‘I’m looking forward to it,’ Joy said. She clearly wasn’t. I could see by her face this had blindsided her – well, it had all of us. ‘And now I feel awful because I put you in the small single room, Jamie.’
‘No worries,’ he said, picking up his rucksack and grabbing Ella’s Gucci holdall. ‘We can sleep anywhere, we’ve slept outside… under the stars, haven’t we, babe?’
‘Yes, babe.’ Ella nodded, smiling at the memory and looking up at him, gently pushing her arm through his, reclaiming him once more from his mother.
I put my arm around Violet, who was now staring at Ella as if she was in the presence of a real-life Disney princess.
‘No, no, you can’t sleep outside. I mean, technically this is your honeymoon,’ Joy said, with a sideways glance at me, knowing I would share her discomfort at all this. I looked at Bob to see if I could gauge his reaction to the news, but he was on autopilot and was now picking up Jamie and Ella’s other bags.
‘Oh, there’s still stuff in the boot too,’ Jamie said, which caused the kids to dash around the back of the car and scramble in the open boot. I think they were expecting their usual gifts from Uncle Jamie. As he only saw them several times a year and he’d usually just returned from somewhere, he’d buy them a souvenir from wherever he’d been. But maybe this time Ella was the only souvenir he’d brought back.
Chapter Five
‘OMG! This is SO heavy,’ I heard Violet say, as she dragged a huge Versace shopping bag along the gravel.
‘Is it a present for me?’ Alfie asked, in his adorable lisp, looking up at Jamie big-eyed and questioning as Jamie looked down at him. Then I saw it register on his face – in his loved-up, newly married bliss, he’d totally forgotten to bring the children something.
‘Sorry, mate,’ he said, with a smile. ‘I was going to pick you something up this morning, but your Auntie Ella took too long in all the dress stores.’ Then he bent down, ruffled Alfie’s hair, and lifted Freddie onto his shoulders, much to my younger boy’s delight.
‘Go horsey, go!’ Freddie yelled, pulling on Jamie’s ears like they were reins. For the children, Uncle Jamie didn’t really need to bring gifts, his attention was more than enough.
Joy’s eyes followed Dan, Bob and Violet trailing past carrying an array of Italian designer shopping bags. ‘Ooh, you’ve been busy,’ she said to Ella, a vague hint of disapproval in her voice.
‘Oh yes, we went into town earlier,’ Ella replied. ‘I needed a few bits and pieces.’
‘A few bits and pieces?’ Bob started, laughing. ‘All this must have cost an arm and a leg.’
‘Now, now, Bob, don’t embarrass Ella,’ Joy said, backtracking. She preferred a more subtle approach when showing her distaste. ‘If a bride can’t buy nice things on her honeymoon, then it’s a poor show, isn’t it, love?’ she said to Ella, in an attempt to compensate for Bob’s rather vulgar comment about the cost.
Ella smiled indulgently at Bob. ‘Men never understand shopping,’ she sighed, turning to Joy, who rolled her eyes in agreement. Had I just witnessed a bonding moment? Was everything going to be okay? Perhaps Ella would fit in and it would all be great? As an only child, I’d always wanted a sister. Who knew, Ella might be the younger sister I never had.
The men and the kids went inside laden with luggage and shopping, while Ella watched the taxi drive off, and Joy called instructions to Bob about which room to take the stuff. He didn’t turn around, just put his hand in the air to acknowledge that he’d heard her.
‘Bob! BOB!’ Joy was shouting, presumably needing confirmation he’d got this. She tutted, and turned back, watching the taxi make puffs of white dust from the gravel as it disappeared into the distance. ‘He never listens,’ she muttered, ‘just does his own sweet thing and, before you know it, he’ll have taken everything up to the wrong room and we’ll have to move it all again.’
The three of us were now alone, standing on the gravel. I glanced at the two other women, who made no attempt to move, and wasn’t quite sure what to do. Should I go and help the others with the bags and leave Joy alone with her new daughter-in-law, or did she want me there for backup? More likely, did Ella want me there for backup? After all, meeting a whole family of new in-laws would be intimidating to anyone.
The young woman sighed and lifted her huge shawl of sun-kissed hair from her neck. ‘It’s so hot!’ she murmured.
In the strappy dress, I could see even her shoulder blades were perfect, like a sculpture – I’d never considered my own, but I bet they weren’t like that. Who has shoulder blade envy? Was that even a thing?
Ella kept her hands behind her head, holding up the tresses, golden tendrils escaping into the back of her neck, damp from the heat. She looked like a model in a magazine, the showpiece in an article about summer skincare or how to get that perfect tan – her back arched, her breasts pert, and those shoulder blades. My eyes wandered back to her hands, and that sparkly diamond that made her one of us.
‘Oh, let me show you around,’ Joy said, taking Ella’s arm, and escorting her through the garden. I heard her promising ‘G and T on the patio later,’ just as she had with me.
I toddled along behind, carrying the last of Ella’s bags, abandoned in the heat and dust. I don’t think she realised I had them, and by the time I caught up, she was too busy gasping in awe at the view of the pool and beyond.
‘We are going to have such fun,’ Ella murmured, almost to herself.
Joy nodded at this as they walked towards the door of the villa, and turning, she smiled rather pityingly when she saw me sweating and struggling inelegantly with Ella’s final bag. ‘Are you okay there?’ she asked, and the younger woman immediately walked towards me, away from Joy.
‘Oh Clare, let me,’ she said, carrying only a Prada handbag on her delicate, Tiffany-glinting arm. She made a rather weak gesture to take the bag from me. Just one look told me the weight of it might break her wrist, so I shook my head.
‘I’m fine, no problem.’ I smiled.
‘Are you sure?’ she said, then under her breath added, ‘I mean, at your age, it’s not too heavy for you, is it?’
I stood still, unsure if I’d heard her correctly. ‘What…?’ I asked, half-smiling, assuming this was some kind of joke.
‘Nothing. Just be careful on the stairs,’ she said leaning towards me, now in a more audible voice. ‘I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.’
She wandered back to where Joy was standing, oblivious to what Ella had just said to me.
‘Come inside Ella,’ she was saying, ‘the air con isn’t great, but it is a little bit cooler than out here; we’re having a heatwave.’ Joy then swept her into the villa. I didn’t go inside after them, but stood for a moment, feeling like the wind had been punched from my stomach. Had I completely misheard her? Did she really say ‘at your age’? And that comment about being careful on the stairs, it felt weirdly less like a health and safety observation, more like a veiled threat.
Eventually, I walked into the villa, still carrying Ella’s stuff, hoping Dan would appear and relieve me of my burden before we reached the stairs, but there was no sign of him. Ella was now at the top of the curving staircase chatting animatedly to Joy, and I followed, convincing myself I’d misheard, while panting upstairs with her bag like the bloody bellboy, determined to prove I wasn’t past it.