10
Lily, Amelia and Will didn’t return from Porto Liakáda until almost 5p.m. and until then, Stella was alone. She decided to take herself off to the plunge pool, tucked away in its private stone courtyard, where she lay in the water for a long time with her arms outstretched and resting on the side, her back against the cool blue and white mosaic tiles, gazing up at the lush green plants and trees above.
Whatever the future held in terms of her friendship with Louise, she thought, kicking her legs out lazily in front to stay afloat, she hoped she’d have calmed down and recovered her equilibrium by suppertime. And although Stella was still angry and deeply hurt, she resolved to make a special pasta sauce for supper that she knew Louise would like, as a sort of peace offering.
But as soon as Louise appeared at the table that night, Stella could tell she was still furious. She sat down without a word and refused to look at her or address her in person, concentrating only on her food.
Even the fact Jon didn’t emerge from his room failed to lift her mood. When Stella asked Lily to take him up a small plate of pasta, prompting a brief discussion about the perils of sunburn, only Louise stayed schtum.
‘Will his skin all peel off?’ Amelia wanted to know.
Her mother didn’t answer, so Stella stepped in.
‘I think so, yes. And the skin underneath will be pink and tender.’
‘Like my nose?’ said Lily, wrinkling it. ‘Yeeuch!’
‘That’ll teach him,’ Hector said nastily, and Will laughed.
‘If it had been one of us, you’d have killed us, Mum.’
Will glanced at his mother, but she didn’t look up from her plate.
‘What’s got into her?’ he said with a frown, but when no one commented, he lost interest and started playing with a blob of soft candle wax that had dropped onto the table.
It was Stella who assumed the role of tour guide for the following day’s excursion. They’d have to leave at 7a.m., she insisted, to avoid walking in the midday sun.
When she tried again to persuade Hector to join them, for once, Louise didn’t back her up.
‘You can’t force me,’ Hector said angrily, throwing down his napkin, pushing back his chair and standing up.
Out of habit, Stella shot Louise a desperate look, but her friend’s face was tight and closed.
‘All right then, have it your way,’ Stella said finally, her shoulders slumping. ‘We’ll miss you.’
* * *
At six thirty the next morning, she tapped lightly on Jon’s door and called his name. She was almost positive he wouldn’t want to do the hike and expected him to be asleep still, or at least snoozing.
To her dismay, however, he came quickly to the door and flung it open. He was already dressed in a pale-blue shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, and tan hiking trousers. Over his shoulder, she could see his black backpack on the bed, stuffed with items for the walk.
‘I guessed you’d be leaving pretty sharpish,’ he said with a grin. ‘I feel much better after a good night’s sleep. Almost myself again.’
‘Great.’ She hoped he wouldn’t detect her barely disguised lack of enthusiasm. ‘I thought you’d want to rest today. It’s amazing you’ve recovered so well.’
Downstairs in the kitchen, Louise was filling up her water bottle.
‘Jon’s coming,’ Stella said heavily.
‘That’s nice. You can talk to him all day and put on his sun cream for him.’
Sarcasm dripped from every syllable, and Stella felt as if she’d been stabbed in the gut. Part of her wanted to make peace with Louise and say the bad atmosphere was killing her and please could they be friends again? But the other part was screaming Louise wasn’t the person she’d thought she knew.
She had a mean, hard, jealous streak, which was probably why a lot of Stella’s other friends, including Harriet, for that matter, hadn’t warmed to her. How come Stella seemed to be the only one who hadn’t noticed?
In any case, it was as if Louise had built a Berlin Wall around herself and Stella couldn’t get through to her even if she wanted to.
Lily was annoyed at having to get up so early and snapped at her mother, who decided to give her a wide berth for a while.
