Melissa Hill - The Summer Villa

She was glad of it, because she knew there was no way she would have been able to hide her reaction. ‘Oh. Sarah’s pregnant again?’ She wasn’t entirely sure how she’d even got the words out, the lump of disappointment in her throat was so huge. Or was it envy?

Colette wasn’t sure how to describe the visceral, almost primal disappointment you experienced when someone else managed to achieve the very thing you wanted.

Five years of marriage and countless attempts, and still she and Ed had yet to conceive. There had been occasions when she thought she might be pregnant, but each time proved to be dodgy hormones or a faulty pregnancy test.

Ed was great about it, always encouraging, but she knew he was as disappointed as she was.

His brothers already had five (now soon to be six) offspring between them, and had been married years after them. Her own sister, Noelle, also had family; she lived in Germany with her husband and twin girls.

Sometimes it felt like Colette and Ed were the only ones with all these rooms and nothing to fill them.

‘Could you put that in the microwave for me?’ Ed said now, referring to breakfast. ‘Just the eggs, actually. I’m going to take a shower before I eat.’ He duly washed his bottle and set it out to drain, before coming over and kissing her on the cheek. It was his way of letting her know that he understood her disappointment, knowing she wouldn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

Colette was grateful for it, but she sometimes wished they would talk more about the void in their lives, instead of pretending it didn’t exist, the way Ed tended to sometimes.

‘Of course,’ she answered. She’d just taken a seat at the kitchen island, hoping for a cosy breakfast together, but it seemed it was going to be another morning of eating on her own.

‘Thanks.’ Ed kissed her forehead and jogged back out to the hallway. ‘It smells amazing.’

‘No problem,’ she said to his back, then turned to her own food and sighed.

He was so busy these days. Up early and to bed late so many nights. His clients could be demanding, and a call from someone meant he – or sometimes both of them, depending on the effort required – could be called away to the country for a weekend retreat, or invited to a party of rich elites.

It was something that both amazed Colette and made her uncomfortable. She’d adjusted, though: five years of marriage had done that, but in that other world the glaring differences between her and Ed’s peers was more than evident.

He never complained or made her feel unworthy in any way. In fact, it was just the opposite. He was supremely proud of her and loved to talk about her accomplishments.

The translator position, which had started her career, had moved Colette along the path to her present job as Project Manager in the Department of International Development. It was a fantastic opportunity, which sometimes even allowed her to work for the United Nations. She was so lucky to be living her dream, at least in part.

Colette had the wonderful home, fantastic husband and an amazing job making a difference in the world, just as she’d always wanted.

There was just one thing missing.

An hour later, she was dressed in a stylish pencil skirt and heels. A string of pearls draped from her neck and a matching pair of earrings dangled from her ears.

Ed was on the couch going through the newspaper when she emerged downstairs again. This was often the way. Two ships passing in the night.

‘Where are you off to?’ he asked as he looked up.

‘I told you on Wednesday that I was going shopping with your mum, then we’re going to have lunch in Mayfair,’ she stated.

‘You did, but I thought you said Saturday?’

‘Ed, it is Saturday,’ she replied.

He looked perplexed. ‘It can’t be.’ He closed the paper quickly, checking the date on front, then promptly jumped to his feet. ‘Damn! I was supposed to meet the boys at the tennis club for brunch. I can’t believe it.’

Colette watched as he picked up his phone and swiped quickly through his contact list.

She sighed. Her husband was wonderful, just too busy sometimes. If he wasn’t dashing around the city for business, he was travelling around the world on business.

Sometimes his clients demanded he personally check out the companies in which they were interested in investing. It came with the trappings of the life they had. But still she wished that the pace of that life could just slow down a little now and again.

Leaving Ed to call his friends, she made her way out to the hallway, then stopped as the post on the bureau got her attention. Ed must have picked it up earlier when coming in from his run.

She stood, absently flipping through the envelopes to see if there was anything important. A crisp white envelope addressed to Colette and Ed Hargreaves caught her eye.

It wasn’t so much the letter, but the fact that it wasn’t address to ‘Mr and Mrs Ed’ – her name was actually included this time. Turning the envelope over, she pried the flap open and unfolded a piece of paper emblazoned with a familiar logo.

Enjoy La Dolce Vita!

Kim Weston and The Sweet Life family cordially invite you to join us for the launch celebration of Villa Dolce Vita Wellness and Cultural Retreat on the glorious Amalfi Coast.

A smile spread wide across Colette’s face as she skimmed over the invite, pushing her cheeks almost up as far as the lower rim of her reading glasses.

The timing of this almost made up for the disappointment of earlier. As if her old friend had somehow known she needed a boost.

Still smiling, she glanced back at the envelope and saw that there was something else inside. Two aeroplane tickets to Naples and a weekend reservation at a five-star Sorrento hotel, as well as a handwritten note.

Can’t wait for you guys to see what I’ve done with the place!

Perfect excuse for a long overdue reunion?

K xx

Her heart well and truly lifted, Colette walked back into the living room and held the invite out for her husband to read.

It had been a few years since Kim had announced her intentions to buy and restore the old villa, and the process had been less than easy.

From their (admittedly far too infrequent) phone catch-ups, she knew Kim had encountered obstacle after obstacle, from the Italian authorities to some of the locals, almost from the moment she let her grand plans be known.

However, as always, she hadn’t wavered in her intentions, and now the invite was proof of her success.

‘Isn’t it wonderful? She really did it. I can’t wait to see how it looks now,’ Colette prattled excitedly, as she waited for her husband’s reaction. ‘And Kim, too, of course. And I wonder if Annie will come? Oh, I hope so. I haven’t seen her in so long.’

Colette and Kim had always made a conscious effort to stay in touch after their time in Italy, Annie less so. But the trio’s was the kind of friendship that bucked time and place, and Colette knew that once they were together again, the preceding years would simply melt away and it would be as if they were never apart.

‘Seriously?’ Ed replied flatly. He looked up at her. ‘This is only a month away. I know you were looking forward to going back to Italy again, and it’s great Kim seems to have finally got it all up and running, but do we really have time for this just now? You have that new project coming up, for starters.’

Colette looked at him, puzzled. ‘We’d make time, of course,’ she answered. ‘I don’t understand … We knew for ages that Kim’s launch would likely be happening this summer. Why would I want to miss a trip like this?’

‘It’s just with everything we have going on, isn’t the timing a bit off for a last-minute jaunt to Italy? And it’s not as though you two are that close anymore.’