They were soon joined by Will and Amelia, who’d both turned a lovely shade of light brown. Lily was tanned, too, but her nose had started to peel and the skin underneath was baby pink, much to her disgust. She hadn’t been conscientious enough with the sunscreen, but would never admit it.
Stella went quiet, watching the three of them pouring out bowls of cereal and buttering chunks of white crusty bread. She was thinking about Al and trying to work out whether Lily’s responses gave any clue as to whether or not he had company on holiday.
All of a sudden, Lily’s voice rose above the others.
‘Sasha said you shouldn’t ever pluck your own eyebrows; it’s too hard. You should always go to a salon.’
‘What if you can’t afford it?’ Amelia piped up.
Stella’s heart missed a beat. Sasha was the name of the makeup lady who lived in the flat above Al’s. Why hadshecrept into the conversation?
Without pausing to think, she launched herself headlong into the chat.
‘Sasha’s right,’ she said. ‘I plucked mine when I was young and ended up with half an eyebrow. It looked terrible.’
Everyone laughed, including Lily. Encouraged, Stella tentatively cast another Mayfly.
‘Did Sasha give you any other tips you can pass on? Like the best brands of makeup to use? I could do with some advice.’
Lily shook her head. ‘Not really. I think she uses lots of different brands.’
‘I’d love to find a really good mascara that doesn’t clog,’ Stella persisted. ‘Can you ask her advice?’
She was hoping Lily would take the bait and agree to have a word with Sasha next time she was on the phone to her dad. That way, Stella would know for sure that they were together. But her plan failed.
‘I doubt I’ll remember,’ Lily replied casually, slathering apricot jam over the slice of buttered bread on her plate before glancing up at Amelia and Will. ‘Let’s leave straight after breakfast? Agreed? Otherwise it’ll get too hot.’
As soon as they’d gone, Stella went to find Louise, who was in her bedroom having just come out of the shower.
‘How did you sleep?’ Stella asked warily, studying Louise’s expression in an effort to gauge her mood.
‘Fine,’ Louise replied, rubbing her hair dry with one of her white towels. She’d wrapped the other tightly round her body and tucked the overlapping bit in front to hold it up. ‘You?’
‘Okay, too, thanks.’
‘Good.’
It was an awkward, stilted sort of exchange, but to Stella’s relief, Louise seemed just as keen as she was to paper over their nasty argument, at least for now.
‘Any sign of Jon?’ she asked fake-casually, as if his presence wasn’t the major problem they’d argued over last night.
Stella, sounding just as nonchalant, said she hadn’t seen him but almost straightaway, they heard him opening his bedroom door.
They both started. Louise’s door was ajar and she tiptoed over to close it as quietly as possible. Moments later, she spotted him out of the window in his bathing trunks, with a towel slung over his shoulder.
‘I think he’s going for a swim,’ she observed, darting away from the window in case he looked up.
‘I’ll read for a bit indoors,’ said Stella. ‘I don’t feel like talking to him if I can help it.’
She lay on her bed for a couple of hours, immersed in a novel. When her eyes grew tired, she texted Louise to ask if she knew of Jon’s whereabouts now. Apparently, he was asleep by the pool.
Stella’s eyes narrowed into slits and she cursed under her breath. Why was she the one who had to make herself scarce? He should have the nous to realise he’d upset her and take himself off somewhere, preferably for the whole day. Didn’t he understand she wanted to enjoy the pool and read her book in peace?
He was being incredibly selfish, but she wouldn’t call him up on it; she was determined to get through the holiday without another row. The one with Louise had been bad enough. She’d only beat herself up if she and Jon argued, and feel horribly guilty.
To avoid any risk of contact, she decided to forgo a swim just now and stay indoors to explore the house. She’d scarcely been in the rooms downstairs yet, save the kitchen, and was sure there’d be some interesting artefacts to look at.
Paintings adorned the walls of every room, small and large, and she stopped to admire the ones that took her eye. Quite a few depicted scenes from the ancient Greek myths, including Jason with his Argonauts, Atlas bearing the world on his shoulders and a gory one of Perseus slaying the gorgon, Medusa.
