‘Early. I’ll be okay,’ she’d added, no doubt sensing Stella’s concern. ‘I’ve got a casserole in the freezer for supper, a ready-made one from that great shop that sells food which is almost as good as homemade.’
Stella nodded. She knew the store well. It had sorted her out on numerous occasions since Harriet had been diagnosed.
‘Marvellous place!’
‘What would we do without it?’ Harriet had agreed with a smile. ‘Jemima’s got netball practice but she should be home by seven-ish.’
By Stella’s calculations, this meant Harriet would only be alone for an hour or so before and after Amanda’s visit, which wasn’t too bad.
‘Good. Look after yourself. I’ll ring later.’
How she wished she’d listened to her instincts! They were screaming at her, telling her Harriet was feeling scared stiff and needed Stella to stay with her at this moment more than ever. But several times in those final few weeks, she’d allowed work to get in the way – and now Harriet was dead and didn’t need her any more anyway. And Jon wanted to find someone new.
‘Stella?’ His voice brought her back. The wine had started to take effect and he’d become louder and a bit flushed.
She noticed his glass was empty again.
‘Here, you have this,’ she said, tipping her remains into it and watching him swallow. ‘We should probably make a move. The others will be wondering where we’ve got to.’
They talked about many things on the walk but her focus was elsewhere. She was thinking that before Harriet died, she hadn’t spent much, if any, time with Jon alone. She knew him mainly from weekend dinner parties, Sunday lunches and holidays, mostly with the two families.
Grief had brought them together, along with her determination to help him and Jemima as best she could, for her friend’s sake. If he’d truly resolved to ‘move on’, however, she wasn’t sure she could remain as close. She might feel as if she were betraying Harriet, however silly that sounded. Stella herself hadn’t moved on and didn’t think she ever would.
When they let themselves in through the big black gates and reached Villa Ariadne, Jon stood still for a moment, looking up, and whistled.
‘It’s enormous! Stunning. I had no idea!’
‘I told you it was beautiful.’
‘Yes, but I imagined something much less grand. This is like a palace!’
Once inside, he dumped his bag in the hall and followed Stella into the yellow and white kitchen. Louise, in her bronze bikini, was bent over, fetching a bottle of chilled water from the giant American-style fridge.
‘Hey! You’re here!’ She straightened up and set the bottle down on the worktop.
Stella noticed her do a double take when she clocked Jon’s gaunt appearance, but she quickly disguised her dismay with a warm smile.
Her hair was wet from the pool and she’d turned golden brown after a day in the sun. If she were embarrassed about being half naked, she didn’t show it, but walked straight up to Jon and gave him a hug. ‘Welcome!’
Bursts of laughter were coming from the garden so Louise and Stella led him outside. Amelia, Lily and Will were messing around in the swimming pool with a plastic orange ball, splashing water everywhere.
Hector, with a white towel on his head, was watching them from a sun lounger. He was in jeans and a black T-shirt and the sun was beating down on him, but he didn’t seem to care.
When Jon called hello, one by one the swimmers heaved themselves out of the water and came to greet him. Meanwhile, Hector remained stubbornly supine.
Unperturbed, Jon strolled over to him, while Louise offered to bring a tray of drinks.
‘The girls will give you a hand,’ Stella said, but Louise insisted she’d do it on her own.
After pulling up more strollers and chairs, the group sat next to Hector. He started to pull the towel over his face, but Stella whipped it away.
‘You having a good time?’ Jon asked, and Hector shrugged before scratching his stubbly cheek with dirty nails that were almost bitten to the quick.
‘Your mum’s got a terrible cut on her knee,’ Jon went on, rather pointedly.
‘Yeah, I know.’
‘We need to look after her. She mustn’t do too much till it heals.’
