Poor Toni, thought Lou, possibly for the first time ever.
Toni always knew how to deal with everything and yet here she was in Sicily with Lou, her life in chaos too.
Toni was wise though. She’d get out of it somehow.
Her sister understood the world in a way that she, Lou, never seemed to.
What had Toni said? That Lillian was a diva who used people and had totally used Lou.
The only reason Lillian didn’t use Toni was because Toni didn’t allow it. Emily could see this, so why hadn’t Lou?
She took her cup of strong coffee out onto the balcony and let the scent of the sea overwhelm her. It was easier to deal with all of that here on this ancient island. Thousands of people had lived here over centuries and the vast sense of history in the great sights on the rock of the island itself made her own problems seem small by comparison.
The coffee was working, she decided: thank goodness for coffee.
‘You couldn’t sleep either?’
Trinity appeared behind her, clad in a long T-shirt with bare legs underneath. Trinity’s beautiful red hair was tangled and her face was sleepy.
‘No,’ said Lou gently, feeling the motherly affection that overcame her whenever she was with the younger woman.
Trinity yawned delicately, like a cat.
Lou had a sudden thought. When she and Emily were up early, they sometimes watched sweet shows on Netflix.
All the time Mim had been dying, and Simone had been broken-hearted, she, Lou and Emily had comforted each other by sitting on the couch side by side watching old episodes ofGilmore Girls.
‘Want to watchGilmore Girlswith me?’ she asked suddenly.
Trinity beamed. ‘I’d love that.’
When they were halfway through the first episode, Lou had a thought. ‘You know I’m going to see Angelo today? The guy who might be my father?’
‘Yes,’ said Trinity cautiously.
‘Will you come?’
‘You sure?’
Lou grinned. ‘Of course we need you with us,’ she said, putting an arm around Trinity. ‘We’re the Three Musketeers. Or else the two dogs and a cat inThe Incredible Journey.’ They both laughed at this.
Inside, she hoped doing everything together might eventually crack open the defensive wall around their hitchhiker, and help Trinity to tell them what really was going on.
But, she reminded herself, that was not her business. She didn’t exist to fix everyone.
Not anymore.
They set out for Angelo’s house at eleven. Lou didn’t want to be late.
Trinity was looking better than she had earlier, Lou thought. There was a light dusting of freckles on her cheeks and she was beginning to glow. The sun was agreeing with her. Maybe that was all Trinity needed: a little bit of time away. But she seemed sleepy.
‘We take a left here for several kilometres,’ said Toni, eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses as she listened to the satnav lady giving directions.
They’d driven through rich, fertile land on a beautiful road near the sea, taking the less obvious road to Avola, the coastal town south of Syracuse where Angelo Mulraney lived.
‘Angelo lives here, which is just before we get into Avola,’ she’d said, pointing to the map reference point on her phone. ‘This big motorway won’t be as much fun. Let’s take the scenic route.’
The road they’d taken was close to the coast and for one moment Lou was reminded of the road down to the Mulraneys’ house in Easkey. It was very different here. Easkey had been windswept and wild. Beautiful in its craggy desolation. Sicily was warm with fertile volcanic soil and yet sat proudly alone in the Mediterranean. No longer attached to its mother country, it was an island that had had to be strong to survive all the invaders who’d left their ancient buildings and traces of their rich cultures behind. There was a certain craggy similarity to Ireland. The places were so vastly different and yet both were islands.
