“I can’t possibly imagine anything popping the balloon I’m in right now.”
“Nothing?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Tell me.”
“You sound just like Brando when you say that,” she pointed out. I shrugged and she continued. “Hetookyourbathingsuitout.”
“Repeat that, and slower. Please.”
“That’s whatshesaid.”
“Violet!”
“All right,all right!” She huffed out a breath. “Brando took your bathing suit.”
It took me a moment to snap out of the stupor. I hadn’t realized that I stared at Violet as she waved her hand in front of my face until it came close enough that she almost slapped my nose. “Why?” I whispered.
“Said it was too sexy. He wasn’t going to be around, so…” She shrugged. “I caught him rummaging through your bags in London. I thought he was kidding. I should have known. His sense of humor is on a tight leash. Oh, look!”
She reached behind me, pulling forth a bathing suit that I thought belonged to Eunice but had somehow gotten mixed up in my bags.Eunice. He probably had her buy me one in a style that suited her. I could just hear him telling her to get one that she liked but inmysize. She was putty in his slick Italian hands.
Violet nodded. “Are you thinking what I am? That he sent Eunice to replace the one he took?”
Laughter bubbled up and I attempted to put a stopper on it. It flowed over the sides, a constant push against the plug. Which in turn made me laugh like a homicidal maniac.
“Scarlett…” Violet sat back, not wanting to get too close. “That sounds evil.”
This set me off even harder and the top came off with an explosive champagnepop!I fizzled, throwing myself back on the bed, rocking back and forth, gasping for breath.
Violet attempted to calm me, but it was no use. The tear in my sanity ran deep. “Scarlett,” she said, her voice firm. She was going all mamma bear on me. “Stop it! Get ahold of yourself, woman!”
She spanked me on my ass, hard. When I stopped to say, “Ow!,” she gave me a look that said I’d get more if I didn’t stop and pull myself together. “You know what you need? You need to be rebellious. I have just the thing.”
“You do?” I was about to cry.
There was a saying we learned while in Ireland. “Is iomaí athrú a chuireann lá Márta dhe.” Which meant, “There is a lot of weather in a March day.”
That was me. March incarnate. Or no, rather, Brando had pushed me into March. His moods were as unpredictable as the weather.
“I do. And it’s called ‘firework.’”
“Oh no!” I said, shaking my head. Two tattoos were enough.
“Shut it, Sandy. It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s a bathing suit I brought along.” She wiggled dark, full brows. “I’ll get it and we’ll do picture time by the pool.Capisci?”
“Why haveyoubeen behaving on this trip?”
She thought about that for a moment. “I’m growing up. I really wanted just a girl’s trip. To celebrate with Carmen.” She hesitated for a moment. “You’ve had fun, but I can tell this trip hasn’t been the easiest for you. Never let anyone make you feel guilty for what you have.”
“I—”
She held a hand up. “Rosaria and her smartass comments. She’s jealous, Sandy. Not that she wants what you have, precisely, but if you could see you and Brando together, it leaves no doubt that one doesn’t do well without the other. Some couples need that. Others don’t. But don’t let her make you feel ashamed just because she doesn’t need the same thing. People are twats like that. They feel the need to throw judgment around because it’s different from the life they live.”
I was speechless. Taking advantage of this rare occurrence, she told me to meet her in ten minutes to put the bathing suit on. As she was going out, Guido asked her if I was presentable. I jumped up from the bed, going to him. Sometimes he teetered. After the door shut behind Violet, he turned around and locked it. I gave him a questioning look. He nodded to the seat in the corner.
“I need to speak to you,” he said, settling in the posh chair with a frustrated sigh that comes from those not resigned to being hurt.
“Is something wrong?”
