear, a sense of looking out for her. Ellie felt another glint of envy. Her own love life was littered with the carcasses of disasters, the latest being a six-month relationship with a married man. She hadn’t known he was married when she’d met him at the gym. He’d asked her out for a coffee after a class and they were sleeping together by the end of the week. He worked in something to do with technical design at a local company, a career that had impressed her, and he would take her out for dinner at least twice a week, always in her part of London as he said he didn’t want her travelling home alone late at night, or needing to get up early in the morning just to get to work. What she’d perceived as chivalry was actually his avoidance of admitting that his home in north London was filled with a wife and two children, and therefore it wasn’t really convenient to invite her back there.
It had hurt like hell when she’d discovered his deception – and it was humiliating too. She’d told friends about him – although not Abby, thank goodness. The truth was, she’d been saving that one up, something she could finally compete with Abby on. She’d been looking forward to dropping it casually into conversation; thank God she hadn’t got around to mentioning him. She still cringed at the potential shame of having to explain to her big sister that she’d failed so mightily in her choice of boyfriend. Especially with Abby so perfectly married. Matteo had fallen into her lap – a chance meeting that was worthy of a Hollywood plotline. Ellie was reminded again of her sister’s mugging, of how Abby had kept it to herself.
‘Was it here, in Elba? Where you met Matteo?’
Abby waited a moment before she answered. ‘No. In Florence. That’s where Matteo was working at the time.’
‘What happened?’
‘I don’t really want to talk about it.’
‘You told Mum.’
‘That was the hospital. They called her. She was next of kin.’
‘Is that how you got your scar? From your attacker?’
Abby stiffened. ‘I said I don’t want to talk about it.’
Ellie could feel her irritation rising. Why was her sister always so stubbornly secretive?
‘Why not?’
‘What?’
‘You never tell me anything. Anything big you do in your life, you keep from me. I didn’t even know you were getting married.’
‘It was a spur of the moment thing.’
‘So spur of the moment you couldn’t even pick up the phone? What, Matteo proposed, the priest was waiting and the dress was about to be turned back into rags?’
Abby didn’t answer.
‘And now you have this new secret. Something else you won’t tell me.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘I’m not stupid. I’ve seen you whispering with Mum.’ Ellie paused. Whatever it was, she knew it would make her feel inferior and she’d rather just know and get it over and done with. ‘What is it you’ve done now? What big thing have you got to announce?’
To Ellie’s frustration, Abby was saved from answering as Susanna breezed back up to the table, followed by the waitress, who placed the bill on the cloth. Abby picked it up and started making mental calculations.