An Italian Dream

STELLA

How the hell Fern kept her cool and welcomed everyone as if nothing had happened, Stella had no idea. She cringed as Paul stepped into the entrance hall with a big grin, focused his attention on Fern and said, ‘Surprise!’

There was a flurry of activity and little time to think as everyone welcomed each other. Jacob gave Stella an uncharacteristic hug.

‘You missed me, huh?’ she said, ruffling his hair. He needed a haircut. She also thought he’d grown since she’d last seen him and at thirteen, he was already as tall as her.

‘Hey,’ Rhod said, kissing her cheek. ‘Nice place.’ He raised an eyebrow.

She ushered them further into the villa, while attempting to keep her attention on Fern and her family. Paul was doing all the talking – overcompensating, she thought, thinking he might be in the shit. Little did he know.

‘I just thought it, uh, might be nice all of us being together for once,’ he was saying in reply to why he was here. He put his arms around Amber’s and Ruby’s shoulders.

Amber’s face was telling. She looked seriously uncomfortable compared to Ruby, who gazed in wonder at their surroundings.

‘You actually managed to take time off work, did you?’ Fern’s voice was curt and full of disbelief.

‘The advantage of being the boss.’ His deep voice filled the hallway.

Stella led them through the villa and onto the sun-flooded pool terrace, relieved to have Jacob’s excited chatter accompanying them.

Violetta had already laid the table for a late lunch, which provided the perfect distraction from the underlying tension. After the view was admired and the pool terrace explored, they all sat down to tuck into the mezze-style fare of fresh bread, olives, cheeses, salami and salads.

Stella’s appetite had deserted her, leaving a churning stomach. She picked at her plate of food, feeling unusually hot and uncomfortable despite the gentle warmth and light breeze. She noticed Fern barely ate either. Jacob made up for it as he piled bread, salami and cheese on to his plate. No salad, she noticed.

Rhod, Ruby and Paul were happy enough to talk about their journey. Fortunately, not being particularly attentive, Rhod and Paul didn’t think to ask how their time on Capri had been. For once, Stella was grateful that the men in her life, apart from Jacob, were idiots.

Ruby was upbeat, chatty and won over by the villa and its grounds, so she happily steered the conversation. Stella was glad that Ruby had made it out to Capri even for a fleeting visit. She worked hard and had a caring nature, not just because of the career in nursing she’d chosen, but her temperament too. Stella was also grateful that Fern would have both girls to lean on in the coming days, weeks and months.

She gripped the edges of the chair and tried to calm herself. It was awful to think of her friend’s life disintegrating around her and she knew that was how Fern was feeling, even if she was putting on a brave face.

She nibbled a bit of bread and chewed a salty black olive. Most of the food had been polished off, and after being introduced by Amber, Violetta began clearing away.

Stella noticed Amber whisper something to Ruby and Chloe. Not long after, the three of them disappeared into the villa. Fern caught Stella’s eyes and gave her a steely look and a subtle nod before grabbing an empty bowl and following after Violetta.

Jacob and his dad were talking about football of all things, but she guessed there was no escaping that with her football-mad son, even on Capri. Now was her chance.

She scraped back her chair, stood up and looked across the table at Paul who was nursing a beer. ‘Can I have a word.’

Perhaps he sensed that her tone was a command rather than a question because, with a frown, he set down his beer and followed her. She reached the edge of the terrace where the pool curved and the view of the hillside down to Marina Grande and the shimmering sea was uninterrupted. Stella stopped and turned to Paul.

‘Fern knows,’ she whispered. ‘About us.’

He looked at her as if she’d gone mad, frowned, then laughed. ‘You’re pulling my leg, right? She’s said nothing. Behaving perfectly normally.’

She took his arm and led him away from the terrace and the possibility of the prying ears and eyes of her son and ex-husband. They went into the pool room and she unlinked her arm from his.

‘You have shit for brains, you know that?’

He glowered and folded his arms.

‘You only thought Fern was behaving normally because you don’t notice your wife any longer. You haven’t for a long time. Not only do you not pay her attention, but you can’t see what’s going on in front of you and how fucking miserable she is. Of course everything on the surface seems okay, because while you’re off shagging whoever it is you’re shagging, Fern’s at home keeping things together as she’s always done.’

He rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. ‘If she knows, why’s she so calm?’

‘Oh, Fern’s seething; she’s just holding it together until she gets you on your own.’

‘How the fuck did she find out, Stell?’